Doug Clark (serial killer)

Douglas Daniel Clark (March 10, 1948 – October 11, 2023) was an American

• The partial remains of two victims were found in Los Angeles County, California on January 26, 1980, at around 1:00 p.m. in a river bed north of Magic Mountain Parkway, west of the Old Road and south of the Valencia Sewage Treatment Plant. Both had been shot to death^[5][6] and are known as the Valencia Jane Does.

• On June 30, 1980, a group of snake hunters off the
  prostitute had been dead at least three weeks when she was found.^[7]

• On June 11, 1980, stepsisters Gina Narano, 15, and Cynthia Leigh "Cindy" Chandler, 16, vanished from
  Huntington Beach, while trying to meet with friends. They were found the following morning, beside the Ventura Freeway near Griffith Park, in Los Angeles; each had been shot in the side of the head. Clark later came home and told Bundy about the two teenagers whom he had murdered after picking them up on the Sunset Strip. He had ordered them to perform fellatio on him and then shot them both in the head before taking them to a garage and raping their dead bodies.^[3] An uneasy Bundy phoned the police, admitting to having some knowledge of the murders but refused to provide any clues as to Clark's identity.^[3] Clark told Bundy that if either of them were apprehended, he would take the blame in the hope that she would be allowed to go free.^[8]

• On June 24, 1980, Clark killed two sex workers, 24-year-old Karen Lee Jones, and 20-year-old Exxie LaFaye Wilson. Jones was found that day behind a
  Studio City, where the headless body of Wilson had been found by pedestrians. Clark had lured Jones and Wilson into his car, shot them, and dumped their bodies in plain sight but not before removing Wilson's head.^[7] Clark took the head back home and stored it in the refrigerator. Bundy, upon seeing it, put make-up on it before Clark used it again for another "bout of necrophilia."^[7] She later recalled, "We had a lot of fun with her. I was making her up like a Barbie with makeup." On June 27, the couple put the freshly cleaned head in an ornate wooden box and dumped it in a Hollywood
  alleyway.

• On August 5, 1980, Bundy attended a country music performance by 45-year-old John Robert Murray, her former apartment manager and lover. After the performance, Bundy conversed with Murray and drunkenly talked about what she and Clark were doing. Murray was alarmed and implied that he might tell the police. Bundy then lured Murray into his van to have sex. Once they were inside, she shot, stabbed and decapitated him.^[7] Bundy left various clues behind, including shell casings in the van.^[7] Two days later, Bundy bowed to psychological pressure and confessed to her co-workers that she had killed Murray. They called the police, and she gave a full confession to her and Clark's crimes.^[7] Murray's head was never found.

• Clark is believed to have murdered an unidentified youth who was discovered on August 26, 1980, in
  post-mortem. She is known as the Newhall Jane Doe, or as Jane Doe 18.^[10]

• An unidentified female was allegedly killed by Clark after a sexual encounter, based on statements made by Bundy that he had dumped her body in Tuna Canyon as they drove past the area in late July 1980. She had been shot in the left side of her forehead, and her clothing had been removed and placed around her hips. The woman was not explicitly described as a prostitute. The woman's partially mummified skeleton was found by a passer-by at the base of a hill on August 28, 1980, in a mountainous area in Malibu, California. Clark denied involvement, providing an alibi that placed him hundreds of miles from the scene on the day this victim was killed. The jury, however, decided that he was, indeed, responsible. She is known as the Malibu Jane Doe, or Jane Doe 99.^[11]

• "Cathy," also known as Jane Doe 28, was a female whose remains were recovered on March 2, 1981, in Green Valley, California. Only the skull, mandible, a femur, along with some ribs and vertebrae were recovered. She had been shot in the head.^[12] She was allegedly a sex worker who had been killed in late July 1980 while engaged in a sexual act. Clark claimed Bundy was the shooter and that she had instructed him to drive to the location in Green Valley, where she stripped the body naked and disposed of it. Clark also declared that Bundy fondled the victim's body along the way.^[13] During the trial phase of their prosecution, documents regarding this victim were misplaced, and evidence was ruled "irrelevant." Neither Clark nor Bundy was charged for the murder although it is generally believed they both were responsible.^[12]

Arrest and conviction

Clark and Bundy were arrested and jailed on August 11, 1980.

Clark squandered countless publicly funded resources, time, and money during his original case proceedings and in the subsequent years. Additionally, per California law, all cases in which the death penalty was sentenced are automatically appealed and reviewed.[16] Upon review, his sentence was withheld^[17] but only after countless hours of public resources were utilized.

Throughout Clark's case, which began in 1982, he intentionally caused delays by complicating and drawing out the process through misuse of the court to his advantage.^[17] His behavior included using vulgar language and making countless demands in court.^[17] After initially being denied, he was ultimately granted access to the law library for two hours per day, seven days per week and proceeded to represent himself while maintaining court appointed attorneys for counsel. He acquired knowledge through his access to the law library and used it to formulate demands, appeals, and contentions that had to be addressed before the case could be concluded.^[17] Gloria Keyes, a forensic psychiatrist, testified that Clark had antisocial personality disorder.^[17]

Death

Clark died of unspecified natural causes at a medical facility on October 11, 2023, at the age of 75.^[18]

See also

• List of serial killers in the United States
• Lust murder
• William Bonin

References