Prosecutors say a 20-year-old man was in violation of a protective order when he went to his parents' home and assaulted his father. When the older man died of head injuries the next day, Samuel Michael Harman was charged with the murder of his father.
In the incident, police were called to the Bethany home on June 6, with the caller reporting that her son was at the home, despite a Victim's Protective Order barring him from contact with his parents. The caller said that they needed a police car to escort Samuel Harman from the premises. The caller described her son as bipolar, schizophrenic, and high on methamphetamine. She said the younger man was threatening her husband.
The parents did not want their son to be arrested, and asked that he instead be transported to a drug rehab facility. However, the following day, the father died of head injuries. When police returned to question the family further, a witness allegedly stated that Harman "had actually assaulted the father, barricaded the house so the father could not get out, and broke the father's cell phone so he could not call 911," according to Bethany Police Deputy Chief J.D. Reid.
Samuel Harman was arrested on complaints of violating a protective order, kidnapping, domestic abuse, and murder. He was formally charged on June 18 with one count each of violating a protective order, kidnapping, and first degree murder.
Harman's criminal record also reveals a conviction in May 2014 for assault and battery with intent to kill. In that case, he was given a 7-year suspended sentence. On May 29 of this year, a week before the alleged assault at his parents' home, he failed to appear for a court date related to that conviction. Today, prosecutors filed a motion to revoke his suspended sentence. If approved, he would be sent to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence for the assault and battery with intent to kill conviction.
If convicted of the crimes with which he has been charged, the defendant faces significant prison time.
Violating a protective order may be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony. A first offense is typically a misdemeanor, and subsequent offenses are felonies. The penalties are more severe if the person causes physical injury to another when violating a VPO:
B. 1. Any person who has been served with an ex parte or final protective order or foreign protective order who violates the protective order and causes physical injury or physical impairment to the plaintiff or to any other person named in said protective order shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a term of imprisonment in the county jail for not less than twenty (20) days nor more than one (1) year. In addition to the term of imprisonment, the person may be punished by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00).
2. Any person who is convicted of a second or subsequent violation of a protective order which causes physical injury or physical impairment to a plaintiff or to any other person named in the protective order shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by a term of imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections of not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, or by a fine of not less than Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) nor more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.
3. In determining the term of imprisonment required by this section, the jury or sentencing judge shall consider the degree of physical injury or physical impairment to the victim.
Kidnapping is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison.
First degree murder carries a sentence of life or life without parole.
