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Ronald
Wayne CLARK Jr.
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics:
Robberies
Number of victims: 2
Date of murders: October 29, 1989
/ January 12, 1990
Date
of arrest:February 7,
1990
Date of birth:
April 20,
1968
Victims profile: Charles
Mc Elroy Carter /
Ronald Willis
Fourth Judicial Circuit, Duval
County, Case #90-10067
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable
David C. Wiggins
Trial Attorney: Henry Davis,
Esq.
Attorney, Direct Appeal: W.C.
McLain – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Collateral Appeals:
Christopher Anderson – Registry
Date of Offense: 01/12/90
Date of Sentence: 02/22/91
Circumstances of Offense:
Ronald Clark was convicted and
sentenced to death for the murder of Ronald Willis on 01/12/90.
According to testimony given at
trial by John Hatch, the co-defendant, he and Ronald Clark were
hitchhiking to Jacksonville on 01/12/90. Clark was carrying a pistol
that he had been restoring, and the two men were shooting at various
targets along the roadside while waiting for a ride.
Ronald Willis saw
the two men hitchhiking and pulled over, offering them a lift. Once in
the truck, Clark whispered to Hatch that he was going to steal the
truck. Clark ordered Willis to pull over, and when Willis got out of
the truck, Clark shot him seven or eight times.
Clark pushed Willis’
body into the middle seat and then Clark drove to a more remote
location. Clark took Willis’ money and boots, and then dumped his body
in a ditch. Clark and Hatch proceeded with their night, going to a
restaurant and visiting an ex-girlfriend. Later that night, the two men
returned to retrieve Willis’ body. They took the body to the Nassau
County Sound Bridge, weighted it, and then dumped it in the water.
Clark and Hatch continued to use
Willis’ stolen truck, and only when Willis’ ex-wife became worried about
his sudden disappearance did she drive around looking for him. Willis’
ex-wife located his truck at a motel, and Clark and Hatch were
identified as the men driving it. Willis’ ex-wife notified police, but
Clark and Hatch ran away before they arrived.
Clark and Hatch fled to South
Carolina. Hatch returned to Nassau County where he was arrested and
Clark was apprehended in South Carolina on 02/07/90.
Codefendant Information:
John Hatch agreed to testify
against Ronald Clark in exchange for a 25-year sentence. Hatch was
sentenced on 02/01/91, and was released on 04/01/01, after serving only
10 years.
NOTE: On
10/29/89, Ronald Clark, John Hatch, Brian Corbett, and Charles Mc Elroy
Carter were driving all around Jacksonville and the neighboring areas.
The men had been drinking together throughout the night. When Clark
pulled over off the side of the road to allow the men to go to the
bathroom, he retrieved a single shot shotgun from this truck and shot
Carter in the chest. The blow was received at such an angle that it
only damaged the chest muscles and the collarbone. Clark reloaded the
gun and fired a shot in Carter’s mouth, killing him. Clark rolled the
body into a ditch, taking his money and his boots. Police arrested
Clark for the homicide after being implicated by Corbett during an
interrogation. On 11/20/90, Clark was sentenced to life imprisonment
for the murder.
08/27/90 Defendant
entered a plea of “not guilty”.
01/24/91 The jury found
the defendant guilty on both counts.
01/25/91 Upon advisory sentencing, the jury,
by an 11 to 1 majority, voted for the death penalty.
02/22/91 Defendant was sentenced as
followed:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder - Death Count II:
Armed Robbery - Life
Case Information:
Clark filed a Direct Appeal in
the Florida Supreme Court on 03/06/91. In his appeal, Clark did not
raise any arguments regarding the guilt phase of the trial. Concerning
the penalty phase, however, Clark contended that the trial court erred
in allowing him to waive the presentation of mitigating factors, in
considering two similar aggravating factors separately, and in allowing
hearsay testimony about a prior murder conviction. The Florida Supreme
Court affirmed the convictions and sentence on 12/24/92.
Clark filed a Petition for Writ
of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court, which was denied on
10/04/93.
Clark next filed a 3.850 Motion
in the State Circuit Court on 11/16/94. Amended motions were filed on
11/01/95, 02/04/04, and 01/31/06. The motion is pending.
