A judge has handed a life sentence to a man who murdered his wife by spiking her cereal with heroin, describing him as a “selfish, murderous, lying, monster”.
Jason Harris, 47, from Michigan, was sentenced to life without parole for the murder of his wife Christina Harris-Thompson, 36, who had given birth to the couple’s child just four months before her death.
Harris was convicted of the 2014 murder of his wife in November, with Genesee Circuit Court Judge David Newblatt handing down the sentence on 10 December and telling Harris he agreed with everything the jury had concluded.
“I agree completely with their verdict,” Judge Newblatt told Harris, MLive reported.
“You are guilty. You did this. You are a murderer. You are a liar. I want to make that very clear. The jury saw through your lies and I see through your lies.”
When Harris-Thompson died, it was initially concluded that her death was an accidental overdose, and Harris got a $120,000 life-insurance payout after her death. However, her family maintained that she had never taken drugs and it later transpired that Harris had put heroin in her cereal.
Harris’s brother went to the police after his wife’s death, telling the authorities that his brother was having an affair and that he suspected he had killed his wife.
According to a neighbour, Harris claimed that his wife was not feeling well on the night she died and that he made her a bowl of cereal but that she had collapsed before eating it.
However, he was unable to explain why he did not immediately call 911, MailOnline reported.
Authorities later discovered that Harris had offered a co-worker money to kill his wife, and had earlier paid another co-worker for Xanax, which he put in her water.
However, he then asked the colleague for more pills as he said his wife had complained that the drink tasted strange and did not finish it. Later, Harris asked his colleague if he would kill his wife, commenting that another hitman hadn’t managed to finish the job. The colleague refused the request however he failed to report Harris to the police.
