Sandra Gaye Scott

Sandra Gaye Scott was a 37-year-old woman and a mother from Irving, Texas, whose disappearance in late 1999 devastated her family and friends. She was last seen alive on November 19, 1999, at a service station. On December 3, her pickup truck was discovered near her home with all of her belongings inside, except for her keys. For the next three and a half months, her loved ones anxiously awaited news, fearing the worst but holding out hope. Friends and relatives, including her 13-year-old son, Michael Wright, searched for her on foot and on horseback, combing through fields and waterways near her father’s home.

The agonizing wait came to a grim end on March 23, 2000. The day before, a man named Robert Wayne Harris had been arrested after confessing to a shooting rampage that left five of his former coworkers dead at the Mi-T-Fine Car Wash in Irving. During his interrogation, the 28-year-old Harris made another stunning admission: he had killed Sandra Scott. He then led Irving police to her remains. Her decomposed body was found beside a ditch in the Trinity River floodplain, in a weedy, littered area not far from where her family had been searching. The Dallas County Medical Examiner later determined her cause of death was homicidal violence.

Investigators had previously questioned Harris about Sandra’s disappearance but had released him due to insufficient evidence. After his arrest for the car wash massacre, Harris told police he had abducted and fatally shot Sandra on November 29, 1999. He claimed he killed her because he believed she had stolen $200 from him. The discovery brought a painful closure to her family. "I really wanted him to come clean so we could find out, after 3 1/2 months, what happened," her young son said at the time. A longtime friend, Lana Todd, clutched an old snapshot of Sandra as she watched officers at the scene, remarking, "All the time she’s been missing, I’ve wondered if she was out here."

Robert Wayne Harris was charged with capital murder for the car wash killings and held without bail. He was also charged with capital murder for Sandra’s abduction and slaying, but prosecutors decided to move forward with the mass murder case first. In September 2000, a jury took only 11 minutes to find him guilty. During his sentencing, his attorneys pointed to a history of psychological issues, including diagnoses of depression and antisocial personality disorder, but the jury recommended a death sentence.

Though he was never tried for the murder of Sandra Scott, Harris’s confession and his role in locating her body left no doubt as to his guilt. His brother, William Harris, said he was glad there could be "some closure" for Sandra's family. While incarcerated, Harris also confessed that he had been planning to travel to Florida to kill an ex-girlfriend.

After years on death row and numerous failed appeals, the legal process reached its conclusion. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a final request for clemency. On September 20, 2012, Robert Wayne Harris, age 40, was executed by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. He was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m. His execution marked the final chapter in the cases of all six of his victims, bringing a measure of justice to the families whose lives he had torn apart.