Ex-officer accused of trying to plan a murder-for-hire

Wife, another woman were alleged targets

A former Houston police officer was arrested after allegedly seeking to hire hitmen to murder one or possibly two women, one of whom was his estranged wife. The suspect also wanted to have the two females kidnapped and sexually assaulted, police said Thursday.

Pasadena Police detectives posed as hitmen after receiving information last month that 63-year-old Clarence McNatt was looking to harm the women. Police do not know what relationship McNatt had with the second female, Pasadena Police Lt. James Holt said at an afternoon news conference.

“(McNatt) wanted to find out why his spouse had left him and he believed that his spouse had left him for another person,“said Holt.

A neighbor who said she has been friends with McNatt since 1978 confirmed that he had been despondent after a ongoing series of marital problems.

“You could tell that he was depressed,” said Elizabeth Keith, 67, who lives across the street.

Holt said that McNatt

initially asked the undercover detectives to carry out the crimes for $500, but he eventually settled on paying the officers $100 cash and three gold rings containing various stones.

When McNatt was arrested Wednesday, police said they found various items in his car that were to be used to bind and torture victims. Authorities did not provide any details about the circumstances of McNatt’s arrest.

However, pictures of McNatt’s residence show a posted sign stating the house was raided by Pasadena police.

Due to the police findings, he is charged with solicitation to commit capital murder and two counts of solicitation to commit aggravated kidnapping with intent to commit sexual assault.

At the news conference, Pasadena police offered a brief biographical sketch of McNatt. They said they learned he worked as an officer with police departments in Houston, Ames and Clear Lake during the 1980s and 1990s.

Harris County District Clerk records show McNatt previously was arrested for a series of misdemeanors between 1993 and 1996. Three of the charges — all for violating the private investigator/security agent act — were dismissed, though he pleaded no contest and accepted a deferred adjudication for a charge of manufacture, sale, or distribution of a decoding device.

Keith, the neighbor, said the past few years had been a struggle for the former officer, who had survived the deaths of his father, mother, daughter and brother all in the past five to six years.

“He had so many deaths there — we were always going to funerals for him,” she said.

Through it all, he remained a good friend and neighbor.

“He would always come over here and help,” Keith said. “When my air conditioner was having a problem, he fixed it.”

She said after his police career ended, McNatt worked a series of odd jobs but also struggled with back injuries.

McNatt was arraigned in Harris County Court on Thursday and denied bail. He is being held in Harris County Jail.