Woman Sentenced For Elaborate Plan To Torture, Kill Ex, Burn House Down

January 14, 2016

An Escambia County woman has been sentenced to 30 years in state prison, of which a 20 year minimum mandatory sentence which must be served day for day or parole, for an elaborate plan to kill her ex-husband.

Nadine Sapp Harris, age 60, was convicted by an Escambia County jury  for charges of attempted first degree murder, attempted false imprisonment, attempted arson, aggravated assault with a firearm, and battery. The charges stem from an elaborate plan to ambush, capture, torture and kill her ex-husband and to burn down the marital home.
Over a course of weeks Harris distributed hundreds of pounds of shredded or crumpled paper bundled into plastic grocery bags throughout the entirety of the three-story Escambia County home she had shared with her ex-husband. She placed paper in every dresser and cabinet drawer in the house, in cardboard boxes in every room, and inside the heating and cooling closets, return air vents and attic of the home. Some of the grocery bags were stacked in pyramid configurations placed into corners to maximize the intended fire’s intensity.

Harris planted over 115 drinking bottles that had been filled approximately one-third full with gasoline with the cap on. She also purchased thirteen bottles of charcoal lighter fluid from nearby Home Depot and Walmart stores on three separate trips, along with wooden dowels. She cut the wooden dowels down to 6-inch lengths and presoaked them in the lighter fluid to act as kindling for the fire. She also soaked the paper and all the mattresses in the home with lighter
fluid.

Then, on June 27th, 2014, Harris lured her ex-husband to the home. She parked her car three miles away and then sent him a text message that she was vacating the house – a condition of their divorce. Then she laid in wait. When the victim
came inside, she was waiting for him with a gun. She confronted him in the living room  near the front door, and told him that she “was going to end it right here.” The evidence suggests she intended suicide as well as murder.

One fact saved the victim’s life. He had brought witnesses. The witnesses were outside at the time of the confrontation, but were within earshot. When Nadine Harris moved to close the open door, the victim desperately lunged for the gun. As they fought  for control of the gun, Nadine Harris discharged one shot. The bullet missed the victim  and buried itself in a wall.

After the discharge, the victim successfully disarmed the defendant and tossed the gun outside. He broke his hand in the process. After being disarmed of the handgun, Nadine Harris then produced a stun gun and attempted to shock the victim with it. He  knocked the stun gun out of her hand. Then she pulled out a can of pepper spray and sprayed the victim. Nevertheless, after being sprayed with pepper spray, he wrestled the defendant to the ground and held her down until law enforcement arrived. While being held down, she also bit his forearm causing a significant wound.

The subsequent investigation conducted by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the State Fire Marshal’s Office revealed the extent of the defendant, Nadine Harris’s plan. They discovered the arson preparations. They discovered that within arm’s reach of where Nadine Harris had confronted her ex-husband, she had planted zip ties fashioned to serve as handcuffs, a strip of duct tape precut and ready to grab, a rope tied with a noose, and a small black duffel bag. Inside the duffel bag, Nadine Harris had placed the accelerant-soaked dowel rods, a lighter, a box of safety matches, more zip-tie handcuffs, a roll of duct tape, a pair of socks potentially to be used as a gag, a screwdriver, a folding camping saw, a drywall saw, and two clear easy-access containers full of muriatic acid.

Comments

9 Responses to “Woman Sentenced For Elaborate Plan To Torture, Kill Ex, Burn House Down”

  1. David Huie Green on January 15th, 2016 8:59 pm

    REGARDING:
    “This misogyny in this article and the comments is palpable. Had the perpetrator been a man, he would have gotten off scot-free and be celebrated for keeping his woman under control.”

    Actually, few rejoice when a man murders or tries to murder his ex wife.
    Interesting anyone thinks they usually do.
    (Although, admittedly, some strange people rejoiced when OJ got away with it.)

    ” Besides, who knows how many years of daily abuse she had to suffer that drove her to such an act of desperation?”

    None, without proof otherwise.
    Interesting the way some hate all men and assume the worst.

    David for less prejudice

  2. XD9RACER on January 15th, 2016 8:49 pm

    IT WAS DEFINATELY WELL THOUGHT OUT ON HER PART. I’m curious to know if she got her guidance from the internet and where do I need to look to gather all the same information if I was to need it in the future. GETERDONE.

  3. Mark on January 15th, 2016 8:22 pm

    WOW @Anders, you are really reaching there! Nothing in the article even mentioned abuse. It was her EX-HUSBAND. Why do you immediately go to “abuse” instead of the more plausible, “she’s just a crazy “B”, that didn’t like the fact her husband divorced her”?

  4. Anders on January 15th, 2016 1:01 pm

    This misogyny in this article and the comments is palpable. Had the perpetrator been a man, he would have gotten off scot-free and be celebrated for keeping his woman under control. Besides, who knows how many years of daily abuse she had to suffer that drove her to such an act of desperation?

    If she is indeed guilty, she should of course be punished. But the daily abuse and threat of sexual assault women face every single day by the millions has to be considered. I can only imagine what he put her through to drive her to this, but I shudder at the thought. And of course, as is always the case, the abuser walks free, while the victim goes to jail – where she perhaps will be more secure than at home, at the very least. At the same time, men beat and rape women daily

  5. molino jim on January 15th, 2016 8:22 am

    What she tried to do was wrong– but with that being said I have to wonder what drove her to this point. After 30 years of marriage was she being forced out of home and security? I also wonder if she had been working or was a home maker who was being forced into the job market that has little use for older workers. There should be more in the story as for the reasons. Would it serve everyone better to try to find a better answer than 20 years of lock down time.

  6. ANN on January 14th, 2016 12:07 pm

    hell hath no fury like a woman scorned !!!!!!

  7. john on January 14th, 2016 6:48 am

    How wicked can one get!!!
    Cry out the tears, but now it’s too late, now that you see the value of your own life, because it was just taken away.

    But as long as you have breath in your body, and it doesn’t matter how bad things you have done, its never to late to call on Jesus!

  8. Justme on January 14th, 2016 6:20 am

    Wow. She was definitely committed to her plan. A woman scorned I would dare to guess.
    A note to all the writers out there in cyberspace, spell check as well as grammar check is a valuable tool for all writers. Just saying………

  9. Shannon on January 14th, 2016 4:53 am

    WOW! She was serious with her plan. I don’t think I would have the energy to go to all the trouble laying out all that stuff. Some people amaze me. It’s just not worth what she is facing now.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News