A McHenry man who admitted to killing his wife and leaving her body in the basement for two days was a “freeloader” who didn’t want to lose his “meal ticket,” prosecutors said Tuesday in closing arguments at the trial of Anthony Harrison.
“It is hard to imagine anyone more guilty of first-degree murder,” McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Zalud said.
Harrison, 33, was unemployed and had a pending domestic battery charge against him from a few months prior to his wife’s death in June 2016, the prosecutor said. Laura Harrison, 30, had asked her husband for a separation and gave him two weeks to leave their home, Zalud said.
He described Laura Harrison, who was one of a set of triplets who grew up in part in Naperville, as a friend, daughter and co-worker who should have lived a long, happy life; instead, “she got butchered in her own home.”
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According to prosecutors and testimony, Anthony Harrison fatally stabbed his wife in the couple’s kitchen, dragged her body to the basement, then drove her car to several stores, where he purchased items including a shovel, wheelbarrow, bleach, a 31-gallon garbage can, wood and fire starter — suggesting, prosecutors said, that he was scrambling to find a way to hide his crime. About two days later, he slashed his own throat, then called 911 for help and told them his wife’s dead body was in their home.
Seasoned police officers called the crime scene “horrific,” describing how Laura Harrison’s graying remains were covered in dried blood, she had deep stab wounds on her neck and firewood had been stacked on her, with a gas can nearby.
It was “all because she wanted to leave an abusive life. She wanted the opportunity to be happy,” Zalud said.
But Anthony Harrison’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Kim Messer, said it was Laura Harrison who was in control of the situation in the days leading to her death. Messer did not deny her client was involved in his wife’s demise but said “mutual combat” led to her death and asked for a verdict of second-degree murder instead of first-degree.
Messer said Anthony Harrison was calm around his wife in the days prior to her death as she texted a family member saying she wanted him out of the house and threatened to call the police on him. Laura Harrison also called the McHenry County Crisis Center and the nonemergency McHenry police line and asked how to have him put out of the house. She was told he could not be removed from the house unless he was violent.
“Laura Harrison (was) in control of the relationship,” Messer said. “Anthony Harrison (was) trying to follow the rules.”
After she died, he felt guilty and “he was trying to figure out how to kill himself,” Messer said. “(Harrison) couldn’t believe it once he realized what he did.”
Messer pointed to statements Anthony Harrison made after calling 911 to report he had attempted suicide and told police he killed his wife. He told a clinical social worker that “things were getting out of control” when he killed his wife.
The defense attorney also read texts Laura Harrison sent to her sister days before her death, including one that read: “I just want him gone. He causes me too much stress.”
Judge James Cowlin is scheduled to issue a verdict Sept. 12. Harrison waived his right to a jury trial.
Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter.