5 things to know about the Jason Harper murder case

Publish date: 2024-07-12

In 2012, Jason Harper, a math teacher and volleyball coach at Carlsbad High School, was fatally shot by his wife, Julie Harper.

As per Julie's testimonies, the two got into a heated argument and her husband angrily charged towards her. So, she picked up the gun and shot him in an act of self-defense. However, most of the jury members, attorneys, and the judge found her account "untrustworthy."

The accused was taken through two rigorous trials before her ultimate conviction in January 2016. Reportedly, Julie willingly took responsibility for her actions when her own children refused to make her a part of their lives. However, the story does not end there.

This week, Dateline: Secrets Uncovered prepares to narrate a detailed account of Jason Harper's 2012 murder in an episode titled The House on Badger Lane, scheduled to air on Wednesday, July 13, 2022, at 8 PM ET.

Ahead of the episode, read a few more interesting facts about the murder case.

Five interesting facts about the 2012 murder case of Jason Harper

1) Jason Harper was shot while his children were in the house

Reports state that Jason Harper was shot in his bedroom by his wife on an August morning while the couple's three children, aged eight, six, and one respectively at the time, were watching television downstairs. The couple allegedly got into an altercation in the upstairs bedroom of their gated community home in Carlsbad.

2) Julie Harper was acquitted of first-degree murder charges

The first trial took place in 2014 and the jury acquitted Julie of first-degree murder. However, proceedings came to a standstill when it came to second-degree murder charges. The judge declared a mistrial since the jury was deadlocked. The prosecution's decision was to retry Harper for second-degree murder.

The following year in October, she underwent another trial that lasted about three months. The final verdict came in January 2016 when a jury found her guilty of second-degree murder, sentencing her to 40 years in prison.

3) Julie's testimony revealed details of the couple's failing marriage

Julie kept denying all the charges made against her during both her trials. Based on her testimonies, her husband was extremely abusive. She also claimed that Jason had s*xually assaulted her on multiple occasions. She had even filed for divorce and hired a lawyer for this reason.

4) Julie appealed to cut her sentence short based on a new state law

Harper's case was one of the many cases affected by a newly-implemented state law that gives trial judges the discretion to decide whether a convict should serve extra time in prison for allegedly using a gun while committing a crime, thus giving them the power to shorten one's prison sentence.

In this case, she could have been eligible for parole after 15 years of serving as the remaining 25 would have been struck off. However, the appeal was denied by Judge Blaine Bowman in 2018. Julie Harper remains incarcerated in Chino at the California Institution for Women.

5) Harper and Jason's children are aware of the former's role in the tragedy

In court, Jason Harper's mother Lina stated that the accused's three children blame their mother for their father's tragic death and simply do not wish to keep "any reminder of her." One of her sons stated in a letter sent to the court:

"She should serve her full 40 years."

Dateline: Secrets Uncovered will air on Oxygen at 8 PM ET on Wednesday, July 13, 2022.

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