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There was no lack of warning. Curtis Bernard Harris had a long history of violent, abusive, criminal behavior, including twice seizing his estranged wife and terrorizing her.
Still, a judge in Pomona released Harris from jail late last month, allowing him to tie up any loose ends before being sentenced to prison in the most recent of those cases. The judge freed him even though the Los Angeles County Probation Department said he was "unsuitable for release."
FOR THE RECORD:
Defense lawyer: An article in Tuesday's Section A, about a man who killed his estranged wife and himself while he was free without bail pending sentencing to state prison, misspelled the last name of defense attorney Arthur P. Lindars as Linders. —
On Saturday, a maid cleaning a Whittier motel room found the bodies of Monica Thomas-Harris, 37, of Upland and Harris, 34, of Chino. Harris apparently shot and killed his wife before turning the gun on himself, West Covina Police Lt. Ron Mitchell said.
The deaths immediately raised questions about Harris' being freed on his own recognizance -- a decision by L.A. County Superior Court Judge Tia Fisher that was not opposed by prosecutors.
On Monday, as prosecutors met to review what had happened, friends and women's rights advocates said the system had failed Monica Thomas-Harris, a mother of two.
"We knew he was a killer. The first time was practice," said Alice Slaughter, whose daughter worked with Thomas-Harris. Slaughter went to the Pomona courthouse looking for answers in her friend's death. She said she was angry that authorities failed to protect Thomas-Harris from a man who had been violent and confrontational for years.
"These deaths were sadly predictable," said Katie Buckland, executive director of the California Women's Law Center. "This is the classic cycle of intimate partner violence. To say the least, it was irresponsible of the judge, and particularly the prosecutors, to allow Curtis Harris to be released without bail for any reason."
Court records indicate that Harris had a felony criminal record that stretched back to at least 1993, when he was convicted in San Bernardino County of discharging a firearm in a public place. The San Bernardino County district attorney's office said he was sentenced to 16 months in prison in that case.
In 1999, Harris was charged with three felony counts in San Diego: possession of marijuana, resisting an officer and unlawful possession of a weapon or ammunition. Los Angeles County probation officials said he received a 32-month state prison term on narcotics charges in that case.
"He was not a nice guy, not a nice guy at all. I was afraid of him," said Tamara Cerven, Thomas-Harris' manager at Nutro Products Inc. in the City of Industry.
Harris and Thomas-Harris were married in June 2001 and separated in October 2003, according to divorce papers filed in December 2005.
About the same time as the divorce filing, Thomas-Harris and members of her extended family were granted a temporary restraining order against Harris after an incident at her home in West Covina.
Asked in that case to describe the "most recent abuse," Thomas-Harris wrote: "Curtis came to my home. I opened the front door but not the security door. He kept asking me to step outside so he could speak to me. I refused many times and asked him to leave. He got angrier and angrier, kicking and banging on the door. Then he banged on the kitchen window and broke the glass. Then he went to my bedroom window and he broke the glass still demanding that I open the door. When I told him my neighbor called 911 he left saying he would see me tomorrow."
The 2005 restraining order had long expired by the time of a run-in between the couple in November. On Nov. 16, Thomas-Harris said, her husband took her from a West Covina park and handcuffed her to furniture at a nearby hotel, according to West Covina police.
She did not immediately report the incident, believing it would not happen again, police said.
Two days later, Harris showed up at his wife's workplace in the City of Industry, took her inside his car, bound her with duct tape and threatened her with a stun gun, Mitchell said.
She escaped and reported both incidents to police, leading to his arrest Nov. 19.
Still, a judge in Pomona released Harris from jail late last month, allowing him to tie up any loose ends before being sentenced to prison in the most recent of those cases. The judge freed him even though the Los Angeles County Probation Department said he was "unsuitable for release."
FOR THE RECORD:
Defense lawyer: An article in Tuesday's Section A, about a man who killed his estranged wife and himself while he was free without bail pending sentencing to state prison, misspelled the last name of defense attorney Arthur P. Lindars as Linders. —
On Saturday, a maid cleaning a Whittier motel room found the bodies of Monica Thomas-Harris, 37, of Upland and Harris, 34, of Chino. Harris apparently shot and killed his wife before turning the gun on himself, West Covina Police Lt. Ron Mitchell said.
The deaths immediately raised questions about Harris' being freed on his own recognizance -- a decision by L.A. County Superior Court Judge Tia Fisher that was not opposed by prosecutors.
On Monday, as prosecutors met to review what had happened, friends and women's rights advocates said the system had failed Monica Thomas-Harris, a mother of two.
"We knew he was a killer. The first time was practice," said Alice Slaughter, whose daughter worked with Thomas-Harris. Slaughter went to the Pomona courthouse looking for answers in her friend's death. She said she was angry that authorities failed to protect Thomas-Harris from a man who had been violent and confrontational for years.
"These deaths were sadly predictable," said Katie Buckland, executive director of the California Women's Law Center. "This is the classic cycle of intimate partner violence. To say the least, it was irresponsible of the judge, and particularly the prosecutors, to allow Curtis Harris to be released without bail for any reason."
Court records indicate that Harris had a felony criminal record that stretched back to at least 1993, when he was convicted in San Bernardino County of discharging a firearm in a public place. The San Bernardino County district attorney's office said he was sentenced to 16 months in prison in that case.
In 1999, Harris was charged with three felony counts in San Diego: possession of marijuana, resisting an officer and unlawful possession of a weapon or ammunition. Los Angeles County probation officials said he received a 32-month state prison term on narcotics charges in that case.
"He was not a nice guy, not a nice guy at all. I was afraid of him," said Tamara Cerven, Thomas-Harris' manager at Nutro Products Inc. in the City of Industry.
Harris and Thomas-Harris were married in June 2001 and separated in October 2003, according to divorce papers filed in December 2005.
About the same time as the divorce filing, Thomas-Harris and members of her extended family were granted a temporary restraining order against Harris after an incident at her home in West Covina.
Asked in that case to describe the "most recent abuse," Thomas-Harris wrote: "Curtis came to my home. I opened the front door but not the security door. He kept asking me to step outside so he could speak to me. I refused many times and asked him to leave. He got angrier and angrier, kicking and banging on the door. Then he banged on the kitchen window and broke the glass. Then he went to my bedroom window and he broke the glass still demanding that I open the door. When I told him my neighbor called 911 he left saying he would see me tomorrow."
The 2005 restraining order had long expired by the time of a run-in between the couple in November. On Nov. 16, Thomas-Harris said, her husband took her from a West Covina park and handcuffed her to furniture at a nearby hotel, according to West Covina police.
She did not immediately report the incident, believing it would not happen again, police said.
Two days later, Harris showed up at his wife's workplace in the City of Industry, took her inside his car, bound her with duct tape and threatened her with a stun gun, Mitchell said.
She escaped and reported both incidents to police, leading to his arrest Nov. 19.
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