Update: Jan David Clark

On January 5, 2009 the Odessa American stated:

Jan David Clark still is waiting for jurors to weigh in on his murder charge in connection with the February [2008] suffocation death of his wife, Susan K. Clark.

Clark said he was holding his wife's face to the floor of their carpeted master bathroom at 3547 Ferguson St. when the exorcized spirit from her body entered his, causing him to kill her.

A dispute over whether or not Clark can afford his own attorney has held up the case. He has been working with a court-appointed counsel so far.

Clark Trial Postponed AGAIN!

Eventually David Clark will stand trial for murdering his wife.

The judge in Odessa granted the delay of the pre-trial hearing because David's son, Chris, is still trying to finalize funding for a loan to hire a private attorney. The lender is waiting for an appraisal of Chris' property.

The pre-trial hearing is now scheduled to begin sometime between the last week of November and the first week of December.

Chris sued David several years ago for squandering his inheritance, hated his father and cut off communication. What would cause him now to take out a loan to hire a private attorney for this man who confessed to the murder?

Why not let the court appointed attorney handle the conviction?

What attorney would want to take a case they would lose (assuming that there is one in the area who doesn't hate the Clarks)?

It makes you wonder what Chris is thinking.

Hurricane Ike Slideshow

Probably not a Good Idea

Picking up our son from school today, my husband snapped this pic. Now, I'm not a genius, but I think that it is probably not a good idea to leave all of this trash laying around right before we are scheduled to have 75+mph winds.

I think that if I lived across from the school I would make a few phone calls!

Pre-Hurricane Madness

Like any good host, we went out today to prepare for Ike's visit. There were groceries to be purchased, cars to be filled with gasoline, blah, blah blah. After all, this is our first hurricane and we want to do it right.

It is a mad-house out there! The highways were bumper-to-bumper at noon with cars heading north. The gas stations were reminiscent of the 1970's with lines of cars idling gallons of gas waiting to pump more in. There was still bottled water everywhere, but the isle of canned foods in Wal-Mart looked like the candy isle on Halloween night. Nada! I have never seen anything like it. You would have a better chance of finding a bag of ice in the Sahara.

Thank goodness Walgreens was still stocked. They even had sales going, go figure.

So with our hard found provisions, we dug out our camping equipment from the mountain of boxes in the garage. Here we struck gold: Flashlights, propane stove, ice chests, first aid kit and more!

This girl is shopped-out! But I think that we are ready. (I hope)

-From Hurricane Central, Amy Sue reporting

Hurricane Ike's a-comin'

For all of our friends and family who may be remembering that we did move to Houston and are not in glorious Colorado: yes, Ike is heading toward us; no, we are not leaving; and yes, we are crazy (but you knew that!)

It looks like Hurricane Ike will make landfall just to the west of Houston. Seeing that the strongest part of a hurricane is on the east side, we should see some action. That's right, I said action. We want to see some excitement out of this. Of course I don't want anyone in the area to be killed, injured or lose their homes; but I'm a storm-chaser at heart and can't seem to get in the middle of anything good.

My daughter and I took a trip to Florida in 1999 and were there when Walt Disney World closed for the first time in history. Hurriane Floyd decided to turn away at the last minute so we missed the show.

This year Tropical Storm Edourdo gave us a nice steady rain all day, but no wind. Hurricane Gustav didn't even do that much.

Floyd, Edourdo, Gustav: I'm not having much luck with men!

Regardless of the fact that we are crazy to WANT a hurricane, we aren't stupid. We are north of Houston and not in a surge zone. So we aren't in any danger.

During Hurricane Alicia in 1983 (cat 3 and a direct hit to Houston), the area that we have moved into did not evacuate and had no significant damage. There were even evacuation centers located here for the residents living south of Houston. This is were the evacuees go!

We have pulled out our camping gear (in case of power failures), are hitting the stores to stock up on non-perishables, and filling our cars up with gas just in case. The schools are out tomorrow, and Donna in Dallas has offered us a place to run to if needed. We will be fine.

I am going to post to this blog as often as possible during the storm to let you know what is going on. Maybe I can even send pics.

Love to all,
Amy

Jan David Clark Update 9/9/2008

According to the Ector County Court docket, David Clark is scheduled to begin his trial this week.

http://www.co.ector.tx.us/district/Dockets/CrJD09-08-08Trotter.pdf

I don't know exactly what day the trial is scheduled to begin.

Obviously Chris, David's son, did not get the funds together to hire his dad a lawyer, so he will have to continue with the court appointed attorney Lawrence Barber. Maybe he had trouble raising funds because everyone around David loves their money more than him. Barber believes that David has enough personal funds to pay for his own attorney. Looks like even David loves his money more than himself.

I will post anything that I can find relating to this case, but even the local newspaper The Odessa American doesn't seem interested in David Clark.

Can You Take the Texas Out of the Girl?

I had to laugh this morning when I realized that I'm not as Texan as I used to be. I guess that I have been gone too long. People will say and do things that used to never catch my attention because they were so commonplace, so much a part of me. Now I chuckle and am filled with warm fuzzies. I am home again!

For example, this morning the school nurse called because my son was in her office with a stiff neck. I guess that he had slept crooked and when he left for school it was very tight and sore. I told the nurse that I had given him some pain relievers and put a hot pack on it, but there was just not much we can do for a muscle spasm. She agreed and noted that "we call it a crick-in-the-neck."

I smiled. That term used to be so common for me, but this morning it never entered my mind until she mentioned it. I'm no longer a part of the "we" that refers to a muscle spasm as a crick-in-the-neck.

I also realized that I don't refer to 7Up, Dr. Pepper and Pepsi as coke.

"What kind of coke do you want?"
"7Up."

It's kind of sad. I guess that you can take the Texas out of the girl if she is gone too long. I still say "a-fixin to" so there is hope. You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can't take all the Texas out of the girl.

Jan David Clark Update 07/22/2008

Odessa American article dated 7/22/08:

Clark hearing postponed
by Christine Stanley

A pre-trial hearing for a West Odessa man charged in connection with the slaying of his wife has been postponed until Sept. 4.
The court is allowing Jan David Clark's son, Christopher, more time to secure funds to hire his father an attorney. Clark's court-appointed attorney, Lawrence Barber, has said Clark has enough assets to pay for counsel out of his own pocket.
Clark has been behind bars since February after telling sheriff's investigators that his wife, Susan Kay Clark, died while he was trying to rid her of a demon.
According to a probable cause statement, Clark said he was holding his wife's face to the floor of their carpeted master bathroom at 3547 Ferguson St. when the exorcized spirit from her body entered his, causing him to kill his wife.
Preliminary autopsy results showed Susan Kay Clark was suffocated. Investigators found the 59-year-old woman, known by family and friends as "Nanny," wrapped in a bed sheet on her back with a cross and a sword placed atop her body.
In a February jailhouse interview, 60-year-old Clark said he was innocent, claiming he shared a cell at the Ector County Detention Center with 10 demons.
"I was moving ahead of the Lord's timing," Clark said at the time of his wife's death. "We were locked in combat for three hours. She's small but mean. That night was the first time I had ever spoken in tongues."
Dave Clark's father was Dr. J.T. Clark, an Odessa dentist who was the city's mayor from 1960 until 1962