The murder of Chiquita Tate is the focus of tonight’s Dateline NBC . Chiquita Tate was a rising star attorney who was found dead in her law office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her case was featured on TV One’s hit show Fatal Attraction , according to an earlier report by Inquisitr .
Tonight’s episode entitled “Shining Star” will examine what led to the brutal death of Chiquita Tate, an attractive African American attorney and hero of her town. The case baffled police and family members as they struggled to find out who could have killed the tenacious defense lawyer.
Tate was found dead in her law office in February 2009. Her husband, Greg Harris, a blue collar worker, had informed family members that he was unable to make contact with his wife and was advised to check on her when she failed to return home from the office. When Greg Harris went to Chiquita’s law office, he found her car outside and the lights on in her 3rd floor office. Unable to get inside, Greg contacted authorities.
When police arrived, they found Chiquita Tate on the floor with her arms raised above her head as if someone had attempted to drag her to another location. In one hand, police found long strands of hair. The office was in disarray and blood was everywhere, which indicated to law enforcement officials that a violent struggle had taken place. An autopsy report concluded that the victim had been stabbed around 43 times in the vicious attack.
No one knew who could have possibly hurt the up-and-coming hot shot lawyer. Investigators wondered if Chiquita Tate was the victim of a robbery since her wallet was missing. But since she was found still wearing a diamond ring and other expensive jewelry, that theory was ruled out. It was later suspected that a disgruntled client may have decided to kill her. It was also theorized that the murder was over a lesbian lover, since long strands of a woman’s hair had been found in the victim’s hand.
With those theories eventually thrown out, police were led to her husband, Greg Harris, the man who had found her and called police. A look into his background revealed that Tate’s marriage was nothing like it seemed. Instead of a loving relationship, Chiquita Tate had been the victim of domestic violence, after it came to light that Greg had previously assaulted her. On the day that Chiquita Tate was killed, she had planned to finally get away from Greg.
The crime gained national attention when it was revealed that Greg Harris had tried to throw off the investigation by taking the wallet in the hopes that someone else could be framed for the murder. Greg also tried to set up a lesbian angle theory, which was why he planted fake hair in his dead wife’s hands.
Greg Tate was sentenced to 40 years for manslaughter. Be sure to watch Dateline NBC tonight at 10/9 central to see how they unravel this twisted, bizarre case.
Dateline NBC episode “Shining Star” tease,
“A brilliant young woman rose from poverty to become a successful criminal defense attorney in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. When her life is cut short one terrible night in her office, investigators scour her roster of clients and follow a string of strange clues. Would those clues lead them to her killer?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA1tB2naHYI
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