This Day in History: On this day in 2000, Robert Wayne Harris walked into a Mi-T-Fine Car Wash in Irving, Texas where he was fired from only days earlier, so that he could exact vengeance.
He forced manager Dennis Lee, 48, assistant manager Augustin Villasenor, 36, and cashier Rhoda Wheeler, 46, into the office. Harris had Wheeler open the safe, then forced her and the two others onto the floor and shot them. He also slit Lee's throat. When three other employees arrived, Harris forced them onto the floor in the lobby and shot them. Benjamin Villasenor, 32, and Roberto Jimenez, 15, were killed. The other victim survived but was left with permanent disabilities. All of the victims were shot once in the back of the head.
Harris just got out of prison a year earlier after serving an 8 year sentence. On November 29 of that year, Harris abducted and fatally shot 37-year-old Sandra Scott. He later said he killed her after suspecting her of stealing money from him. Harris was initially questioned about Scott's disappearance, but was not charged.
While he was on death row, Harris's lawyers claimed he was mentally disabled and thus ineligible for execution. However, experts for both the state and the defense agreed Harris was not mentally disabled.
Harris was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit on September 12, 2012.
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