GEE Family (2009) - Logan County / Beason IL

Trial date in Beason slayings may be set in summer

Friday, March 18, 2011

Prosecutors are expected to seek the death
penalty for brothers Christopher J. Harris,
left, and Jason L. Harris, right, who are
accused in the brutal deaths of five members
of a Beason family. (Pantagraph staff).

LINCOLN — A trial date for two men charged with killing the Raymond Gee family in 2009 could be set later this summer after DNA tests are completed on evidence collected from the victims’ Beason home and other locations.

Christopher J. Harris and his brother Jason L. Harris followed each other into a Logan County courtroom for separate, brief hearings before Judge Thomas Harris. The two are charged with more than 50 counts of murder in the brutal slayings of Rick and Ruth Gee and three of their children and with attempted murder in the case of Tabitha Gee, then 3, who survived the attack.

The judge told lawyers he expects to discuss possible trial dates at a hearing scheduled for July 6.

Assistant Attorney General Michael Atterberry told the judge, “Things are on schedule and progressing in both cases.”

Attorneys for the defendants received reports Friday on the first round of DNA testing completed early this year. Forensic testing could be completed by June on the other evidence, said Atterberry.

The recent abolition of the death penalty in Illinois will not affect the Harris cases for now. The state announced in February that it intended to seek the death penalty for both defendants.

The judge noted that after July 1 the two cases will no longer follow the rules laid out in Illinois Supreme Court rules for death penalty cases. Those rules include specific deadlines for the exchange of materials between attorneys and the appointment of two attorneys qualified to handle capital cases for each defendant.

Stephanie Wong, a Bloomington lawyer who handles the Jason Harris case with attorney Steve Skelton, expressed concern recently about how the legal changes could affect murder cases.

“I have a real concern as to whether the resources will be there, and will we have the resources that are available to the state?” said Wong.

It’s likely that each defense team will be reduced to one attorney after July.

Logan County officials are worried about where the money will come from to pay the expenses now covered by the state Capital Litigation Trust Fund. Starting in July, that fund will be used for programming for victims and law enforcement.

Opponents of the death penalty argued that errors in more than 20 Illinois cases put the wrong people on death row. They also argued that the cost of prosecuting capital cases was higher than cases where death was not a possible punishment.

Lawyer: First Beason murder trial at least 2 years away


Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:23 pm


LINCOLN — It could be at least two more years before the first trial begins in the 2009 deaths of five members of a Beason family.
The defense lawyer for Christopher J. Harris, one of two brothers charged with bludgeoning Rick and Ruth Gee and three of their children, said the volume of material to be reviewed makes a decision on a trial date impossible for at least 24 months.
“It is a monster of a case,” lawyer James Elmore told Judge Thomas Harris on Thursday during a hearing to review the progress of scientific testing of evidence in the case.
Chris Harris, 32, and Jason Harris, 23, both of Armington, are charged with breaking into the Gee home and killing the two adults along with Justina Constant, 16, Dillen Constant, 14 and Austin Gee, 11. A fourth child, Tabitha Gee, then 3, was critically injured but survived the Sept. 21, 2009, incident.
The more than 15,000 pages of documents and 300 DVDs related to the case cover an area 6 feet long and 3 feet tall, said Elmore.
“We are months and months, probably years, away from telling this court we are ready for trial,” said Elmore.
Chris Harris’ lawyer dismissed the possibility that the case will be resolved through a plea agreement that eliminates the need for a trial.
“We don’t anticipate this case to be a plea. We anticipate this to be a trial,” said Elmore.
The abolition of the state’s death penalty removes capital punishment as an option in the event Chris Harris is convicted of murder, said Elmore, but it does not alter what he termed “the bare knuckle fight” over Harris’ guilt or innocence.
Defense attorneys for Jason Harris agreed that it is premature to set a trial date.
In a hearing to address similar issues for Jason Harris, defense lawyer Steve Skelton said he and co-counsel Stephanie Wong have reviewed much of the discovery material handed over by the state. Skelton agreed with Elmore, though, that a trial date is premature.
Assistant Attorney General Michael Atterberry confirmed Thursday that the state intends to bring Chris Harris to trial ahead of his brother.
Chris Harris is believed to have entered the home of his former in-laws while his brother waited outside, according to information family members said they received from authorities. Court documents seeking the death penalty accuse Chris Harris, who was once married to Rick Gee’s daughter, of causing the deaths.
Atterberry reported Thursday that the state crime lab is expected to complete testing and reports on evidence by Sept. 1. The state asked that it be allowed to request additional testing after the defense reviews results of the examinations.
The lengthy wait for a trial does not violate the Harris’ speedy trial rights because the delays have been requested by the defense.
The judge reminded lawyers for both sides that an end to the death penalty after July 1 means changes in the Harris cases. While the judge did not spell out those changes, it is anticipated that each defense team will be reduced to one lawyer instead of the two who currently work on the cases.
July 1 also marks the end of the Capital Litigation Trust Fund, a state fund designated to help counties pay defense costs in capital cases. Logan County officials have expressed concern over how the county will shoulder the financial burden of the trials.
An Oct. 6 hearing is scheduled to review the status of the case.


Read more: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/beason-slayings/article_86f85e40-8d81-11e0-bc68-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1Riu0FGx5

Gee murder cases are 'in limbo'

By NICOLE HARBOUR
GateHouse News Service
Posted Oct 07, 2011 @ 03:33 PM
Last update Oct 07, 2011 @ 05:26 PM

LINCOLN – The defense of brothers Christopher and Jason Harris, accused of murdering five members of the Gee family in Beason in 2009, has been stymied by the impending loss of state funding, and the same problem might cost the Harrises their lawyers.

Illinois’ abolition of the death penalty in March means the Capital Litigation Trust Fund, which is paying for the brothers’ defense attorneys, will be eliminated Jan. 1.

“In January of 2012, we will no longer be appointed to defend Christopher Harris,” said John Rogers about himself and Jay Elmore, who make up Christopher Harris’ defense team. Steve Skelton represents Jason Harris.

The brothers are charged with the Sept. 21, 2009, killings of Raymond “Rick” and Ruth Gee, both 46, and their children, Justina Constant, 16, Dillen Constant, 14, and Austin Gee, 11. They were slain in their home. Tabitha Gee, now 5 years old, was found injured but alive.

As of Jan. 1, the financial burden of both cases will shift to Logan County.

“Frankly, this leaves us in a state of limbo here,” said Logan County Circuit Judge Thomas Harris. “There is no additional funding available” to pay the defense attorneys and forensic experts.

That leaves the attorneys in a difficult position, Rogers said.

“When Christopher Harris asks me if I’ll continue to represent him (after Jan. 1), I can’t answer that question,” Rogers said. “I can’t answer it until the funding issues are resolved. These issues have no quick and easy resolution.”

Rogers said financial questions also have affected progress by forensic experts, because those experts are less willing to work with defense attorneys when there is no certainty they will be paid for their work.

“We are stopped in our tracks,” he said.

Rogers, Elmore and Skelton said the prosecution has finished its DNA and non-DNA testing of evidence and has turned over discovery materials and reports to the defense. However, they said there is still a long road ahead.

“There are between 11,000 and 11,500 pages of discovery and 200-plus interviews,” Skelton said. “There is a great deal of work that remains for both the state and defense for both Jason Harris and Christopher Harris.”

Prosecutors and defense attorneys intend to meet before the conference in early December to discuss written discovery and DVDs.

“The meeting will be in Springfield, and hopefully that meeting will streamline discovery management in this case,” said prosecutor Michael Atterberry of the Illinois attorney general’s office.

http://www.sj-r.com/breaking/x1038181866/Gee-murder-cases-are-in-limbo

Media denied search warrant access in Beason murder case
By: The Associated Press | 2 weeks ago
SPRINGFIELD – A quest by Central Illinois newspapers to get access to search warrants in the killings of five members of a family has been turned aside by the state’s highest court.

The Illinois Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal of a decision barring media access to the more than 30 warrants in the Logan County murder case involving the Gee family.

The Pantagraph in Bloomington, the Herald & Review in Decatur and the State Journal-Register in Springfield had sued for the access in 2009.

Brothers Chris and Jason Harris have pleaded not guilty and await trial in the 2009 beating deaths of Rick and Ruth Gee and three of their children in their Beason home.

A media attorney says the newspapers will press the state’s General Assembly for help.

http://wjbc.com/media-denied-search-warrant-access-in-beason-murder-case/

Jury selection continues in Beason family murder trial
5:25PM Thursday May 2, 2013

Jury selection will go into a third day Friday. (WJBC file photo)

By The Associated Press

PEORIA - Attorneys have agreed on eight of the 16 jurors needed for the trial of a man accused of beating to death a central Illinois couple and three of their children.

A second day of interviews on Thursday yielded four more jurors for the trial of Christopher Harris. Four others were chosen Wednesday.

Harris pleaded not guilty to the 2009 murders of 46-year-old Raymond ``Rick'' Gee and 39-year-old Ruth Gee. Sixteen-year-old Justina Constant, 14-year-old Dillen Constant and 11-year-old Austin Gee were the young victims.

Prosecutors say Harris and his brother, Jason Harris, broke into the home intending to sexually assault Justina Constant and rob the family. Jason Harris' trial hasn't been scheduled.

Jury selection is scheduled to continue Friday in Peoria.

http://www.wjbc.com/common/page.php?feed=141&pt=Jury+selection+continues+in+Beason+family+murder+trial&id=51193&is_corp=0

I remember this case. I was sadened that three children were murdered. Unfortunately Illinois does not have the death penalty now. William

'Gruesome' photos at center of Harris jury selection

PEORIA — The role that gruesome crime scene and graphic autopsy photos will play in the Chris Harris murder trial is becoming more evident as defense lawyers and prosecutors work to choose 12 jurors.

At the end of Thursday, eight jurors had been selected to consider 33 murder charges against Harris, 34, in the 2009 beating deaths of Rick and Ruth Gee and three of their children in their Beason home.

His brother Jason Harris also is accused in the case.

Defense counsel Dan Fultz described in greater detail the type of trauma jurors may see during the trial in one of the most brutal multiple slayings in Central Illinois memory.

“There will be people cut, people bludgeoned and brain matter exposed,” Fultz told an unsuccessful jury candidate who went on to share her lifelong aversion to horror shows during her courtroom interview.

The 25 Peoria County residents interviewed on Wednesday and Thursday were individually questioned about any prior knowledge and feelings they may have about the Gee homicides.

Defense lawyers Fultz and Peter Naylor and prosecutors Michael Atterberry, Steven Nate and Jonathan Wright targeted questions to each potential juror about the photos of victims and the home where their bodies were found.

“I don’t know if I have the stomach for it, truthfully,” one woman told Atterberry of her potential jury service in the case.

On Wednesday, Atterberry said the crime scene photos will be used to challenge Harris’ claim that he killed 14-year-old Dillen Constant in self-defense as the youth was in the midst of slaying the other family members.

“This is a big part of disproving the self-defense. The pictures almost disprove self-defense alone,” Atterbery told Judge Scott Drazewski during arguments about what questions jurors should be asked.

According to the state, Dillen had more than 100 wounds and other victims were beaten and mutilated during the assaults.

For its part, the defense has tried to limit the possible prejudice the photos could cause Harris. Each juror was asked if he or she would be willing to listen to all the evidence and avoid making a decision based solely on the photos.

Most of the people excused from service Thursday said work obligations would make it extremely difficult to be a juror during the trial that could last a month.

Jury interviews continue Friday with the goal to select the remaining four jurors and four alternates ahead of opening statements on Monday.

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/beason-slayings/gruesome-photos-at-center-of-harris-jury-selection/article_2eb753a6-b392-11e2-8ac6-001a4bcf887a.html

Crime scene testimony continues in Christopher Harris trial

Posted May 10, 2013 @ 11:23 AM

Last update May 10, 2013 @ 12:30 PM

PEORIA —

Defense attorneys continued their assault on the lifestyle of Rick and
Ruth Gee in an effort to help their client, Christopher Harris.

During about an hour of questioning, Daniel Fultz, one of Harris'
attorneys, delved into apparent drug use by the Gees as well as "martial
aids" or sex toys found under their bed.

"Were these in an area that could be accessed by children?" he asked
Michael Oyer, who in September 2009, was a crime scene investigator with
the Illinois State Police.

"Yes," Oyer said of the sex toys which were in a clear plastic tub under the Gees' bed.

It's important to Harris' case as he has admitted to killing Dillen
Constant, one of the Gee children but denied killing the parents,
16-year-old Justina Constant, Austin Gee, 11 or severely injuring
preschool aged Tabitha Gee.

Rather, he claims it was Dillen, 14, whom Fultz and Peter Naylor,
Harris' other attorney, have painted as a troubled teen with antisocial
and violent tendencies, who killed the four others.

Fultz noted there were dents in Dillen's door which Oyer said
weren't necessarily from the Sept. 21, 2009, murders. Also, a window was
covered with a board -- punishment the defense attorney have said, for
Dillen acting out.

The entire house is small and rather unkempt though Oyer said it wasn't
the worst he has since. Many of the walls have unfinished drywall and
some closets don't have doors. There are holes in the drywall in some
spots that appear not to be caused from the attacks.

Developing.


Earlier Version:
A former Illinois State Police crime scene investigator told jurors
Friday about the tire iron allegedly used to kill a Beason family more
than three years ago.

Michael Oyer, who testified for three hours on Thursday and then for
about an hour and a half on Friday, said he found tire iron, a pair of
K-Swiss shoes and an air card near a bridge in rural Armington. He also
showed jurors a laptop which was registered to Rick and Ruth Gee that
was found in the bed of Jason Harris' pickup truck. The laptop's screen
had a large crack and Oyer said it looked like it had been struck hard
or or run over by a vehicle.

Testimony on the third day of the Christopher Harris murder trial has
so far lacked the horrific and gruesome evidence of the first two days.
Harris, 34, is accused of killing the Gees and three of their children,
Justina, 16; Dillen, 14, and Austin, 11, on Sept. 21, 2009, by beating
them to death with a tire iron.

He denies that and fingers Dillen as the person who killed the family.
He admits only to killing Dillen in self defense when he says Dillen
came at him that morning.

The importance of the laptop is that it establishes the armed robbery
count -- prosecutors allege Harris took it -- and also the felony murder
counts. Harris could be convicted of murder if he was in the midst of a
forcible felony, armed robbery, when the deaths occurred.

Shoes were found at Jason Harris' rural Armington home that matched
prints found in the gravel driveway of the Gee home. The K-Swiss shoes,
size 11, had blood on them, and are consistent with statements
Christopher Harris made to police soon after the murders. He told police
he panicked after killing Dillen and threw the tire iron, the shoes and
an air card from the laptop out of the truck as they were headed out of Beason.

The items were found near a bridge over the middle fork of Sugar Creek in rural Tazewell County.

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x301415579/Crime-scene-testimony-continues-in-Christopher-Harris-trial

Christopher Harris wants new trial in Beason killings

Attorneys for Christopher Harris are asking for another trial. (WJBC file photo) By The Associated Press

LINCOLN- A central Illinois man convicted in May of beating to death five members of his ex-wife's family in their home wants a new trial.

Attorneys Daniel Fultz and Peter Naylor mailed a motion asking for a new trial for Christopher Harris last Friday. A spokeswoman for the Logan County Circuit Clerk's Office said Monday that it hasn't yet arrived.
 
The attorneys argue Judge Scott Drazewski denied 34-year-old Harris a fair trial by refusing to let jurors visit the home in Beason where Rick and Ruth Gee and their children died in 2009.
 
The motion also says the judge should have allowed jurors to hear evidence of the parents' concerns about one of the children, 14-year-old Dillen Constant.
 
Harris admitted killing Constant after walking in on the boy attacking his family.

http://www.wjbc.com/common/page.php?feed=141&pt=Christopher+Harris+wants+new+trial+in+Beason+killings&id=67153&is_corp=0

He was convicted but will still do anything to get off.  William

Chris Harris nets life in prison for Beason murders

Chris Harris arrives the Logan County Courthouse in downtown Lincoln for sentencing on Friday, July 19, 2013. (The Pantagraph/STEVE SMEDLEY)

July 19, 2013 6:45 pm  •  By Edith Brady-Lunny | eblunny@pantagraph.com

LINCOLN — The little girl who was left for dead by Chris Harris came to court Friday to deliver a message to him before he was sentenced to life in prison for killing her parents and three siblings.

“I am 7 and it still breaks my heart and I wish you were dead and my brothers and sister and mommy and daddy were alive,” the child said through the statement read by her grandmother, Judi Stogdell.

Harris was sentenced for the murders of Rick and Ruth Gee and three of their children, Justina Contant, 16; Dillen Constant, 14 and Austin Gee, 11. He also received 30 years for the attempted murder of Tabitha, who lay severely injured for more than 12 hours before she was found by police.

He received an additional 20 years for armed robbery.

A crowd of about 75 relatives, journalists and police officers came to the third-floor courtroom of the Logan County Courthouse to watch the final chapter of a tragic story that began Sept. 21, 2009, when a relative discovered the bodies of the Gee family in their Beason home.

Dressed a pink dress and pink sandals, the dark haired child looked around the courtroom with a little girl’s curiosity as her grandmother read the statements in a strong voice that overcame the hum of window air conditioners.

In the statement that started with “to Chris from Tabitha,” Stogdell quoted the child as calling Harris “a big liar.”

“You don’t sneak up on other people. … You have to say sorry because do you know how badly that broke my heart?” said the child’s statement.

After she followed Tabitha’s statement with her own to Harris, the grandmother took the little girl by the hand and led her from the courtroom, leaving other family members to wipe away tears after hearing the dramatic remarks.

Harris looked down at the table where he sat between defense lawyer Dan Fultz and Peter Naylor as the statements were read.

When given his chance to make a statement before the mandatory life sentence was imposed, the 34-year-old Armington man apologized to the family but denied he killed the Gees.

“I made a lot of stupid, stupid decisions that night but I did not commit this crime,” Harris told McLean County Judge Scott Drazewski.

Logan County State’s Attorney Jonathan Wright asked for the maximum terms available on all charges — starting with life in prison on the murder charges and 30 years on each of the armed robbery, home invasion and attempted murder counts.

Wright asked the judge to consider Harris’ statement, noting that it was “deafening in its silence. There is no remorse, no ownership for what he has done.”

Harris was found guilty in May by a Peoria County jury. The trial was moved to Peoria in response to defense arguments that it would be nearly impossible to select an unbiased jury in Logan County.

Fultz acknowledged to the judge that sentencing options were limited but asked for less than the maximum of 30 years on the charges other than murder.

Saying Harris “will pay a horrific price for what he did,” Fultz also observed that “everyone has been changed by what happened in this situation.”

Harris was once married to Rick Gee’s daughter Nicole, who lives in Florida with the couple’s two children.

In his remarks before handing down the sentence, Drazewski called Harris’ apology “hypocritical sympathy,” adding that he struggled to find words to describe the loss left by the tragedy.

“I have searched for words and I don’t have sufficient vocabulary to describe the gravity of these crimes,” said Drazewski.

Life in prison is a fitting punishment, said the judge.

“I hope you will never be able to forget what you did that night,” he said.

The process of bringing the case to a jury for a decision affected everyone involved, said the judge. Emotions had to be set aside and mental walls constructed to desensitize those who had view the evidence of the massacre of two adults and three children with a tire iron, Drazewski told Harris.

As part of the legal process, the judge vacated Harris’ conviction for aggravated battery of a child because those allegations were covered in the attempted murder conviction. He also denied Harris’ motion for a new trial.

The jury rejected Harris’ self-defense claim in which he said he had to kill Dillen Constant. Harris said the boy was killing other family members when Harris arrived at the home after midnight with his brother Jason Harris in search of marijuana.

An appeal will be filed on Chris Harris’ behalf by the state appellate defender’s office.

Jason Harris, also charged with murder initially, made a plea deal on lesser charges. He stayed outside the Gee home while his brother went inside the home with a tire iron, according to authorities.

Jason Harris, 25, also of Armington, recanted his first statements to police that his brother was looking for sex, presumably with Justina Constant, when he went inside the Gee home.

A plea hearing for Jason Harris, who is expected to receive a 20-year sentence, has not been scheduled.

Criminal cases against one of two women connected to the Gee matter remains pending. Jennifer Earnest, the former girlfriend of Jason Harris, still faces obstruction of justice charges accusing her of providing Chris Harris with a false alibi.

Earnest’s mother, Sara Duncan of Florida, pleaded guilty in May to obstructing justice, was placed on two years of probation and ordered to pay a $2,500 fine. Duncan was visiting her daughter and Jason Harris when the Beason murders occurred.

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/chris-harris-nets-life-in-prison-for-beason-murders/article_3a7f5d24-f018-11e2-89d3-001a4bcf887a.html

I wish Illinois still had the death penalty.  It's needed it badly.  Monsters like John Wayne Gacy won't kill any more because of it.  This man does not deserve life in prison.  Death for a Death.  William

Too bad the taxpayers will have to pay for his decades of appeals. 

Someone this evil should want to die.