- Female narrator: When a loving family man goes missing,
the ensuing investigation turns a small town upside down.
- He was very devoted to those sons.
- She made him happy.
They were really good together.
- I knew something had happened,
he wasn't one to take off.
- Narrator: But is this seemingly happy family
hiding a dark secret?
- Dwayne: There was some allegations made
that they were involved in some kind of relationship together.
- Richard: She seduced him, basically,
and you know, he was quite willing to be seduced.
- Narrator: As the truth comes to light,
a horrifying plan is revealed.
- She was standing over him with that baseball bat.
- Richard: She kept saying that she was afraid
that her children might not be safe.
- Walter: It was just obvious
that you were dealing with a person
that--that had a very, very, very quick trigger.
- He admitted to taking him out,
putting him in the car, and going away with him.
- Chris: We could see a camouflage blanket
with human toes sticking out at the end of it.
- It's always haunted me a little bit.
Was there more that could have been done to protect him?
- ♪
♪♪
- narrator: November 19, 2008, barnesville, georgia.
- Barnesville is still like a very small town
out in the country, and everybody knows everybody.
It's a great place to live.
- Narrator: But the peace of this small community
is shattered when local resident, brenda maddox,
walks into the lamar county sheriff's department
and demands to speak to a detective
about her brother, 41-year-old donald clark.
- Donald always called the whole family every day--
every day we heard from him, but at that point,
we hadn't heard from him in a couple days.
- Narrator: Brenda says that donald's ex-wife,
jennifer clark, told family members
that the last time she heard from donald
was earlier that same morning.
- She said he had went to work that morning,
and never came home, and she hadn't seen him since.
- Richard: Donald and jennifer were still living together
after they had gotten a divorce, and gotten back together.
He had two children-- young sons--there at the house.
The sister, brenda, knew
that he was very devoted to those sons,
and she did not believe
that anything would have prevented him from coming home.
- I knew then something was definitely very, very wrong.
They took me to another room,
and asked me questions, and made the report.
- Chris: Based off what you know about him as an individual,
it really made us believe
that something had happened to donald.
- ♪
- narrator: Donald eugene clark was born on July 13, 1967,
in washington state, the second of three children.
- Brenda: We was navy brats.
I think I was three when we come back to georgia.
And we came back because this is where my daddy was from.
- Narrator: The clark family settled in rural barnesville,
60 miles south of atlanta.
- Riding motorcycles, four-wheelers,
we had them all growing up.
He hunted everything: Deer, pigs, it didn't matter.
We had a lot of good times.
- Narrator: In 1985, donald left high school early
to start working at the local mill.
- Brenda: Lord, I don't know anything he wasn't good at
when he tried it.
He succeeded in almost everything that he tried.
He was very good at his job, he rose quickly.
- ♪
- narrator: Though dedicated to his career,
what donald really wanted was a family of his own.
A dream he thought he'd achieved
when he married in his early 20s.
- He met his first wife, rebecca, pretty early,
and they had nikki together.
And family meant everything to donald.
- Narrator: But the dream was short-lived,
and by 29, donald was single once again.
- He always wanted a family, he aspired to be a family man.
His first one failed, and he just wanted to start over.
- Narrator: Not long after his divorce,
donald met 18-year-old, jennifer leigh drennen in 1996.
- They met through a high school friend of hers,
and that's how they got together.
- Narrator: Jennifer, known to friends as jenni,
was raised an only child.
- She was a good kid, she was quite spoiled.
She pretty much got what she wanted.
- She spent a lot of time in west virginia,
that's where she grew up.
- Garry: She, uh, became a cna,
she really enjoyed it and everything.
So, she started doing other stuff--
blood work and infusions,
and then, she eventually got to work at--uh,
at the nursing homes.
- ♪
- narrator: Donald was instantly smitten with jennifer,
and after just one year of dating,
the couple was engaged.
- Garry: She loves him, he loves her.
As long as he took care of my daughter,
I was completely satisfied.
- Brenda: Donald was very happy, like really excited.
He got the chance to do it all over again,
and do it right this time.
- ♪
- narrator: Following their wedding in 1997,
jennifer quickly embraced the role of doting wife.
- She would fix his plate,
she would bring it to him when he came home from work.
She treated him really well.
- Brenda: He was successful in his life,
and he gave her a home.
He gave her, you know--anything jenni asked for she got.
- Narrator: Don and jennifer's family grew in 1998 and 2000
when they welcomed their two boys.
- Jenni was tickled pink to be pregnant with josh,
and when she got pregnant with jake,
she was just as ecstatic over that.
- The kids was--I mean, they were well taken care of;
anything they needed, they got.
- ♪
- narrator: By early 2008,
jennifer was pregnant once again,
but what should have been a happy time
strained the family to the breaking point.
Nikki: In the beginning,
I have fond memories of my dad and jenni,
but I noticed she got where she would talk down to him.
She talked to him like he was a child,
and she was better than him.
- Brenda: There was a lot of fights.
There was good times,
but more bad times than good times.
- Rebecca: The marriage was an up and down thing, you know.
So, you just didn't know which way it was gonna be.
- ♪
- dwayne: He came in to talk with me
about getting a divorce.
The divorce started in March,
um, it didn't get finalized
until July 1st of 2008.
- Narrator: That same month,
jennifer moved back in with her mother
nearly 600 miles away in west virginia,
leaving the boys with donald.
- She still loved him,
but you know, uh, from what I understood,
she wasn't getting what she wanted out of the marriage.
They needed to start over.
- He was still in love with her.
I mean, it was one of these situations
where he was more heartbroken than he was mad.
- ♪
- narrator: After 7 months away,
in October 2008,
jennifer moved in with donald's sister, brenda,
to be closer to the boys.
- No matter what, my dad loved jenni,
and he desperately wanted that family.
So, he would go over there, he would see her.
And then, one day, they had a conversation,
and he decided he wanted to try it again.
He wanted to work it out.
- Donald let her move back in the house.
- Narrator: With just weeks until the birth
of baby number three,
the family was reunited and stronger than ever.
- They seemed to be excited about trying to make it work.
- ♪
- narrator: But the clark's happy reunion
seems to be in jeopardy on November 19,
while brenda maddox fills out a missing persons report
for her brother, donald.
- Brenda: He always came home to his kids,
he always came home to her.
He had never, in their whole entire relationship,
not came home.
- Narrator: At brenda's request,
missing persons detectives pay a visit
to jennifer and donald's home.
- We have to talk to jennifer about his whereabouts.
We felt like, you know, it might indicate
what happened to donald.
- The initial statement from jennifer clark was that
donald clark came home from work,
she was frying chicken, she gave him dinner,
and then they had watched tv, and gone to bed.
- Narrator: Jennifer, who is nine months pregnant
with her third child,
says that she has been having trouble sleeping
the last few weeks.
And the night of November 18 was no different.
- Richard: She got up to go check on her sons.
They shared a bedroom there in the house.
Uh, their television was still on,
she turned it off.
She said that she slept in the bed
with one of her sons.
- Cayce: When she woke up the next morning
to get the--the kids ready for school,
she said that donald clark was gone.
His boots were gone and his car was missing.
She assumed that he had gone to work.
It was very unusual for him to leave
without saying anything to the kids.
She said she texted donald,
and said that she had dropped the kids off at the bus.
She received a text back, "k."
- narrator: Jennifer tells police, there is only one thing
that would have pulled donald away from his family.
- Walter: She said donald was seeing other people.
It's a possibility he could've run off with a woman,
or, you know, was just decided he had enough and left.
I got the impression that law enforcement
just thought he was gone.
- Garry: I knew something had happened,
donald wasn't one to take off.
- ♪
- narrator: Coming up--
investigators question if this seemingly devoted family man
had decided to start over with someone new.
- There was just no trace of donald, period.
- Narrator: But detectives soon fear
something much more sinister has happened to donald.
- Cayce: On his bank account and on his cell phone, activity
stopped almost immediately upon his disappearance.
- ♪
- narrator: On November 21, 2008,
2 days after 41-year-old donald clark
was reported missing, with the help of his ex-wife, jennifer,
detectives are attempting to piece together
the moments leading up to his disappearance.
- Jennifer said that we're missing his car,
his cell phone, his wallet, and his boots.
- Richard: They describe the vehicle.
They have the tag number, and they put out, you know,
an all-points bulletin on it and on him.
- ♪
- narrator: When detectives ask jennifer
why she thinks it's possible
donald could be with another woman,
she admits the couple's 11-year long relationship
hasn't always been easy.
- Cayce: Jennifer and donald were divorced
at the time of the disappearance.
Jennifer clark and donald began talking again,
and decided they were going to reconcile.
- Narrator: Jennifer says
that when she moved back into donald's house,
it was clear that donald hadn't been alone
during their seven-month-long separation.
- There was some make-up or something
that was found left at the house that didn't belong to jennifer,
and jennifer found. And she, you know, had claimed
that this was--uh, was donald's girlfriend.
- Narrator: According to jennifer,
donald said the makeup belonged to a babysitter named, danielle,
who briefly lived at the house.
- Dwayne: Danielle helped donald with the kids.
There was some allegations that they were involved--
that her and donald were involved
in some kind of relationship together.
- ♪
- narrator: After hearing jennifer's suspicions,
detectives check the clark family's bank accounts
for any activity from donald.
- Cayce: We looked through donald's bank records,
and we did search warrants on his bank account
and on his cell phone.
And the activity stopped almost immediately
upon his disappearance.
- There was no record of him making
any financial transactions, uh, using his bank card.
Um, there was just no trace of donald, period.
- Narrator: Detectives know they need to track down danielle,
but first, at jennifer's suggestion,
they reach out to donald's boss, todd may.
Todd tells police that he was supposed to pick up donald
for work on the morning of November 19.
- The supervisor went to pick donald up,
and was approximately 15 minutes late.
- Narrator: Todd says that when he pulled into
donald's driveway, donald's black honda civic wasn't there.
- He thought that donald may have just left him,
and when he got to work, and donald was not there,
he became concerned.
- Chris: His supervisor at work advised us
that donald was a very loyal employee,
and, uh, you know, very seldom did he ever miss work.
And that if he was going to be out,
he was certainly the type that would call.
- Narrator: According to todd,
he last saw donald on the evening of November 18,
as the coworkers carpooled home from work.
That's when donald confided in todd
that his reconciliation with jennifer wasn't going well.
- The night before donald clark was determined to be missing,
donald clark had a conversation
about asking jennifer clark to leave the house.
- ♪
- narrator: Todd claims donald was ready
to make his divorce permanent.
- I think my dad really tried to make it work,
but things were never gonna be what they were.
They were never gonna be the same,
and he realized that. Life's too short to be unhappy.
And he said that he was going to--
he was gonna tell her to leave.
- Narrator: Todd says as soon as jennifer was out of the house,
donald planned to reach out
to his old girlfriend, danielle young.
- He was gonna try to make it work with danielle.
- Narrator: Investigators work quickly
to track down danielle, but when they knock on her door,
it's obvious that donald isn't with her.
- Danielle was very upset about donald being missing.
Danielle was also pregnant.
- Narrator: According to danielle,
she met donald at the end of March 2008.
- ♪
- nikki: Danielle was a woman my dad met
when jenni first left.
I guess he was sad, really depressed.
When it was not his time to have the boys,
he would go to the bar, and he met danielle at a bar.
- They were friends for a couple weeks,
and donald asked her to move in with him
in order to take care of donald's children.
After danielle moved into donald's house,
they began a sexual affair.
- She made him happy.
Uh, she made him, I guess, go back to younger days.
He would go out again, he had fun.
- Narrator: 24-year-old danielle explains
that even though they seemed like a perfect match,
she was worried about the 17-year age gap between them.
- Danielle was afraid that she was too young for donald,
so she left and moved back in with her mother.
- Brenda: After that, donald,
he decided he would try to make it work with jenni.
- ♪
- narrator: Danielle says she was stunned
when donald called her out of the blue
on the evening of November 18.
- The night before donald went missing,
she had a conversation with him about moving back.
- He was planning on asking jenni to leave.
In the end, he had decided
danielle was who he wanted to be with.
- Narrator: Danielle claims she had warned donald
that she had dated after their split,
and was now pregnant with another man's child.
- Cayce: It was determined that it was not donald's child,
but donald still wanted danielle to come back to the house
and live with him.
She was worried about him so much,
and she was very cooperative.
It appeared that she had nothing to do with it,
so danielle was ruled out as a suspect.
- Narrator: Detectives want to circle back
to jennifer for more leads,
but for now, they'll have to wait.
On November 25, 2008, she gives birth to a son,
but detectives are stunned
when the subsequent newspaper announcement
lists the child's last name as yost, not clark.
- ♪
- she had the baby, but this one wasn't donald's,
because I could tell just by looking at it.
- Narrator: Coming up--
detectives uncover a potential motive.
- The baby come out of a product of an affair.
- She said that he would kill to have jennifer.
- Narrator: And a search warrant casts a grisly shadow
on this missing person's investigation.
- He sprayed the mattress, and he found blood on the mattress.
- You hope he's alive, but the some point,
you have to start working towards the direction
that you may have a murder.
- ♪
- narrator: As the search continues
for missing father, donald clark,
detectives discover that his ex-wife, jennifer clark,
has given birth to another man's child.
While jennifer recovers,
detectives reach out to donald's sister, brenda maddox,
to learn more about her brother's marriage.
- Brenda: Jennifer started having
a lot of affairs on donald.
The baby come out of a product
of, uh, an affair between jennifer and michael.
- Dwayne: Donald kept taking her back over and over and over.
He still loved her,
he felt like some of it was his fault.
And then, the new affair with michael yost had come out.
- ♪
- nikki: Michael yost was the son
of my dad's best friend, charlie.
Charlie lived a few houses down from my dad
on the opposite side of the road.
- Walter: I think michael went to school
through the eighth grade, and then he dropped out,
and, uh, he had a couple of marijuana arrests.
- Brenda: So, he had come home from jail,
and he couldn't stay with his daddy and his stepmom,
so charlie had asked donald if michael could stay with them,
and donald said yes.
- Narrator: Brenda says that donald's good deed
didn't go unpunished.
- Donald found out that they was having an affair,
he made michael leave.
He didn't make jenni leave at the time,
but he did make michael leave.
- ♪
- narrator: According to brenda,
donald confronted jennifer about the affair in March,
eight months prior.
- Brenda: He did say that she admitted to it.
I was furious, because he was good to her,
and he was good to the boys.
And how dare she doing something like that,
let alone once, but more than once, and you stay?
- She told him that it was not his baby,
it's michael's baby.
I think that was a spiteful thing for her,
like a vindictive, "well, it's not your baby anyway."
- dwayne: I think her intentions were to move in,
and leave with michael yost, that was what she wanted to do.
I think her plans were to move off with him
to--to west virginia.
- ♪
- narrator: Brenda says that's when jennifer and michael
moved out, but a few months later, in September 2008,
the couple reached out to brenda.
- Jennifer's pregnant, and they had nowhere to go,
and jennifer contacted donald clark's sister,
brenda maddox,
and brenda maddox agreed to let the couple move in with her.
- She thought that was the best thing
for her brother and the children.
- Narrator: Brenda says
that after the couple moved in with her,
22-year-old, michael, talked nonstop about the future.
- Cayce: They were going to raise
their unborn child together.
Michael's plan was to get a job and to support his family.
- Narrator: According to brenda, while michael was happily
planning his new family, he had no idea
that jennifer and donald were seeing each other again.
- Brenda: Donald was willing to forgive and forget.
He told her that he would take care of the baby,
like--just like he was his.
Donald loved her with everything he had and let her come back.
- ♪
- narrator: Brenda tells police,
that in October 2008, donald arrived at her house
and picked up jennifer.
When michael came home that night,
brenda says she broke the news to him.
- Michael found out about jenny going back to donald
from donald's sister.
Michael called her on the phone, crying,
and--and begging, and he had to have this baby.
- ♪
- narrator: On December 4, 2008,
armed with the news of donald's household drama,
detectives obtain a warrant to search the clark home.
In the master bedroom, something catches their eyes.
- The walls seemed very clean and pristine,
but when you looked at the corners of the bedrooms,
there was a lot of dust.
The headboard and the bed had no dust,
it was very unusual looking.
- Richard: They shone a light on the wall
directly behind the bed,
and you could see that the wall directly behind the bed
had been freshly cleaned,
you know, there were wipe marks on it.
- Narrator: The odd cleaning job leaves investigators questioning
why just one wall had been wiped down.
- I then contacted s.A. Todd crosby,
who was our crime scene specialist,
and asked if he would please come process the scene.
S.A. Crosby used several different chemicals
to do testing on the walls of the room.
He sprayed the mattress,
and he found blood on the mattress.
- Narrator: The presence of blood
completely changes the missing person's investigation.
- Whatever had happened began in that bedroom
at donald clark's house.
- You hope he's alive, but at same point,
you have to start working towards the direction
that he possibly could not be alive,
and that you may have a murder.
- Narrator: Once she is well enough to be interviewed,
detectives question jennifer again on December 8, 2008.
Jennifer says her newborn son is michael's,
but admits she realized the relationship was a mistake
when they made it to west virginia.
- Garry: I never liked michael from the first time I met him.
I called her, I told her, I says, "here's the deal,"
I said, "you're my daughter and I love you,"
I said, "but right now, you're being stupid.
"it's your choice,
but don't call me when it doesn't go right."
- she thought she was going to run off with michael,
and they were going to live happily ever after,
and it just wasn't working out.
- They went to west virginia,
and stayed with jennifer's mother.
She lived in a place that was economically deprived,
it was a terrible life.
They couldn't do anything, didn't have anything,
and she kept remembering
she had a nice house and two sons that she loved,
and a husband--an ex-husband,
but a man who really cared for her.
- Narrator: Jennifer says she ultimately decided
to move back to georgia,
where she ended up rekindling her relationship with donald.
- Garry: Everything was headed back towards normal.
I was glad, 'cuz I knew the boys would have their mom with them.
- Cayce: When she was asked about the blood,
she stated that that was life with boys,
and there would be blood all over the place
because she had boys.
She also stated that she cleaned all the time
so that she could stay on top of her cleaning chores.
Jennifer clark's story was not very believable to us.
- Narrator: After wrapping up with jennifer,
detectives speak to jennifer's eight and ten-year-old sons.
Both boys confirm
that their mother slept in their room that night,
but the oldest boy recalls something unusual.
- Cayce: He heard running in the house
in the middle of the night, he got up to check on it,
and the--the back door was unlocked.
And he stated that their back door was never unlocked
while they were asleep.
He locked it and went back to bed.
- Narrator: With jennifer seemingly cleared by her sons,
detectives turn their attention to michael yost.
Michael admits to the affair,
but claims that jennifer was the instigator.
- Richard: He was a 22-year-old boy,
and uh, she seduced him, basically,
and you know, he was quite willing
to be seduced by this older woman who taught him a lot.
- Narrator: When detectives ask him if he had anything to do
with donald's disappearance, michael staunchly denies it.
- Dwayne: He said donald was just a super nice guy.
Donald trusted him, and donald liked him.
I mean, he was never really as upset with michael
as he was with jenni for cheating on him.
- Cayce: Michael yost was pretty believable,
but I still think that michael yost
had done something with donald clark.
- Narrator: Coming up--
investigators unearth a previous attempt at donald's life.
- Dwayne: I think she just regretted not doing it,
not killing him at the beginning.
- Narrator: And a heinous crime
shocks even the most seasoned investigators.
- Richard: He just sort of was, uh,
overwhelmed by the whole thing.
It was an ugly mess, it was sickening.
- ♪
- narrator: After uncovering an affair
between 22-year-old michael yost
and 29-year-old jennifer clark,
detectives take a closer look
into donald and jennifer's turbulent marriage.
What they discover, is that nine months earlier,
donald had made a serious allegation against his wife
during their divorce hearings.
- Donald clark testified in a magistrate court hearing
that he woke up with a sheet thrown over his head,
and jennifer clark standing at the end of the bed
with a baseball bat.
- ♪
- nikki: I was in shock when he told me that she did that.
What went through her mind when she did that?
I--I was just stunned.
- Narrator: According to records,
the incident took place in March 2008
after jennifer's affair with michael yost had been revealed,
and the couple was discussing divorce.
- She said that she just was sleeping
with the baseball bat, and she didn't hold it over him,
and she didn't cover his head with a sheet.
- Narrator: At the time, donald didn't buy her story,
and immediately called the police.
- They came out,
he had a conversation with the law enforcement.
He determined that, uh, he didn't want to have her charged.
- He didn't want her arrested.
He didn't want his boys to see their mother in handcuffs,
he just wanted her to leave.
- He filed for divorce the next day after this event.
- Cayce: The incident with the bat
and jennifer clark standing over donald clark,
played heavily into our theory
that donald clark had not disappeared,
was actually missing and probably dead.
- ♪
- narrator: On December 23, 2008,
over a month since donald went missing,
detectives get a phone call from a man
on the other side of the county.
- His dog was chewing on an item in his yard,
and that it looked odd to him.
So, he walked over there to see what his dog was chewing,
and it was an individual's wallet.
And in that wallet contained donald's id.
- ♪
- once sheriff's deputies and gbi agents
went out to the scene,
we took possession of a wallet, several forms of identification,
and began a search of the area.
- Narrator: That's when detectives realize
that although the wallet is nowhere near donald's house,
it is close to someone else's.
- This house was also a short distance
from michael yost's mother's residence.
- ♪
- chris: We start searching the sides of the roadway,
and, uh, just looking for other signs of donald clark.
There was a large kudzu patch in one area
on the, uh, side of the road.
We walked that,
and while walking in this kudzu patch,
a, uh, aluminum baseball bat was found.
- ♪
- we already knew that jenni had threatened donald
with a baseball bat, so finding the bat,
we knew that potentially, we had found the murder weapon.
- Narrator: On christmas eve 2008,
all available investigators descend on the area.
- State patrol actually flew looking for a body,
and then there were just ground and vecle searches constantly,
looking for donald clark.
- Chris: We were driving into the property adjacent
to michael yost's mother's house,
and while we were pulling in there,
the former sheriff saw an item in the bushes
that just made him stop.
We got out and approached it,
and we could see a camouflage blanket.
And as we got closer,
uh, you could see human toes sticking out at the end of it.
- ♪
- narrator: Now 36 days since donald's disappearance,
csi arrive on the scene to inspect the body.
Based on donald's distinctive tattoos,
agents immediately know they have found their victim.
- He had been in the woods a month or more.
He had a plastic bag over his head.
Of course, his head was just battered.
That was a clear indication
that not only was he hit with a--
a blunt object very hard,
he was hit multiple times.
It was an ugly mess, it was.
- ♪
- cayce: When donald clark was found,
he was still in his pajamas.
Jennifer clark said that donald got up and went to work,
and left with his work clothes on.
When we found donald clark in his pajamas,
we knew that jennifer's story could not be the case.
- As soon as we found the body,
we--we sent patrol sergeant and another deputy
to go take jennifer clark and michael yost into custody.
- Narrator: In separate interrogation rooms,
detectives confront jennifer and michael with the evidence.
Jennifer cracks first.
- She said michael didn't want another man raising his child.
That was the issue that she raised as his motive.
- Jennifer said that michael yost wanted jennifer
all for himself,
and that michael would kill to have jennifer.
- Narrator: Jennifer tells the police
that she was sleeping with donald on November 18,
when she heard the back door open.
- She said that michael came into the room,
and woke her up.
- Richard: She was terrified of michael,
and, uh, her number one concern
was her children were right there in the house.
- Narrator: Jennifer says she rushed to her sons' bedroom
just in time to hear a grisly sound.
- She said she heard the sound
of michael yost beating donald's head in with the ball bat.
- ♪
- narrator: Jennifer tells investigators,
when michael emerged,
he made her help him move donald's body.
- They wrapped his head with two plastic bags
to kind of contain the mess before they tried to move him.
- Richard: They took him out,
and put him in the, uh, trunk of the car.
She kept saying that she was, uh, intimidated by yost,
afraid of yost, afraid that her children might not be safe.
And so, she had to cooperate with yost
to get him out of the house.
- Narrator: After michael drove off,
jennifer says she checked on her sleeping kids,
and then got to work.
- She cleaned, uh,
she had to do everything as quietly as possible
to not wake the children.
- Nikki: She says that maybe
she should have called the cops after it happened,
but she-- she still adamantly maintains
that she's not the one that swung the bat.
- Narrator: Down the hall, michael finally gives in, too,
but his story isn't anything like jennifer's.
He claims, that although jennifer went back to donald,
they were still having regular trysts
up until the night of November 18, 2008.
- ♪
- cayce: Jennifer clark called him
approximately 1 a.M.,
and asked him to come to the house.
He waited for jennifer clark to flash the lights
at the residence, which was previously discussed,
michael would go inside the house
when the lights were flashed.
- Narrator: Michael says that once he was inside the house,
he realized this was no ordinary hook up.
Donald was still home and asleep in the couple's bed.
- He heard jenni open a closet, get the bat.
Michael yost's story is that
jennifer clark then hits donald clark in the head
with the baseball bat.
- ♪
- richard: He just sort of was, uh,
overwhelmed by the whole thing, it was sickening.
- Michael recalled that donald made gurgling noises,
at which time, he heard jennifer hit donald clark
approximately two more times.
- Richard: She came up to him,
and she kneeled down on the floor right in front of him,
so that she looked up into his face,
and she asked him to help her.
- Michael said that he dumped the body,
and then went down this road called potts pond road
throwing out the boots, and the bat, and the wallet.
- Cayce: Michael yost then leaves the car at a hotel.
Michael also says that he uses donald clark's phone
to respond to a text that jennifer clark sent to him.
I think they turned on each other,
because they knew somebody was going to jail,
and neither one of them wanted to be the one to go.
- Narrator: Coming up,
whose story will the jury believe?
- How could somebody who's nine months pregnant
swing a baseball bat?
- The only person that could tell what happened that night,
was her and michael.
- Rebecca: I wanted to stand up and say,
"stop your lying and tell these people the truth."
- ♪
- narrator: Sitting in a lamar county interrogation room
on December 24, 2008,
jennifer clark and her boyfriend, michael yost,
have two very different stories about what happened
the night her husband, donald clark, died.
- Both of them were involved.
At this point, it becomes irrelevant
who actually hit donald with the bat.
They formulated a plan together.
They both conspired to kill him.
- Narrator: Jennifer and michael are placed under arrest,
and both continue to stick to their conflicting stories
while they await trial.
However, with their court dates finally approaching,
in the fall of 2009,
michael has a sudden change of heart.
- My opinion was that
michael yost had been manipulated by her.
So, I talked to his lawyer,
and I said, "you know, this is the case
where if he will plead guilty, he will get life imprisonment,"
and he agreed fairly quickly.
- Narrator: On January 31, 2011,
32-year-old, jennifer leigh clark
enters the butts county courtroom facing life in prison
for murder.
In opening statements, prosecutors allege
that jennifer felt her comfortable life slipping away.
- Cayce: I believe that jennifer clark wanted
to have the house, the kids, and her boyfriend, michael yost,
and the only way to do that was to get rid of donald clark.
- Everything in her life
had been taken away from her, and she was pregnant.
A mother about to have a child is wanting security,
wanting stability, wanting to establish her life.
- Narrator: Prosecutors say
that jennifer tried to get back to the life she loved.
- She kept trying to worm her way back into his good graces.
- Richard: Donald was not committing to her in any regard.
She was just someone there keeping the children.
Donald had moved on in his romantic life.
- I'm pretty sure that she knew
that donald was about to end their relationship.
I'm not sure that donald knew the danger that he was in.
- ♪
- I definitely think that she did the same thing
she did to him the night that he woke up.
She sat over him with a baseball bat,
and this time, she had the courage to--to swing it.
- You know, it's almost unimaginable to me
that somebody can be that depraved.
I mean, that's just-- that's just hate.
- Narrator: Prosecutors believe
that she then called her boyfriend, michael yost,
to help clean up the mess.
- Walter: That's where michael came in.
His strong back was the--the way she got him out of there,
and he left with the body in the honda civic.
- Rebecca: Michael testified,
and he admitted to taking him out,
putting him in the car, and going away with him.
- ♪
- narrator: Defense attorneys argue
that michael yost is the true mastermind,
and on February 3, 2011,
jennifer takes the stand in her own defense.
- Suesan: Jennifer had to testify,
there was nobody else that could speak for her.
The only person that could tell what happened that night,
was her and michael.
- Dwayne: I know that was part of their defense
was that how could somebody who's nine months pregnant
swing a baseball bat?
- Richard: During her testimony,
she was making herself somehow the victim.
Here she was on trial for her life,
and it was her evil boyfriend killing her evil husband.
And, uh, she was just a poor little woman
who was nine months pregnant.
- Rebecca: And I wanted to stand up, and tell her to,
"stop your lying, and tell these people the truth."
- narrator: When prosecutors begin their cross examination,
jennifer's carefully crafted persona starts to crack.
- When the questions got a little bit more pointed,
a little more heated,
then you could see flashes of anger.
- Nikki: She had an outburst, she jumped up and said
that the only good thing about michael yost
was what was between his legs.
Screamed it in the middle of the court.
- Richard: The same kind of emotion
that she was having, the anger she was having when she was
beating him in the head with the aluminum baseball bat.
That's all the jury needed to know, really.
- Narrator: On February 4, 2011,
after less than an hour of deliberation,
the jury returns with a verdict. - They found her guilty.
She held her head down.
I think that was the worst part,
that the judge told her that, "now you can't see your kids."
- we all smiled, everyone hugged each other.
We hugged the da. It was, um,
an air of celebration without actually, you know,
jumping up and down and celebrating in court.
- I was happy. It just--overwhelmed and happy
all at--you know, it--that it was finally over.
That they got justice, that he got justice.
- Narrator: The judge sentences jennifer
to life in prison plus 60 years.
- The judge gave her the maximum penalty,
and he made them back to back, to back to back.
- ♪
- narrator: Those close to donald
hope that his story will serve as a warning to others.
- I think that's what you run into with men most of the time
is that they don't want to admit that they're a victim of abuse.
It's always haunted me a little bit.
Was there more that could have been done to protect him?
And after this, you know,
I always tell men and women, you know,
the story about--about donald.
I tell them, "you need to get out of the house
because you never know what somebody's capable of."
- brenda: The term that it gets better with time is not true.
You tend to live your life, a little easier maybe,
but you still think about him every day.
But we still get up, and--and go on,
because that's what he would want us to do.
- ♪