... Three weeks after the slayings, a housecleaner who worked in the Harris home for more than five years was arrested. Russell Sedelmaier, then 44, eventually admitted he beat and slashed the throats of the father and daughter after each had walked in on him stealing clothing and trinkets to resell at a flea market. Sedelmaier set the house on fire, and Harris and his daughter, an elementary school teacher, died of smoke inhalation.

In November 2005, Sedelmaier pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. Harris’ wife, Rev. Eileen Harris, expressed her forgiveness to Sedelmaier at the sentencing hearing, generating new and sometimes heated discussions at Trinity about their core beliefs as Christians. The Harris family did not respond to requests for interviews for this story ...