Colorado charges Arkansan in '17 body-in-suitcase slaying

A grand jury indicted a man on murder charges on accusations that he shot a woman and stuffed her body into a suitcase before returning to Arkansas from Colorado, prosecutors said Monday.

Prosecutors in Colorado allege David Houston-Harvey, 25, of Jacksonville shot 23-year-old Laramie Cline while the two were traveling to Denver and then hid the body.

Authorities said the 2017 shooting resulted from an argument after Cline said she wanted to stay in Colorado, but Houston-Harvey wanted to return to Arkansas or Alabama.

He faces first- and second-degree murder charges, as well as charges of robbery and aggravated theft in Weld County, just northeast of Denver.

Houston-Harvey is currently a year into a 12-year sentence at the Tucker Unit in Arkansas after pleading guilty last year to felonies related to the dumping of Cline's body.

Authorities said Houston-Harvey shoved Cline's body in a suitcase and dropped it in Arkansas, but he wasn't charged in her death in Arkansas.

Arkansas State Police officers found Cline's car just west of Pinnacle Mountain in Little Rock after she had been reported missing.

Investigators found dried blood in the vehicle and later arrested Houston-Harvey.

He told investigators at the time that Cline, an Alabama resident, had tried to rob him while they were traveling, according to court documents. He reportedly said he shot her during a struggle for the gun.

According to the latest indictment, he later told his girlfriend that he shot and killed Cline as she slept.

No court date has been set on the latest charges.

Metro on 05/16/2019

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