Good Fences, Dead Neighbors

In May 2009 the small town of Monterey, Tennessee, on the Cumberland Plateau between Nashville and Knoxville, was the setting for a family quarrel that turned into a double murder and arson. Vita Clark lived at Hasler Road with her youngest son, Roy Clark. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Susan said he had stopped taking his medication as prescribed, that his personality changed, and that a doctor then switched him to what she called the opposite of what he had been taking, which really messed with him.

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On 12 May 2009 Susan came home from work at about 5.30 p.m. to find a new fence with yellow bags on it across the only driveway to the house. She said the sight made her physically ill and that she had to drive up a field, nearly damaging her car. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it There she overheard Vita, Roy and Sharon Miller whispering, snickering and laughing. this part of the story is covered for now At nine o'clock she woke him as usual and told him. He said she was kidding, looked out, and called Jerry. Jerry told him to finish the second driveway he had started and avoid trouble. details of the account remain covered until revealed He told Susan he could not worry about it now because he had to go to work.

At the plant he complained to a co-worker, William 'Billy Tim' Brockett, about the fence and said that if it was still up when he got home he would kill his brother. Brockett thought he was blowing off steam and gave him the name of an attorney. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

Vita called 911 and said her son had come to her house at Hasler Road and shot both of them, and that her arm was almost blown off. Neighbours called 911 too. Paul Walker had been woken by gunshots at about 6.30 or 7 a.m.; Jewel Bell Melton saw smoke and said the house had blowed up or something. Jerry Clark drove over, saw his mother lying wounded in the driveway and the house in flames, and left without helping her. Overton County sheriff's deputies arrived, found Vita's body three or four feet from the burning house and dragged it away. this part of the story is covered for now He told them to fall back. Sergeant Robert Garrett heard what sounded like .22-calibre shots and then a larger boom; Deputy Derrick Ledbetter was hit in the shoulder, but his vest saved him. details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it They recovered a Ruger .22 and a Winchester pump-action 12-gauge shotgun. Shells and a slug were in his pocket, and his boots and clothing carried gunshot residue. A fire investigator, Agent Greg Whitaker of the Tennessee Bomb and Arson unit, found an unusual burn pattern, gasoline in jars and foam materials, and ruled the fire incendiary. Roy Clark's body was in the kitchen. The autopsy showed he had been shot in the back with a shotgun and was dead before the fire; his feet had burned off and part of his skull was gone. Vita had at least two shotgun wounds and burns. One blast to the back of her neck severed her spinal cord and left vertebral artery and knocked out teeth. The doctor said she could not have spoken after that wound, so she must have made the 911 call before the neck shot.

this part of the story is covered for now Every witness he asked to be subpoenaed refused to help him. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it The district attorney said he faced a minimum of 51 calendar years for first-degree murder in one case. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now