The lead detective in the hot-car murder trial testified Wednesday that Ross Harris’ ex-wife had long been a suspect in her son’s murder, but she is not longer a suspect in “any active investigation at this time.”
At a court hearing about two weeks after Cooper Harris’ death on June 18, 2014, Detective Phil Stoddard gave testimony that inferred Leanna Taylor may have been involved in her son’s death.
At one point, as talked to her husband, Taylor asked, “Did you say too much?”
But Taylor was never charged in the case and Stoddard testified Wednesday that there is no evidence to support any probable cause of her involvement.
“Leanna (Taylor) has been a suspect in this case all the way through,” Stoddard said. “Is she being actively investigated? No. … She’s not part of an active investigation.”
Stoddard said one reason Taylor was initially considered a suspect was because she showed little emotion at Cobb police headquarters on the day of her son’s death. Stoddard also noted that, at the beginning of his investigation, Taylor “made similar comments that her husband did.”
She shed no tears? Harris’ lead defense lawyer Maddox Kilgore told Stoddard during cross-examination.
“Correct,” Stoddard said.
“She didn’t ask to see her son?” Kilgore said.
“Correct,” the detective answered.
Kilgore apparently asked Stoddard these questions in an apparent attempt to show jurors if Cobb made a mistake with Taylor, they may have made the same mistake with Harris.
“You were dead wrong about Leanna,” Kilgore told Stoddard.
“She is not a suspect in an active investigation at this time,” the detective said.
“Isn’t it true you’re looking for a conspiracy, you’re looking for nefarious motives?” Kilgore asked.
Lead prosecutor Chuck Boring then objected, saying Kilgore was being argumentative. With that, Kilgore thanked Stoddard for his testimony and ended his cross-examination.
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