A Ray Of Hope

By

Bonnie M. Wells

www.starlightinnerprizes.com

Notice: This story is part of the ....

Lookin' For A Killer Web-Series; The Pure Coincidence Book Series; and will be part of my new, 2007 web-series 'The Symbolic Murder Cases':

Lookin' For A Cop Killer

Ray Clark was a Washington County {Ohio} Deputy Sheriff who was gunned down on February 7th, 1981 while standing in the kitchen of his own home.

I would like to know who killed our deputy ..... not for my own reasons, but because he was one of our cops. He put his life on the line for us, and I figure the least I can do is ask who murdered the man.

I'd like to live long enough to see his killer arrested and brought to justice.

It's looking rather doubtful .... and that's if I die of old age!

Many Rumors

There have been many rumors about the murder of Deputy Clark. I'm not certain that I believe any of them.

Some say he was investigating drug trafficking and got too close to identifying the "main man" so he was killed. I suppose that's a possibility, but certainly makes the "main man" appear to be high ranking.

Clark was reportedly standing in his kitchen when a blast from a shotgun came through his window and killed him. I've been told they cannot do ballistics on a shotgun.... Not sure I believe this either!

I was told by a former police officer who is now retired, that he knew who killed Deputy Clark, and that the man is now deceased. He insisted that he took finger prints from the deceased man even as he lay in his casket, and that he knows for certain he is the man who killed Clark.

I only have one problem with this former cop's story ..... what finger prints was he trying to match? The killer didn't leave his shotgun behind! Where did he leave prints? And "if" he left finger prints somewhere .... on a window sill or door frame, etc...... then why did law enforcement wait until the man died of natural causes before deciding to name him as the killer?

Neah, the cop's story doesn't hold any weight with me, but it sounded good when he told it.

Made him sound real smart ...... just made me ask more questions.

42 Days Earlier

Personally I have another theory ..... as usual.

My Wild Bill character was arrested the first time in Washington County for indecent exposure on December 26th, 1980.

According to court records the incident involved two girls who were minors at the time, so there are no names of anyone that I have been able to speak with. They are bound to be adults now, and if they ever read this page and want to speak to me, I'd be more than happy to hear their story. Meanwhile, my theory continues.....

The girls obviously either knew Wild Bill or they got his license number because it wasn't very long until he was arrested and jailed for his offense. He told me that he spent 3 days in jail, but another (more reliable) source told me that he spent 30 days in jail but was allowed to do the time during the weeks ends so he could continue to hold down his job. He wasn't so fortunate in 1994 when he committed the same crime in the same town. That time he didn't get to do week-ends, but sat in jail for a full 60 days, and in the process lost the job that he apparently didn't care much about anyhow.

Wild Bill's arrest occurred 42 days prior to Ray Clark's murder.

Forty-Two Days & Holding

Have Gun - Will Sell

In 1993 Wild Bill discovered that I was interested in some of the "unsolved murder cases" in Washington County, one of which was Deputy Clark's case.

He suddenly decided to sell a shotgun that he'd had since he was twelve years old, and had used for deer hunting year in and year out. He then tried to buy his brother's gun which was exactly like the one he'd just sold! His brother refused to sell the gun to him, and eventually I accompanied him to Wal*Mart and allowed him to purchase a new shotgun on one of my credit cards.

I never understood the man's reasoning for selling his gun and then buying another..... but I understood my reasoning for putting the new one on one of my credit cards.

I tried to question him on the subject and was told that the reason he sold the gun was because "I wouldn't let him go deer hunting anyway so why keep it!"

During the 3 and 1/2 years that I knew this man and thought he was my friend, I helped him dress out 4 deer. He went hunting every year that I knew him, and he always got a deer.

I was washing vegetables from his garden the day I questioned him about the gun and was told his reasoning. His comments shocked me but I didn't argue with him, didn't say anything about the deer he'd shot since I knew him... deer that I could prove he'd shot, because several of my friends had helped us cut and wrap the meat. Hell, the man had even given his attorney a few packages of the deer meat! Man was nuts...

He went back outside that day and I continued to think about his comments. A few minutes went by and he came back into the house and apologized for his comments. He said he had me confused with his ex-wife [**Renay]..... "It was she who wouldn't allow him to go hunting and that's why he sold the gun!"

I knew better. He sold his shotgun when I started asking questions about murder victims ..... especially Deputy Clark.

The really strange thing about it was ...he sold the gun more than 2 years after he and Renay's divorce was final!

I never let on that I saw the error, but I did inform Washington County detectives of the story. Nothing was ever done. He was never questioned about Ray Clark's murder. I continue to wonder who the arresting officer was in December of 1980. I've always suspected it was Ray Clark .... but, that's just a suspicion since all information in this county seems to be a one way, dead-end street.

It can go into the sheriff's department, but nothing ever comes out .....

no action, no answers, no comments, nothing.

Another "Coincidence," I Suppose

Ray Clark had a step daughter. I never knew her .... or him, for that matter. But I learned years ago that his daughter's name was Kathy.

More than fifteen years after the murder of Deputy Clark, Sheree Petry, the business partner of his daughter, was also murdered. That story is told within the Sey Von Sharee story clips at bottom of this page. [Will be posted as part of the May Story Selections Page]

During the years that I knew Wild Bill, I watched his reactions to cops.

He was jealous of them, resented their women ......wives and daughters ..... resented the fact that they had women in their lives.

He hated cops, but for some reason some of them seemed to like him .....or at least liked him better than me. They always took his word over mine.

That used to bother me... Not anymore. Just shows their true character.

A Dead Cop's Wife

Ray Clark was married at the time of his murder. His wife's name is/was Patty. {Patty is also the name of my sister}.

In 1993 I discovered an entry in Wild Bill's diary (which he allowed me to read, so just back off defense attorney's everywhere!) that said he had gone to Marietta, to his mother's place of employment and met a woman named Patty Clark.

This concerned me and I wondered if he was stalking Deputy Clark's widow ...

Then again, I suppose it is possible that he didn't even know Clark's wife's name but had simply met someone with the same name as hers, in the same town she lived in.

I know this happens ..... it happens a lot in this area, and lately I've seen it happening all across our country. I just can't figure out why the vast portion of the "same name" women end up murder victims!!!

That one's really got me puzzled.

Cops Killed In The Line Of Duty

I submitted Deputy Clark's name to a national group who keeps track of cop's killed in the line of duty. So far his name has never been placed on their list.

I have stopped donating to that group. If they have no respect for one of our officers who was murdered in his own home, then I have no money for them.

I might be one lone person out here, and perhaps most of the world doesn't agree with the way I handle things, but you know .... that makes no difference what so ever to me....

Never has ... never will .... because right is right, and wrong is wrong.

Feb. 7, 2005

It has been twenty four year today since Ray Clark was gunned down in his home. There is no talk about his case, and there has never been any action on the case.

We have a new sheriff now. He was elected in November of 2004. I don't know him; don't need to know him. But I am waiting to see if he does any more than the previous sheriff about these unsolved murder cases that the people of this area are forced to live with.

Meanwhile, my cases are not restricted by county lines, state lines or any other type of jurisdictional boundaries. Uncle Sam does not pay me to serve and protect. I am bound by nothing other than integrity and character, and a dedication that few have ever understood, and that I finally got tired of trying to explain.

The cases that are profiled on this web site and within the pages of the Pure Coincidence book series are real cases. The people were once alive. Someone murdered them. And "someone" needs to solve the cases.

If we have a dozen killers roaming our area as former sheriff Robert Schlicher seemed to want me and everyone to believe, then I say that is a damned disgrace, not to mention an embarrassment. How can that many crackpots escape detection and apprehension for so many years? What does this say about local law enforcement? Not a lot, as far as I'm concerned.

If, on the other hand, many of these crimes were committed by the same person, then we have a serial killer in our midst, and we need to be trying to nail his ass before he murders even more people, because he will not stop. Oh, he may ease up in Washington County for awhile, but when he's not trolling for victims here, he's trolling elsewhere. He's never completely idle, and he never gives up.

My own work has indicated that we are in fact dealing with a serial killer, although some of the cases appear to be solved, that formerly appeared to fit into the serial killer pattern. I do not believe that at least 2 of the so called "solved" cases are actually solved, and that number may easily expand to four.

But, discounting all four of those cases, and assuming they are correctly solved, that still leaves some two dozen cases that I firmly believe are connected by a common killer. Twenty four years is too long to wait for an answer. It's time we did something about this situation, and let our authorities know that we want these cases put back on the front burner instead of shelved in some forgotten desk drawer. If they do not have enough "man power" then form some volunteer citizen review panels or citizen task forces to look into the cases.

I will not volunteer this time. I tried that once and presented an idiot the opportunity of rejecting me. Well, he's come and gone, and I'm still here - still in charge of everything that I was in charge of all along - just like I told him I'd be. So if anyone is interested in my ideas, they are welcome to contact me. Otherwise, I'll be working alone - but you can rest assured, I will be working.

Clark Connections

It is a well known fact, that serial killers march to a different tune than "normal" people. They work out their own schemes and puzzles, and they fulfill their warped fantasies in ways that normal people would never think of. Many times the victims of serial killers fit into these ideas that only make sense to the killer. Some killers have several "plans" roaming around their heads at any given moment. And so I believe it is with "our" killer. I believe he is on a mission. That mission will not end until he is caught or dies of old age. At this point, I have to admit, it looks as if old age is going to catch him before we do!!

As fas as I can determine, Ray Clark was the first in the "Clark 42 Day" plan. Perhaps it wasn't even a plan at that time. Perhaps it didn't emerge as a plan until the second case. Regardless, there have been at least 2 "Clark" murders and one "Clark" arson, all involving the number "42" in one way or another - and all suspiciously connected to my Wild Bill character.

Ray Clark was murdered 42 days after Wild Bill's first arrest:

May Belle Clark was murdered 42 days after Wild Bill got out of jail from his second sex-offense arrest:

And the home of P. Clark was torched on January "24," which is a reversal on the 42: [**See the Teresa Butler story on January page]

P. Clark was the former boyfriend of the woman Wild Bill was living with at that time, and she continued to go see P. when Wild Bill was not home. Wild Bill told a woman that he intended to "get rid of P. Clark," and the next thing we knew the apartment the man lived in was burned to the ground.

Mae Belle Clark was a Parkersburg hooker and her story is told elsewhere on this web site, but for here I want to show that she too was connected to Wild Bill. [for Mae Bell Clark's story see 'This Bell's Gonna Tell on my August page]

On the night of the 42 day after his release from jail, my friend Sindee and I saw him pick up a woman from a Parkersburg night club and leave town. He returned some three hours later by himself. A few days later Mae Belle Clark was found murdered down around Charleston, West Virginia. It takes about three hours to drive from Parkersburg to Charleston and back to Parkersburg. Mae Belle's case has remained unsolved since 1994.

This story is dedicated to the memory of

Washington County Deputy Ray Clark,

whose case remains unsolved.

********************************

Thank you Sir.....for all you done ......all you tried

I pray the day comes ..... when the killer can no longer hide....

Behind a shield ..... of foolish pride.

May he be exposed by the badge ...... of one who died.

2008 News:

Mid January 2008, our local tv station made the following announcement:

WTAP-TV is working on a special series featuring unsolved murders in the Mid-Ohio Valley. We would like your feedback on which three unsolved murders you want our series to focus on.

2009 News:

Many people voted in the above poll, and eventually three cases were selected: One of those cases was Ray Clark.

To see how a psychopath reacts when reminded of one of his crimes, take a look at the following story ......

Judith Petty

Bonnie M. Wells

NEW 2005!!

Mariah Fae & Independence Day

December 26th / Metheny

Sey Von Sharee

Forty-Two Days & Holding

The following is a courtesy link and not affiliated with this web site:

State To State Unsolved Crimes. Com

www.starlightinnerprizes.com

Pure Coincidence Book Series