In pursuit of justice, spring 2010, v.3 no.2

              INSIDE:
Prosecutor
Profile
2
Major Case
Convictions
3
Budget Cuts 4-5
More Case
Convictions
6-7
About Your DA
Tim Harris
8
S P R I N G 2 0 1 0
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"I think the first
duty of society
is justice."
- Alexander
Hamilton
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T I M H A R R I S
T U L S A C O U N T Y
D I S T R I C T
A T T O R N E Y
Jury Agrees with District Attorney;
Child Molester Should Die in Prison
I t was early evening in August
2009, and Mom was washing her
car in the driveway of a quiet Tulsa
neighborhood. She thought her
23-month-old daughter was inside
with her grandma and uncle, and
they thought the girl was outside
with Mom. The toddler wandered
out of the driveway gate and stood
by the curb near her home.
A neighbor noticed the little girl in a
pink dress and saw a pickup truck
pull up next to her. He watched the
driver motion for her to come to
him. He said the man, who he had
seen in the neighborhood several
times and identified as MARCUS
BERRY, picked the child up, pulled
her through the driver’s window,
and drove away.
A short time later, when the girl’s
relatives began searching the
neighborhood for the child, he told
them what he had seen and they
called police.
Across town, Tulsa police officers
Mark Wollmershauser, Jr. and
Stephanie Blann, were patrolling in a
sparsely populated area on west
Apache Street. When they passed a
field full of tall grass and brush,
Wollmershauser thought he noticed
the glint from a vehicle’s mirror as
he passed.
He asked Blann if she noticed any-thing
and she said, “No.” The
officers decided to turn around
anyway to investigate whether there
might be a stolen vehicle abandoned
in the field. The pickup truck they
After the jury found him guilty,
District Attorney Tim Harris and
Assistant DA Jake Cain presented
evidence that Berry previously had
been convicted of eight felonies
– including two convictions for
LEWD MOLESTATION. Berry was
sentenced in 1993 to 30 YEARS IN
PRISON for molesting a child and
was released by the Department of
Corrections in 2003.
In the April trial, the jury
sentenced Berry to LIFE IN
PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE for
LEWD MOLESTATION and LIFE
IN PRISON for KIDNAPPING the
child.
The jury verdicts mean that a
“child predator was taken off the
streets of Tulsa County forever
and will die in the penitentiary,”
said DA Harris.
found was not abandoned, but
occupied by MARCUS BERRY,
a 57-year-old repeat sex
offender.
When the officers approached,
Wollmershauser said he noticed
that Berry’s pants were pulled
down, and said his heart was
beating so hard “it was about to
jump out of his chest.”
The officer asked Berry if anyone
was with him and he replied “my
daughter-in-law.” When he didn’t
see an adult, the officer asked
Berry where she was. Berry
raised his arm and the officer saw
the tiny girl in a pink dress sitting
next to him. She was not wearing
a diaper or panties.
At an April trial, a jury convicted
BERRY of KIDNAPPING and
MOLESTING the girl.
In Pursuit of Justice
V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 2
Police found a missing toddler in this truck with sex offender
Marcus Berry, 57, in a field in west Tulsa in August 2009.