The Seattle Times, by Staff

Online coverage of breaking news

Following the 8:15 a.m. shooting, seattletimes.com first posted an AP item and linked to reports from the scene -- about an hour south of Seattle. But the staff mobilized quickly and began posting its own reports. The first e-mail alert was sent shortly after 10 a.m. Throughout the day, more than three dozen stories were posted or updated online. Seattletimes.com was the first to identify the suspect and detail his criminal history.

© 2009, The Seattle Times Company

Facing 8 felony charges, he had been held months

By Seattle Times Staff

Prison time, at least 5 convictions in Arkansas

Maurice Clemmons, the 37-year-old man wanted for questioning in the killing of four Lakewood police officers Sunday morning, has a long criminal record punctuated by violence, erratic behavior and concerns about his mental health.

His criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington. That record also stands out for the number of times Clemmons has been released from custody despite questions about the danger he posed.

Mike Huckabee, while governor of Arkansas, granted clemency to Clemmons nine years ago, commuting his lengthy prison sentence over the protests of prosecutors. “This is the day I’ve been dreading for a long time,” Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for Arkansas’ Pulaski County, said Sunday night when informed that Clemmons was being sought in connection with the killings.

In Pierce County, Clemmons had been in jail for the past several months on a child-rape charge that carries a possible life sentence. He was released from custody one week ago, even though he was staring at eight felony charges in all.

Clemmons posted $15,000 with a Chehalis company called Jail Sucks Bail Bonds. The bondsman, in turn, put up $150,000, securing Clemmons’ release on the child rape charge.

Clemmons moved to Washington from Arkansas in 2004. He was placed under the supervision of the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) for an Arkansas conviction, according to a department spokesman. The DOC classified him as “high risk to reoffend.” His supervision was to continue until October 2015, the spokesman said.

He lives in Tacoma, where he has run a landscaping and power-washing business out of his house. He is married, but the relationship has been tumultuous, with accounts of his unpredictable behavior leading to at least two run-ins with police this year.

Clemmons punched a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy in the face during one confrontation, according to court records. Two days later, at his home, Clemmons allegedly gathered his wife and two younger relatives at around 3 or 4 a.m. and had them all undress. He told them that families need to “be naked for at least five minutes on Sunday,” a Pierce County sheriff’s report says.

The family complied because they were afraid of Clemmons and thought he was growing increasingly erratic. “The whole time Clemmons kept saying things like trust him, the world is going to end soon, and that he was Jesus,” the report says.

The Sheriff’s Office interviewed Clemmons’ sister in May. She said her brother “is not in his right mind and did not know how he could react when contacted by law enforcement,” a sheriff’s report says. “She stated that he was saying that the Secret Service was coming to get him because he had written a letter to the president. ... She suspects he is having a mental breakdown,” the report says.

Family members also told deputies that Clemmons claimed he could fly and expected President Obama to visit to “confirm that he is Messiah in the flesh.”

While investigating this incident, deputies uncovered evidence that led to a charge that he had raped and molested a 12-year-old relative.

Prosecutors in Pierce County recently had requested a mental evaluation for Clemmons at Western State Hospital. On Nov. 6, a judge concluded that Clemmons was competent to stand trial on the child-rape and other felony charges, according to court records.

Long record in Arkansas

News accounts out of Arkansas offer a confusing — and, at times, conflicting description of Clemmons’ criminal history and prison time.

In 1990, Clemmons, then 18, was sentenced in Arkansas to 60 years in prison for burglary and theft, according to a news account. Responding to a circuit judge’s comment that Clemmons had broken his mother’s heart, Clemmons said, “I have broken my own heart.”

Newspaper stories describe a series of disturbing incidents involving Clemmons while he was being tried in Arkansas on various charges. During one trial, he was shackled in leg irons and seated next to a uniformed officer. The presiding judge ordered the extra security because he felt Clemmons had threatened him, court records show. At other times, Clemmons was accused of hiding a piece of metal in his sock to use as a weapon; throwing a lock at a bailiff, and instead hitting his mother; and reaching for a guard’s pistol while being transported to court.

Clemmons was arrested when he was a junior in high school for having a .25-caliber pistol on school property. Clemmons told police that he brought the gun to school because he had been “beaten by dopers” and that if they got after him again, he had “something for them,” a newspaper account says.
When Clemmons received the 60-year sentence, he already was serving 48 years on five felony convictions and facing up to 95 more years on charges of robbery, theft and possessing a handgun on school property, according to a story in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Clemmons served 11 years before being released. Then-Governor Huckabee, who was a Republican presidential candidate in 2008, commuted Clemmons’ sentence. He cited Clemmons’ young age, 17, at the time the crimes were committed, according to news reports.

Huckabee's statement

Huckabee, in a statement released Sunday night, said Clemmons’ release from prison had been reviewed and approved by the Arkansas parole board. If Clemmons is found responsible for the police killings, “it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal-justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State,” Huckabee said.

After his release, Clemmons remained on parole. Soon after, he found trouble again. In March 2001, he was accused of violating his parole by committing aggravated robbery and theft, according to the Democrat-Gazette.

He was returned to prison on a parole violation. But in what appears to have been a mistake, he wasn’t served with the arrest warrants until leaving prison three years later.

Clemmons’ attorney argued that the charges should be dismissed because too much time had passed. Prosecutors thereafter dropped the charges. On Sunday night, Clemmons’ sister Latanya said her brother is the second-oldest of six children.

“Maurice is a fairly good person, good heart,” she said. He came over to her place on Thanksgiving for about an hour and seemed fine, she said.

Clemmons’ maternal grandmother, Lela Clemmons, 82, of Marianna, Ark., said her grandson lived in Marianna when he was young. Later, as a teen, he lived in Little Rock, another relative said.

“All I know is he is a pretty good guy,” Maurice Clemmons’ grandmother said. She said both of his parents died years ago. His mother worked in a nursing home, and his father was a factory worker.

In addition to the child-rape charge, Clemmons faces seven felony charges and a misdemeanor count stemming from a May 9 disturbance outside his home, according to a probable-cause declaration.Trouble at home

When a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy went to Clemmons’ home at 12:45 p.m., two men, Eddie Lee Davis and Joseph Denton Pitts, were standing outside, the declaration says. They told the deputy that Clemmons was inside the house. But when the deputy tried to go in, Davis grabbed him by the wrist.

Pitts joined in, and, while the three men struggled, Clemmons ran out of the house and punched the deputy in the face, the declaration says.

Another deputy arrived, and the two officers were able to gain control over Clemmons, Davis and Pitts. Both deputies suffered injuries during the fight, court records say. Afterward, neighbors told deputies that Clemmons had been throwing rocks through windows and at cars.

One resident was struck by a rock that crashed through the window. At least five cars and three houses were damaged, including a car that belonged to Clemmons and his wife, the declaration says.

His wife “declined to complete domestic-violence paperwork,” the declaration says, “but did tell deputies that she and Clemmons argued over a newly discovered child and theorized that this argument precipitated the rampage.”

On Sunday, one neighbor said the fight ended only when an officer pulled a gun and threatened to shoot Clemmons. This same neighbor said one officer came to his door afterward with a black eye.

Clemmons moved into the home a couple of years ago and had a number of loud parties, this neighbor said. Another neighbor, a 70-year-old man, said that Clemmons threw rocks through two of his plate-glass windows.

After he tried talking to Clemmons, the neighbor walked way, only to have Clemmons throw a rock that hit him in the hand, splitting it open.

Until that day, Clemmons had been cordial and friendly and never had given anyone trouble, this neighbor said.

Contributors to this story include staff reporters Susan Kelleher, Jonathan Martin, Ken Armstrong, Steve Miletich, Jennifer Sullivan, Mike Carter and Jim Brunner, and news researchers Gene Balk and Miyoko Wolf.

© 2009, The Seattle Times Company

Clemmons freed in 2000

By Jim Brunner, Seattle Times staff reporter

Former Arkansas governor issued 1,033 commutations and pardons over 10 years

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's record of freeing criminals from prison was controversial even before news that the man sought for questioning in the killing of four Lakewood police officers had a lengthy prison sentence commuted by Huckabee.

The one-time Republican presidential contender granted twice as many pardons and commutations as the previous three governors of Arkansas combined, The Associated Press reported in 2007.

In all, he issued 1,033 pardons and commutations during more than 10 years as governor — an average of about one every four days.

Maurice Clemmons, the man police were searching for Sunday night, faced decades in prison for robberies and other charges when his sentence was commuted by Huckabee in 2000. Clemmons later was sent back to prison after violating parole, but was released again five years ago.

Clemmons was released from jail in Pierce County six days ago after posting bond. He'd spent the past several months in jail on a charge of child rape. His release came even though he faced seven additional felony charges in Washington state.

Huckabee issued a written statement Sunday night through his daughter and spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee, saying the "senseless and savage execution" of the police officers "has saddened the nation."

If Clemmons is found to be responsible, Huckabee's statement said, "it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington state."

The statement said Clemmons had been recommended for commutation and that his release was approved by the state parole board.

Huckabee noted that Clemmons later was arrested for parole violations but was released after prosecutors failed to press new charges that could have kept him in prison.

"It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior but was not kept incarcerated by either state. This is a horrible and tragic event and if found and convicted the offender should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," he said.

Huckabee's clemencies became a campaign issue when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination last year. He was criticized by prosecutors and political rivals for releasing prisoners who went on to commit more crimes.

"It's a crying shame that a sitting governor would be so insensitive to victims' rights," Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley told an Arkansas newspaper, The Leader, in 2004.

In one high-profile case, castrated rapist Wayne DuMond was set free by the Arkansas parole board at Huckabee's urging, according to news accounts. DuMond later suffocated a mother of three in Missouri and was sentenced to life in prison, where he died in 2005.

A Southern Baptist preacher, Huckabee sometimes was motivated to release prisoners at the urging of pastors or other acquaintances, according to news accounts.

His clemencies also benefitted the stepson of a staff member, and even Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, who received a pardon for a 1975 traffic offense. Huckabee, who sometimes jammed on the bass guitar with his band at campaign events, pardoned Richards after meeting him at a concert.

In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday" — before the news about Clemmons was out — Huckabee said he was leaning slightly against running for president in 2012.

Times reporter Susan Kelleher and researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report, which also includes material from The Associated Press.

© 2009, The Seattle Times Company

By Jack Broom, Lynda V. Mapes, Bob Young and Susan Kelleher, Seattle Times staff reporters

The four victims of Sunday morning's shooting were veteran officers who brought a range of talents to the fledgling Lakewood Police Department when it was created in 2004, according to Lakewood Police Chief Bret Farrar.

"This is a very difficult time for our families and our officers," he said. "Please keep our families and Lakewood Police in your prayers."

The slain officers "all have been outstanding professionals," he added.

Officer Tina Griswold

Tina Griswold, 40, joined the Lakewood Police Department in 2004 and earlier this year won its Lifesaving Award.

"She was likable and enjoyed life," said her former father-in-law, Carroll Kelley of Shelton, Mason County.

She and Kelley's son met when both were students at Shelton High School, Kelley said. Griswold became a police officer after they divorced, he said.

She is survived by her husband, a daughter, 21, and a son, 8, police and relatives said.

She previously worked as a police officer in Shelton for three years, public records show. She was an officer and SWAT team member for the Lacey Police Department from 1998 to 2004, according to Sgt. Scott Eastman, her former supervisor. The group was responsible for serving high-risk warrants and conducting high-risk entries, he said.

"Tina was an outstanding officer," Eastman said. "She was very assertive, and had no fear in dealing with high-risk situations and suspects that were larger than her. She had this presence about her that was in charge and you were going to do what she said. She had the verbal skills and the confidence to pull it off."

Griswold was avid about physical fitness, and lifted weights and ran regularly, Eastman said. She stood about 5 feet and weighed less than 100 pounds.

"She could do 30 to 40 pull-ups," Eastman said. "A lot of the guys were talking about that this morning. We'd always joke that she didn't have much to lift."

Griswold was one of the first members of Lacey's tactical team, and the first woman to hold the job, Eastman said.

"She was a very hard worker and just a fun person to work with," he said. "She spent most of her free time with family. ... That was her priority."

Although she left Shelton to join the Lacey department, she still lived in town and would run into her former colleagues.

"The young officers looked up to her," Eastman said. "And she was a great partner for the experienced officers. She knew what she was doing."

Lacey officers are still in shock over the news, he said, adding, "We're looking for an opportunity to honor her and her family."

Officer Gregory Richards

He was known as one of the sweet guys, the one everyone liked to work with.

Gregory Richards, 42, of Graham had eight years of law-enforcement experience, starting with work as a patrol officer in Kent.

He worked there from September 2001 until October 2004, before hiring on with the Lakewood Police Department.

The Kent department was going through layoffs because of budget cuts, and Richards sought a more secure situation for his family, said Lt. Lisa Price, public-information officer for the Kent department.

"He was a very well-respected and well-liked co-worker, and when he left we were sad to see him go," Price said. "People loved working alongside him. I firmly believe Greg would still be with Kent if we hadn't been going through layoffs.

"He was just a nice, cute, angelic guy."

He had a lighter side too. Richards was the drummer in an all-police officer rock band called Locked Down. The band played at social gatherings, including a recent police officers' motorcycle rally in Ocean Shores.

The killing was devastating news. "It was a complete shock to my system, it's a horrific crime and it hits close to home," Price said.

Richards is survived by his wife, Kelly, a daughter and two sons.

"Everyone is just here," said Melanie Burwell, a sister-in-law answering the door at Richards' home. "We are staying together."

Burwell said she last saw Richards at Thanksgiving. "It was wonderful," she said, fighting tears. "All he ever wanted was his family. He didn't want to do anything but be with them.

"If there were more people in this world like Greg, nothing like this would ever happen."

Sgt. Mark Renninger

A decorated veteran officer and popular law-enforcement instructor, Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, is survived by his wife and three children.

"Mark was a professional, dedicated police officer who made the ultimate sacrifice. More importantly, he was a loving and devoted father, husband and family member who will be missed by many," said Renninger's brother, Matt, on a statement published on the Web site of WFMZ-TV in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, where Renninger grew up.

He joined the Tukwila Police Department shortly after leaving military service in 1996. He was a patrol officer, a SWAT team member and was, for a time, president of the Tukwila police officers' guild.

"Mark was an outstanding police officer and a well-liked member of the department during his time with us," said a statement issued by the Tukwila Police Department.

He moved to the Lakewood department in 2004. According to the program for a state 2008 law-enforcement conference, Renninger was an instructor in SWAT courses and served as an instructor for courses in firearms, chemical munitions and patrol responsibilities.

On a Facebook tribute page set up by his relatives Sunday, more than 1,000 message of tribute were posted by early evening.

Among the postings was one from Rick Fisher, who said he coached Renninger's daughter in fastpitch softball two seasons ago. "Mark was a fun and compassionate man," Fisher wrote. "He was always willing to help me and the girls out when he could. He was a tremendous help."

Officer Ronald Owens

Friends describe Ronald Owens, 37, as a dedicated officer and devoted father. He was also an "ideal tenant," said Toni Strehlow, who managed a property Owens rented, a house with a white-picket fence near downtown Puyallup.

"When he rented from us, the first thing he did was replace walls and a patio door and he never charged us, never wanted a rent deduction. He just wanted to do for people," said Strehlow.

He was a good neighbor, too, said Charley Stokes who lived next door to him in Puyallup. "We'd talk over the back fence, have a beer once in a while."

Owens, who was divorced, was very proud of his daughter, he said.

Strehlow and Stokes said Owens was excited about going from his job as a State Patrol trooper to the Lakewood Police Department in 2004, saying Owens looked forward to more regular hours and better advancement opportunities.

Strehlow said she was speechless when she heard the news. "It's just wrong. He was truly an unforgettable man and a kind, kind person."

Owens went into police work because his father, who died in 2006, was a detective, according to a neighbor, Edie Wintermute.

Owens checked in on her husband after surgery, she said. "He was a good father and very caring guy."

© 2009, The Seattle Times Company

Sunday night, the manhunt for Maurice Clemmons took focus on Seattle, specifically his aunt' home in the Leschi neighborhood. Photographer Cliff DesPeaux, perched on a neighbor's balcony, chronicled the hours long standoff on Twitter, which was posted at the top of seattletimes.com. (We created #washooting, which became the region's primary hashtag to track the story.) The home page -- and DesPeaux -- attracted followers throughout the night as he described police using megaphones, tear gas and robots as they surrounded the house. But Clemmons eluded them. Monday and into Tuesday, police chased tips, identified hoaxes, searched homes and stopped potential suspects throughout the city.

© 2009, The Seattle Times Company

A changed man

By Jim Brunner and Susan Kelleher, Seattle Times staff reporters

The repeat felon convinced Gov. Mike Huckabee and the Arkansas Parole Board he had learned from his mistakes.

Maurice Clemmons likely would still be sitting in an Arkansas prison cell if he hadn't convinced former Gov. Mike Huckabee and the state's parole board that he'd reformed while behind bars for a teenage crime spree.

Clemmons, a suspect in Sunday's slaying of four Lakewood police officers, had been sentenced to about 100 years in prison for several felonies, including bringing a gun to school and a robbery in which he punched a woman in the face.

He would not have been eligible for parole until 2015 or later, according to Arkansas court documents and prosecutors.

But Clemmons was set free in 2000 - over the objections of prosecutors - after Huckabee commuted the long prison sentence, making him immediately eligible for parole.

In his appeal to Huckabee, Clemmons apologized for his actions but complained he'd received overly harsh sentences.

Clemmons said he started his crime spree at 16, after he had moved from Seattle to a high-crime neighborhood in Arkansas.

"I succumbed to the peer pressure and the need I had to be accepted by other youth in my new environment and fell in with the wrong crowd and thus began a seven month crime spree which led me to prison," Clemmons wrote in his clemency application to Huckabee.

"Good Christian family"

Clemmons wrote he came from "a very good Christian family" and "was raised much better than my actions speak ... ."

In a 1989 aggravated robbery, Clemmons, 17 at the time, and two accomplices accosted a woman at midnight in the parking lot of a Little Rock hotel bar and robbed her of $16 and a credit card.

The woman, Karen Hodge, testified at trial that Clemmons threatened her by pretending to have a gun in his pocket. "Give me your purse or I'm going to shoot you," he told her.

Hodge, who'd had a glass of scotch, responded, "Well ... why don't you just shoot?" Clemmons punched her in the head and tore the purse off her shoulder, according to court records.

He was sentenced to 35 years in prison for that incident.

In his appeal for clemency, Clemmons said he had changed.

"Where once stood a young ... misguided fool, who's (sic) own life he was unable to rule. Now stands a 27 year old man, who has learned through 'the school of hard knocks' to appreciate and respect the rights of others. And who has in the midst of the harsh reality of prison life developed the necessary skills to stand along (sic) and not follow a multitude to do evil, as I did as a 16 year old child."

Clemmons added that his mother had recently died without seeing him turn his life around and that he prayed Huckabee would show compassion by releasing him.

His clemency application was supported by Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Marion Humphrey, who cited Clemmons' youth at the time of his crimes and called his cumulative sentence excessive. Clemmons' release was unanimously approved by the parole board.

The Pulaski County prosecutor's office twice objected to parole recommendations for Clemmons.

"For us to prosecute a 17-year-old, and for him to get a 95-year sentence without a homicide — you've got to be a bad little dude to draw that kind of a sentence," said Mark Fraiser, who prosecuted the early cases against Clemmons in Pulaski County.

Clemmons had insisted on separate trials for each charge, Fraiser said, and the judge who presided over the cases had a strong tendency to issue consecutive sentences that reflected the judgment of jurors in each case.

Clemmons "had an obvious propensity for future violence," Fraiser said Monday. "To wake up this morning and turn on the news and hear his name, I can't even imagine the suffering of those families and the suffering of people in those communities."

Humphrey said Monday he remembers Clemmons and believed he was genuinely remorseful and wanted to change.

"I figure young people make some mistakes," he said. Also a Presbyterian minister, Humphrey said he believes in giving people a second chance.

Humphrey in 2004 also officiated Clemmons' wedding, according to a copy of the marriage certificate.

"It would be the furthest thing from my mind that he would go out and kill four police officers, if in fact he did," Humphrey said.

Huckabee also cited Clemmons' young age at the time of his crimes in an official proclamation commuting his sentence. The proclamation said Clemmons faced a 95-year sentence but corrections officials in that state said he likely would have served far less than that.

The proclamation was one of 1,033 commutations and pardons Huckabee issued during his more than 10 years as governor. That's about twice the number issued by his three predecessors combined.

Back in prison

Clemmons was released from prison in August 2000 but was sent back on a parole violation -- a robbery charge -- in July 2001, according to Dina Tyler, spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

He received a 10-year sentence, Tyler said, but records show he was paroled again in March 2004.

Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley said that by his count, Clemmons should have been in jail until 2021.

"Mr. Huckabee made him parole-eligible 21 years before he would have been," Jegley said.

Clemmons' volatile behavior in court gave officials little reason to show leniency.

"He was one you always kept an eye on," said W.A. McCormick, chief deputy for Jegley in the years Clemmons was prosecuted. "You just wanted to keep your distance with him in the courtroom."

Fraiser recalled how Clemmons dismantled a pneumatic metal door stop and hid it in his sock, possibly to use as a weapon. A bailiff discovered it and took it away.

A judge also accused Clemmons of threatening him, and, in yet another case, Clemmons took a lock from his holding cell and threw it at a bailiff, missing him and hitting Clemmons' mother instead.

Clemmons moved to Washington state in 2004 while still on parole, a move approved by Arkansas authorities. He spent the past several months in jail on a child-rape charge but was released last week after arranging for a bail-bond company to post his $150,000 bond. His release here came despite seven other pending felony charges, according to court records.

Huckabee, a Republican presidential contender in 2008, issued a statement Sunday night mourning the deaths of the Lakewood police officers and saying that if Clemmons is responsible "it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington state."

Huckabee noted that Clemmons' release was approved by the parole board and that prosecutors in Arkansas failed to file additional charges against Clemmons after his parole violation in 2001, which could have extended his time in prison.

"If I could have known nine years ago and could have looked into the future, would I have acted favorably upon the parole board's recommendation? Of course not," Huckabee told Fox News Radio on Monday.

Tuesday, Huckabee said that some of the criticism he's received for commuting the sentence is "disgusting" and the situation was being used as a political weapon against him.

In an interview on Joe Scarborough's radio show on WABC-AM in New York, Huckabee said that the focus should be on the families of the four slain officers.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Criminal history

Highlights from Maurice Clemmons' criminal history in Arkansas.

November 1989: At age 17, sentenced to 35 years for aggravated robbery and theft in Little Rock after he stole a purse from a woman, claiming he had a gun and punching her.

January 1990: Sentenced to 60 years for burglary and theft for stealing about $6,700 worth of items, including a gun, from an Arkansas state trooper's home.

February 1990: Sentenced to six years for possessing a .25-caliber pistol at Hall High School, where he was a junior. Clemmons told police he brought the gun to protect himself against "dopers" who had chased and beaten him.

August 2000: Released from prison after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commutes his sentence.

July 2001: Sentenced to 10 years in prison on a robbery charge.

March 2004: Paroled again from prison. Later moves to Washington state.

Sources: Clemmons petition for clemency; Arkansas Democrat-Gazette archives

© 2009, The Seattle Times Company

By Nick Perry, Maureen O'Hagan, Jonathan Martin and Ken Armstrong, Seattle Times staff reporters

Over four days in May, Maurice Clemmons' behavior and mental state deteriorated. Family members worried he had gone crazy, that he was verging on collapse. His conduct became so erratic -- punching a sheriff's deputy, forcing relatives to strip naked, according to police reports -- that authorities eventually charged him with eight felonies, including one count of child rape.

Still, at the end of those four days, Clemmons wound up on the loose - a delusional man with a propensity for violence, who had managed to escape the grip of authorities.

What happened in those four days - and in the months that followed - reflects a system governed by formula and misguided incentives.

That legal system, both in Arkansas and Washington, failed to account for the entirety of Clemmons' violence and his disdain for the law. Individual crimes, viewed in isolation, trumped a long and disturbing pattern of warning signs.

As a result, Clemmons walked out of jail Nov. 23. A week later, he was on the run again - this time accused of shooting and killing four Lakewood police officers in a Parkland coffee shop, in one of the most horrific crimes in Puget Sound history.

May 9

It may have been an argument - precipitated by his wife's discovery that he had a child with another woman — that set Clemmons off.

Whatever it was, Clemmons took his rage out on his Parkland neighborhood, throwing rocks at houses, cars and people, according to police records.

A woman who was visiting family that day says she was leaving the neighborhood when a man hurled a landscaping brick through the driver-side window of her SUV.

"I was just in shock," said the woman, who asked not to be identified because Clemmons remains at large. "The look in his eyes is something I will not forget."

The woman called 911 only after rounding a corner a safe distance away.

A Pierce County sheriff's deputy responded to the disturbance at 12:45 p.m. Outside Clemmons' home, the deputy encountered two of Clemmons' cousins.

When the deputy tried going into the house in search of Clemmons, one cousin grabbed the deputy's wrist. A struggle followed, during which Clemmons emerged from the house and punched the deputy in the face. Clemmons also assaulted a second deputy who arrived to help, according to court records.

Ultimately, all three men were arrested and taken to jail. When being booked, Clemmons refused to cooperate and said, "I'll kill all you bitches," according to a psychological evaluation obtained by The News Tribune.

The two cousins pleaded guilty to felony assault and were sentenced to several months in jail.

But the charges against Clemmons would defy such easy resolution.

May 10

After spending one night in jail, Clemmons caught a break.

May 10 was a Sunday, Mother's Day. Judges rarely work Sundays — but bail-bond agents do.

Pierce County has devised a system that allows people to post bond without ever facing a judge, if it happens to be a holiday or a weekend.

Called "booking bail," this system works according to a hard-and-fast formula. Clemmons was booked on four felony charges — two for assault, two for malicious mischief — and, by schedule, his booking bail was set at $10,000 per charge, for a total of $40,000.

"If you post booking bail, you can walk out without seeing a judge. And that appears to be exactly what he did," said Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist. "When it's booking bail, it doesn't take into account particular details like somebody's history. And that's problematic ... it's one of the dangers of booking bail."

If his history had been taken into account, Clemmons would have fared poorly. He had a criminal record dating to his teen years, with at least five prior felony convictions in Arkansas.

Aladdin Bail Bonds posted Clemmons' bond on Mother's Day, and Clemmons walked free. Defendants typically pay 10 percent of the bond, with the bonding company on the hook for the rest.

Stephen Kreimer, executive director of the Professional Bail Agents of the United States, said he doesn't think "booking bail" is common nationwide. In most states, he said, defendants must wait until they've seen a magistrate or court representative before being released on bail.

May 11

After his release on May 10, Clemmons' mental state degenerated, with his wife saying he was acting "crazy," according to a Pierce County sheriff's report.

At about 1 a.m. May 11, Clemmons appeared naked in his living room and demanded that two young female relatives - ages 11 and 12 - sit on an ottoman and fondle him, one of the girls later told police. They obeyed, the girl said, because they were "scared." The 11-year-old soon fled, and wasn't seen for days.

But Clemmons continued to assault the 12-year-old until she cried herself to sleep, police records say. Clemmons, still naked, soon woke her and demanded she join him and his wife, Nicole Smith, in their bedroom. Clemmons referred to himself as Jesus and Smith, naked and wrapped in a bedsheet, as Eve. Smith begged her husband to let the girl go, and Clemmons complied, the girl later told police.

But Clemmons wasn't finished. At about 4 a.m., he assembled his family back in the living room and demanded they strip naked. He talked about how "beautiful it was that they were sharing the moment."

Pierce County sheriff's deputies arrived at about 5:30 a.m. after a family member called 911. With Clemmons now gone from the house, the family described his recent erratic behavior, including his statements that the world was coming to an end and he was "going to fly to heaven."

Acting on a tip from Smith, deputies saw Clemmons nearby, at a second house he was building. But Clemmons ran away before deputies could stop him, and a K-9 unit could not pick up his trail.

Child Protective Services (CPS), alerted by deputies, also investigated the incident and substantiated the sexual-abuse complaint. A CPS spokeswoman said the agency closed the case in October because Smith and the young relative went to counseling and Clemmons was in jail.

May 12

Clemmons was supposed to show up in Pierce County Superior Court May 12, to be arraigned on charges stemming from the rocks and punches he was accused of throwing three days before.

By now, prosecutors had filed a formal set of charges accusing Clemmons with two counts of assault and five for felony malicious mischief.

But at 1:30 p.m., when a court official polled the courtroom gallery to see who was there, Clemmons was a no show. Three hours later, at the close of the court's day, he still was nowhere to be found.

A judge later issued a bench warrant, calling for Clemmons' arrest for failure to appear.

Clemmons was on the run — with seven felony charges already filed against him and another on the way, given what had happened in his house just one day before.

May 13

Clemmons wound up being arrested seven weeks later, on July 1, when he showed up in court, in apparent hopes of having the bench warrant thrown out.

The next day, prosecutors charged him with second-degree rape of a child, accusing him of molesting his 12-year-old relative in May.

Prosecutors also filed a separate charge on July 2 — this one accusing Clemmons of being a fugitive from Arkansas. They cited the chain of events involving the alleged assault on the deputies as evidence that Clemmons had violated his parole in Arkansas. If sent back, he faced the prospect of being returned to prison for years.

But July 22, the Arkansas Department of Community Correction notified Pierce County, by letter, that Arkansas had no interest in taking Clemmons back.

"Arkansas is releasing its hold on the offender and will not extradite at this time," the letter said. "The subject has pending charges in the state of Washington and appropriate action will be taken once the charges have been adjudicated."

Arkansas rescinded its warrant. Had Arkansas not done so, Clemmons would have been held without bail on the alleged parole violation.

Stephen Penner, a deputy prosecuting attorney in Pierce County, said he sees Arkansas' decision to leave Clemmons to Washington this way: "There's a built-in incentive to not following through. In a way, the more violent they are, the less you want them in your community."

Lindquist, Pierce County's chief prosecutor, was asked Monday if he believes Arkansas dumped Clemmons on Washington.

Only Arkansas can answer that question, Lindquist said, but he added: "You could draw that inference."

A spokeswoman for the Arkansas prison system told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the state issued a second warrant in October that would have allowed Clemmons to be held without bail.

Penner said if a second warrant was issued, no one told him.

Nov. 23

In Washington, the courts had to determine bail for the two sets of charges Clemmons faced.

Phil Sorensen, a deputy prosecutor in Pierce County, said his office asked for $100,000 bail in the assault case — an amount higher than normal for such charges — based on Clemmons' history. The judge, John McCarthy, set the bail at $40,000, Sorensen said.

In the child-rape case, prosecutors wanted $200,000 bail, Lindquist said. The judge, Thomas Felnagle, set bail at $150,000.

Lindquist said he thought both judges set bail too low.

"As prosecutors, we face an uphill battle walking into court," he said. "We have to show that the defendant is a danger to the community and a flight risk."

Neither judge could be reached for comment Monday.

In the end, Clemmons needed to come up with $190,000 bail.

Penner, the deputy prosecuting attorney, said Clemmons was turned away by two bail-bond agencies, based on his history of failing to appear in court. But then Clemmons found a taker: Jail Sucks Bail Bonds, based in Chehalis.

At 8:20 p.m. Nov. 23, bond was posted for Clemmons. That same night he walked out of the Pierce County Jail.

© 2009, The Seattle Times Company

When Maurice Clemmons was killed early Tuesday by a patrolman investigating a stolen vehicle, seattletimes.com posted updates, tweets, video and audio. Our staffers were careful as they posted the information, first that a man matching Clemmons' description had been apprehended, then confirming it was Clemmons, then confirming he'd been shot, and ultimately that he had been killed.

Clemmons' mental state

By Mike Carter, Seattle Times staff reporter

Recent jailing, perceived curse sent suspect into tailspin, close relative says

MARIANNA, Ark. - An uncle of Maurice Clemmons says his nephew had been in a mental tailspin since spring and was withdrawn and "talking crazy about God" when they last saw each other in Washington state.

Ray Clemmons, 39, a lieutenant in the Arkansas Department of Corrections and shift commander in a maximum-security unit, said his nephew was reclusive and withdrawn.

That was a far cry from the hustler who wanted what he had been denied during years of prison and an impoverished childhood in rural Arkansas and the crime-ridden projects of Little Rock.

"Maurice was all about getting, all about having. He was all about money," Clemmons said. "Then, suddenly, he was all about God."

Maurice Clemmons, 37, was shot to death by police early Tuesday in South Seattle, ending an intense, two-day manhunt after four Lakewood police officers were shot to death at a coffee shop Sunday.

Ray Clemmons said his nephew "was fine" when he visited his uncle and grandmother in Marianna last spring.

But when Ray Clemmons and his family later visited his nephew and his wife in their Tacoma home — apparently just before Maurice Clemmons was to be jailed — the man he'd grown up with was hardly recognizable.

"He stayed off to himself. He was talking about religion and God," Ray Clemmons said.

Ray Clemmons expressed remorse for the families of the slain officers.

"This is a bitter pill to swallow," he said. "I'm in law enforcement myself. Maurice took away a lot. These families lost everything.

"My family has to live with this, and now some of them are being rounded up. There are a lot of consequences."

He said he believes two things contributed to his nephew's killing spree.

One involves a bizarre report from Seattle family members that Maurice Clemmons may have believed he'd been cursed by a "devil worshipper." Clemmons supposedly let that man live on a mobile home on his Tacoma property.

Ray Clemmons said his nephew had gone to the mobile home after reports of a ruckus.

"What I heard was this guy was tearing up the place. There was a fight, and his guy is supposedly chanting things and saying these things to Maurice."

"It did something to him," Ray Clemmons said. "After that, he was a terror."

The other contributing factor, Ray Clemmons said, was his nephew's jailing this summer.

Maurice Clemmons was arrested in May on seven counts of assault and malicious mischief after a disturbance during which he allegedly punched a Pierce County sheriff's deputy.

Two days later, he allegedly gathered his wife and younger relatives and forced them to undress, while preaching that he was Jesus and that the world was going to end.

An investigation into that incident led to a second-degree felony charge of child rape in July. Clemmons was in and out of jail through the summer and fall, before his Nov. 23 release after posting bond.

"He was bitter," Ray Clemmons said. "He felt like he'd been mistreated. He did not like police. And he wasn't going to go back to prison."

The men were close in age and grew up together in Marianna, 85 miles east of Little Rock near the Mississippi border. The tiny town is dilapidated; most buildings on the block-long Main Street have peeling paint and boarded windows.

Maurice Clemmons lived in a mobile home with his mother and a number of half-siblings. Many aunts, uncles and cousins lived in tar-paper shacks and tiny clapboard houses. The porch door of his grandmother's house — screen ripped and hanging crooked — is tied shut with a shoestring.

"We were poor, but back then, there wasn't the crime," Ray Clemmons said. "We spent our days running through the woods, swinging on vines. Doing what kids do."

In the mid-1980s, with work hard to find, Ray and Maurice Clemmons moved with their families to the East End Housing Project in Little Rock — just as the first waves of the crack-cocaine epidemic washed over the city.

"That was when all the friends started killing each other over money," Ray Clemmons said.

He said he went to school, the recreational center and home every night. In 1986, he and his family moved back to Marianna. "It was just too dangerous," he said.

Maurice Clemmons stayed in Little Rock. His father, who worked for Chrysler, died in 1987. After that, Maurice Clemmons "got into trouble," his uncle said.

Maurice Clemmons was convicted of burglary, robbery and other charges in 1989 and 1990, receiving sentences of more than 100 years. Then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted the sentence in 2000, after 11 years in prison. In 2001, Clemmons was returned to prison in Arkansas for nearly three years.

"I think all of this just piled up," Ray Clemmons said. "The rape charge was going to cost him his wife. He was looking at going to prison again, maybe for life. He got taken to the brink, and he snapped."

Published-correction date: 12/04/2009. Due to an editing error, the photo captions with this story about Ray Clemmons, an uncle of Maurice Clemmons, incorrectly said Ray Clemmons was photographed in his Marianna, Ark. home. The interview actually took place in a restaurant.

© 2009, The Seattle Times Company