Mary Morris (wrong target)
Mary Morris was murdered in a possible case of mistaken identity in Houston. Another Mary Morris in the same area was the intended target of a hit ordered by her husband. The wrong woman was killed.
On October 12, 2000, Mary Henderson Morris, a 39-year-old pharmacy benefits manager, was found shot to death in her car on a road near her home in the Harris County area of Houston, Texas. She had been shot multiple times.
Four days later, on October 16, another woman also named Mary Morris was found beaten to death in her own car in the same general area of Houston. This second Mary's husband was later convicted of hiring a hit man to kill his wife.
Investigators theorized that the first Mary Morris may have been killed by mistake—that the hit man hired to kill the second Mary Morris may have confused the two women, who shared the same name and lived in the same area.
Despite this compelling theory, the murder of the first Mary Morris has never been solved. The case has been featured on 'Unsolved Mysteries' and continues to be investigated by Harris County homicide detectives.
Curated starting points for verifying and researching this case. Direct references are checked; search links are provided as further-reading aids. ColdCaseIndex is an index of public information — see a case correction? Email info@coldcaseindex.com.
Have Information About This Case?
Cold cases are solved when someone comes forward. Even a detail that seems minor can matter. If you have any information about this case, contact law enforcement through one of these channels:
- FBI Tips (tips.fbi.gov) — submit a tip online to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
- FBI Tip Line: 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324)
- The local police department or sheriff's office in Texas, or the state bureau of investigation
Tips can usually be submitted anonymously. To report an error on this page, email info@coldcaseindex.com.