Bay Area Suspect Enters Plea In 36-Year-Old Attempted Murder Cold Case

SAN MATEO, CA — The suspect in a rape and attempted murder case from 1989 in San Mateo entered a plea and now faces 19-years-to-life in prison, officials announced Wednesday.

Jury selection was set to begin last Thursday, but the suspect, John Harris Jr., entered a no contest plea to attempted murder and aggravated mayhem, police said.

At around 4:15 a.m. on February 4, 1989, a suspect broke into a San Mateo woman's apartment on the 3100 block of Casa De Campo, police said.

While the woman slept in her bed, the suspect grabbed a knife in the kitchen and violently attacked her, police said.

The suspect climbed into bed with the woman and put a knife to her throat. With a bandana covering his face, he raped the woman, attempted to strangle her, stabbed her multiple times in her torso and then slit her throat only narrowly missing her jugular, police said.

The victim fought back throughout the attack and convinced the man to leave the apartment. She then called the police, officers said.

"We commend the victim for her strength and resilience, and we remain committed to pursuing justice — no matter how much time has passed," police said.

The police were unable to identify the suspect for nearly three decades until advances in DNA technology allowed investigators to resubmit evidence from the crime scene.

In December 2020, a DNA match was identified. Investigators had also determined that Harris lived in the same neighborhood as the victim at the time of the assault but she did not know him.

In the years that followed, police said they believed Harris lived throughout the Bay Area, San Joaquin County and Arizona.

On February 24, 2021, detectives from the San Mateo Police Department arrested Harris in Manteca for attempted murder and booked him into the San Mateo County Jail with a bail set at $500,000.

After entering the no-contest plea, sentencing is now scheduled for Oct. 3, where Harris faces 19-years-to-life in prison.