Cal Harris: Missing Wife, Four Trials, and Acquittal

Cal Harris, a former car dealer from Spencer, New York, was tried four times for the murder of his estranged wife Michele Harris, who disappeared in September 2001 and whose body has never been found. Two juries convicted him and both convictions were overturned on appeal. A third jury deadlocked. At a fourth trial in 2016, a judge sitting without a jury found him not guilty. The Cal Harris murder trials stretched across roughly fifteen years and produced one of the longest-running homicide prosecutions in recent New York history.

How Michele Harris Disappeared

Michele Harris was 35 and waiting tables at Lefty’s in Waverly, New York. She had filed for divorce from Cal in January 2001 but was still living with him and their four young children in the family home in Spencer. She was also dating Brian Earley, a 23-year-old land surveyor who had moved from Philadelphia to be near her and put $5,000 toward a down payment on a new house in Owego.¹

On the night of September 11, 2001, Michele finished her shift and went to Earley’s apartment. He testified that he walked her to her van around 11 p.m. and watched her drive off.² The next morning her van was found at the end of the family’s driveway. She was never seen again. She was scheduled to meet her divorce lawyer that day.

The Case Against Cal Harris

New York State Police focused on Cal from early on. Forensic investigators reported blood drops in the kitchen and garage of the Harris home. State Police specialist Steven Andersen identified what prosecutors called “medium velocity impact spatter” on a kitchen doorway, and criminologist Henry Lee later testified the patterns were consistent with a bludgeoning.¹

The prosecution’s theory was domestic: a contentious divorce, money at stake, and a husband who wanted his wife gone before she could take her share. Family members reportedly said Cal had once told Michele, “I got the perfect place to put your body, they’ll never find you.” The children’s nanny, Barb Thayer, and other witnesses said Cal appeared unusually calm the morning after Michele vanished, did not ask where she was, and had her van cleaned at his dealership.¹

Investigators looked at other men in Michele’s life, including Earley, whose apartment and a family cabin in Pennsylvania were searched. He was cleared. Prosecutors said throughout the case that they had ruled out every other suspect.²

The road to trial had trouble of its own. In January 2007 a trial court dismissed the original indictment, finding that then–District Attorney Gerald Keene had “intentionally” presented large amounts of improper hearsay to the grand jury, including speculative testimony about Cal’s character. The court called Keene’s conduct “patently improper.” A new indictment followed.³

Four Trials, Four Different Outcomes

First Trial: Conviction, Then Thrown Out

Jury selection in Tioga County began May 21, 2007. On June 7, jurors convicted Cal of second-degree murder, relying largely on the blood evidence and a witness who said he heard Cal threaten Michele.⁴

Before sentencing, a local farmer named Kevin Tubbs came forward. Tubbs said that at about 5:30 a.m. on September 12, 2001, he saw a woman he believed to be Michele standing near a pickup truck at the entrance of the Harris driveway with a young, tanned man in his twenties, and he was certain the man was not Cal. That placed Michele alive hours after the prosecution’s timeline had her dead. On November 2, 2007, Judge Martin E. Smith threw out the conviction.⁵⁶

Second Trial: Conviction, Then Reversed on Appeal

The second trial was moved to Chemung County. Jury selection began July 13, 2009, before Judge James T. Hayden. On August 5 the jury again returned a guilty verdict, and on October 5 Cal was sentenced to 25 years to life.⁶

He served about four years in state prison. On October 18, 2012, the New York State Court of Appeals overturned the conviction, citing two errors: a juror with a “preconceived notion about the case,” and insufficient jury instructions on hearsay testimony the trial court had allowed.⁷⁴

Third Trial: Hung Jury

Venue moved again, this time more than 100 miles northeast to Schoharie County. Jury selection began January 22, 2015, and testimony ran roughly eleven weeks. Judge George Bartlett allowed Tubbs to testify but barred the defense from presenting evidence pointing to alternative suspects, calling that evidence “thin and lacking in evidentiary quality” and largely built on speculation and hearsay.¹

Jurors deliberated eleven days and reported themselves deadlocked three times. Judge Bartlett declared a mistrial on May 15, 2015. Tioga County District Attorney Kirk Martin, who had taken over the case from Keene, said he would try it again.⁸

Fourth Trial: Acquittal

Cal waived his right to a jury for the fourth trial and elected a bench trial before State Supreme Court Justice Richard Mott. His attorney Bruce Barket said a single judge offered the best chance at a fair hearing. Opening statements began March 31, 2016.⁹

On May 24, 2016, Judge Mott found him not guilty of second-degree murder. The judge gave no public explanation beyond the verdict itself. DA Martin accepted the result and said he believed the prosecution had presented its evidence to the best of its ability.⁶¹⁰ Harris called the acquittal a “total relief” and said the case had “robbed me of my life as a father to raise my kids.”⁹

The Alternative Suspects the Fourth Judge Heard

What changed at the fourth trial was the door Judge Mott opened. The defense was allowed to argue “third-party culpability” and to name two men: Stacey Stewart and Christopher Thomason, Texas steel workers who had been living in Tioga County in 2001 while working for a fabrication company called Vulcraft. Both men were regulars at Lefty’s, where Michele worked. The defense argued Michele had been drinking with the two after her shift the night she vanished.¹¹

Barket called Melissa DeVries, Thomason’s estranged wife, who said Thomason told her he had been drinking with Stewart and Michele that night and later suggested Stewart “probably buried her” in concrete. Terra Wade, a former girlfriend of Stewart, testified that Thomason once told her he and Stewart were suspected of killing a woman in New York but were no longer worried because Cal Harris had been convicted.¹²

The defense also produced physical evidence from a burn pit on a Lockwood, New York, property about seven miles from the Harris home that had once been owned by Stewart. A forensic archaeologist and students excavated the site in January 2016 and recovered a partial bra strap, pieces of charred light-colored and blue fabric matching the colors of Michele’s waitress uniform, a handbag clasp, a button, a knife blade, and a 1997 dime. None of the items were conclusively linked to Michele; fire damage may have prevented DNA identification. Both Stewart and Thomason had abruptly left New York and returned to Texas after Michele’s disappearance.¹¹¹²

After the Acquittal

On August 22, 2017, Cal filed a federal civil rights suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the Northern District of New York. Harris v. Tioga County named Tioga County, the county DA’s office, former DA Keene, State Police investigators Steven Andersen and Susan Mulvey, former nanny Barbara Thayer, and others. The complaint alleged that the defendants fabricated and falsified evidence, maliciously prosecuted him, and violated his civil rights across all four trials. Specific claims included manipulation of blood-spatter photographs by “correcting the exposure” to make stains appear fresher, use of outdated forensic methods, grooming of witnesses, and withholding phone records that could have supported the defense.¹³¹⁴¹⁵

On August 13, 2025, Harris reached a confidential settlement with Tioga County and Keene. Attorney Bruce Barket called the monetary value “sufficient.”¹⁶ Claims against Andersen, Mulvey, and Thayer were left for a federal jury trial in Albany scheduled to begin October 27, 2025, with an estimated duration of up to three weeks.¹⁴

Michele Harris is still a missing person. In May 2025, Cal and two of his children announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of her remains, open to anyone not legally obligated to provide it and specifically excluding law enforcement officers involved in the investigation. Tips can go through findmicheleharris.com or a dedicated hotline.¹⁷ In September 2025, New York State Troopers said they planned new searches for evidence connected to her disappearance.¹⁸

1
CBS News. 48 Hours Presents Cal Harris: The Final Verdict
2
Press & Sun-Bulletin. Michele Harris Boyfriend Testifies at Murder Trial
3
FindLaw. Harris v. Tioga County
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ABC News. Cal Harris Found Not Guilty at Fourth Murder Trial
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Press & Sun-Bulletin. Cal Harris Timeline
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Press & Sun-Bulletin. Michele Harris Disappearance Murder Case Timeline
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CNN. Cal Harris Murder Trial Verdict
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CBS News. Mistrial Declared in Third Murder Trial of Cal Harris
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ABC News. Cal Harris Acquittal at Fourth Murder Trial Total Relief
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Times Union. Cal Harris Acquitted in Fourth Trial
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Press & Sun-Bulletin. Harris Case: Woman’s Clothes Found in Burn Pit, Defense Says
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Times Union. Cal Harris Defense: Two Texas Men Slew Spouse
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CourtListener. Harris v. Tioga County
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Press & Sun-Bulletin. Cal Harris Lawsuit Trial Claims Malicious Prosecution by NYSP
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Courthouse News Service. Ex-New York DA Fights to Duck Malicious Prosecution Claims From Decades-Old Murder Case
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Press & Sun-Bulletin. Cal Harris Malicious Prosecution Lawsuit Partly Settled Before Trial
17
WBNG. Cal Harris Offers $100K Reward for Information Leading to Recovery of Michele’s Remains
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Spectrum News. Michele Harris Disappearance New Evidence Search