More than a year after being shot in the face by her former boyfriend, Tracy Anderson still has nightmares that cause her to wake up tasting blood and smelling burned gunpowder.
She told a 4th District judge Thursday that she believes the man who tried to kill her and who did kill Gaylon Brent Winters, 40, on Sept. 14, 1995, would have finished the job if given the chance."I will never, ever, forget the pain, heartache and terror Jimmy Harker has caused me," Anderson said.
It's unlikely that Anderson will have to fear Harker again. After her emotional testimony and similar testimony from Winters' survivors, Judge Lynn W. Davis sen-tenced Harker, 34, to two consecutive terms of six years to life in the Utah State Prison.
"This whole case is about shattered dreams," Davis said, referring to the fact that three families' lives have been forever changed.
In a plea bargain with Wasatch County prosecutors, Harker pleaded guilty Thursday to murder and aggravated attempted murder, first-degree felonies. Both charges carried a one-year enhancement for the use of a firearm.
He was charged with capital murder, aggravated attempted murder and aggravated burglary. Prosecutors had planned to seek the death penalty.
Harker admitted going to Winters' trailer in the mountains of Lake Creek about six miles east of Heber City on Sept. 14, 1995, and shooting Winters outside his trailer with a .25-caliber handgun once in the face and once in the chest.
As Winters lay bleeding, Harker then burst into the trailer and found Anderson hiding inside the small bathroom. He shot her in the face and fled. Miraculously, Anderson survived. The bullet glanced off her jawbone and lodged in her mouth.
Anderson and Harker had lived together for about one year. Harker was upset that Winters, a friend of his, had started a romantic relationship with Anderson.
In arguing for consecutive sentences, Wasatch County attorneys Dan Matthews and Derek Pullan presented evidence of the killing in a trial-like setting. They showed photos of Winters' dead body and played the 911 tape where the injured Anderson struggled to call for help.
Pullan said Harker planned and calculated to kill both Winters and Anderson. He compared Harker to a selfish child deprived of a toy, trying to make sure that no one could have Anderson if he couldn't. He said Anderson survived by luck and the grace of God, but not because of Harker's mercy.
"He did what he could to kill two people," Pullan said.
Winters' mother, Maralyn Dodge, said the death of her son has left her with pain and a void.
"Prison isn't even bad enough for him as far as I'm concerned," she said.
Steve Winters said it's hard for him to control the anger he now feels for his brother's killer. Josh Winters, the victim's teenage son, said he's lost his hunting, fishing and golfing partner.
"You've taken away a man's dream," he told Harker.
In pleading for leniency, Harker turned the podium around and faced Winters' family. He told them he's struggled to find the words necessary to apologize and to seek forgiveness.
"I'm sorry to everyone, but I did not plan this," a weeping Harker said.
But Harker's pleas for forgiveness did not find receptive ears when he asked Winters' family to understand the circumstances that night, of him being drunk and seeing the woman he loved in another man's arms.
"I'm just as much a victim as anyone else here," he said.
Those words obviously offended Winters' family. Many yelled back in anger at Harker and some walked out of the courtroom.
Davis called Harker's actions that night merciless and said the case is a prime example of the effects of drug and alcohol abuse. He said everyone is a loser, and no one should feel triumphant because of the sentence.
"None of what I've done today will lessen the anger, heartache or the void," he said.