Bio

Richard Eugene Harris resided in Oklahoma during the mid-to-late 20th century. His interactions with the legal system began heavily in 1968. During this period, Harris became involved in an altercation within a localized circle of male associates in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This encounter resulted in a violent confrontation where Harris used a knife to stab another man to death. 

Following his arrest by the Tulsa Police Department, prosecutors processed his charges through the local judicial system. Harris was ultimately convicted of manslaughter for the stabbing death and received a prison sentence. He served five years of confinement within the Oklahoma state prison system before being released back into the community on parole or completion of his sentence, subsequently returning to the Tulsa area.

Murder Story

On the evening of June 12, 1975, 27-year-old Paul Thomas Shead left his family home in Tulsa to walk his dog at Mohawk Park, a local recreational area roughly five miles away. Shead, an employee who was described by acquaintances as a highly social individual who frequently conversed with strangers in the park, drove to the location in his 1975 Datsun B210. While at the park, Shead encountered Harris. 

An interaction took place between the two men inside or near Shead's vehicle. During this encounter, Harris produced a firearm and shot Shead once in the left side of the chest. The projectile traveled downward through Shead's chest cavity, perforating his rib, lung, diaphragm, and spleen. Following the shooting, Harris took Shead's thick wallet, which contained several hundred dollars intended for an upcoming family vacation, but left behind his own personal billfold containing his identification documents and a retail receipt on the front passenger floorboard.

Despite suffering massive internal hemorrhaging, the small nature of the wound allowed Shead to remain conscious for an estimated thirty minutes. He attempted to drive away to seek medical attention, but his vehicle veered off the road and became lodged in a ditch in the eastern portion of Mohawk Park. 

At approximately 1:00 a.m. on June 13, 1975, a Tulsa Police Department patrol officer discovered the vehicle. Shead was found deceased in the driver's seat with his dog still inside the car. Investigating detectives processed the crime scene and discovered Harris's abandoned billfold on the floorboard, directly linking him to the vehicle.Tulsa Police Department officers apprehended Harris later that morning on June 13, 1975. 

A Tulsa County grand jury subsequently indicted him on charges of second-degree murder. His trial took place in the Tulsa County District Court under Judge Jay D. Dalton, where prosecutors presented circumstantial evidence, including the recovered billfold, ballistics indicators, and forensic data regarding the timing of Shead's last meal. The defense argued that the circumstantial elements failed to prove a prima facie case, but the jury rejected this claim. 

On May 6, 1977, Harris was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to an indeterminate term of 10 years to life in the state penitentiary. Harris launched a formal appeal with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, which officially affirmed his conviction and sentence on March 2, 1979. He remains incarcerated within the Oklahoma correctional network.