The Murder of Kelley Clayton: A Husband's Ultimate Betrayal
A Life Full of Adventure
Kelley Clayton, born Kelley Stage, was a vibrant 35-year-old woman who loved adventure. Known by her friends as sarcastic, witty, and incredibly fun, she was a free spirit who wasn't afraid to take the bull by the horns. She had once left her small Upstate New York hometown to move to Las Vegas, where she worked as a cocktail waitress before returning home. In the early 2000s, Kelley attended a hockey game with her mother and sister where she locked eyes with Thomas Clayton, a handsome star player for the Elmira Jackals. The attraction was instant. They married two years later and settled into a beautiful home tucked in the woods of Caton, New York, raising their two young children, Charlie and Cullen. To the outside world, Kelley had hit the jackpot with a generous, successful husband. But behind closed doors, Thomas was harboring dark secrets.
A Night of Terror
On the night of September 28, 2015, Thomas left the house around 7:30 PM to play his weekly poker game at the home of longtime friends Greg and Linda Miller. Kelley stayed home with the kids, putting them to bed before falling asleep herself. But shortly after midnight, an intruder entered the home through the garage using a key. The attacker went upstairs to Kelley's bedroom and began beating her with a heavy wooden maul handle. Kelley fought desperately for her life, running to her children's room to warn them before being chased down the stairs. Her motherly instincts took over as she screamed for her seven-year-old daughter, Charlie, to grab her three-year-old brother, Cullen, and lock themselves in their room. Kelley was chased into the kitchen, where she was brutally bludgeoned to death.
The Eyes of Daddy
Thomas returned home around 12:30 AM on September 29 and made a frantic 911 call reporting that he had found his wife dead on the kitchen floor. When New York State Police and Steuben County deputies arrived, they found a gruesome scene. But the most critical piece of evidence came from little Charlie. The brave seven-year-old had witnessed the brutal attack on her mother. When investigators asked her to describe the intruder, she told them he wore dark clothes and a mask, but noted he was "about the same height as Daddy." Most chillingly, when asked how she knew the intruder was a man, she replied that she knew "because of his eyes... the eyes were like Daddy's."
The Deleted Call and the Hitman
The investigation quickly shifted from a random burglary to a targeted hit. The breakthrough came from Linda, the wife of the friend hosting the poker game. She remembered Thomas borrowing her cellphone around 11:00 PM to make a quick call, claiming his own phone was in his truck. When she later checked her call log, the entry was gone—Thomas had deleted it. Suspicious, Linda and her husband contacted the cellphone company to pull the records. The records showed a call placed to a number belonging to Michael Beard, a former laborer who had recently been fired from Thomas's franchise, ServPro. When detectives interrogated Michael, he quickly confessed. He revealed that Thomas had offered him $10,000 to murder Kelley, providing him with a key to the house and a layout of the home. Thomas's motive was simple: he was obsessed with money and women, having multiple affairs, and did not want to lose his assets in a divorce. He had even doubled Kelley's life insurance policy to $1 million just a year prior.
Justice for Kelley
The jury did not buy the defense's attempts to recant confessions or spin alternative stories. In November 2016, Michael Beard was convicted of first-degree and second-degree murder. In February 2017, Thomas Clayton was also found guilty of first-degree and second-degree murder. Both men were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Today, Kelley's children are being raised in a loving home by her sister, Kim, who continues to keep Kelley's vibrant memory alive.
This week we cover the tragic murder of Kelley Clayton, the incredible bravery of her young daughter, and the shocking greed of a husband who thought he could execute the perfect crime.
Note: This is our 10th episode, recorded during our early days of the podcast. While we were still finding our footing and recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the story of Kelley Clayton is one we knew we had to share.