[narrator] a young father found lying dead
In the middle of a desolate roadway.
- He was shot five times.
It appeared this man was the target.
- He's executed right there on the highway.
- A chill went through my body.
I knew instantly that that was my son.
That chill still is with me.
- [narrator] several possible suspects emerge,
Including members of the victim's family.
- There was a lot of animosity between the two families.
- There were people who hated the victim, but who was it?
- [narrator] later a tip leads investigators
To a drug dealer with an unexpected connection.
- He told the story he was hired to kill the victim.
- What you have at the centre of it is this family feud.
There's a connection.
(dramatic music)
(tense music)
- March 10th, 7:00 p.M.
A couple was driving down interstate 95,
And they get off the connector to rocky neck state park.
As they're coming around the corner,
They see a vehicle parked and the doors open.
As they get closer, they notice something
Lying in the middle of the road.
They realise it's a body.
They immediately call 911.
- I got a call for a man down, probably hit by a car
On the rocky neck connector.
When I pulled up, I observed a body on the ground
In the right-hand lane.
He was slightly to the rear of a pontiac firebird
That was running with the headlights on.
When I walked up to the body, he was laying on his back.
He had blood in his mouth and blood on the shirt,
Which I ripped open, and found a couple of bullet holes,
One in his chest, and one more up towards his armpit.
(tense music)
There was no doubt he was dead.
There was no doubt that it was a murder.
(tense music)
- [narrator] officer dunn calls for assistance
From the connecticut state police,
And soon after makes a disturbing realisation.
- I knew him, the victim.
It was his pontiac firebird on the side of the road.
- Officer joe dunn tells the major crimes unit,
"he's a local guy.
"he's a good guy,
"but I've arrested him before for bar fights.
"I know this guy.
"his name is buzz clinton."
- [narrator] the victim's driver's licence
Properly identifies anson buzz clinton.
With that, police begin their investigation of the scene.
- The investigators for major crimes started
Searching the area thoroughly.
- They found a couple of expended bullets.
- They found one bullet that had missed buzz.
They found another one that had passed through.
- From the bullets, it appeared that the murder weapon was
A .38 calibre revolver.
- [narrator] police next speak to potential witnesses.
They hope someone can provide a clue.
- There was probably four, or five people at the scene
When I got there.
One of the people said that when they came up from the scene
From the highway, they saw another car.
- They also stated that
They saw a tall, lanky person
Get into the other car.
The people who saw this believed
That the car was a blue sedan.
- It left the scene at a high rate of speed.
They didn't have a licence plate number,
Or anything like that.
- It was a very non-descript description.
It didn't lend itself to any further investigation,
Unless you came up with a suspect.
- It appeared that he had been shot by someone
Who had immediately taken off.
One possible theory was somebody tried to carjack him,
And he got interrupted,
Because the car was still sitting there.
Another one was somebody wanted him dead and they shot him.
- [narrator] 28-year-old buzz clinton lived
On his parents' property with his wife, kim,
Their eight-month-old daughter, brianna,
And kim's three-year-old daughter, rebecca.
- I got a call from a friend, and he said,
"somebody's been murdered on the connector."
They had a firebird on the side of the road.
(ominous music)
A chill went through my body.
It was like I knew instantly that that was buzz.
That chill still is with me.
- I remember my brother like shaking me, and saying,
"buzz is dead, buzz is dead,"
And I was like, "what?"
And that was a really emotional day.
I said I wasn't gonna cry, dad.
(sombre music)
So that was a really emotional day for our family.
(sombre music)
(graphics whirring)
- The clinton family lived in east lyme,
And they had two other children, suzanne and billy,
Who were both considerably younger.
- I was turning 11 when my brother died.
My mother and my father, they were older parents.
They had already had buzz, who was 17 years older than I.
- Buzz was tickled pink when he found out
That he had his sister coming.
Suzanne was his pride and joy.
- Buzz was definitely my idol.
I loved buzz.
Buzz was my everything.
- Buzz was happy-go-lucky, enjoyed people,
Enjoyed laughing, enjoyed fooling.
He did gymnastics, and he did wrestling.
After high school, he was an iron worker for five years.
He had worked in boston for a while.
He worked up in washington.
- [narrator] in 1991, after a slump in construction,
24-year-old buzz clinton returns to east lyme,
And takes odd jobs to make a living.
- He had side jobs towing cars,
And he put together a business,
Where he had a couple people with him.
They would go to small bars in the area
And put on a show, male dancing.
- He's a good looking guy, in good shape.
He was having fun.
He's a guy in his 20s.
- And that's where he was when he met his wife, kim.
Shortly after that, they started a serious relationship.
- Kim was a attractive young lady who had a small child,
Rebecca, who was about two years old at the time.
- When I met kim, I was just so excited.
She was kind, and quiet, and sweet.
Rebecca was bubbly, she was cute.
- Buzz had become very much involved with kim and the child.
- He ended the male dancing, decided to become a nurse.
- Buzz had been going to school to become
A certified nursing assistant,
And was working part-time in a nursing home.
- On January 17th, 1993, buzz and kim marry.
Six months later, they welcomed their daughter, brianna.
- Buzz was proud, 'cause he had a daughter.
He was very happy at the time.
And all of a sudden, few months later,
My son had been murdered.
- All of us were surprised.
Like, "how could this happen to us?
"how could that have happened?"
(tense music) (graphics whirring)
- [narrator] the day after buzz clinton's murder,
The medical examiner performs his autopsy.
- During the autopsy of buzz clinton,
It was determined that he was shot five times.
- Twice, which is what I saw, in the chest,
Twice in the back, and once in the back of the head.
- From the medical examiner,
We learned that based on the trajectories,
It appeared there was only one gunman,
And buzz was initially approaching
The person who was doing the shooting.
- It's likely what happened, based on the wounds,
That someone must've flagged him down in some way
To get him to pull over.
Buzz gets out, he starts going towards the back
Of the vehicle, and that person fires two rounds at him.
- After being shot twice, he had turned to probably flee.
He got hit twice more in the back,
And once in the back of the head.
- [narrator] four bullets are recovered
From buzz clinton's body.
Those, along with the two bullets found at the scene,
Give police a vital clue.
- Clearly, it looked like a six-shot revolver
Had been emptied into him.
- It appeared buzz clinton was a target.
- He's executed right there on the highway.
This person who murdered buzz clinton
Wanted to make sure he was dead.
- [narrator] now that the autopsy confirms
Buzz clinton's death was a targeted attack,
Investigators interview his family to learn
Who might have had motive to kill him.
- They drive over to the clinton household,
And they sit kim down, buzz's wife.
- Kim was asked if she might know who did this.
She had a couple of suspects.
There were people who didn't like him,
Who hated him, but who was it?
(dramatic music)
A year prior to the murder,
They began a torrid love affair.
- He was not the upstanding citizen
That he tried to portray.
- Their relationship was centred around this family feud.
- She wanted him out of the picture,
And he would do anything for her, including murder.
- [narrator] less than 24 hours after the murder
Of buzz clinton, investigators speak
With his devastated wife, kim, hoping for a lead.
- Kim did share that buzz had had issues over a loan
From a gentleman, charlie snyder,
And who owned a junkyard/car dealership.
- Buzz was into charlie snyder
For about 1,500 bucks,
And he hadn't been paying him.
- And in fact, kim says buzz had recently received
A phone call from him threatening physical harm to him
If he didn't get his money back soon.
- Kim also said shawn butterfield, one of his best friends,
Who he'd had a rift with, had accused him
Of stealing his wallet with $100 in it.
- He was angry, thinking buzz stole his wallet,
And I could see it leading to a more serious confrontation.
- [narrator] kim clinton gives investigators
Two potential leads, but buzz clinton's parents suspect
Someone else might be involved.
- The police asked me,
"do you have any idea who might have done this?"
I said I felt that there was an involvement of kim's family.
I told the investigators family feud started
Between buzz and the in-laws over custody
And control of rebecca.
- The clintons tell police this whole history
Behind this family feud between the carpenters and clintons.
- The carpenters seemed like a normal american family.
Richard, the father, had retired from the navy
After 22 years of service,
And he started his own successful landscaping business,
And his wife, cynthia, was a nurse.
They had three children, richard, beth, and kim.
- The carpenter children were very different.
Kim was not terribly successful,
Whereas her sister beth was practising law.
- Kim worked as a clerk at a supermarket.
So in many ways, kim was looked down upon.
Before kim met buzz, she got pregnant,
And the father was really never involved in rebecca's life.
- During that time, kim and her daughter rebecca were living
With richard and cynthia carpenter.
They were basically raising her.
- Kim would leave rebecca with them for days, weeks on end,
And they didn't know where she was,
So they think she's an unfit mother.
- According to the clintons, the feud began
When kim and buzz became serious,
And wanted to create a family with rebecca.
- My son and kim wanted to take care of rebecca,
And take rebecca places.
- However, the carpenter family believes
That kim is incapable of taking care of rebecca.
- And they definitely did not think
Buzz could be a good father figure.
They did not like buzz.
- They mentioned the dancing.
They mentioned drinking,
And he doesn't bring in a lot of money.
- It became very obvious that they didn't want us
To have anything to do with rebecca.
It was in the fall, about 7:00 at night.
Rebecca was playing with our children,
And the call came from the mother.
The mother said, "if you don't have rebecca home,
"we're gonna call the police."
I remember my wife asking, "who has custody of this child?"
And kim said, "I do."
She said, "well, why does your mother control the situation
"if you have custody?"
She said, "because my mother is in control."
My son said to kim, "it's your child.
"we're planning on getting married,
"so let's move forward as a family."
- [narrator] on October 19th, 1992,
Having no way to stop kim and buzz from taking rebecca,
The carpenters file for emergency temporary custody,
Which a judge grants based on their account
Of kim's history as a caregiver.
- The carpenters initially did get
Guardianship of the child.
Then kim and buzz went to court to get custody back.
- They go to family court, they battle it out,
And kim and buzz win.
- My son's arguments that rebecca belonged
With them was successful.
- The carpenters really didn't have any kind of evidence
That was justified taking rebecca away from her mother.
- After the courts had issued custody
To kim and buzz of rebecca,
Mrs. Carpenter petitioned the court with beth,
Kim's sister, for shared custody.
- Kim's parents got visitation rights,
So everybody thought it would end
Once the custody issue was settled, but it didn't end.
- The carpenters wanted their granddaughter
Away from buzz clinton.
The sister, beth, was an attorney,
And tried to help the parents get custody,
But the court system wasn't doing it,
And they were becoming frustrated.
- Mrs. Carpenter again petitioned the court for custody,
And made several charges which were not credible.
- They definitely implied
That my brother was abusing rebecca.
It's really hard to hear the accusations that were made,
Because that's not who he was.
(tense music)
- The carpenters were convinced
That he was abusing the child,
But there wasn't any evidence of that.
- There was a lot of animosity between the two families.
- One night, mr. Carpenter dropped rebecca off
From visitation.
Buzz went over to talk to him,
And they got into a verbal argument.
According to buzz, buzz actually had been threatened
By mr. Carpenter that he would kill him.
- I got a phone call a couple months before buzz was killed.
Buzz felt very threatened by kim's family.
He had just had an argument with his father-in-law.
He said, "if something happens to me, he killed me."
- The carpenters, it seemed like they're just gonna continue
This grasping and legal harassment.
So they researched it, buzz did,
And found that arizona did not have grandparent right law.
- Buzz tells the carpenter family, "I'm gonna take kim,
"I'm gonna take rebecca, and we're gonna move to arizona."
- And the carpenters were afraid
They were never gonna see their granddaughter again.
- What could be a better motive
Than a hatfields and mccoys type of dispute
Going on between families and someone gets murdered?
So immediately, richard carpenter moves to the top
Of the suspect list.
- [narrator] after investigators learn
Of a heated family feud between buzz clinton
And his in-laws, they go to the carpenters' residence
To question them about his murder.
- We meet with richard and cynthia carpenter.
Also present at that time were beth, their daughter,
And her employer, haiman clein.
- Which at the time seemed strange,
Because haiman clein was a real estate lawyer
And banking lawyer.
- Beth and haiman said they just wanted to be there
To be part of the interview.
- The carpenters verified that there was a feud,
And that they were trying to get
Permanent custody of rebecca.
One of the things they also mentioned was
That buzz had been talking about going to arizona.
They really didn't want that to happen.
Then they would totally lose the child.
- Richard carpenter and cynthia carpenter,
They agreed that they didn't really like buzz,
But they really downplayed the interaction
Between buzz and richard carpenter.
They said they didn't think
That the granddaughter should be with him,
But never that they wanted him dead.
- The carpenters claim that they had no idea
What might have happened to him.
- [narrator] after hearing the carpenters' side
Of the story, investigators push for proof
That richard carpenter was not involved.
- Mr. Carpenter gave an alibi that he was home
At the time of the murder,
And his wife backed him up on that.
Richard carpenter showed us the weapons that he had,
But none included a .38.
- It wasn't a strong alibi,
But between that and the firearms,
They're pretty sure that he's in the clear.
- A guy who looked like a great suspect
Right away fizzles out.
But even with dick carpenter eliminated,
There's other good suspects all with motive.
- [narrator] investigators move on from the feud
For the moment, and go after their other leads.
First they look into charlie snyder,
The man who kim claims threatened to harm buzz over money.
- Charlie snyder's business was called blonders junkyard.
- Investigators go to the junkyard to visit charlie snyder,
And he's not there.
- They learned through his employees
That in fact he was out of town,
But he had been around town at the time of the murder.
- The timing was a little strange.
That made him look even more guilty.
- [narrator] a few days later, police learn
That charlie snyder is back in town.
They immediately go to speak with him.
- Investigators sit down with charlie snyder.
Charlie was distraught when he heard
Buzz clinton was murdered.
- Charlie explained he was out of town on a ski trip
When the police initially tried to speak with him.
- And he's like, "look, I said some things to him.
"I threatened him, sure,
"but I was more of a mentor to buzz.
"I wanted buzz to succeed in life."
- While he was ticked off at buzz,
Charlie claimed that he would never hurt him.
He considered him a very close friend.
- Charlie had an alibi for 6:30 the evening of March 10th.
- He was at a doctor's appointment
During the time that buzz was murdered.
He didn't kill buzz clinton, either.
- [narrator] investigators have one more potential suspect,
Buzz clinton's former friend, shawn butterfield.
- About a week, or two prior to the murder,
Butterfield accused buzz clinton of stealing his wallet
With $100 in it, and buzz denied it.
- From the witness who had discovered the body,
Police had a description of a tall, lanky individual
Getting into the car.
- Charlie snyder, he's not tall and lanky,
But buzz's friend shawn butterfield
Does fit that description.
Detectives go over to shawn butterfield's work.
He's working as a clerk in a hotel,
And they say, "look, you had a motive, you know?
"you alleged that buzz stole your wallet."
- Shawn said, "yeah, I was upset with buzz,
"because I thought he stole my wallet,
"but I wouldn't hurt him, though."
- Shawn said that his alibi for the night of the murder was
That he was in fact working at the hotel.
- And that was verified that he was on the clock
At the time of the murder,
So he was eliminated as a potential suspect.
- Once you run through all your suspects,
You have to go back to square one,
And try and dig out another suspect.
- They interviewed everybody within buzz and kim's circle.
- We're hoping to find a lead that would put us
In the right direction of who killed buzz clinton.
- The investigators, they would call occasionally,
Keeping us informed that things are happening,
Progress is being made.
I stuck to the theory that the carpenters had been involved.
Kim was staying with us,
And it puts kim in a very difficult situation.
As a daughter, of course, you don't wanna believe
That your family might be involved.
- The clintons continued to insist
That the carpenters were responsible,
And that the police had to continue
To follow up with that, and they did.
- Richard carpenter, he consented
To have his bank records examined
To see if there was any unusual purchases,
Or payments to a gunman.
None was found.
Nothing substantial had come in
After a month and a half, two months,
- We kind of hit a wall with the investigation,
And then we got lucky.
We got a phone call.
(tense music) (graphics whirring)
- [narrator] on may 25th, 1994,
More than two months after buzz clinton's murder,
Police receive a tip from a woman named cathy white.
- Cathy white says that she wants to share some information
That she has regarding the murder of buzz clinton.
She reveals that a friend of her boyfriend, mark despres,
Was involved in a plan to kill buzz clinton.
After speaking to cathy white,
Detectives did background on mark despres.
- Mark despres has a criminal history,
And is a registered informant
For the state police narcotics squad.
- They know that mark despres is a drug dealer.
He's not a low level guy, he's not a high level guy,
But he's dealing ounces of cocaine.
This guy's trouble.
He's been trouble his whole life.
- He was a potential suspect,
But there wasn't a clear connection between buzz clinton
And mark despres.
There just was none.
- [narrator] the next day, police contact mark despres
And arrange a meeting.
- When mark despres came in to talk to the police,
He was under the impression that he was there
Just to talk about some ci work regarding drugs.
- And then they asked him
What he knew about buzz clinton's murder.
- Mark was kind of taken aback,
And says he wants to call his lawyer.
- And then he says the lawyer's name, haiman clein.
- Which was a name that rang a big bell.
They recognised haiman clein
As the employer of beth carpenter.
Clein was present during the original interview
Of the carpenter family at their home.
- [narrator] after being unable to reach his lawyer,
Haiman clein, mark despres agrees to speak with police
About their connection.
- Despres told the investigators
That he was clein's drug dealer,
That he would bring him cocaine on a weekly basis.
- Haiman clein is a real estate lawyer.
He's this guy in his 50s.
He's married, he's got four kids, lives in a big house,
But according to mark despres,
He also is snorting cocaine all day long.
- It became pretty apparent that haiman clein was not
The upstanding citizen that he tried to portray
In his law office.
- Haiman clein was connected to the carpenters.
Bang, now, we got a connection.
- [narrator] two months after buzz clinton's murder,
Police continue to question mark despres.
- Cathy white calls the police, and says,
"mark despres is involved in buzz clinton's murder."
Mark despres comes in, and says,
"I wanna call my lawyer, haiman clein."
Haiman clein was at the carpenters' house
When they first questioned dick carpenter
About buzz clinton's murder,
And what you have at the centre of it is this family feud.
There's the connection.
- So it looked like the murder was somehow related
To the feud between buzz and the carpenters
Over custody of kim's daughter, rebecca.
Maybe we cleared the carpenters too quick.
- This is potentially a murder for hire.
It's time to start a full court press on despres
And see what's going on here.
We made it clear to him that
If he had been directly involved
That he was in serious trouble,
And that his best deal was to cooperate.
The hope was that we would be able to get him
To roll over and to start talking.
- Hours go by, hours go by,
And finally, mark despres says, "look, haiman clein,
"he's the one who hired me."
- And then eventually, despres told the story
Of how he was hired by haiman clein to kill buzz clinton.
- Several months before the murder,
Haiman clein told despres he had a potential job for him.
- He had met with haiman clein at a christmas party
In haiman clein's office.
Haiman clein talked to mark despres
About killing buzz clinton.
They negotiated a price of $8,500,
And clein gave him $1,500 as a down payment.
Between christmas and March 10th,
Some planning was going on
As to how to best accomplish this.
Despres said that he scoped out buzz clinton,
And he followed him a few times,
But he could never get him alone to kill him.
- [narrator] at about 6:30 p.M. On March 10th,
Mark despres sees an opportunity to kill buzz clinton
On a desolate stretch of road.
- Mark despres told us he's following on buzz clinton
On the highway at the rocky neck connector.
Buzz didn't know who he was,
But mark flashes his headlights
To try and get the attention of buzz
And have him pull over, which he does,
At which point, buzz clinton got out of the car.
- Buzz walked towards him.
Apparently, mark despres got out of the car.
- As buzz was walking toward him,
Mark took the gun out and fired six times.
(suspenseful music)
- At that point, despres says he saw lights coming
On the highway, and quickly got back into the car,
And took off.
- He threw the gun out of the car
Along the highway somewhere,
So it couldn't be identified.
- He went home, notified clein,
And for two months there was nothing
Until cathy white called the police
And told them she had information about the murder.
- [narrator] mark despres then gives detectives
A potentially crucial piece of the conspiracy
To kill buzz clinton.
- Mark despres mentions a meeting one night.
He's in haiman clein's office and beth carpenter is there.
Haiman clien specifically says to beth carpenter
That night before the murder,
"mark is gonna help with that thing,"
And mark despres says, "they were an item."
Haiman clein and beth carpenter,
They got an affair going on.
- It was possible that beth was behind it,
And haiman was doing what beth wanted.
- [narrator] with his confession in hand,
Police arrest mark despres for buzz clinton's murder
Investigators turned their attention to haiman clein,
The man despres claims hired him.
- Despres gave the investigators information
That clein was sending him checks.
Investigators got search warrants to verify this.
- They subpoenaed his phone records and his bank records.
The phone records definitely tied clein into despres,
But more damning was the bank records,
Because they matched the story
That the investigators got from despres
Regarding money transfers.
- Now, they need to go after haiman,
Sit him down, and question him.
- Through the records that were obtained,
A warrant was issued for haiman clein.
- But when the police went to arrest him,
He was not at his office.
He was not at his home.
He was nowhere.
- Lo and behold, haiman clein is gone.
- [narrator] with haiman clein on the run,
Investigators turned to his lover
And possible co-conspirator,
Buzz clinton's sister-in-law, beth carpenter.
- They went to talk to beth,
And she was nowhere to be found.
- We became aware shortly thereafter
That beth carpenter had gone to great britain.
- Beth carpenter left the country,
Went to work over in England for a while as an attorney.
That made her look even more guilty.
- They notified us that mark despres was the one
Who did the shooting
And had been arrested,
And it's apparent his co-conspirator
Haiman clein had disappeared from the area,
And beth had disappeared to England.
And so, we surmised,
But we didn't have any information
That she was involved directly.
But that gave great comfort to us,
Because we knew there was headway being made at this point.
- [narrator] police in connecticut through her family
Are able to contact beth carpenter in England.
- We had law enforcement speak with her there,
And she's telling us she doesn't have
Anything to do with this.
- Beth carpenter admits that she had an affair
With haiman clein
, but otherwise she said,
"no, I had nothing to do with this.
"if he did it, he did it on his own."
- She says they broke up,
But haiman clein was so obsessed with her,
He's still communicating with her while he's on the run.
- He kept trying to call her,
So she offered to help us apprehend haiman clein.
- [narrator] law enforcement is sceptical
Of beth carpenter's claim that she is not involved
In the plot to kill buzz clinton,
But accept her offer to help apprehend haiman clein.
- They had a prearranged phone call.
He was gonna speak to her from a payphone in california.
- They were able to get a time and place in california,
Where haiman clein was gonna be at a particular phone booth
To call beth.
The fugitive task force in california
Was waiting at the phone booth.
- Beth makes that call, and haiman picks up,
And he is arrested.
- [narrator] on February 5th, 1996,
Nearly two years after buzz clinton's murder,
Haiman clein is apprehended in california,
And extradited back to connecticut
On charges of capital felony murder
And conspiracy to commit murder.
- They bring haiman in,
And they start to do interviews with him.
- We made it clear to him that we wanted his cooperation,
You know, we could potentially take
The death penalty off the table.
We were convinced that the carpenters,
Certainly beth carpenter, were involved,
But he immediately shut up,
Wasn't gonna tell anybody anything.
He wanted to go forward with this case.
- [narrator] haiman clein pleads not guilty,
But after a year and a half of trial preparation
On June 12th, 1997,
He has a change of heart.
- We ended up starting a trial.
We spent almost a month picking jurors.
- He learned that despres had made a deal,
So he figured that it would be best
For him to make a deal, too.
- He decides to talk, and he says,
"beth carpenter was the mastermind behind this whole thing."
- He told of her involvement,
And how she had persuaded him to hire someone
To kill her brother-in-law, buzz clinton.
- The motive for haiman was to keep beth happy.
- Haiman clein admits he was infatuated with beth carpenter,
And would do anything for her, including murder.
About a year prior to the murder,
They began a torrid love affair.
- Their relationship was centred around this family feud.
This whole plan to murder buzz clinton
Is really hatched in bed.
- Clein said, "she said that buzz was a bad guy."
"he was sexually assaulting little rebecca."
- Buzz denied it, and kim denied it.
- It's all secondhand stuff that beth was telling him,
And we were not able to find any signs of abuse of any kind.
- She wanted him out of the picture.
The only way that she could think of to get rid of him
Is to murder him.
She kept pleading and pleading with haiman to help.
- When beth carpenter heard buzz was moving to arizona,
That was the last straw.
- Ultimately, haiman, he agreed to help.
- Haiman tried to justify it in his own mind
By saying he was protecting this child.
- When the investigators got the confession from clein,
They were able to take that information
Along with what they got from despres,
And get a warrant for beth carpenter.
- [narrator] on August 26th, 1997,
A warrant is issued for beth carpenter
On a capital felony conspiracy to commit murder charge.
If convicted, she could face the death penalty.
- Law enforcement in connecticut is communicating
With scotland yard.
They know where beth is.
They're gonna bring her in.
- We thought she was in great britain,
But they went to get her in great britain,
And found out that she had moved to ireland.
- Ireland was notified by the united states
About the warrant.
The authorities there picked her up.
- Beth carpenter is in custody in ireland,
But there's a problem.
Ireland will not extradite someone facing the death penalty.
- [narrator] while in custody in ireland,
Beth carpenter speaks to authorities,
And continues to claim her innocence.
- Beth carpenter is in ireland,
And ireland will not extradite someone
Facing the death penalty.
So now they gotta cut a deal with beth carpenter
To get her back.
- Her story was, "I had nothing to do with this.
"clein was infatuated with me,
"and did it to prove his love for me."
- If she thought that haiman clein did this on his own,
Then when buzz clinton was murdered
Why didn't she step forward?
She said nothing.
Beth never came forward.
- Beth was held in a jail in ireland
Pending our attempted extradition.
- They went back and forth for a while,
And eventually the prosecutor in connecticut agreed
To not go after the death penalty.
That took a couple of years, actually,
But ultimately, beth carpenter
Was brought back to the united states.
- [narrator] in June of 1999,
More than five years after buzz clinton's murder,
Beth carpenter is extradited back to connecticut,
Where she pleads not guilty to the charges.
- When beth was finally extradited,
We were ecstatic over the fact
That she's coming back to face charges.
The only question we had was with the parents.
If they had knowledge of the entire plot,
Then I feel they should have been charged.
- There was never any evidence that richard,
Or cynthia carpenter knew about this,
Or were involved in the plan to kill buzz clinton.
- The carpenter side of this,
They all of course think beth is innocent,
And that haiman clein did this on his own.
- It was a full eight years after the murder in 2002
Before they started the trial of beth carpenter.
- The prosecution believes beth carpenter masterminded
This whole thing, and they're gonna set up the feud
Between the families.
They're gonna bring in mark despres' statements
That beth carpenter was in the room
When we talked about this murder,
And then they're gonna finally bring in haiman clein.
- Haiman clein came across as a strong witness.
- And then beth carpenter decides
To testify in her own defence.
- We had been forewarned by the prosecution
That this was a 50/50 type case.
- It was all based on accusations by despres,
Drug dealer, and clein, who both got a deal,
And the only reason they got a deal was
Because they turned on beth.
It was he said, she said.
- She could walk, and be found not guilty.
- [narrator] on April 12th, 2002,
Beth carpenter's fate is put into the hands of the jury.
- The jury saw all the evidence
And found beth carpenter guilty
Of first-degree murder, capital felony murder.
- Having waived the death penalty,
The only sentence available for beth carpenter was
Life without the possibility of parole.
That's the sentence that she received.
Haiman clein, who had taken a plea,
Was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Mark despres was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
- Once the jury had come to the conclusion of guilty,
There was a relief,
I think a bit of joy, maybe, within our family.
- We were so happy that justice was served,
That she was going to face a severe penalty
For my brother's murder.
- Every murder is senseless, obviously,
But here we have a case where buzz clinton
And kim clinton did the right thing.
They took the case of rebecca to court, and they won.
It should've ended there, but it didn't end there.
Beth carpenter decided she was gonna do whatever it took
To get that child,
And in this case it meant murder.
- One of the great ironies in this whole case is that
After all this fighting and violence,
Kim and rebecca ended up
In the care of the carpenter family.
- A few months after the murder, kim decided to move out
With brianna and rebecca, and not really be with our family,
And that was really hard.
But I still talk to rebecca.
You know, brianna, we make sure that,
You know, we stay connected, and we're one family.
(light piano music)
- I still hold an awful lot of anger
Over why it was committed, the murder,
The fact that I was unable to be a protector of my son.
And so, that lives, you know, in my heart as a father.
As the emotion right now is, you relive, and...
- Buzz lived 28 long years.
I think he would want to be remembered as someone
Who had a great heart and a great soul,
And he would've done anything for his family at the time.