FLINT, MI – Michigan’s Court of Appeals has upheld a previous conviction regarding Jason Thomas Harris, a 49-year-old man found guilty of murdering his wife, Christina Ann-Thompson Harris, by lacing her cereal with heroin. Prior to her death in 2014, Christina Harris had just given birth to their second child.
The 36-year-old’s death was initially considered an accidental overdose, but after friends revealed that Harris had complained about his wife and suspected that she had been unfaithful, authorities launched a homicide investigation. They also uncovered Harris’s unsuccessful attempt to hire a hitman to murder his wife, intending to fund the act with $10,000 from her life insurance policy.
In 2021, Harris challenged his conviction of first-degree premeditated murder, solicitation of murder, and delivery of a controlled substance causing death. He claimed that his trial counsel was not effective. However, the state’s appeals court affirmed his conviction on February 22.
Insights from the ruling highlighted Harris’s motivation to kill his wife. He was having an affair and believed his wife was doing the same. Harris did not want a divorce as he refused to lose custody of his children or pay for child support. Moreover, Harris had expressed to a coworker his strong desire for his wife’s death.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton expressed satisfaction with the Court of Appeals’ decision. Praises were made to the whole prosecutorial team for committing time and effort to the case despite defendants’ common habit to make post-trial appeals in most life imprisonment sentences.
Jason Thomas Harris is now serving a life sentence without the opportunity for parole.