Homicide victim’s family ‘overwhelmed’ by support
Fenwick Lions organize processional to pay tribute to businessman Earl Clapp
As Tillie Clapp mourns the senseless death of her husband Earl, there were three things she could still be thankful for on Thanksgiving.
Earl, 74, died while attempting to thwart a theft of one of his trailers from Niagara Farm Metal Products, his homebased business on Centre Street in Fenwick.
The incident occurred in the early morning hours of Oct. 2.
Niagara Regional Police announced over the weekend two arrests have been made.
Each charged with second-degree murder are Wellandport resident Matthew MacInnes, 39, and Jason Lusted, 49, of no fixed address.
Detectives are attempting to locate a 2007 to 2014 black Ford Expedition that may be associated to Lusted or MacInnes and driven on the night of the incident.
Late Monday morning, hundreds of vehicles drove past the Clapp home to pay tribute to the well-known businessman. The procession was organized by the Fenwick Lions Club.
“Earl was a gentle, kind and honest man, who was precious to his family and respected by his friends, business partners and the community,” said his obituary.
Earl and Tillie met in Sudbury before moving to Pelham more than 40 years ago. He started his business in the mid-1980s.
They have two grandchildren, Ella and Alex.
In an interview before an outpouring of support started to arrive, Tillie said she only wanted to comment on three specific things.
Shortly after the struggle with the suspects, her husband was found on the road by a young woman at about 2:30 a.m. She called 911.
“We thank her from the bottom of our hearts,” Tillie said while seated in chair at the end of her driveway as friends and family browsed a small collection of family photos displayed
on easels along the edge of the property.
She also wanted to give thanks to Niagara Regional Police, especially the detectives on the case, one in particular she did not want to name.
“He’s here just about every day keeping us up to date and answering our questions,” she said with daughters Jodie and Elisha nearby.
The massive flood of support from the community during the tragedy is the third part of what she said she was willing to talk about.
“We have been overwhelmed. They are hurting, they are angry and they are sad, which makes it easier for us to bare this,” she said.
The procession that started at the Lions’ headquarters at Centennial Park and ended at Centre Street and Highway 20 was brought forward by Jonathan Tucker, a former member of the local service club.
He said Earl Clapp was “wellconnected” to so many people in the local farming and contracting industries.
Tillie was Tucker’s principal for a number of years at Winger Public School in Wainfleet.
They are a “well-respected” family who the entire community’s heart aches for, Tucker said, adding Monday’s event was organized to “let them know the community cares.”
“It’s just such an awful thing (that happened).”
Of the two suspect in the case, Lusted has a dark past.
According to a 2015 Hamilton Spectator article, Lusted has been handed four previous sentences — one of them being for his involvement in a high-profile murder case in Hamilton.
In 2010, he pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, four counts of possession of stolen property over $5,000, driving while disqualified and evading police. He was sentenced to 10 years, later reduced to seven years, six months.
Lusted was arrested in a stolen car after a high-speed police chase. Other stolen cars were found on his property.
The victim in the 2006 homicide was 27-year-old Billy Mason, who was escorted from his Hamilton apartment at gunpoint by Lusted and another man, Jeremy Hall. They drove him to a rural road where Hall shot him.
They left his body for days before returning to collect it and burn it at a farm where Hall was living. According to the Spectator, Lusted was granted day parole in 2015.
Niagara Regional Police communications staff were not immediately available on Monday to comment on Lusted’s previous convictions.