11/19/2022
James Gerety, 49, was allegedly decapitated (garroted) with a guitar string by James Paul Harris, 30.
Harris was charged with shooting Gerety in the stomach, torturing him for two days prior to the beheading. A witness testified in court that Harris spoke to Gerety’s head during voodoo rituals for more than a year.
Harris pleaded no contest and received a prison sentence of 4 years 2 months.
On March 24, 2012, a woman was mushroom hunting on her property when she discovered what she thought looked like the top of a person’s head. She went back home and informed Jeff Harris, the homeowner, who immediately called the police.
Investigators learned that James Gerety, who was reported missing about a year prior, had planned to move into the Harris home in Carbondale, Kansas. James Gretey was a friend of the homeowner’s son, James Paul Harris.
Investigators spoke to James Harris’s ex-girlfriend. She told them, for unknown reasons, Harris shot Gerety in the stomach. Harris then tortured Gerety for two days before beheading him with a guitar string.
Once he had beheaded Gerety, Harris dismembered Gerety remains, placing his arms, legs, and torso in a 55-gallon barrel which he buried on his father’s property.
He placed Gerety’s head in a canvas bag. Investigators learned Harris was a practitioner of Voodoo and would take Gerety’s head out of the bag to speak to it and use it in voodoo rituals.
It was also reported that Harris allegedly had cloth voodoo dolls that hung from his apartment ceiling.
A judge issued a warrant for Harris’ arrest in October 2013 who was already being held on unrelated charges in Texas.
Harris was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Harris initially pleaded not guilty in the March 14, 2014, preliminary hearing but would later enter a plea of no contest.
Prosecutors made a no contest deal due to the creditability of their witness paired with the fact they did not have Gretey’s remains or a murder weapon.
On March 30, 2015, Osage County District Court Judge Phillip Fromme sentenced Harris to 4 years, 2 months. Harris was released from custody on June 12, 2021.
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