Murder of Dale Harrell

DeVault was initially set to go to trial in 2011, but the trial was postponed. The prosecutors in the case sought the death penalty. Defense attorneys stated that DeVault had battered woman syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder, which they used to argue against the death penalty. Jury selection for the new trial began in January 2014, where Judge Roland Steinle commented that he did not want anyone on the jury that had been overly focused on the Jodi Arias trial. The trial for DeVault officially began on January 22, 2014, and was expected to run until April.

On April 8, 2014, DeVault was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder for the death of Harrell, and the jury found that excessive cruelty had been used which made DeVault eligible for the death penalty. In a statement to the court, DeVault apologized for the murder, saying that she was "sorry, not only for my actions, but for everyone I hurt". She also addressed Harrell's parents, stating that, "My heart goes out to them...his mother and father have had to experience the worst loss in the world – the loss of a child. I know there is nothing I can say that will ever ease their pain."

The penalty phase of the trial commenced on April 15, and deliberations began on April 22. The jury sentenced DeVault to life in prison instead of the death penalty, and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery stated that, "imposing the death penalty in any circumstance is difficult, and in this one, the jurors apparently felt that a life sentence was appropriate". On June 6, 2014, the judge sentenced DeVault to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On January 14, 2009, DeVault entered the master bedroom that she and Harrell shared at their home in Gilbert, Arizona. She then struck Harrell several times in the head while he was sleeping. Harrell received multiple skull fractures and was taken to the hospital. DeVault initially claimed that Harrell was beaten by an unknown assailant who had broken into the home. She later confessed that she had beaten Harrell as an act of self-defense, and alleged that Harrell was physically and sexually abusive. DeVault was arrested the same night on charges of aggravated assault and was held at a local jail, but was later released on bail. Officers noted that DeVault had reddened marks upon her neck, and that they had found a hammer covered with blood at the crime scene. In early February 2009, DeVault was indicted for attempted murder and released on bond.

On February 9, 2009, Harrell died of his wounds and a grand jury indicted DeVault for first-degree murder. At 3:00 a.m. the next morning, DeVault was assaulted by an unknown assailant as she was jogging, suffering a broken jaw and ankle. Following the beating, police investigated a man who lived with DeVault, Stanley Cook, Jr., and found dirty, bloody clothing.

The murder of Dale Harrell (December 18, 1974 – February 9, 2009) occurred after he was fatally attacked on January 14, 2009 by his wife Marissa-Suzanne "Reese" DeVault (born November 6, 1977) in Maricopa County, Arizona. Her trial made national and global headlines. The case was noted as being very similar to that of the murder of Travis Alexander by Jodi Arias, with whom DeVault was in contact and whose murder trial occurred in the same courthouse one year earlier. Though she faced the possibility of a death penalty for her crime, DeVault was sentenced to life in prison. She is imprisoned within the Arizona Department of Corrections.