Charles Daniel Tuttle

Background

Charles Daniel Tuttle was 35 years old. He was described as a former construction worker of Smith County.

The offence

Charles Daniel Tuttle beat and murdered Catherine Harris, 42, of Tyler, during a robbery at her home. Tuttle clubbed and murdered Harris in the head 10 times and punctured a hole between the eyes with a claw hammer on Feb. 24, 1995. The body was wrapped in blankets and stuffed under a pile of clothes and blankets, and was located in a closet of her trailer home.

David Landry, Harris’s nephew, found Harris’s body in her home.

Tuttle and Landry had been staying with Harris, but Tuttle was asked to leave when he did not help with the bills. Tuttle told officials his attempt was to knock Harris out with a blow to the head and rob her. The murder took place when she started screaming.

Tuttle hid a bloody towel, hammer and his bloody shirt, stole credit cards and cash from Harris’s purse, and fled in her Dodge Dakota truck.

In a conversation early on the day of the murder, Tuttle told David Landry he had watched the movie Natural Born Killers three times the previous day.

Investigation

Police arrested Tuttle Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 28, in his father’s hospital room. When Tuttle was arrested, police found him with a loaded .357-revolver, Harris’s credit cards, and his truck key.

Trial testimonies concluded that the head and claw parts of the claw hammer were consistent with Harris’s head wounds. Hair fibers were microscopically examined from the bloody towel and Harris’s clothing and concluded to match Tuttle’s DNA.

Tuttle appeared coherent and unintoxicated at the time of the arrest.

Four days after the killing, Tuttle was arrested in Beaumont, about 200 miles to the south. He told police he’d been high on methamphetamine and just wanted to knock her out “like you see on TV” to steal from her. The murder weapon, a claw hammer, was found behind a washer and dryer at the trailer.

Arrest

Tuttle was arrested Tuesday afternoon, Feb.

Trial

On Feb. 17, 1999, Tuttle was convicted of capital murder and scheduled for execution on July 1, 1999.

On Nov. 5, 1997, Tuttle refused his right to an appeal.

Sentencing

Tuttle was executed on July 1, 1999.

Appeals

Tuttle refused to allow his attorneys to file appeals on his behalf.

Outcome

Charles Daniel Tuttle was executed on July 1, 1999. He died at 6:28 p.m. on July 1, 1999 about seven minutes after the lethal injection.

Immediately before Tuttle’s execution, he turned to Harris’s family and asked forgiveness.

Tuttle’s last statement included:

To Kathy’s family and friends that were unable to attend today, I am truly sorry. I hope my dropping my appeal has in some way began your healing process. This is all I am going to do to help you out in any way for the nightmare and pain that I have caused you, but I am truly sorry and I wish I could take back what I did, but I can’t. I hope this heals you. To my family: I love you. When the tears flow, let the smiles grow. Everything is all right. To my family: I love you. Warden, ATW.

David Dobbs, the assistant Smith County district attorney who prosecuted Tuttle, said:

“You have to in some degree, in some light, commend him for taking responsibility when so many of these whiny killers don’t.”

Aftermath

Harris’s body was wrapped in blankets and stuffed in a closet of her trailer home. After the murder, Tuttle left Tyler to stay with friends and visit family in the Beaumont area.

Tuttle died at 6:28 p.m., about seven minutes after the flow of lethal drugs began. He was described as the 15th prisoner to be executed in Texas this year.