Elderly man admits killing a co-worker
A man admitted in court that he shot and killed a co-worker during an argument. A judge will decide his fate.
NORRISTOWN >> A Bucks County man has admitted to fatally shooting another man, a former co-worker, on the victim’s porch in Abington Township following an alleged disagreement, but has left his degree of guilt up to a judge.
Leroy Milton “Clarkie” Clark, 72, of the 1000 block of Hackney Circle, Warrington, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court on Thursday to a general homicide charge in connection with the 1:44 p.m. Dec. 23, 2015, slaying of Richard Duncan, 73, outside Duncan’s home in the 1700 block of Prospect Avenue in Abington.
Judge Steven T. O’Neill will decide the degree of guilt. Clark is charged with first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing, and third-degree murder, which is a killing committed with malice.
“This is an intentional killing there are no ifs, ands or buts about it. He had every intention of killing Mr. Duncan when he went to his home. He knew what he was doing,” county Assistant District Attorney Kathleen McLaughlin argued to the judge.
But defense lawyer Brian J. McMonagle, arguing against a first-degree murder conviction, suggested Clark did not act with a specific intent to kill Duncan but rather “snapped.” McMonagle suggested Clark, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at the time of the shooting and he asked the judge to find that Clark is guilty but mentally ill.
“It’s not an excuse, it’s just an explanation. No one can suggest this was premeditated. It is a weakened mind… and it was like a time bomb and it just stopped ticking. It was a tragedy,” McMonagle argued. “He snapped. The bough simply broke.”
Under state law, a person deemed to be guilty but mentally ill lacks the capacity to either appreciate the consequences of his conduct or conform his conduct to the requirements of law as a result of a mental disease or defect.
A person found guilty but mentally ill initially is transferred to a mental health facility for treatment. When that person is deemed to have the mental illness under control, he must serve the balance of any sentence in prison.
The judge took the matter under advisement, indicating he will issue a verdict early next week.
A conviction of first-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life imprisonment. A conviction of third-degree murder carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.
Clark also pleaded guilty to charges of possessing an instrument of crime and firearms not to be carried without a license.
Clark, who shot himself in the chest and mouth during a brief standoff with police a short time after fatally shooting Duncan, was escorted to court in a wheelchair. Clark, who did not testify during the hearing, showed signs of a droop on his lower right face.
Investigators said Clark knew Duncan, also a Marine Corps veteran, through the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. Clark was the warehouse manager for the program, according to testimony, and Duncan had worked with the program through 2011.
The manager of the Toys for Tots program told detectives that on Dec. 22 he received a call from Duncan regarding a complaint involving Clark and the manager met with Duncan and Clark later that evening to discuss it, according to the arrest affidavit.
“According to (the manager), the issue between Clark and Duncan centered on a woman that Clark had denied toys to unless she would have a physical relationship with Clark,” detectives alleged in the complaint, adding the woman reportedly spoke to Duncan about her conversation with Clark. “At the conclusion of this meeting, Clark told Duncan not to talk about the issue as Clark was married and the woman was engaged.”
The manager testified Thursday that he heard Clark tell Duncan, “If anything is said I will F--- you up.”
McLaughlin and co-prosecutor Benjamin McKenna alleged the following day, Clark left his home armed with two handguns and headed to Duncan’s Abington home. Clark, prosecutors alleged, first stopped in an alley behind a Willow Grove area business where he test-fired a handgun.
Christine Duncan, the victim’s wife, testified Clark showed up at her door shortly before 2 p.m. Dec. 23 and her husband went outside onto the porch of their Prospect Avenue home. Tearful at times, Christine Duncan said she observed her husband sitting
in a chair on the porch and Clark standing next to him. A short time later, she testified, she heard two gunshots and went outside to investigate.
“Leroy just stood there and looked at me trying to get his gun back in his pocket. I was numb. I was afraid. I started screaming. He just walked away,” Christine Duncan testified.
Arriving officers found Duncan unresponsive with gunshot wounds and learned that Clark fled the scene. An autopsy determined Duncan suffered gunshot wounds to the neck and back and the manner of death was ruled homicide.
Abington police stopped Clark, the sole occupant of a silver, Dodge Caravan, about 1:56 p.m. on Washington Avenue in the township.
“Despite the officers’ repeated and prolonged commands to show his hands and surrender, Clark refused to comply,” county Detective John Wittenberger and Abington Detective Joseph Fallon alleged in the arrest affidavit. “During the standoff, Clark repeatedly raised a handgun which he pointed in the direction of Abington police officers.
“After several minutes, Clark fired the handgun causing self-inflicted gunshot wounds to his chest and mouth. Abington Township police officers removed Clark from the vehicle and recovered two handguns in his possession,” Wittenberger and Fallon alleged.
The two firearms recovered included a .380-caliber handgun and a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber handgun, according to testimony.
Testifying for the defense, Dr. Gerald Cooke, a forensic psychologist who examined
Clark, said medical records established that Clark was diagnosed with PTSD as early as 2002 and that he had a history of “flashbacks, anxiety, nightmares, intrusive thoughts” and depression. Cooke testified Clark also suffered brain damage as a result of his selfinflicted wounds and does not recall all the details surrounding the fatal shooting.
Clark’s wife, Carol, testified while Clark was a good husband and father, “he was quick to have a hot temper and little things would bother him,” but she said he was not a violent man. She said he would sometimes be sad, depressed and withdrawn and complained about nightmares and sought treatment for his PTSD.
Clark, according to Cooke, claimed to have had a dream, after the workplace argument and the night before the fatal shooting, about Vietnam and someone coming to hurt him and visions of Duncan.
“He reported a nightmare that sort of interwove Vietnam and Mr. Duncan,” Cooke testified for McMonagle, adding Clark also claimed Duncan made threatening comments to him the day before the shooting and in the past.
However, there were no witnesses to corroborate that Duncan ever threatened Clark.
McLaughlin suggested Clark lied to Cooke in order to get out of trouble or to minimize his conduct. While prosecutors did not refute that Clark was previously diagnosed with PTSD they argued the condition was not a contributing factor to his conduct on the day of the shooting.