Wife of alleged abuser takes stand, testifies in Fresno court about night she was shot

The estranged wife of Harry Gordon testified Thursday the moment she saw her husband coming at her with a gun, she knew something bad was going to happen.

Standing just about 10 feet from her, Gordon, who had a contentious relationship with his wife, allegedly fired several shots from his .22 caliber handgun on Jan. 29, 2016. Three bullets penetrated her abdomen.

“Oh my God,” she said, recalling that moment. “When I saw him, I just stood there in shock , long enough for him to shoot me.”

Gordon, 68, is on trial facing felony charges of attempted murder and domestic violence. He faces a possible sentence of life in prison, if convicted.

His defense attorney Yan Shrayberman said Gordon was suffering from stress, longstanding health problems and mental illness.

The white-haired Gordon, who is a former supervisor for the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, is accused of being a domineering husband who tried to control every aspect of his wife’s life, said prosecutor Elana Smith.

But according to Smith, one thing he couldn’t control was her decision to leave him. She had filed for divorce about two months before the shooting. At that time, they had been married for 24 years.

Gordon’s wife said she struggled with the decision to leave her husband. As a Christian, she believed once you marry, you stayed married.

“But our marriage had deteriorated so much, it became an option,” she said.

After the family moved from the Bay Area to Fresno in 2012, the situation got worse. Gordon had retired and resented she was not spending more time with him, she testified.

“He wanted to know why wasn’t I taking care of him,” she said.

Gordon also had become suspicious that his wife was having an affair, Smith said. He was so convinced of it, he tracked down the home where she and their two children were staying temporarily while house sitting and babystitting for a relative in northeast Fresno, according to Smith.

Fresno police said Gordon parked down the street from the home and was lying in wait for his estranged wife. He had his .22 caliber handgun with him.

Gordon’s wife and her two children were waiting for the child they were babysitting to return from ballet practice. The child’s grandmother was dropping her off at the house. When the grandmother arrived, Gordon’s wife and daughter went outside to greet them, Gordon’s wife testified.

After a few seconds, she saw Gordon walking up the driveway, a gun in his hand. She was facing him when she heard three gunshots, according to her testimony.

“Once I heard the shots, I realized what he was doing and I turned and ran back into the house,” she said as she began to cry. “As I ran into the home, I started feeling my shirt but there was no blood or wetness. I though he had shot me, but I didn’t feel anything.”

But she had been shot, three times in the stomach area. As she sat against a wall in the home, she was having a hard time breathing, she testified.

Gordon was arrested at the scene and his wife was rushed to Community Regional Medical Center where she underwent emergency surgery.

She spent four months in the hospital and another three to four weeks in convalescent care. Her kidney was shattered and she received a transplant. She told the prosecutor she still suffers physically and emotional from the shooting.

The trial continues on Tuesday.

This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 5:25 PM.