County’s insurance settles with Cal Harris; civil case to be heard at the federal level in October

Last month, the company that provides Tioga County's liability insurance settled out of court with Cal Harris, the 64-year-old former businessman who stood trial not once, but four times, charged with the murder and disappearance of his wife, Michele.

The settlement, which is for an undisclosed amount, is what Cal Harris called a "baby step" toward righting wrongs. He also said the insurance company settled with him because of the "overwhelming evidence" of wrongdoing by the district attorney in the case at that time, Gerald Keene.

While the world was watching the Twin Towers fall and watching in disbelief as America was under attack on 9/11, and first responders descended to the World Trade Center, Shanksville, Pa., and the Pentagon, Michele Harris disappeared, and her body was never found.

Cal Harris became the main suspect and was indicted on Sept. 30, 2005, following years of investigations that included an extensive search of the former Harris home on Hagadorn Hill Road, the location of the old Empire Lake.

This would ignite a 15-year legal battle for Cal Harris, with lengthy trials, several appeals, verdicts overturned, and even a hung jury.

In mid-December of 2006, former Tioga County Judge Vincent Sgueglia instructed the defense and the Tioga County District Attorney at that time, Gerald Keene, that he would dismiss the murder indictment against Cal Harris. Following this, Keene requested Judge Sgueglia to recuse himself.

A second trial was scheduled, this time, with a Broome County judge, Martin E. Smith, presiding. In a twist, however, Smith threw out the murder indictment on the basis that Keene asked Sgueglia to recuse himself. Smith then authorized Keene to seek a new indictment, which Keene was able to obtain in February 2007.

In May 2007, the murder trial began, and on June 7, 2007, a jury found Cal Harris guilty of second-degree murder, with sentencing set for August 2007.

Prior to sentencing, however, a farmer, Kevin Tubbs, happened across an article about the case and had a recollection from the evening of Michele's disappearance that did not match the timeline of the prosecution.

Tubbs testified at several trials that he saw a woman he believed was Michele Harris and an unidentified man standing next to a blue pickup truck at the end of the Hagadorn Hill property at 5:30 a.m. Sept. 12, 2001, hours after prosecutors alleged Cal Harris killed his wife. Judge Smith postponed the sentencing following this testimony, and a new trial was ordered.

In 2009, with Cal Harris out on $500,000 bail, a new trial was ordered; this one presided over by Chemung County Judge James T. Hayden. A jury was selected in July of 2009, and on Aug. 5, 2009, a jury found Cal Harris guilty of murder for a second time.

According to Cal Harris, he ended up collectively spending about five years in prison, with 30 days spent in the Tioga County Jail following the indictment in 2005, and six months in the Tioga County Jail throughout 2007. Following the guilty verdict in August 2009, Cal Harris was sent to Elmira, New York, where he served close to a three-year sentence prior to the case being overturned by the State Court of Appeals in 2012.

The State Appellate Division ordered a third trial in Schoharie, New York, which ended in a mistrial after the jurors could not reach a unanimous decision.

The fourth trial, which was a bench trial with Judge Richard Mott, allowed the defense to argue that someone else might have killed Michele. This led to stories surrounding Texas steelworkers Stacey Stewart and Christopher Thomason, who lived in Tioga County in September 2001.

Evidence was presented, such as a burn pit that was found, results from an archeological dig, and even some testimony from former cellmates of those in question, all alleging that they were responsible for Michele Harris' murder.

Ultimately, with mounting evidence building against other suspects, Cal Harris was found not guilty May 24, 2016. With this verdict, Cal Harris was once again a free man, but Michele Harris remains missing.

To follow up, in October of 2019, defense investigator David M. Beers, who worked on the Cal Harris case from start to finish, authored a book, "Reign of Injustice," that walks readers through the details of the case and the findings from his own investigations. The book can be found on Amazon.

In May of this year, Cal Harris offered a $100,000 reward to anyone who has information that would lead to the discovery of Michele's remains. According to Harris, the search is not over. His attorney, Bruce Barket, who represented Harris during the Schoharie trials, has plans to travel to Texas himself in search of Stacey Stewart, one of the men who Cal believes was involved in Michele's disappearance.

And although the insurance settlement is a small step toward redemption and will help him piece some of his life back together, Cal's fight continues.

"What I want, what I need, and what my kids need," said Cal, "is for a jury to come forward to solidify public innocence."

Cal has continued to live his life in Tioga County, raising his children and living his life with his dog, Charlie. He said the judgment and hurdles are tough, but he keeps fighting.

When asked how he deals with the former accusations, he said, "What I say to myself in those moments is, 'I'm not going to let them win.'"

Cal Harris, as outlined in his lawsuit and various appeals, felt that he was the only suspect when Michele disappeared and that a supervisor with New York State Police Troop C and her father had a vendetta against him, and they were relentless in their pursuit.

"They tried to destroy me," said Cal Harris.

The next scheduled appearance for Cal Harris will be at the Federal District Court in Albany on Oct. 27, 2025. This trial will decide if Cal's civil rights were violated; if they were, then Harris may see damages awarded by that court.