Marissa Devault: The Death Of Dale Harrell

During the early morning hours of January 14, 2009, Marissa DeVault entered the bedroom that she shared with her husband Dale Harrell and struck him in the head several times while he was asleep. DeVault called 9-11 at 0245 and reported Harrell’s injuries. When law enforcement arrived on scene, DeVault was found outside acting hysterical and covered in blood. Harrell was found upstairs, laying on the floor next to the bed he shared with his wife, thrashing with the right side of his head caved in. Harrell was transported to the hospital with multiple skull fractures. That night DeVault was arrested on aggravated battery charges and taken to the local jail. DeVault was later released on bail posted by a Allen Flores. On February 9, 2009, three

DeVault initially claimed her husband Harrell, was attacked by an unknown assailant who broke into the family’s home while everyone was asleep. Three weeks after DeVault was released on bail and on the day of her husband’s death, DeVault was found in a field and had been assaulted. DeVault claims she was jumped by an unknown assailant and was left on the side of the road with a broken ankle and jaw. After the death of Dale Harrell, Marissa DeVault was arrested and held for first degree murder. When DeVault was questioned about the events that occurred on January 14, 2009, her story had changed. DeVault now alleged that Harrell’s roommate, Stanley Cook Jr was the one responsible for the brutal attack on her husband. DeVault said Harrell choked her while she was sleeping and did not let go until she was unconscious. DeVault said when she came to, Cook was attacking her husband with a hammer. Stanley Cook suffered from short term memory loss due to a brain injury he received in a car accident. Although Cook corroborated the claims made by DeVault, he was not able to provide investigators with any further details of the assault and investigators were unable to find any evidence that lead them to believe Cook was the

The first being that Flores is the one who bailed DeVault out of jail on January 14, 2009. It was also discovered that DeVault borrowed a total of $300,000 from Flores. Police located a computer with child pornography on it in Flores’s home during a warranted police search (two searches were conducted). When investigators spoke with Flores, he agreed to testify in court in exchange for full immunity regarding the child pornography found on his home computer. During the trial, Flores’s testimony included DeVault mentioning wanting to hire a hitman to kill her husband Harrell. Flores also mentioned DeVault making statements about killing her husband and telling the police she acted in self-defense, claiming Harrell got drunk and tried to rape her. DeVault’s attorney claimed Flores was only testifying against DeVault in an attempt to save himself from his own charges. On April 30, 2014, after more than five days of deliberation, the jury found Marissa DeVault guilty of first degree murder for the death of her husband, Dale Harrell. DeVault was sentenced to life in prison and is eligible for early release after she serves 25