LITTLE ROCK — A 42-year-old Little Rock parolee who testified that he was too smart to leave behind evidence incriminating him in a January homicide and holdup was convicted of firstdegree murder Wednesday and sentenced to 105 years in prison.
A Pulaski County jury deliberated about 3 1/2 hours to convict Henry Alexander Harmon on charges that included aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated robbery in the killing of John Edward Williams Jr. Jurors deliberated about 30 minutes before delivering the sentencing recommendation to Circuit Judge Leon Johnson. Harmon, deemed a violent offender, cannot be paroled.
Harmon denied any role in the slaying and armed robbery at the Heritage House Inn in southwest Little Rock.
The 33-year-old Williams was shot to a death by an intruder who kicked in the door of the room shared by Williams and his fiancee, 31-year-old Christina Anna Dyer, and demanded their money. Dyer had recently received a $9,000 disability payment in the form of a bank card, but the couple had no cash.
After shooting Williams, the killer pistol-whipped Dyer, who had to run naked from the room to escape.
The man fled the scene, eluding police in a high-speed chase before abandoning the car, a 1989 Lincoln Continental, at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Found nearby were a bandanna containing Harmon’s DNA and spattered with the victim’s blood, a jacket with the car keys, a receipt in Harmon’s name in one pocket and the blood-spattered murder weapon in another pocket.
Harmon’s decision to testify forced him to divulge some — but not all — of his 20-year criminal history that includes convictions for first-degree and second-degree battery. Harmon pointed to that experience as evidence of his innocence, saying that as a “convicted felon,” “common sense” should tell jurors that he would know better than to leave evidence where police could find it.
“I wouldn’t leave articles blatantly in the open like that,” he said.
Harmon said that about three hours before Williams was killed, he had traded his car for $200 in cash and $300 worth of crack cocaine to a man named Cedric Johnson. Harmon said he planned to let Johnson — whose existence prosecutors questioned — use the car for an hour that night, but he never saw the vehicle again.
Deputy prosecutor Hugh Finkelstein told jurors that Harmon’s account was too far-fetched to be believable.
“He was stupid,” Finkelstein said. “He killed for money and he wants you to believe an insane story that’s impossible.”
Defense attorney Robby Golden told jurors the “most important” evidence was Harmon’s own testimony.
“He told you the truth. He was honest about his [criminal] convictions,” Golden said. “He was not there.”
Harmon was arrested about nine hours after Williams was killed when a patrol officer, Lt. Barry Brewer, saw Harmon at 19th and Pulaski streets and recognized him as being a suspect in a robbery at a Markham Street Shell convenience store the morning of the killing.
Police had actually stopped and questioned Harmon about that holdup about 90 minutes after it occurred because his Lincoln fit the description of the robber’s car. With insufficient evidence to arrest him, Harmon was released. Detectives got more evidence and were able to obtain a warrant later that day.
At the time of the killing, Harmon was already awaiting trial on aggravated robbery and theft charges, accused of carjacking an acquaintance, Joseph Thompson, in the parking lot of the Wright Avenue Liquor Store at 1501 Wright Ave. in Little Rock in June 2011.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 11/29/2012