James David Clarke and the Alleged Murder of Amber Chantel Elkins

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Amber Chantel Elkins, a 20-year-old mother from Spring, Texas has been missing since July 24, 2011. Events in the search for her moved quickly.

On Monday July 25, 2011 in the early morning hour (around 3:30 a.m..) Amber’s mother, Shani Kilpatrick received a call from Amber’s cell phone but allegedly said she missed the call because she was asleep. She called the number back about an hour later and a man answered but hung up and turned the phone off. ( one report says Amber’s father received a call from her Sun evening and when he tried to call her back got no answer) After the hang up call Shani received strange text messages from someone saying they were Amber and stated she needed gas money.

Later that morning a man contacted LE to report a vehicle with a window smashed out and blood inside parked at a car wash. As law enforcement began searching for the owner they discovered it was registered to Amber and she was due in court Monday and had not shown. Amber was in a custody battle with Frank Ferrata for her 9- month-old daughter, Ava Nicole. Frank said that it’s heartbreaking because Ava calls for her mama and is too young to understand. He and Amber had lived in Midway, TX until she moved back to the Houston area.

Amber also had a new boyfriend named James David Clark, age 31, and on Saturday, July 30, 2011 Harris County law enforcement arrested him and charged him in her death. The police say they have enough evidence to charge him.

James Clarke allegedly has a long history with LE dating back several years.

At this time, Amber’s body hasn’t been found. But, Texas Equusearch has been in Spring and Humble doing an extensive search for her. The search status has changed from missing person search to recovery.

The Alleged Attack by Steven Ford on Ladonia Burns

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Steven Ford broke the glass door to gain entry after stomping a puppy to death and brutally attacked his girlfriend, Ladonia Burns. His brutality was, according to him, because she wouldn’t go get him more beer. He used knives to hold her hostage, beat her about her head and could’ve drowned her when he stuck her head in the toilet tank. Ford admitted to breaking in the door and ‘stepping’ on the puppy but had the nerve to blame his violence on alcohol!


There is no excuse Mr. Ford!

Mrs. Burns said beer wasn’t mentioned, he came home and began demanding she obey him. She said she went into the house. And that was when he stomped the puppy’s head, broke the glass door in front of her home, and attacked her. Mrs. Burns said he was also threatening to kill her and he may have done so if her parents hadn’t arrived.

Steven Ford is charged with assault and domestic violence. But, I sure hope they add animal abuse to those charges. He’s under a 50,000 dollar bond. I pray Ford doesn’t bond out, go whining back apologetically and her take him back. Sadly, that has happened in many cases after attacks of domestic violence even when it's as vicious as this alleged attack. Please someone purchase a copy of a book for her called: Time’s Up: A guide on How to Leave and Survive Abusive and Stalking Relationships by Susan Murphy Milano

I Don't Hate Casey

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Yes. She, the most hated woman in America, is free. But is she? She is Free from the early morning wake up, eating at a certain time, showering only when told, living in a very small room with bars for doors. She isn't free in the sense of true freedom; she will never be. What she is, is hated throughout America and other countries by extreme numbers of people. She can't really 'Be Free'. Of course media would give a mint to have her as their talk show guest or be allowed that a private interview but I don't see that happening as it did with OJ. I don’t see it happening for a very long time.


I will not call Casey a murderer or a killer; she wasn't legally found to be one. But, I don’t call her innocent either. The verdict and the definition of innocent aren’t the same; it’s simply unproven.

I refuse to fall into that ‘I Hate Casey’ fan club. Do I apologize for it? No. I can sleep at night without thinking of unmentionable things I’d like happen to her. I do hate that Caylee died and will never grow to become a woman, to cry and laugh or feel love and hate herself. I hate that images of a skull and duct tape, a hair mass and a child's playhouse are forever imbedded in my mind.  But then, so is an image of 4-year-old, Sean Paddock, with blankets wrapped so tightly around him and duct taped (so they would stay put) he couldn’t breathe and suffocated. I don't hate Lynn Paddock either; hate simply isn't something I feel.

I do call Lynn Paddock a murderer. She was legally found to be one.

I certainly don’t wish Casey harm. I don't want innocents harmed by some crazy minded ‘I Hate Casey’ person who tries to kill her. (Just as the woman in OK was attacked because she resembled Casey and a dumb person thought she ‘was Casey’ then tried to harm her.) A form of hate such as that is defeatism and, to me, puts those people in the same category as the person they hate. I don't want to socialize with Casey or have her live in my neighborhood but I don't want her dead. I want her to live with herself.

And live with herself she eventually will.

The media attention will die. It'll die after a new hated person comes along and commits an unmentionable crime. That will happen because media attention will focus on the new hated person and she will fall into the recesses of memory. Of course as with OJ every book that is written will be major news for a while but as with OJ trial the attention with that, too, will only last a few days. (Image the hordes who would flock back over to the ‘I Hate Misty’ thread if Haleigh Cummings’ body was found.) Scratch that because Misty wouldn’t become a replacement because she was hated even as I hate Casey grew to insurmountable odds and she is still hated. Comparisons would be made to the two. Talk about no conscience, and yes, more of the pathological liar debates would ensue. 

No. I don't Hate Casey Anthony. I am one of the minority.

Cases I have blogged on set for jury Trial

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I’ve been trying not to write any new post about other alleged killers because I have been watching the activity concerning previous cases I’ve written about on my site. I pray for justice for all these victims.


Those coming to trial this year is: Curtis Leon Copeland, Christopher Ray Shockley, Tony Randall Woods

Curtis Leon Copeland
Capital Murder of a person under six years of age
Copeland’s trial is set for August 15, 2011
Victim: Jessie F. Fisher, age 3.
Died: March 31, 2010 in Fort Worth, TX after a short stay in the hospital suffering from a head injury, a broken vertebra, a broken hip, bruises all over his body and sexual assault.

My post on Copeland and Sharon Nicole Worthy (Sharon’s trial date hasn’t been set):
http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2010/10/sharon-worthy-and-death-of-jesse-f.html

http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2010/04/rage-and-child-abuse.html

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Ray Christopher Shockley
First Degree Murder
Trial date: Sept 19, 2011
Victim: Tonya Michelle Turnmire
Reported missing: June 4, 2010 Albertville, Alabama
(body found Sun June 20 2010 wrapped in blanket and air mattress)

My post on Tonya’s murder:

http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2010/06/to-late-for-tonya-michelle-turnmire-to.html

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Tony Randall Woods
Capital Murder
Trial Date: Oct. 17, 2011
Victim: Tammie Woods (spouse)
Death Date: July 13, 2010 Gravely Springs, Alabama

My post on Tammie’s murder:

http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2010/08/ploys-of-tammie-woods-accused-murderer.html

http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2010/07/intimate-partner-domestic-violence.html

Jason Young: A Chameleon In Hush Puppies?

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A chameleon was allegedly what Allen Fisher, Michelle’s father, called Jason. He is to have said Jason was what you wanted him to be.

I have to wonder if his feet hurt during those hours Jason Young allegedly stayed at the motel in Virginia. When they photographed his feet, he had blisters on them and that, according to a podiatrist, is usually from wearing improperly sized shoes. Was he wearing his size 12 Hush Puppies then or the alleged size 10 shoes? I don’t know. (Well at least we won’t hear tales of Bruno Magli shoes!) They discovered bloody prints of Hush Puppies and size 10 Franklin athletic at the crime scene on Birchleaf Drive in Raleigh, NC where he’d resided with his wife.

The Hampton Inn in Hillsville, Virginia was where Jason Lynn Young says he was at the time his wife, Michelle Fischer Young, was brutally murdered. But, he is seen leaving a side door heading toward a stairway exit of that motel around 11:58 PM on November 2 2006 and at or about that same time he allegedly made a phone call. And a newspaper carrier saw an SUV that looked similar to Jason’s vehicle parked near the Young’s home at an angle like it was there to load or unload something. This sighting was between 4 and 5 AM on November 3. The carrier also stated all the inside and outside home lights were on, which was unusual.

Security camera videos in the lobby area show him twice wearing ‘different clothes’ within hours of each other. (Hmm, another flashback there, Nelson Serrano was twice seen on lobby security cameras in Atlanta, GA., only he was wearing same clothing!) The first viewing of Jason was 10:49 to 10:51 PM and he was wearing a light colored, long-sleeve pullover shirt with buttons. Another viewing shows him wearing different clothing. Still, at 11:59 pm they see him again in the front desk area wearing a dark colored long-sleeve pullover with a lighter colored thin stripe on the chest area. And he is headed toward the side entrance on the southern end.

However, it seems the hotel exit door from the southern end (which led to the parking lot) was kept open by a rock (Blast, yet another flashback! Does Misty Cummings and the brick ring a bell?). These videos were from November 2 2006 and November 3 2006, the latter was the day Michelle’s body was discovered. Also on that fateful day of November 3 it was dicovered that someone had pointed the security camera, that would’ve shown who used the stairwell, up toward the ceiling. So anyone going up or down the stairs couldn’t be seen.

The state contends that Jason Young left Virginia, drove back to his home in NC, heavily medicated his 2-year-old daughter with a liquid extra strength adult Tylenol (her DNA was found on the dropper) then brutally beat his pregnant wife to death in their bedroom. They discovered two different bloody shoe prints on a bed pillow. I look for defense to heavily question this evidence and use the 911 call where her sister states she moved a pillow. One was from a Franklin style athletic shoe which had a number 10 inside in the bloody print; they declared the other print unidentifiable until 2008 when it was found to be a Hush Puppies brand shoe. The Hush Puppies style had been discontinued and could have been either a ‘Sealy’ or ‘Bellvile’ model of the Hush Puppies. Later discovered was that the out sole design of the shoes was also used in the Hush Puppies ‘Orbital’ model. Records show that Michelle and Jason purchased a pair of Orbital Hush Puppies In July 2005; these shoes were size 12. We know he was back at the hotel at 7:40 AM November 3 because he made a call to Meredith Fisher at 7:40 AM.

Other conundrums in this case are at the crime scene. When Meredith Fisher received a call from Jason asking she go to his and Michelle’s residence and check for fax printouts about a purse he’d purchased, she did so. The purse allegedly was bought as a belated anniversary gift for Michelle.
(How sweet of him to consider giving his wife an alleged non existent purse since he was allegedly having an affair and phoned or text his mistress 980 times within a month from Oct 4 2006 and Nov 3 2006. )

Back to the conundrums, when Meredith arrived at Birchleaf Drive she discovered Michelle dead and tiny footprints all over the bedroom, she also found the baby under the sheets of her mother’s bed. Michelle’s baby girl had apparently walked all around her mother’s deceased decomposing body and the room. Of course Meredith called 911. Over the next few days, weeks, months and years police discovered more about what had taken place in and outside the home prior to and before the murder. One conundrum was the bloody shoe prints on the pillow. Another was the amount of blood in the bathroom and a trace of blood found on the hallway carpet between the baby’s bedroom and Michelle’s bathroom.

Also, a set of Meredith’s car keys was found on the hood of Michelle’s car parked in the garage. They discovered Michelle’s car keys in the kitchen on a counter. And too, bloody shoe prints were found on planks of the deck boards and these prints were from a Franklin athletic shoe.

Even more confusion is that the baby’s feet had little to no signs of blood on her feet when she was found inside the home with her deceased mother.

Much evidence will be heard in this trial. Including eye witness account of Jason purchasing gas but driving off without getting his $5.00 change. And evidence of Jason’s DNA on the master bedroom wall sixteen inches from the floor and that could show it was put there as he and Michelle fought during the beating. Also, his DNA was found on a jewelry box. Computer evidence will be a big part of the trial also since Jason allegedly did searches on anatomy of a knockout, head trauma knockout, right posterior parietal occipital region, and ischemia. The one he should have carefully read (if he’s the killer) was the search query on ‘divorce.’ I’ll be interested how many clicks he made on that particular search and how long he stayed on each site/article.

This will not be a dead-on-cue trial for sure. It’s one filled with circumstantial evidence and one where the jurors will have to pay close attention to all the evidence presented to reach a verdict.

I pray for eventual Justice for Michelle Young.

Still, guilty or not, I wonder ‘if’ Jason did kill his wife and leave his child to find her body, does he still think his mistress was worth it; since Oct 28 2006 he allegedly stated in one of his text to her- ‘but you are so worth it, even if it's only for a 'blink' in time.’