Jean Harris’s life is a story of transformation from an educated, courageous headmistress to a cold-blooded murderer when entangled in a love affair with a philandering man, and later, a model prisoner, kind-hearted.
Love at First Sight
Jean Harris is the second child in a wealthy family of 4 children. Jean possesses striking beauty, ambition, perseverance, and high organizational skills. She attended a top private school in Ohio before majoring in economics at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
After graduation, Jean married James Harris and had 2 sons. They lived in a very nice neighborhood of the middle class in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Jean taught at a school.
Meanwhile, James Harris took on a supervisory role at a carburetor company. Unlike his wife, James was not ambitious. Disillusioned with her marriage to her unambitious husband, in 1965, Jean and her husband divorced. She and her sons moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia.
When Jean Harris and cardiologist Herman Tarnower met at a dinner party in 1966, they immediately hit it off. At that time, Jean was over 40 and Herman was over 50. Herman courted the beautiful woman with roses, lavish meals, outings around town, and even dances at luxury hotels in Manhattan. Their love was so intense that Herman – a lifelong advocate of “perpetual bachelorhood” – gave Jean a 4-carat diamond engagement ring.
However, with Jean’s hesitation and Herman’s “inability to stop seeing other women,” they decided not to marry but still embarked on a relationship that lasted for 14 years.
Cracks in the Relationship
In 1978, Dr. Herman, with Jean’s help, published a book on a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet, which was considered a new diet trend at the time. The book became a bestseller in 1978 and for several years afterward, boosting Dr. Herman’s reputation. Meanwhile, Jean served as the headmistress of the Madeira School for affluent girls in McLean, Virginia.
Despite always showering Jean with valuable gifts and extravagant vacations, Herman also had relationships with other women. Jean knew about this because Herman didn’t hide it.
For many years, Jean was the one Herman brought to parties he attended. But in 1980, their 14-year relationship began to falter as Herman became increasingly wealthy and famous thanks to his diet book. Herman began to neglect Jean and started dating much younger women than the respected headmistress.
Herman later hired Lynne Tryforos, a 37-year-old divorced woman, as his personal secretary. The two began a relationship. Vacations with Jean became less frequent to make way for trips with the secretary. Eventually, Herman also wavered about whether to bring Jean or his younger lover Lynne to his parties. Some of the doctor’s friends even said that Herman seemed to have long-term intentions with Lynne.
At the same time, at the Madeira School for Girls, Jean was also facing trouble. She was not well-liked by the students. Along with the tension in both love and career, Jean also unwittingly became addicted to methamphetamine, prescribed by her lover but without her knowledge. Jean felt exhausted with everything. Negative thoughts crept into her mind.
Suicide Plan
Jean then decided to write a 10-page letter to Herman about how poorly he had treated her over the years. Next, Jean wrote her will.
On March 10, 1980, after a particularly difficult week at school where she had expelled some 12th-grade students for possessing stimulants, which led to threats from parents and even students, Jean decided to commit suicide. Jean managed to contact her lover and asked him if she could come to see him that night. Herman said he was busy having dinner with his granddaughter.
Putting down the phone, the headmistress wrote her resignation letter, a few words for her two sons, carefully arranged her papers, and then put on her coat, not forgetting to bring a small gun in her purse. She then drove for 5 hours in pouring rain from the Madeira School to her lover’s house.
Jean wanted to meet Herman one last time before committing suicide. But her plan changed after entering her lover’s house unannounced.
The Deadly Encounter
Jean arrived at 10:40 p.m. Herman was asleep and had no idea of Jean’s presence until she woke him up. Seeing Jean, Herman became very uncomfortable.
Entering the bathroom, Jean suddenly saw lingerie, a nightgown, and hair tools belonging to her rival – Herman’s secretary Lynn Tryforos. The headmistress became furious.
An argument ensued. Jean threw Lynn’s belongings, breaking the window and the makeup mirror. Herman then rushed to hit his lover. Jean later confessed to the police that she had challenged Herman to hit her again, but he didn’t. Jean immediately pulled out the gun she had brought and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll do it myself.“
But as she raised the gun to her temple, Herman quickly grabbed it, causing the bullet to fire, and injuring him in the hand. After a struggle, Herman was shot three more times in the chest, arm, and back. Finally, Jean pointed the gun at herself and pulled the trigger, but it didn’t work. Jean then decided to leave.
At 10:56 p.m. on March 10, 1980, the police received a call from the caretaker reporting a murder at Dr. Herman Tarnower’s mansion in Purchase, New York.
The 69-year-old doctor’s body was found in an upstairs bedroom with four gunshot wounds. Police also found Jean Harris preparing to drive away from the scene, with a .32-caliber gun in the car. The middle-aged, beautiful headmistress immediately confessed to shooting the doctor in tears.
The next day, Dr. Herman Tarnower’s death became the most sensational news in the newspapers.
The Notorious Case
Jean was arrested but was released on bail of $80,000 raised by relatives. The headmistress was admitted to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation and treatment.
The case was tried at the Westchester County Court in White Plains, New York, on November 21, 1980. The trial lasted for 14 weeks with 92 witnesses, becoming one of the longest trials in the state’s history.
The case attracted nationwide attention at the time, not only because of the details related to both sex and violence but also, according to many experts, because it involved social issues. Debates erupted as many argued that Jean was a murderer, but some feminists justified Jean’s actions as “justifiable revenge against a heartless man”, seeing Jean as an emblem of society’s disregard for the plight of older women.
Throughout the trial, Jean maintained that her purpose in going to see her lover was merely to have a final conversation with him before committing suicide afterward. Jean also insisted that the doctor’s death was just an “accident,” the result of an “unsuccessful suicide attempt.”
During the trial days, Jean wore glamorous dresses and coats to court every day and even stood up to defend herself when recounting the emotional abuse she endured throughout her relationship with Herman. However, prosecutors refuted Jean’s accidental shooting claim by presenting evidence that she had fired up to 4 times at close range.
The Model Prisoner
After 8 days of deliberation, the jury found Jean guilty of Second Degree Murder, sentencing her to life imprisonment with parole eligibility after a minimum of 15 years. This verdict meant she was not legally entitled to inherit $220,000 from Dr. Herman, according to his earlier will.
Jean calmly accepted the verdict but trembled as she left the courtroom, saying, “I didn’t kill Herman. I loved him very much.”
During her incarceration at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in Westchester County, New York, Jean became a model and compassionate prisoner. She organized a library, tutored inmates for state high school exams, and established nurseries for babies born in prison.
11 years later, on December 29, 1992, the Governor of New York granted Jean clemency. Released at the age of 70, Jean lived quietly in a riverside log cabin in New Hampshire, tending to her garden, writing, and walking her dog daily, despite occasionally being reminded by a TV show or book inspired by her case.
Jean passed away in 2017, at the age of 89.
