Guilty Verdict in Car Wash Killings

D A L L A S, Sept. 26 -- A fired car wash employee was found guilty of twocounts of capital murder today in the slayings of two of fiveformer co-workers.

The jury returned its verdict after about 15 minutes ofdeliberations and just one day after the trial started. The defensepresented no witnesses.

Robert Wayne Harris was accused of killing Mi-T-Fine Car Washemployees cashier Rhoda Wheeler, 45, and assistant manager AugustinVillasenor, 36, on March 20, three days after he was fired.

Also killed were Villasenor’s brother, Benjamin Villasenor, 32,Roberto Jimenez Jr., 15, and 48-year-old car wash manager DennisLee. Ramos was critically wounded.

Harris was not tried for those deaths although he is charged inthe five slayings, and he has been charged with the unrelatedslaying of an Irving woman.

Death For Death?Prosecutors had said they would seek the death penalty.

Charity McFadden, 25, Wheeler’s daughter, said she hopes Harrisgets the death penalty.

“If it had to happen, I’m glad it happened in Texas becausethey’ll get rid of him faster in Texas than they would in any otherstate,” she said.

The punishment phase of the trial begins Wednesday.

Prosecutor Greg Davis said in closing that Harris acted out of“hatred, revenge and greed, nothing more.”

“You can only imagine what was going through the minds of thepeople who were shot,” Davis said. “God only knows.”

Confessions Galore, No DefenseDefense attorney Brad Lollar spoke for less than a minute inclosing.

“Some trials are about guilt or innocence,” he said. “Sometrials are about punishment. Hold the state to the burden of proof.I appreciate it,” Lollar said.

Harris, who has confessed to police, his brother and at leastone television reporter, pleaded innocent at the start of the trialMonday.

The final witness was the lone survivor of the massacre at anIrving car wash who identified Robert Wayne Harris today as thegun-wielding man who ordered him to his knees.