The murder of Dale Harrell (December 18, 1974 – February 9, 2009) occurred after he was fatally attacked on January 14, 2009 by his wife Marissa-Suzanne "Reese" DeVault (born November 6, 1977) in Maricopa County, Arizona. Her trial made national and global headlines.
After Harrell was cremated at a Mesa mortuary, DeVault refused to give the remains to his parents, who then filed a civil suit against her for Harrell's remains and punitive damages.
William "Bill" Harrell Jr. died at his home on Saturday surrounded by his family following a lengthy battle with cancer, according to the family's spokesperson. Harrell founded Harrell & Harrell — a personal injury law firm with 18 lawyers and 100 employees that has served Northeast Florida for 25 years.
"He represented diverse clients ranging from individuals to Fortune 500 companies and municipalities." The family moved to Jacksonville in 1991 to be closer to his parents and his sister, founding Harrell and Harrell that year.
The American Public Transportation Association board elected Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nathaniel Ford as chairman for the upcoming year.
Jacksonville homebuilder Providence Homes has received the 2017 Energy Star Market Leader award for the eighth year.
Stellar founder Ronald Foster has been inducted into the University of Florida’s M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Construction Management Construction Hall of Fame.
Franklin Street named Josh Dohring as associate director, retail leasing.
Jacksonville restaurant TacoLu, founded by Don and Debbie Nicol in 2008, was the winner of the inaugural Web.com Small Business of the Tournament award given at the Web.com Championship tournament at Atlantic Beach Country Club.
A personal injury lawyer will defend the rights of a person injured in an accident due to someone else’s negligence. With personal injury cases, the lawyer will negotiate with insurance companies or others on their clients’ behalf in an attempt to reach a fair settlement.
An elderly man suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was beaten with a case by his roommate in an assist ed living facility. Numerous reports were made pertaining to the violent behavior of our client's roommate prior to the incident. Read More
On February 9, 2009, Harrell died of his wounds and a grand jury indicted DeVault for first-degree murder. At 3:00 a.m. the next morning, DeVault was assaulted by an unknown assailant as she was jogging, suffering a broken jaw and ankle.
The murder of Dale Harrell (December 18, 1974 – February 9, 2009) occurred after he was fatally attacked on January 14, 2009 by his wife Marissa-Suzanne "Reese" DeVault (born November 6, 1977) in Maricopa County, Arizona. Her trial made national and global headlines. The case was noted as being very similar to that of the murder of Travis Alexander by Jodi Arias, with whom DeVault was in contact and whose murder trial occurred in the same courthouse one year earlier. Though she faced the possibility of a death penalty for her crime, DeVault was sentenced to life in prison. She is imprisoned within the Arizona Department of Corrections .
On January 14, 2009, DeVault entered the master bedroom that she and Harrell shared at their home in Gilbert, Arizona. She then struck Harrell several times in the head while he was sleeping. Harrell received multiple skull fractures and was taken to the hospital. DeVault initially claimed that Harrell was beaten by an unknown assailant who had broken into the home. She later confessed that she had beaten Harrell as an act of self-defense and alleged that Harrell was physically and sexually abusive. DeVault was arrested the same night on charges of aggravated assault and was held at a local jail, but was later released on bail. Officers noted that DeVault had reddened marks upon her neck and that they had found a hammer covered with blood at the crime scene. In early February 2009, DeVault was indicted for attempted murder and released on bond.
She later confessed that she had beaten Harrell as an act of self-defense and alleged that Harrell was physically and sexually abusive. DeVault was arrested the same night on charges of aggravated assault and was held at a local jail, but was later released on bail.
The trial for DeVault officially began on January 22, 2014, and was expected to run until April. In their opening statements, the defense and prosecutors posed different reasons as to DeVault's motivations for beating Harrell with a hammer.
The case was noted as being very similar to that of the murder of Travis Alexander by Jodi Arias, with whom DeVault was in contact and whose murder trial occurred in the same courthouse one year earlier. Though she faced the possibility of a death penalty for her crime, DeVault was sentenced to life in prison.
The prosecution countered this with testimony from clinical psychologist Dr. Janeen DeMarte, who diagnosed DeVault as having antisocial personality disorder.