Court denies Sessions Harper appeal

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Despite her pain, Michael named her attacker

By KATIE WILLIAMS

Messenger staff writer

When Fort Dodge firefighers found Holly Michael on Jan. 8, 2006, her body was on fire and her arms and hands had been severely burned.

She died 18 days later.

But before her death, through her pain, Michael was able to tell her rescuers what had happened.

"Sessions Harper," she told an attending physician. "He tied me up, raped me and left me in the basement."

The fingers on her left hand were charred off and 60 percent of her body had third- and fourth-degree burns, some of them to the bone. Her arms had to be amputated.

One of the treating physicians initially thought Michael was dead.

On the way to Trinity Regional Medical Center, paramedics poured saline on Michael to put out the smoldering material still attached to her body. She was later airlifted to University Hospitals in Iowa City.

Michael's mother said that her daughter mouthed "Sessions" over and over from her hospital bed.

"I think I'm going to die,"Michael said, according to a hospital staff member during the District Court trial,

The day of the fire, a Sunday, neighbors noticed a red car parked near Michael's home at 2020 Sixth Ave. S. A couple driving past noticed the house was on fire and called the Fire Department.

They found Michael in the basement, lying face down, hands and feet bound and wrapped in a burning comforter. Tests later showed a mixture of gasoline and a petroleum product had been poured on her.

An investigation into the fire showed that several separate fires had been intentionally started in Michael's home and the fire alarms had been disabled.

Michael was 22 when she died.

Contact Katie Williams at (515) 573-2141 or katie@messengernews.net

The Iowa Supreme Court denied Sessions Harper's request for an appeal on Friday, upholding his conviction for the January 2006 murder of Holly Michael.

Harper, 38, formerly of Fort Dodge, was found guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree arson, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault on Feb. 2, 2007, in Buena Vista County. The trial had been moved to Storm Lake because of pretrial publicity.

Harper sought to appeal his conviction to the Iowa Supreme Court on the grounds that the testimony of hospital workers shouldn't have been allowed during the trial because it was hearsay.

Upon learning of Friday's ruling, Anita Michael said it was important for her daughter's words to be heard.

"I think the decision today is monumental for past and future cases across Iowa," Michael said. "When you have a victim telling a statement of fact and that is then thrown out, what do you have left to fight with?"

Harper raped Holly Michael and set her and her home on fire on Jan. 8, 2006. Michael died 18 days later, on Jan. 26, 2006, from her injuries in the attack, but not before telling rescue workers what happened to her and who had done it.

"She told me that Sessions Harper had raped her, tied her up and set her house on fire," Dr. Dan Cole, Webster County medical examiner, said during the opening day of Harper's trial on Jan. 25, 2007.

Harper was sentenced on Feb. 23, 2007, to serve three life sentences in prison. He was given the mandatory life sentences on all three Class A felony convictions and 25 years for the Class B felony of arson.

"Michael's statements to hospital staff that Sessions Harper raped her, tied her and set her house on fire are admissible under two exceptions to the hearsay rule, excited utterance and dying declaration," according to Iowa Supreme Court documents released Friday.

That agreed with the ruling already made by District Court Judge Allan Goode during the original trial. At that time Goode decided that Michael's statements were admissible in the case.

''You picked the wrong victim," Goode told Harper during the original sentencing. "Holly was a brave, strong girl. You committed acts totally devoid of conscience, of any civilized idea of right and wrong. What you did was an act of pure evil.''

Dale Harlow, pastor of the Northfield Church of Christ, the church Michael attended, said Friday's ruling was another victory for Holly Michael's family.

"He needs to stay behind bars," said Harlow. "I think part of what gave her the will to live was to tell people who did that to her."

Harper is incarcerated at the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison.

Contact Katie Williams at (515) 573-2141 or katie@messengernews.net