Man Due Back On Charge Of Hitting Victim’s Brother Sax Also ‘A Person Of Interest’ In Unsolved Homicide Case Of Boy’s Older Sister, Julie Harris

Donald W. Sax is expected to return to the area this week to face a charge that he assaulted the younger brother of 12-year-old homicide victim Julie Harris.

Meanwhile, a memorial service for Harris is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Kettle Falls Assembly of God Church, which she attended.

Sax is the live-in boyfriend of Julie’s mother, Colville resident Sherri Harris.

He has been in Coos Bay, Ore., with court permission for the past month to care for his sick father, according to attorney Charles Burns Jr., who represents Sax and Sherri Harris.

Sax is charged with fourth-degree domestic assault against 10-year-old Clifford Robinson, and faces trial June 26 in Stevens County District Court. He is accused of grabbing the boy by the neck, head-butting him twice and kneeing him in the upper left thigh.

“Don’s position is that he did not assault the child,” Burns said. “He merely restrained him.”

The assault case has some similarities to Julie Harris’ disappearance. Just before the trouble occurred in each case, Sax is said to have confronted a troubled child who didn’t want to do homework.

Sax told The Spokesman-Review that Julie apparently ran away shortly after they had an argument on March 2, 1996. He said he was encouraging the girl to do her homework and be more responsible when she exploded in anger.

Sherri Harris said in a court document that Sax told Clifford to do his homework just before the alleged assault. She said Clifford was refusing to do his homework and struck her in the chest when she tried to persuade him.

She said the boy “has a long and documented history of violent rages” and is much stronger than she because she has fibromyalgia and other disabilities. So Harris said she called for Sax to help.

Sax told the boy he had to do his homework or spend “time out” standing against a wall with his arms spread out.

“Cliff flew into a violent rage and Don grabbed him under the arms to restrain him,” Harris stated.

She said Sax didn’t grab the boy by the throat or strike him as charged. The bruise on Clifford’s thigh was caused by a recent bicycle accident, Harris said in a sworn statement.

Colville Police Chief Damond Meshishnek said his department arrested Sax the day after the incident, when school officials reported suspected abuse to state Child Protective Services. Meshishnek said officers interviewed Clifford at Fort Colville Middle School and found evidence that he had been assaulted.

Since then, the boy and his 8-year-old brother, George Vincent Jr., have been in foster care.

Harris said in her court statement that Sax has lived with her and her children since Thanksgiving 1994, except for a couple of months after Julie disappeared. She said Sax moved back into their home after CPS “concluded that there was no problem with Don living in the house.”

Julie’s disappearance was classified a homicide after her two artificial feet and a bag belonging to her were found a little more than a month later, near where the Colville River flows into Lake Roosevelt at Kettle Falls.

The girl’s remains were found April 26 in a wooded area about six miles southwest of Colville.

Sheriff’s officials say they have no formal suspect in the slaying, but have identified Sax as a “person of interest.”

, DataTimes