Feb. 16, 2026

50 Shades of Evil: Alabama

Show Notes
Transcript

“Westley Devone Harris” was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of (6) members of his girlfriend’s family in rural Crenshaw County, Alabama. What started out as a romance with a 14 year old girl turned into a massacre at the Ball Family Farm when Harris was ran off of the farm after is constant abuse of his girlfriend led the fame members to take action. What happened next would solidify him as one of Alabama’s most dangerous and notorious inmates.

“50 Shades of Evil” is a podcast series brought to you by “Bloody Angola Podcast”.

Chapters
01:35 The Nightmare Begins
11:32 The Violent Confrontation
12:28 The Horrific Break-In
17:05 The Unthinkable Murders
19:35 The Manhunt for Wesley
20:49 The Trials of Justice
24:14 Life on Death Row

Join Bloody Angola on Patreon for Commercial Free Early Releases and more here: www.patreon.com/bloodyangolapodcast

For Louisiana Local Advertising inquiries or to book appearances please email BloodyAngola@gmail.com

WEBVTT

1
00:00:05.639 --> 00:00:23.719
H a wall street line, shackle change, Oh someome gird,

2
00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:32.320
it's calling my name. There is no mercy and it's

3
00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:42.119
been a tentery juice as the hill Stream game Rango three.

4
00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:47.920
Come in by me to die.

5
00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:59.479
Inside these walls, inside the wild and went more girls.

6
00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:35.519
As I imagine, you're sixteen years old, you're a young mother.

7
00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:39.680
You're tied to a bed at your grandmother's house while

8
00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:43.519
the man you once loved walks through your family home,

9
00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:49.480
executing them one by one. Your baby is lying beside you.

10
00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:54.400
You hear shots, you hear bodies fall, and then he

11
00:01:54.519 --> 00:01:58.680
cuts you, loose hands you your daughter and says we're leaving.

12
00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:02.920
That nightmare was not a movie. It happened in Alabama

13
00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:08.120
in two thousand and two. The man's name is Westerley Harris. Today,

14
00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:12.599
more than twenty three years later, he sits on Alabama's

15
00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:18.000
death row. This is the story of a family he destroyed.

16
00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:22.159
I'm Jim Chapman, host of Bloody Angola, and this is

17
00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:26.280
fifty Shades of Evil Alabama. Now, if you're a regular

18
00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:30.319
listener of Bloody Angla, you know that I love digging

19
00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:34.120
deep into the most dangerous of inmates that make up

20
00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:38.960
the fifty states. Today, I'm bringing you into Alabama to

21
00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:42.800
tell you the story of Wesley Harris, the case that

22
00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:46.159
shocked the state of Alabama when it occurred in two

23
00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:48.199
thousand and two. And you're not going to believe what

24
00:02:48.360 --> 00:02:52.439
I'm about to tell you, So let's get right into it.

25
00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:54.560
And I'm going to start by giving you a little

26
00:02:54.599 --> 00:02:58.680
background on Wesley Harris. Now, he was born in south

27
00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:03.199
central Alabam this is in April of nineteen eighty, and

28
00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:07.039
he was raised primarily by his mother and his grandmother.

29
00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:11.960
His family, they struggled economically. They moved around the south

30
00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:17.560
central Alabama area frequently during his childhood years. Now, when

31
00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:20.800
he was in the seventh grade, it is reported that

32
00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:24.280
he suffered a head injury that would lead to consistent

33
00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:28.360
migraines and a seizure disorder. Now, by the mid to

34
00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:31.599
late nineties, he was in his teenage years, and those

35
00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:36.360
who knew him would describe him as mild mannered, likable, polite,

36
00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:41.560
easy going, which would directly contrast with what I am

37
00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:45.599
about to tell you as it relates to his crimes.

38
00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:48.840
At this time in his life, there were no reports

39
00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:52.240
of any criminal activity during his high school years, but

40
00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:56.479
he would struggle academically in school and that would lead

41
00:03:56.599 --> 00:04:01.400
him to eventually dropping out of high school. So just

42
00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:05.599
a few years after dropping out, in late nineteen ninety eight,

43
00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:09.919
at the age of nineteen, he meets a fourteen year

44
00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:14.319
old girl by the name of Janice Ball. Now, Janis

45
00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:19.040
was raised quite differently than Wesley. She had a very

46
00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.120
close family. They all, as a matter of fact, lived

47
00:04:22.199 --> 00:04:27.279
on a family farm in Crenshaw County, Alabama. So Crenshaw

48
00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:32.800
County is just outside of Montgomery, Alabama, and where the

49
00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:36.839
family lived it was very rural. I'm talking in the

50
00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:42.439
middle of nowhere. The family farm was very isolated. Now,

51
00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:47.839
the relationship, in the way that Westerley entered this relationship,

52
00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:52.439
it could be described as quite the storm. What started

53
00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:57.720
out as a risky, youthful romance, remember he was much older,

54
00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:05.560
that would quickly into a turbulent, controlling relationship. Those early

55
00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:10.240
days of romance were very intense. In just three months

56
00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:15.439
after Janice and Westerley met, she was already pregnant. Nine

57
00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:20.079
months later, the couple would welcome their daughter, Shay, into

58
00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:23.720
the world. However, Wesley, he was not what you would

59
00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:28.600
call a present father during this pregnancy and Janis would

60
00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:32.839
almost never see him during those nine months prior to

61
00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:37.519
her daughter's birth. Now after the birth, Wesley appeared to

62
00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:41.439
want to be more involved, and the couple attempted to

63
00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:45.240
make a life together. They settled into a trailer in

64
00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:51.240
nearby Laverne, Alabama. But the cracks in this relationship would

65
00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:57.240
absolutely appear almost immediately as Wesley grew even more violent

66
00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:01.839
and even more controlling now that Janie was living with him.

67
00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:07.000
The smallest arguments would trigger what Janice would describe later

68
00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:10.800
as a rage in Wesley, and he would beat her

69
00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:15.839
violently during these instances. The violence would eventually cause her

70
00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:19.240
to leave that trailer and return to the safety of

71
00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:22.439
her family's farm, where she would live in the main

72
00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:28.560
house with her grandmother, Mala Ruth Baul. Now, despite the abuse,

73
00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:33.920
much like you see in many other cases of abusive relationships,

74
00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:39.160
the couple doesn't completely split up. They maintain contact, They're

75
00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:41.759
back and forth with each other. In this young lady,

76
00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:44.959
I mean, she had a baby with this guy. She

77
00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:48.240
was trying to make it work for better or worse.

78
00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:51.680
As a matter of fact, Janie's father, Willie, who was

79
00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:56.680
no fan of Wesley to say the least, he in

80
00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:00.240
I can only speak to say love for his daughter

81
00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:04.040
even tried to make this thing work, and he tried

82
00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:07.839
to support the young couple by purchasing a trailer and

83
00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:11.600
actually placing it on the family farm. Now, I can

84
00:07:11.639 --> 00:07:14.720
only assume that his hope here was maybe that Wesley

85
00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:18.759
would feel less pressure to pay bills and not go

86
00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:22.160
into these violent outbursts that seemed like a lot of

87
00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:26.319
these would be triggered by financial problems. And in addition

88
00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:29.680
to that, if they lived on the family farm, he

89
00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:32.879
could also keep an eye on his daughter and hopefully

90
00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:37.160
keep her safe. Now, despite all this help, the relationship

91
00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:42.040
between these two unfortunately would not improve. They would break up,

92
00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:45.680
they would get back together, break up again, get back

93
00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:49.600
together again, and they were just seemingly stuck in this

94
00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:55.240
constant back and forth cycle. Wesley's temper seemed to control everything,

95
00:07:55.319 --> 00:07:59.199
and Janie just never knew what was going to set

96
00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:03.199
him off. He was unemployed and he was also dealing

97
00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:08.439
with a recent arrest for distribution of crack cocaine. This

98
00:08:08.600 --> 00:08:11.560
was in two thousand and one, and he would often

99
00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:17.759
take his legal frustration out on Janice physically. So I'm

100
00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:20.560
going to take you to August of two thousand and two.

101
00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:25.439
Janis at this point was sixteen years old and Westerley

102
00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:29.279
Harris was twenty two years old. Shae, their daughter at

103
00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:33.240
this point in time, was seventeen months old, and the

104
00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:38.120
relationship just gets totally out of control. To get in

105
00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:41.639
an argument on August twenty third of two thousand and

106
00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:46.799
two over Westley's refusal to pay Jamis for some diapers

107
00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:50.120
that he had bought for Shade that he agreed to

108
00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:53.240
pay for. She asked him about it. He refuses to

109
00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.840
give her the money, and in the midst of this

110
00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:00.879
back and forth fighting, he hauls off and slaps her

111
00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:05.200
so hard it knocks her to the ground. She gets

112
00:09:05.320 --> 00:09:09.559
up and she's gonna defend herself. She actually grabs a

113
00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:14.399
shotgun from the closet. Now around this time, her brother

114
00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:18.240
Jerry enters the main house and he sees that she

115
00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:23.360
has this shotgun pointed at Wesley, and he attempts to

116
00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:27.240
calm everybody down before things get worse. You know, there's

117
00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:30.360
no good ending to this with someone having a shotgun

118
00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:34.840
pointing at someone they're pissed at. Right. Eventually everything does

119
00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:38.639
calm down, and Wesley storms out of that form and

120
00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:41.600
leaves the property, but it wouldn't take long. The very

121
00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:44.600
next day, as a matter of fact, Wesley starts calling

122
00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:48.240
Janice at her work and he's begging her not to

123
00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:51.519
call the police over that SmackDown if you will, that

124
00:09:51.639 --> 00:09:55.120
he gave her. He's acting as if he's sorry, trying

125
00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:59.000
to manipulate her all those things, but she doesn't tell

126
00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:02.559
him what she's decided to do. The fact is she

127
00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:05.360
hadn't made up her mind yet. Maybe she would call

128
00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:08.399
the police, maybe she wouldn't call the police. She was

129
00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:11.840
still thinking all of that over. But that was not

130
00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:15.720
enough for Wesley. He wanted an answer right. So the

131
00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:20.679
next evening, which is Sunday evening, Wesley shows up at

132
00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:24.840
the farm and he is determined to speak to Janice.

133
00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:29.879
Her grandmother, Mala Ruth, confronts him and she tells him

134
00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:33.919
if he doesn't leave the farm, she's gonna call police. Well,

135
00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:38.679
he still refuses to leave the farm, but rather than

136
00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:42.600
call the police, she rounds up Janie's father, who then

137
00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:47.200
rounds up two of her brothers, Jerry and John, as

138
00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:50.879
well as Janis's mother, Joanne, and they all show up

139
00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:56.159
at that trailer on the property armed and they ain't playing.

140
00:10:56.679 --> 00:11:00.919
They are gonna make sure Wesley leaves the property, even

141
00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:03.919
if he has to by gunpoint. And that brings us

142
00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:08.840
to the horrific events that would take place on August

143
00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:12.759
twenty six of two thousand and two. So Wesley Harris

144
00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:16.480
by this point, he's enraged. He's probably stayed up all

145
00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:20.120
night thinking on how he is going to get his

146
00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:22.679
hands on Janis. You got to remember, this is a

147
00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:27.919
guy that is used to controlling her, and that rage

148
00:11:28.200 --> 00:11:32.120
just builds and builds to the point that he can't

149
00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:36.480
take it anymore. The very next morning, at approximately eight

150
00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:41.120
thirty am, he arrives at the Ball family farm, and

151
00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:44.399
this time he is armed with a shotgun.

152
00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:51.519
Jim, did you see what happened in Texas today?

153
00:11:51.720 --> 00:11:54.240
Wait before you tell me that, let me tell you

154
00:11:54.279 --> 00:11:55.480
what happened in New York.

155
00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:57.440
It cannot be as crazy as the case I told

156
00:11:57.440 --> 00:11:58.960
you about yesterday in Louisiana.

157
00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:02.080
You know what, we should do a podcast about it.

158
00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:05.159
And with that we did. Crime War Weekly covers the

159
00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:07.399
crime news headlines that have dominated the week.

160
00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:11.120
We cover trending crimes from all over the country and

161
00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.639
even sprinkle in a few globally.

162
00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:16.480
Crime War Weekly is available now wherever you listen to

163
00:12:16.519 --> 00:12:18.120
your podcasts.

164
00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:21.200
Simply by searching crime wiar weekly or clicking the link

165
00:12:21.399 --> 00:12:30.799
in the description of this podcast. He breaks into the

166
00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:36.279
main house. Janice is awoken with the sight of Westley

167
00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:41.879
raging his eyes, standing over her, shaking the bed violently

168
00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:47.159
trying to wake her up. He has the shotgun pressed

169
00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:52.879
into her grandmother Mala Ruth's stomach, and he forces both

170
00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:56.320
women into the kitchen in that main house. He then

171
00:12:56.519 --> 00:13:00.600
makes sixty two year old grandmother Mala lie on the

172
00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:04.559
floor and he tapes her wrist behind her back with

173
00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:09.360
duct tape. Now Mala Ruth hands behind her back taped

174
00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:12.600
with this duct tape. She attempts to get to her

175
00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:15.720
knees and she also is scared to death and she

176
00:13:15.799 --> 00:13:20.240
starts to pray. And it's at this point that Wesley

177
00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:26.039
Harris takes the shotgun and he shoots grandmother Mala Ruth

178
00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:30.679
right in the face, killing her. He then turns his

179
00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:34.840
attention to Janice, tying her hands behind her back with

180
00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:39.159
the duct tape and then brings her into the bedroom

181
00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:43.080
and he takes a telephone cord and an extension cord

182
00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:47.720
and he ties Janie to the bed. He then turns

183
00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:52.639
his attention toward baby. Shay picks her up, places her

184
00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:59.679
in the bed, and tells Janice, quote, don't do anything stupid. Then,

185
00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:04.000
as Janie is laying there, she hears footsteps of him

186
00:14:04.039 --> 00:14:06.919
walking away and walking out of the house. Now, what

187
00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:10.799
she didn't know is that he was heading to her brother,

188
00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:15.759
seventeen year old Tony's room. He goes into Tony's bedroom,

189
00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:21.279
where Wesley finds him sleeping. He puts a gun to

190
00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:28.080
his head, shoots him, and kills him point blank range.

191
00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:30.960
He goes back into the main house and then for

192
00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:35.799
roughly seven hours, Wesley remains in that house. Periodically he

193
00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:39.960
would check on Janis, he would watch TV, acting the

194
00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:44.279
exact opposite of someone you would expect had just murdered

195
00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:50.440
two people. Now, at three point thirty pm, Janice's older brother,

196
00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:54.399
nineteen year old Jerry Ball, he arrives at the home

197
00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:59.279
after picking up Janie's younger brother, fourteen year old John Ball,

198
00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:04.320
from sk so, he drops John Ball in the front

199
00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:08.320
of that main house and he drives off. John enters

200
00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:11.879
the home just as Jerry drops him off and leaves,

201
00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:17.200
and before he can even walk in the home, Wesley

202
00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:22.519
shoots him. Then he pulls him into the house still alive,

203
00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:28.919
shoots him again kills him in the kitchen. About thirty

204
00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:34.320
minutes later, at four o'clock PM, Janesis father, forty year

205
00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:39.000
old Willie, arrives on the property. Now he goes first

206
00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:44.000
out to the hogpen to feed the hogs. Wesley exits

207
00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:47.399
the main house, meets him at the hog pen, shoots

208
00:15:47.480 --> 00:15:52.759
him in the face, killing him. And if you're keeping track,

209
00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:58.480
that's Wesley's fourth victim of the day. Then about an

210
00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:03.440
hour later, at five o'clock PM, Janie's mother, thirty five

211
00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:07.279
year old jo Anne, she arrives at the home. She

212
00:16:07.559 --> 00:16:10.159
enters the home and as soon as she walks in

213
00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:15.720
you guessed it, Wesley shoots her in the face. Joanne

214
00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:19.600
then falls to the floor, and just to make sure

215
00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:24.519
she's dead, Wesley fires She had another shot into the

216
00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:29.840
back of her neck, killing her. Now that's victim number five.

217
00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:34.639
But Wesley, he's not done yet. About thirty minutes later,

218
00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:39.799
Jerry Ball returns to that farm. He runs up the

219
00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:45.159
porch steps where Wesley shoots him once in the head

220
00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:50.039
and once in the chest, killing him. So in a

221
00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:55.120
nine to ten hour time span, Wesley Harris had killed

222
00:16:55.799 --> 00:17:02.919
Janis's mother, James's father, her three brothers, and her grandmother

223
00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:10.400
six people. Throughout this entire ordeal, Janice was forced to

224
00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:15.480
lay there tied to the bed while hearing each family

225
00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:20.359
member get murdered, hearing those gunshots going off, and when

226
00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:27.200
it was done, Wesley slowly unties Janie and tells her

227
00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:31.519
to make baby Shaye a bottle. He then loads up

228
00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:34.680
some stolen items that he's going to steal from all

229
00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:39.240
these people into the car and he flees the farm

230
00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:44.559
with Janice, Shay and even the family dog. So over

231
00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:48.400
the next several days they would stay at friend's house,

232
00:17:48.680 --> 00:17:52.920
with Janice obviously living in total fear that he's going

233
00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:55.839
to kill her and the baby if she says anything

234
00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:59.759
about any of this, But it was really no secret.

235
00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:04.759
The victims were discovered the very next day by Crenshaw

236
00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:09.039
County Sheriff's deputies. This was on the evening of Tuesday,

237
00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:12.759
August twenty seventh of two thousand and two, the day

238
00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:17.480
after the killings. The deputies get dispatched to the farm

239
00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:20.759
after a family member by the name of Coleman Ball,

240
00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:25.039
who was the son of Mila Ruth Ball. He goes

241
00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:28.839
to the property and he finds his mother's house locked.

242
00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:33.160
He had been alerted by his aunt who was concerned

243
00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:37.240
because the door was locked, and that was apparently very

244
00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:42.039
unusual for the family. So police make entry and they

245
00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:47.680
make obviously this horrific discovery. So you have a manhunt

246
00:18:48.119 --> 00:18:51.599
going on at this point for the murders of six people.

247
00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:56.720
Six people all of the state of Alabama is on

248
00:18:56.920 --> 00:19:00.759
watch for these two and police had a really good

249
00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:05.920
idea that Wesley was the one responsible. So three days later,

250
00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:11.160
after they implore the help of Wesley's aunt, who takes

251
00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:14.319
to the airwaves to beg her nephew to give up,

252
00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:18.759
it actually works, and on August twenty ninth of two

253
00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:24.720
thousand and two, Wesley is taken into custody for these killings,

254
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:28.799
as is Janice. And of course it didn't take long.

255
00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:32.880
Police quickly determined Janis had nothing to do with the

256
00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:36.400
killings and was a victim of this guy. So the

257
00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:40.400
very next day he is charged with six counts of

258
00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:46.039
first degree murder, each count carrying a possible death penalty.

259
00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:49.119
And it took a while, but by the fall of

260
00:19:49.240 --> 00:19:53.519
two thousand and four, the case was finally ready for trial.

261
00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:57.640
Jerry's selection begins This is on October twenty fifth of

262
00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:01.720
two thousand and four, and the trial commences on November

263
00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:05.480
third of two thousand and four. The prosecution, of course,

264
00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:11.400
painted a picture of a calculated, vengeful attack, driven by

265
00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:15.880
Harris's resentment toward the Ball family for trying to protect

266
00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:21.039
Janie from his abuse. Janis, of course, testified in length,

267
00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:24.559
and she recounted how Harris had held her captive and

268
00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:28.960
forced her to witness the killings, and then abducted her

269
00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:33.359
and their daughter as they fled. Now, the defense, they

270
00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:38.160
aggressively countered this, and that's their job, right. They argued

271
00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:42.079
that Janis was an unreliable witness who may have had

272
00:20:42.119 --> 00:20:46.359
her own motives related to the family issues, and that

273
00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:51.079
she had possibly solicited or participated in the plan. Obviously,

274
00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:57.920
that totally bogus and ridiculous. The trial lasted nearly two weeks,

275
00:20:58.279 --> 00:21:02.400
but on November fifteenth of two thousand and four, suddenly

276
00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:08.400
that trial comes to an abrupt end and a mistrial

277
00:21:09.079 --> 00:21:15.559
is declared. That's right, a mistrial. So what happened? Well?

278
00:21:16.119 --> 00:21:20.640
Evidence emerged of jury tampering, apparently a woman connected to

279
00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:25.519
Harris's circle, which was later identified as a close friend

280
00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:30.119
of his had attempted to influence at least one juror,

281
00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:36.039
and a juror was found to have committed perjury regarding this. Now,

282
00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:40.559
both the woman and the juror later pleaded guilty to

283
00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:45.119
offenses related to that, but the judge hadn't a choice

284
00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:48.519
in this matter but to declare a mistrial in order

285
00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:52.519
a retrial. Now, that second trial starts in the spring

286
00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.200
of two thousand and five, and a full jury they

287
00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:00.279
were already seated just a couple of days later. This time,

288
00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:06.119
the proceedings moved much more efficiently. The guilt phase unfolded

289
00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:09.160
over roughly two weeks in early June of that year,

290
00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:14.519
and the prosecution again relied heavily on Janus's testimony. They

291
00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:18.759
also had some forensic evidence linking Harris to those shootings,

292
00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:22.599
and of course they covered the timeline of these crimes,

293
00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:27.640
and the defense again tried to attack Janis's credibility, and

294
00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:32.160
they presented some evidence of Harris's difficult childhood. They tried

295
00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:37.839
to say he was a low functioning intellectual, and they

296
00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:40.480
also focused on the fact that he didn't have a

297
00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:45.200
very significant prior criminal history. He had one, remember, he

298
00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:49.839
got arrested for selling cocaine, but they really focused on

299
00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:52.640
he wasn't one of these guys that have been in

300
00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:55.119
and out of jail since he was fourteen, Like that

301
00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:58.519
freaking matters when you shoodn't kill six people. So on

302
00:22:58.599 --> 00:23:02.480
June fourteenth of two thousand and five, after deliberating, the

303
00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:07.720
jury returned verdicts of guilty on all six counts of

304
00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:12.640
capital murder and Harris he showed very little visible emotion

305
00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:18.000
as these convictions were read. Of course, the penalty phase

306
00:23:18.200 --> 00:23:20.720
followed that. As a matter of fact, it was the

307
00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:25.799
very next day, and this was the critical stage where

308
00:23:25.960 --> 00:23:31.240
the jury would recommend life without parole or death. Now,

309
00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:35.880
the defense presented an extensive case. They called ten witnesses,

310
00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:40.759
including family members, a former baseball coach, a youth minister,

311
00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:44.440
and even jail officials. In long story short, by the

312
00:23:44.519 --> 00:23:49.759
time this thing was all over, Harris received the death sentence,

313
00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:54.799
which at that time he was condemned to death by

314
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:58.920
lethal injection. Now, if you've learned anything since I've been

315
00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:01.640
covering not only these cases, but everything I've covered on

316
00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:04.880
Bloody and Goa, it's not that simple. Of course, he

317
00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:10.519
had appeals et cetera throughout the years, but in each

318
00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:15.319
of those appeals. Eventually his death sentence was upheld. So

319
00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:18.680
when he sentenced to death, he arrives at what's known

320
00:24:18.759 --> 00:24:26.119
as the William C. Holman Correctional Facility. This is in Atmore, Alabama,

321
00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:29.559
and for more than twenty years now, Harris is identified

322
00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:34.599
in prison records as prisoner zero zero zero zero Z

323
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.680
seven to one five. Obviously, he lives inside the walls

324
00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:44.640
of Holman, which is one of Alabama's most notorious prisons.

325
00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:50.880
The facility sits isolated among cotton fields. Its perimeter fences

326
00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:55.079
and watchtowers are a constant reminder that this is the

327
00:24:55.319 --> 00:24:59.400
end of the line for many, and Harris was no

328
00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:04.720
death row at Holman is a world apart even from

329
00:25:04.839 --> 00:25:09.799
the rest of the prison's violent general population see here.

330
00:25:09.960 --> 00:25:13.559
The condemned or kept in restrictive housing, and they are

331
00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:18.960
largely cut off from human contact. A typical day for

332
00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:23.000
Harris would start in a very small cell, roughly the

333
00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:27.039
size of an average bathroom, maybe eight by twelve feet.

334
00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:30.359
Inside of that cell there is a steel bunk, a

335
00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:35.839
combined sink in toilet, a narrow table shelf bolted to

336
00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:41.079
a wall. The heavy door closes with that familiar clang

337
00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:45.799
every night for him, and for twenty two to twenty

338
00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:50.720
four hours a day, that cell is his entire world.

339
00:25:50.839 --> 00:25:55.240
His mills are slid through a narrow slot in that cell.

340
00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:59.400
Door showers come just a few times a week, and

341
00:25:59.559 --> 00:26:03.920
typically almost always for death row inmates that's under escort.

342
00:26:04.519 --> 00:26:09.839
He has very limited natural light, and the music of

343
00:26:09.880 --> 00:26:14.119
the day is typically the sounds of guards walking up

344
00:26:14.119 --> 00:26:19.119
and down that tier, distant voices, maybe the occasional scrape

345
00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:22.000
of a food tray. Now a few times each week,

346
00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:25.079
if the schedule holds Harris, he might be allowed out

347
00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:30.319
for recreation, often alone in a small fenced cage where

348
00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:35.640
he can pace, stretch, or just simply stand there. Communication

349
00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:39.680
with other inmates only occurs through fishing, which are not

350
00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:43.319
supposted to, but these are improvised lines made from torn

351
00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:47.599
sheets of clothing that slide notes or small items from

352
00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:51.240
sell to sell. He can read, he can write letters,

353
00:26:51.240 --> 00:26:54.359
he can work on legal papers. He can listen to

354
00:26:54.519 --> 00:26:59.799
a radio or watch limited television, and his visits always

355
00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:06.880
place behind glass. Phone calls are brief, monitored and very infrequent.

356
00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:10.279
And that is his life, twenty four hours a day,

357
00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:13.880
seven days a week. And I cannot say that I

358
00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:18.759
feel sorry for Wesley Dale Harris. He's now in his

359
00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:22.720
mid forties. He has spent more than half his life

360
00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:30.880
behind these walls, all because of a knee jerk reaction

361
00:27:32.359 --> 00:27:38.200
and the absolute insanity to control another human being that

362
00:27:38.359 --> 00:27:45.480
led him to kill Janus's six family members. Absolutely horrific.

363
00:27:45.559 --> 00:27:48.880
He is one hundred percent one of the most dangerous

364
00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:56.200
inmates in Alabama and that was his story. Thank you

365
00:27:56.599 --> 00:28:00.039
so much for listening. We'll be back next week with

366
00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:05.279
another edition of fifty Shades of Evil. Not sure where

367
00:28:05.319 --> 00:28:07.680
I'm gonna go next, so you'll have to tune in

368
00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:10.880
and see if it's your state that I pick next.

369
00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:15.440
You can check us out on Patreon for ad free

370
00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:19.799
releases of all these episodes plus much more. I have

371
00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:23.680
over two hundred ad free episodes up on the Patreon

372
00:28:24.039 --> 00:28:29.920
that is patreon dot com. Slash Bloody Inngoa podcast and

373
00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:35.200
until next time for Bloody Angola, I'm your host, Jim Chapman.

374
00:28:35.799 --> 00:28:36.640
Much love.

375
00:28:52.359 --> 00:29:03.319
A Wall Street line, shackle chain, some girdie. It's calling

376
00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:09.400
by the name. There is no mercy and it's been

377
00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:18.039
a tentery Jesus as the Hill Stream Game Wrangle three.

378
00:29:19.559 --> 00:29:20.440
I'm here be.

379
00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:31.160
By mere to die inside these walls, inside the wild,

380
00:29:33.079 --> 00:29:36.319
and went more girls.

381
00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:36.920
I know.

382
00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:37.720
It's a.

383
00:29:43.079 --> 00:30:05.640
Bloody angle, obody angle in p