Penalty Phase Begins in ‘Twilight Rapist’ Trial

EDNA, Texas (AP) _ A woman thought to be the first sexual assault victim of Billy Joe Harris testified that he threatened to kill her if she didn’t stay quiet during the January 2009 attack.

The 69-year-old Yoakum woman testified Thursday as the penalty phase of the Harris trial began in Edna, about 100 miles southwest of Houston. The Jackson County jury could sentence Harris to five years to life in prison.

According to The Victoria Advocate (http://bit.ly/nnpwqG), the woman said she began screaming during the January 2009 attack until Harris threatened to kill her. She said he attacked her again that November, even though she’d moved.

The testimony came a day after jurors found Harris guilty of sexual assault in the January rape of a 59-year-old disabled woman in Edna.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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