A man who raped a San Mateo woman in 1989 and slit her throat from ear to ear was sentenced Friday to eleven years to life in prison — nearly five years after he was found by police using DNA technology, prosecutors said.
John Harris, Jr., a 59-year-old resident of Manteca, was at large for more than 30 years — until investigators were able to link DNA left at the scene of the crime with DNA he left on an envelope he licked and sealed.
“It’s a spectacular feeling, and we’re so happy for this victim,” said San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe. “This victim, throughout those 36 years, always kept in contact with the police. She’s one of the strongest victims we’ve ever encountered, and she always made sure we were still paying attention.”
Harris initially pleaded not guilty but later pleaded guilty to all charges open — meaning there were no sentencing limitations — at a hearing in September that would have assigned his case to a jury trial, prosecutors said. He pleaded no contest to a charge of attempted murder with enhancements for premeditation and deliberation, use of a knife and infliction of great bodily injury and a charge of aggravated mayhem with enhancements for use of a knife, prosecutors said. For both charges, he admitted to serious and violent felony allegations.
At a hearing Oct. 3, the victim asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence on Harris, which San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Sean Dabel agreed to do on the grounds that Harris’s acts were committed for sexual gratification or compulsion, prosecutors said. Wagstaffe added that the victim gave a “very strong statement” at the hearing.
“She is a very strong person who has survived this and is a wonderful example of not letting a rapist take advantage of her,” Wagstaffe said. “She is stronger than her rapist, and so we were very pleased and proud that we were able to bring justice to her.”
Harris will also have to register as a sex offender for life, prosecutors added.
Harris’s defense attorney Marsanne Weese did not respond to a request for comment.
The victim has requested restitution of more than $12 million, which will be considered by the court at a later date, prosecutors said.
Harris was 23 years old when he broke into the victim’s house in the middle of the night on March 4, 1989 as she slept, prosecutors said. He proceeded to rape her, stab her, slit her throat and threaten to stab her in the eye. The victim tried to reason with him — telling him that she had not seen his face and that he could disable her phone and leave — and he fled the scene.
Police reported to the home — on the 3000 block of Casa De Campo in San Mateo — around 4:43 a.m., prosecutors added. Harris was a neighbor of the victim, and though police interviewed other neighbors, they did not speak with him.
Harris’s seminal fluid was found during a forensic exam after the attack, and he left behind a scarf with his DNA on it, prosecutors said.
Police submitted Harris’s DNA for testing intermittently for years — and there was finally a match in December 2020. The DA’s office and police were led to Harris’s family using DNA mapping techniques, and they were able to isolate Harris as the suspect by matching the DNA with that left on an envelope he licked to seal, prosecutors said.
Harris was arrested in Manteca in 2021.
Harris will be eligible for parole after eleven years, but Wagstaffe added that his office will “be there at every parole hearing to oppose.”
“I don’t think he should ever get out,” Wagstaffe said. “We would much have preferred a longer sentence, but that’s the law.”