True Crime All The Time - Clara Rector

Episode Date: September 17, 2026

In April 2004, friends of 48-year-old Tommy Hope became concerned after not hearing from him for several days. When they went to his Camdenton, Missouri, home, they discovered Tommy brutally murdered inside. Investigators learned that Tommy’s troubled past, struggles with addiction, and complicated relationships had brought several people into his orbit who might have had reason to want him dead. Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss Clara Rector. Despite numerous interviews and promising leads, the investigation eventually stalled and remained cold for nearly a decade. Then, in 2013, an unrelated stalking and harassment case produced a stunning revelation that finally gave investigators the break they had been waiting for.You can help support the show at patreon.com/truecrimeallthetimeVisit the show's website at truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation informationAn Emash Digital productionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 533 of the True Crime All the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me as always is my partner in true crime, Mike Gibson. How are you? I'm doing good, man. You? I'm doing great. Yeah. 533.

It's a lot of episodes. I've done 532 because you left me out on one of the episodes early on. I did. I don't remember why. But we rectified it and redid it with you. We did. And it was much better. People said.

Yeah. So we're talking about Clara Rector. When Clara Rector was arrested for stalking and harassing her pastor in April 2013, she shocked investigators by confessing to murder, solving a case that had been cold for nearly a decade. Wow. She must have needed to get something off her chest. Well, yeah, we're going to find out. But it's also, you know, stalking, harassing your pastor.

Yeah. That seems like such a strange thing. You ever had anybody stalk or harass you? No. No? No. I'm not memorable enough for, not that I want to be, obviously, but, you know, I'm pretty plain, Jane. It'd be hard to stock you anyway.

Yeah, because I'm in my basement fortress. They'd be like, after four days, like, I give up. He is not coming out. Yeah, if you're doing the stakeout on me, you're going to be sitting there for a long time. Yeah, going to get kind of bored. Tommy D. Hope was born in Houston, Texas on June 28, 1955. He grew up with two siblings. Tommy had a difficult childhood.

He and his siblings were abandoned by their parents for days at a time. And then they were eventually put into foster care. According to Tommy's friend, Brenda McCabe, Tommy experienced abuse in foster care and was neglected and beaten. So horrible. Right. parents abandoning their children for days at a time. I don't know parents do that. Like, how do you leave your kids alone?

What do you do? Like get some food, throw it in the fridge or give them some pizza money and just be like, we'll be back in a few days. Yeah. Now, I mean, how old were these kids at that time? Because that makes a difference. If you're talking about a 16 or 17-year-old. Yeah.

Yeah, you could go away for a little bit. and probably trust them to take care of themselves. But if you're talking about four, five, six, seven-year-olds, that would be wrong, you know, so incredibly wrong, as you said. And that's how you get your kids taken away from you. Now, we've talked about foster care before. It can be a great thing, right? There are kids who need a home.

There is. And there are people out there willing to help. Unfortunately, some of those people. aren't always the best people in the world. Well, they abuse the system. Yeah. They and abused the kids. Yeah.

They're in it sometimes just for the money. Yeah. And other times they're in it because they are just some sick individuals. Now, hopefully, as with most things, that's a small percentage of the population. Most people are in it for the right reasons and want to do the right thing by these kids. And they want the kids in their lives. But like with anything, there are going to be bad. bad actors or bad apples in any profession, anything you talk about in life.

Yep. Nobody is going to be all good. No. It just doesn't happen. Tommy joined the military as soon as he was old enough. Then he left the military in his 20s, and he did odd jobs to make ends meet. According to his obituary, Tommy worked in carpentry and loved rebuilding cars. He liked working with his hands, it sounds like.

It does. By his early 40s, Tommy was living in Camdenton, Missouri, a small town near the Lake of the Ozarks. He had a lot of friends that he had met at local bars. He worked as a maintenance man at a bar in Osage Beach. You know, one place I've never been, but I really want to go. Lake of the Ozarks. Because of the series? Because of the series, yeah.

I knew it. Now, I didn't realize, I knew it was big. Oh, yeah. I didn't realize how big. It spans multiple areas. Estates. I mean, multiple states. Yeah.

So I don't know, you know, what the best part of it is to go. I'd have to do some research on that. Let's stay on a houseboat and float around. I know. That'd be great. That actually would be a lot of fun. We have rented a houseboat once before on Lake Cumberland. Yeah.

And it was, it was fun. It's a good time down there. I was younger. Yeah. And now my dad was too cheap to spring for the air-conditioned model. So that part was not great because it was about 100 degrees out. He was probably thinking, there's a lake outside. You get hot, jump in it.

No, I know if my dad was thinking. He's saying, I don't want to spend the money. I don't want to spend the money yet. That's a $50 right there. I can keep in my pocket. Exactly. According to the Lake Sun leader, police had dealings with Tommy several times for alcohol-related defenses and one drug-related offense,

Tommy was arrested two weeks prior to his death for possession of a controlled substance. Charges were still pending at the time of his death. So obviously, we're getting ready to talk about, you know, how he died, who was involved. But, you know, it's important to talk about him, his childhood, kind of, you know, everything that he had going on in his life leading up to it.

Tommy was assaulted and suffered severe. cuts to his face in March 2003. A man named Robert Lewis was convicted of assault and unlawful use of a weapon in October 2003 in connection with that incident. Lewis was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Some decent time for assaulting somebody. It is, but, you know, sounds like to me warranted. Yeah.

But also confusing because, you know, back. at some of the cases we've done, you're talking about incredibly heinous sexual assaults, even murder, where somebody doesn't get 11 years in prison. You wonder if it's just,

it's probably a combination, you know, is it just because the law is bad? Is it because maybe the prosecution wasn't as good on some of those cases? Or the defense attorney was better? Or, jury was just more relaxed. I don't know. Yeah, I think it's a bunch of different factors,

like you said, right? Some of it's just the time. Yeah. And how some of the crimes were looked at, how the laws were written for those crimes. No doubt that laws regarding sexual assault and sentences for those crimes have changed dramatically. Oh, right? Over the last 40, 50 years. On the morning of April 28th, 2004, Tommy's friend, Cindy Christensen and Brian Norton went to check on him because they were worried. No one had heard from Tommy in days, which was unusual, right? He was a type of guy who kept in touch. They arrived at his home around 6.30 a.m.

They knocked on the door and received no answer. So Cindy crawled through a window. Inside, she found Tommy dead on the floor and a pool of blood. Tommy's body was lying in the doorway between the kitchen. and living room. So horrible for you to go over to a friend's house because, yeah, you're worried. You haven't heard from him. Right.

I don't think most people jump to, oh, well, they're probably laying dead in their house. No, I'm sure when Cindy crawled through that opening, she probably thought, I won't find him here, but let me just go through and just double check. Yeah. And then come across that body. No, we did mention some drugs, right? Yeah. So could it have been possible?

that he went on a bender, you know, overdose or that. But to be found dead in a pool of blood, that's got to be unbelievably shocking. Investigators used luminal inside the house, which revealed bloody footprints leading to the window, as well as prints on the window frame. That's not cheap.

Luminal? Mm-mm. Yeah. I know you use a lot of it. I don't know why. I carry it with me. But you do have a really large supply of it. You need to know that things are cleaned up.

Okay. For, you know, for whatever reasons. And that's the only reason that you can really tell, right? I mean, I want to know what my kitchen looks good again, you know, like there's nothing I need to worry about, you know. Did I ever tell you that my wife wanted one of those black lights? Oh, did she? Yeah, because she wanted to know if the puppy was weeing on the carpet.

Yeah. And very quickly found out that. you should never use a black light in your house. Because as clean as you think it is, it's not. She didn't come down here and use it, did she? No. That's good. She really means.

But you know how my wife is about clonliness. Oh, yeah. And she thinks like this place is spotless, which it is very clean. It is clean. I mean, from the stairs up, yeah. Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah.

But you shine that black light, there's stuff everywhere. Oh, yeah. I mean. Don't even know what it is. Yeah. So the autopsy found that Tommy died from eight stab wounds to the torso and left arm. And he had a laceration on his neck. The medical examiner determined he died three or four days earlier on the night of April 24th or the morning of April 25th.

So that does, you know, kind of go along with the timeline, right? Friends hadn't heard from him in a few days. That's when they started getting worried. And it sounds like at least, you know, from the medical examiner that he had been dead for three or four days. And that would be even worse to come into that home where that body's been sitting there for like three days, just festering. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's never going to be good. But right, obviously the longer the body is there, the worse it's going to be.

Yeah. Tommy's friends told investigators he used drugs as a means to cope with the trauma. he suffered in his childhood and while in the military. Not surprising? No, I think a lot of people use drugs and or alcohol to cope with trauma, you know, rightly or wrongly. You can look at it a bunch of different ways, but I do think a lot of people use that as a way to cope.

I mean, people want to feel numb. They don't want to fill the pain. The pain. Yeah. And that's one way to do it. Camdenton, police. Chief Jeff Beauchamp said Tommy kept a variety of drugs in his home, such as meth, marijuana, and cocaine, and people came over to party and use his drugs regularly.

So, yeah, I mean, you're getting, you know, when you talk meth, to me, that's like, there's meth and there's marijuana. However you think about marijuana, whether you think it should be legal or not, I know people who use marijuana. Yeah. I don't know anybody who uses meth or at least has told me they use meth, but I just feel like these are on way different levels. Oh, they are.

And then maybe somewhere in between is cocaine. I don't know. Yeah. I've told you that story. Cocaine has always scared me. And I would never want to try it because I remember Lynn Bias, the basketball star that I grew up watching when I was younger. he died

allegedly from trying it one time. That's what we were always told right after he got drafted. So, but I don't know, I always think of meth, and maybe that's the breaking bad in me. But meth is being like this really hardcore,

nasty drug. Not good for you. I don't think any of them are real good for you, but. Stay away from meth. Yeah, definitely. Tommy's friend Patricia Strauss told the, investigators that Tommy had recently been seeing a married woman named Clara Rector.

Claire's husband, Jason, knew about the relationship and didn't like it. Didn't like it? I don't like to see somebody else. Shocking. Now, from what I understand, there are some guys who are into that, but I don't think many. They can be into it or they might be okay with it because they're like, hopefully he'll want you. You'll leave me.

And we're all good. Yeah, I just don't think a lot of guys would be okay with that. I don't think so either. It's also a little strange that it seemed, they seem pretty open about it. Like it wasn't a well-kept secret or maybe they tried to keep it a secret and the husband found out anyway. Tommy told Patricia a few days before he died that Jason had warned him to stay away from

Clara or he would be sorry. So I think, you know, as an investigator, in the very beginning, you have to look at this guy. Oh, you for sure. Right. Tommy is found dead. You find out that he's having an affair with this married woman. Her husband's mad about it. Clara Rector was born in 1976 in California. Like Tommy, she had a hard childhood and was removed from her home.

she was later adopted and moved with her adoptive family to the Lake of the Ozarks. Clara got married at age 19, but her first husband tragically died in a car accident. Shortly after she found out she was pregnant. Wow, that would be some trauma. Yeah, I mean, you're 19 years old, starting your life, you're pregnant. All of a sudden, your husband dies and you're like all alone. That would be extremely tough. and it was said that Clara used drugs to cope in the aftermath of his death.

In 1999, she married Jason Rector, and they had two children. Clara's father-in-law, Jerry Rector, told the Kansas City Star that Clara was the ideal daughter-in-law, saying she's a great mother, a hard worker, and she's always cleaned my windows and taken care of my garden. She's a great daughter-in-law because she cleans my windows. Well, she's also a great mother and a hard worker, but I know it does seem a little bit strange. Yeah. Jason and Clara use drugs regularly. Jason eventually got sober.

But Clara still struggled with addiction in the early 2000s. And I always feel like that would be tough. You know, when you have two people who are addicted to something. Yeah. Drugs. Maybe it's cigarettes. And one of them gets. clean, but the other one doesn't.

Makes it tough, right? One is able to stay sober and the other one doesn't. That's going to make it really tough on the relationship. It'd be like you when you had your addiction to the paper towels. Like, and you finally got off of it, but your buddy was still eating paper towels every time you got together. Yeah. Or like the time you were addicted to telitubbies? And you finally got away from the telotubbies and age 17 or something like that?

Rough period in my life. But you're, I'm sorry. You can't even keep on with the ruse because it's so outlandish that at 17 years old, I would be into the teletubbies. I can just see it right now. You probably like the green one. I don't even know what the telotubbies are, to be honestly. Oh my gosh. But I do think it would be hard.

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Well, that's, I mean, I'm not surprised by that, right? Yeah. They have that, you know, I had a shitty life, you had a shitty life. This drug makes me feel good. Well, you say this makes you feel good. Let's do it together. And then they were both kind of using drugs to cope with that, the bad trauma from their past. Clara left Jason and moved in with Tommy before she went to rehab in 2003.

And then she ultimately reconciled with Jason. Yeah, maybe she realized, you know, Tom. he was not good for her, you know, and you need to go back to Jason or something else. But again, a tough situation for Jason, you know. Oh, yeah. You know, how many guys, and maybe he just loved her so much that he was willing to take her back, but, you know, for a lot of guys, that would just be a pride thing, a non-starter, right? I think it would be difficult to take somebody back.

For most people. For most, yeah. Either way. whether it was, you know, a wife taking a husband back or a husband taking a wife back. Some of those can be tough. But it does happen. Yeah. In early May 2004, authorities announced they were looking for a man and woman.

They wanted to question in connection with Tommy's death. They didn't name the couple at the time. The Camden County Sheriff sent a message to Missouri Highway Patrol at the request of the Camdenton Police Department with information about a woman who had an act. bench warrant. She was believed to be traveling with a man wanted for questioning in the Hope case. A week later, police reported that they had located the woman sought for questioning, but they were still looking for the man. Now, the couple, you know, they weren't considered suspects, but they were thought to have information that could help investigators. They

lived and worked in the area and appeared to have left around the time of the murder. which is typically something very suspicious. I mean, police are going to think that, right? Sure. You know, if you live in the area, you work in the area,

this murder takes place, and all of a sudden, right after it, you move out of town, not, it could just be a strange coincidence, or it could be that you needed to get out of Dodge and that's,

this murder happened and you left. Yeah. Now, whether you did it, or you just knew something about it and were scared of those who did carry it out. It sounds like that's maybe more what they were thinking, but they still wanted to question them, obviously. Although those 2004 articles by the Lake Sun Leader didn't name the man or the woman,

a 2013 article by the Lake Sun Leader notes that Clara was interviewed in April and May 2004. However, officers couldn't establish a connection between her and the crime. Well, you've got to make a connection to take it further. Yeah, I mean, you know, the investigators have such a hard job. I mean, are there some easy ones that kind of solve themselves with a little work? Yeah, I'm sure there are. But, I mean, how many unsolved episodes have we done? Oh, man.

And, you know, it takes hard work. It takes a little luck. It takes a lot of different things to solve some of the, of these crimes. But to your point, I think you can have all the hunches you want. You can think that this person or that person was involved, but it takes real evidence. It does, right? To charge somebody, to take somebody to trial. Claire admitted to using illegal substances with Tommy Hope, behind her husband's back, and being at his home prior to his death. DNA tests corroborated her. statement. And okay, probably good that you don't lie about being in his home,

lie about different activities because probably not going to be that hard for DNA to disprove it if you said, oh, no, I was never in Tommy's home. Yeah. When your DNA is all over the place. Now, does that mean that you killed him? Not necessarily. I guess it depends on where the DNA is found. But we know a lot of people would say, I was never there. Yeah. And then they would say, well, we have DNA. Oh, oh, that, that house.

And then they have to change their story. But it's also interesting to see the way investigators kind of broach these different subjects and how they ask the questions. Yeah. Because in the back of their mind, they know information. And so a lot of times they're just trying to paint these individuals into a corner and force them to say something that they can easily refute and therefore, you know, that's when it's going to start them thinking, oh, how do I change the story to make it fit

the facts? And that's when things go downhill. I almost think, and I hate to say, not in a disturbing way, but I do think, like, investigators probably get a rush. Oh, I would think so. Playing the game, like, you know what? Like, they probably go in feeling like they know the person did it, but they have to have the proof. Yeah. And so, okay, how can I get that proof without, you know, get this person to kind of walk into it? I don't think you, I don't consider disturbing at all. I think it would be a rush.

It's like a chess game. It's like a chess game. And you're trying to outsmart this person who you think is a killer. Yeah. And if it turns out you're right, the whole process is. going to be kind of a rush. You know, we know. We both love chess.

I mean, I haven't stopped thinking about my last chess game against Alexander Schwarzkowski from five years ago, you know. I guess I got robbed because the little clock, my side didn't work right. Yeah. And it sped up quicker. I'm sure that's what would hinder your chess game, the clock. Yeah. He got lucky that day.

other than that, you'd be wiping the floor with everybody, all the grandmasters. Well, he wasn't a grandmaster. He was seven years old, but that little bastard. He beat you that day, didn't he? That was funny. I like that. According to Oxygen, police also interviewed Jason, who was honest about his dislike of Tommy. He blamed him for his wife's drug use and admitted he warned Tommy to stay away from her.

So he's got a number of reasons not to like Tommy or not to have had liked Tommy at that time. Number one, his wife was cheating on him with Tommy. At one point, he'd run away to be with Tommy and then came back. That'd be the number one reason right there. And then I think he did believe that Tommy played at least some part in her drug use. I think they fed each other, you know, that. And some people do that. for sure.

Yeah. No doubt about it. Jason and Clara both maintained they were with each other. The entire time period, investigators believe Tommy might have been killed. And that's kind of a tough alibi. Yes, you do have another person to vouch for you, but it's not like your boss who has no reason to dislike this person. Both of these people are kind of.

invested in the case, right? They're involved in the case. So how good is their word about each other's alibi? Yeah, it's like a significant other, right? I mean, is your significant other going to turn on you? Probably not. Are they going to lie to protect you quite possibly? Would your co-host of a podcast go that route for you? No. I know you would. You'd be wanting that reward money. I don't care about the reward money. I just want you locked up for the crimes you've committed. You're like, it'll make a good podcast too. I'd turn you in for jaywalking.

Yeah, I think you probably have. So there's no doubt that, you know, police were looking at Jason, they were looking at Clara. But ultimately, Leach just ran dry. And the case went cold. And we see that in tons of unsolved cases, right? at some point in most cases the leads are going to dry up it might be hot and heavy in the beginning and hopefully those leads to solving those leads play into solving the case but if they

don't as time goes by just by the way the world works the leads are going to start to dwindle yeah yeah the flow leads will for sure the coverage will die down a little bit people will start to forget about it and the leads will dry up. In 2005, Tommy's sister Jeannie Smith spoke to the lake sun leader and expressed her anger and grief over the loss of her brother. She noted that Tommy was her only living relative. Their brother was killed in a car accident in the early 90s. The siblings had always been close. And I wonder, you know, we talked about what a bad childhood that they had. I wonder if that maybe helps strengthen the bond between the siblings.

I think it probably does. I think it definitely could, right? Could, yeah. Because it's like you against everybody else. You can't rely on mom and dad if they're gone for two or three days at a time. So turn to each other. I could see how the siblings could get very, very close in a situation like that. Jeannie said she hoped by speaking out on the anniversary of Tommy's death, it would turn up a clue or information leading to an arrest.

Jeannie was diagnosed with M.S. Because of her health and financial problems, she was unable to travel to Missouri and relied on Tommy's friends and the police to fill in the blanks surrounding his death. She knew Tommy struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, but still couldn't imagine what circumstances. led to his death? Well, I think, you know, any sibling, friend, a family member, what would think? I mean, I know he maybe wasn't like the perfect person, but he didn't deserve to die. Who would do something like this?

Yeah, and then they may not know of anybody that they can think of who could be capable of it. But I do want to talk a little bit about, you know, her speaking out, especially like on the anniversary of his death, I do think it's very important, right? To keep your loved one's case in the limelight is very, very important. We've talked many times about getting an unsolved case on something like America's Most Wanted or Unsolved Mysteries and how much help that can be.

I think you want to keep it out in the spotlight as much as you can, you know, keep it from disappearing. Yeah, I just think it becomes harder and harder, right, as time goes by. Tommy's manager, Tim Kotanchik, the general manager of the bar and restaurant Tommy worked at, told the Lakeson leader that Tommy was a good worker, friendly, and was known for his jokes. Joker. Yeah, you know, there are some of those people who they're fun to be around because they're funny. Yeah.

They can make you laugh. They can make everybody around you laugh. maybe he was one of those types of guys, but it's also pays to be a friendly and a good worker. It does. Especially if you're the manager and or the owner. You're going to like those people. Absolutely. Yeah.

It's important. Police also said they were frustrated. The murder remained unsolved a year later, but they were confident someone knew something that could break the case. Camdenton police chief Laura Webster noted that investigators had followed up on all leads and had interviewed over 87 people. And they said that Tommy's murder was the first in the town since 1995. Well, I mean, that's a good thing.

Well, it's a good thing. It just also shows you that this is not a huge town probably. Right. They don't experience a ton of very, very violent crime. But also, we've heard on other unsolved cases where they're like, we know this will be solved. And then 40 years later, we're talking about it. Yeah.

And it's still unsolved. Yeah, I mean, I don't know what good investigator would have the mindset of, oh, we ain't never solving this one. Yeah, he shouldn't be an investigator. Right. They're always going to be optimistic that, yeah, we can solve it. It doesn't turn out always be true. But I think it pays to at least have that kind of mindset. As the years past, Claire Rector became deeply committed to Christianity.

and she even started a Christian blog. She credited her faith for giving her the strength to overcome addiction. And she spoke to local media outlets to warn people about the dangers of drug use. And that's a good story. It is a good story. Anytime somebody can overcome an addiction that is hurting them, that's weighing them down. That's a great thing. And then to even go further and try to help other people, warning them.

them about the dangers of the things that you've gone through. Yeah. And it's going to mean more because you've experienced it. I mean, we've got a good listener that went through addiction with, I believe, meth, meth or crack, I think it was meth. And he has a large falling. And he puts that message out all the time, you know. And I think that's a good thing.

It is a good thing. I think when people hear that you might have went through what they're going through and you found yourself to a place where you're no longer dependent on that and what that struggle look like. And we know it's not easy. Well, you're going to gain a lot of credibility with that individual. Well, that's true. Because you've been where they are.

Yeah. I can't talk about it because I've never been addicted to drugs. So I can sit here and say, don't do drugs, but it's not going to mean much to anybody because I can't relate. You can just don't eat paper towels and, don't overplay with telotubbies. Yeah. Now that I can relate to.

Yeah. She wrote as quoted by the Kansas City Star, I searched high and low for the answer by trying different drugs and alcohol to the point that I became an addict and am still daily in recovery from addiction. I thought the love of men would fill the void, but promiscuity wasn't the answer. Everywhere I looked, everything I tried. I was unable to fill the God-shaped space in my heart. You know, I hear a lot of people say that,

that they tried to fill that void with, you know, a relationship. If I get into a relationship, then maybe I'll be okay. But actually, it turns out sometimes you hear that makes it worse. Yeah. Same can go for people or couples, right, having a rough time thinking, well, maybe a baby will make it better. Yeah. Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn't.

Maybe it doesn't, yeah. And I know that recovery is not a, it's not a one and done. No, and she says that, right? Yeah. She became an addict and she still is. Because once you are, you always are. Yeah, once an addict, always an addict. So she's got this blog and in it she described her Catholic upbringing and how she began

using drugs after losing her first husband. She wrote in another blog post, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for the redemption of all people, even me. She wrote that only by asking God for forgiveness, could she be redeemed? So it does sound like, right, she found God or she found Christianity or whatever you, however you want to phrase it. And that played a big role in, you know, becoming sober. at least that's what she was putting out there. Clara also published a poem on her blog titled To the Greatest Father. In the final verse, she wrote,

For freedom from my past and forgiveness of my sins, the only thing I had to do was open up, believe, and let Christ in. On April 21st, 2013, the Camden County Sheriff's Office was called to the Camdenton Bible Baptist Church. Pastor Jerry Sousley reported that he was, was being stalked by congregant Clara Rector. Okay. So, all right,

we're taking a kind of a divergent path here. You are. You know, she was addicted, right, to drugs. She was looked at in the death of Tommy Hope. And then she's,

now she's got this blog where she's saying, you know, she believes in God. She believes in Christ. she's sober, but she may be stalking her pastor. And this could be her new addiction. Is this, you know, with the church, with Christ, with the pastor? Apparently, the stalking began back in July 2012.

According to the Lake Sun leader, Pastor Jerry received multiple notes and phone calls from Clara regarding inappropriate matters of a sexual nature. Oh. Okay. Okay. I hope people are seeing that on video because your face was really strange when you, when you said, oh, okay. What does that mean?

What those were? It is kind of, it's not funny, but it's strange. It is. You know, this is, you think you're, you're in a house of worship, right? You're in a church. You're listening to what is supposed to be, you know, some pretty deep stuff. I think a lot of times in church, and you're passing sexual notes to the pastor. I'm just trying to figure out what's the inappropriate matters.

It had to be pretty shocking for me. Well, no, because I think basically anything of a sexual nature between you and your pastor would be inappropriate. Well, that's true. For you inappropriate is on a much different level, because there's probably not much that you don't do or wouldn't do. That's what you were trying to say. I don't know about that.

But I think anything even regarding wanting to have sex would be inappropriate because of the relationship that is supposed to go on between pastor and congregate. Person of cloth. How about that? So Clara lashed out after he rebuffed her advances. The messages escalated. And then some started even appearing on his windshield. Oh, the old put it on the windshield message.

Okay. It's one thing to write some naughty stuff, right, down on a, on paper and hand it to somebody. It's a whole different thing to write naughty stuff on the windshield where everybody can see it. You know, depending on how dirty this was, no matter what, it's going to be embarrassing. Yeah. It could get real embarrassing. Good. Depending on how graphic the message.

were on April 19th Jerry found a notebook in the church in which Clara described her sexual fantasies about him that would be weird to read yeah from his standpoint oh yeah no doubt but I do kind of want to go back to one of the things that Clara said in her blog and you you kind of touched on it but it was her kind of using men being promiscuous to try to fill something. Yeah. I mean, is she now doing it again, but with her pastor? It's almost what it sounds like. I feel like it's filling that void,

and it's another level of an addiction. Yeah, I think you might be right about that. Jerry stapled the notebook and an envelope and gave it to the church secretary, who was Clara's mother-in-law. Oh, hold, hold the horses. This is getting really weird now. Yeah. Got this notebook from your daughter-in-law.

It's pretty inappropriate. I went ahead and sealed it up. Whatever you do, don't open it. But can you put this away somewhere? While the secretary turned around and gave it to Claire's husband, Jason, who allegedly disposed of the notebook per the Lake Sun leader. And we already talked about Jason knowing that Clara at one point cheated on him, right, with Tommy Hope. And now he's discovering this.

Yeah, I don't think you could be too happy about, I mean, you get this notebook. I'm assuming he opened it up and started and was reading through it and been like, Oh, yeah. I don't, I don't think you get a notebook delivered in that fashion and you can just throw it away. You got to open it. I'm thinking he's like, you know, from page 16 to page 32, we've never done anything like that. And you've got detailed descriptions here and what you want to do with the preacher. I can't even imagine what it would be like to read something like that written by your wife about another man.

No. That would really be tough to stop. It would make you sick. Yeah, it would be really tough. No doubt about it. And I don't know how you move on with your relationship after reading something like that. Well, apparently he was able to move on a couple of times before, right? Because she had had dalliances with Tommy.

Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. Once you find out that it's a, now it hasn't actually become physical. But that's only because he wouldn't let it. Yeah, but to me, it's just as bad. Physical or not, you're thinking it. Yeah. So you're not thinking about me.

Clara then allegedly texted Pastor Jerry on April 21st asking for the notebook back. Jerry told her not to contact him again. I mean, you want all the parishioners you can get, but maybe this one you can do without. Yeah. Sometimes she's got to cut certain people loose. Yeah. I mean, that's more headache than it's worth, obviously. That day, Clara tried to enter the church and was arrested.

She was charged with stalking and harassment. According to Jerry's police statement, at one point, Clara threatened him by saying, Jerry, if you tell the law what you know about me, I will destroy you. I will effing destroy you. There goes the sweetness out of her. Well, there's quite a bit of dichotomy, right, between her actions and what she's writing in this Christian blog. Yeah. And the things that she's espousing in there,

her actions in real life don't seem to conform with that type of stuff. You know, she's saying you better not say anything. So I just wonder, I don't know how, what the legalities are behind it. I know, like, if you go see a psychologist, you can tell them things and they're not allowed by their license law to do anything. Tell anybody about it. Yeah, unless you're threatening to kill somebody, There's some caveats right to those things.

I just want to ministers have the same. They have something similar. Yeah. They have something similar. Same with attorneys and stuff like that. But I don't know. She just comes across so far as even now in what is supposed to be like her reformation, right? She's sober.

She's found religion. But yet she is. is doing some very wild stuff. He is. And when Jerry is not into it, she's basically saying, don't you rat on me? Yeah. Because I will destroy you. According to Oxygen, Claire was referring to a prior counseling session with Jerry,

where she admitted to killing a man. Okay. So now we're, you know, kind of on to what you were talking about. That could be part of the reason why he was turned off a little bit, too, besides he was probably just a good person. Yeah, but even if he wasn't, that, that could probably turn you off or should turn you. Jerry was worried about his safety and his family safety. He told detectives, she started telling me about how she had left Jason and the kids and started doing drugs and got mixed up with a guy.

She just kind of put her head down and said, I killed him. Jerry implored Clara to go to the police and confess, but she refused. And that doesn't shock me, right? She's had a number of years to this point to confess if she wanted to. I think the confession part for most people is tough because you know the minute you do that, you're giving up your freedom. That's true. And that's why most people don't do it.

Right. Yeah. And even when they are caught, they might confess to certain things, but they lie about other things. They still try to diminish. Yeah, downplay it or diminish it. their roles. Detectives working the Tommy Hope murder case were brought into question Clara after she was arrested. While she was in custody, she confessed to the murder and she seemed relieved

to do so. So it could have been a situation where this murder was just weighing her down. I'm sure it had to. It was eating at her. At least I hope it was weighing her down. Yeah. Now, maybe it wasn't before. Maybe it started to after she got sober and after she found religion. I don't know. She admitted to having an affair with Tom and going to his house on April 24th to obtain and use drugs. She said per her video tape statement, I snuck out of my house in the middle of the night because I really wanted to get high. and you know if you want to just kind of boil it down in a nutshell to why people shouldn't do these types of drugs to me that is it yeah i mean obviously there's health reasons you could die from certain things but i think a large part of it is at a certain point your addiction

will make you do just about anything as we are finding out to get that next high you got to have it. Keep chasing that high. She arrived at Tommy's home. He wouldn't let her in. So she crawled through a window. They used up his supply of cocaine and then got into a fight. That's going to happen when you run out of drugs. First, you got someone coming through your window that you said, I don't want you in here. And then they're there. Next thing you know, they're using cocaine together. Yeah. And then you're out. I mean. But it's hard. It is sometimes hard to make sense, right? Of what people do when they're high because they don't always make the best decisions and they also don't always do things that are logical when you try to break them down. According to the Lake Sun leader,

she became upset when Tommy didn't save any drugs for her and she grabbed the night. She jumped on Tommy's back and cut his throat. I mean, think about that. She was pissed because he took the last snort maybe and said, Yeah, I don't know. Screw you, buddy, and grabs a knife and cuts his throat. According to Clara, Tommy allegedly checked his wounds in the bathroom. And as he approached Clara, she stabbed him again. Son of a bitch, you were supposed to go down the first time.

What are you coming at me for? How dare you check your wounds? Yes. He's probably like, ooh, man, that almost killed me, you know? Wow. Clara recalled in her interview, I started like, I hate you. hate you. And he was standing there against the wall. And then he's like, you know, I think you're killing me. I think I'm dying. And then he just fell over. That's what she said. Yeah. Because she did.

She killed him. Yeah. But I also think like he probably trusted her to some degree. They had had a relationship, you know, over the years. And, you know, even when maybe he went to the bathroom and checked his wound to check his wounds he thought well she should be okay yeah but he comes out and she just keeps stabbing him i'm thinking he's thinking i just took the last hit or whatever you know surely can't be that mad at me well apparently she was and she probably also said don't call me shirley she took the knife and tommy's wallet and fled back out the window jason was waiting for her when she got home. And she told him what happened. He allegedly helped her dispose of incriminating evidence. I'm still back at the point where she decided to just go out the window instead of out

the door because why go out the window when you can just open the door and leave? But that's just me thinking. Yeah, I don't know. Maybe she thought the least amount of stuff I touched the better. I don't have any clue. But here we, you know, we get back to Jason. And again, this is her alleging it. Sure. But he's gone through a lot with her. Yeah. You know, cheating. Later on, this stalking and harassment of the preacher.

But now she's basically saying he helped me dispose of evidence of the murder. Clearly, he was in love with her and that was his person. God. He just couldn't say no to. Yeah, I think you're right about that. On April 24, 2013, both Claire and Jason were. arrested. Clara was charged with first-degree murder, an armed criminal action. Jason was charged with felony tampering with physical evidence. Camden County Sheriff Dwight Franklin said when

announcing the charges, as quoted by the Kansas City Star, here was someone, a member of the community, had a family involved in church, and I think it manifested to the point she couldn't hold it in anymore. And I get what he's saying, right? He's talking about her later on. Yeah. After getting sober, or she said she was sober, finding religion, becoming involved in the church. At that point, you're probably viewing her as this really great member, you know, member of society. Sure. But then, you know, you find out that she is a murderer. Yeah. The charges against Jason were ultimately dropped as the statute of limitations had run out. Oh, didn't know that could happen.

Well, I know that there is a statute of limitations on most crimes, right? There's not one on murder, which to me has always seemed strange. Yeah. Because just because you're able to elude police for X amount of years, they just can't charge you. I don't know. It just seems like a strange thing. You know, some people say statute instead of statute. Mm-hmm.

Find that interesting. Yeah. I might have said it before like that, but that would be incorrect. No, you always say statute. Well, because that's the word. Yeah. Well, you know, I watch a lot of crime shows, right? And I hear, like, police officers say it.

Oh, really? And they also say, cooperate. Really? Yeah. Collaborate. instead of corroborate. Huh. Cooperating Evans or something like that.

I know a lot of people say like that. I say some weird things that aren't right too, but... Well, you can't get one city in the state of Missouri, correct? No. Or Oklahoma. Yeah. Clara was supposed to go to trial on July 21st, 2014, but the trial was delayed for unspecified reasons.

On November 10th of that year, Clara was convicted of second-degree. remark and sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to oxygen, she was supposed to be eligible for parole in January of 2024. Oh, a couple years ago. Did you have to roll your eyes look up and around to figure that out? Mentsa, as you drank out of your Mentsa cup. Yeah, I just, I did it for theatrics. Oh, sure. Threatrics. You're just cracking yourself up to this. This is when you say, you know, you're not even on camera right now.

I'm like, oh, maybe we are. No, you are on camera. But so obviously this got pushed down to second degree. Yeah. 15 years in prison. Kind of light. I think it's very light. I mean, she went through the window.

He said, don't come in here. She went through the window. Yeah, they did drugs together. So it kind of like, well. Well, you told her not to come in, but then you were okay with if she was in there. But then she took the knife, not only made an attempt to once, but then followed up the second time. Yeah, the only thing I can think of is that they couldn't maybe get first degree because

they couldn't prove that she went there to kill him. But I don't know if you cut somebody's throat or attempt to cut somebody's throat. Yeah. And they go into the bathroom to check their wounds. And when they come out, you stab them again. okay. That's where I think it's first degree. It seems like it would be,

but that's the only thing I can think of. Yeah. But yeah, to me, for what she did, 15 years in prisons is light. And to think she was eligible for parole in 10, that she could have gotten out in 10 years for what she did. The problem is, couldn't find any published reports about her parole hearings

or her release date. If you look clear up on the Missouri, Missouri DOC offender search page. Her assigned location is a correctional center, which suggests that she is still incarcerated. And that's always interesting, right, to look these people up who are still in jail and see what it says about them. But it doesn't surprise me that there's not been a ton written about her. We do see that often, you know, in the beginning, all the way up until like the trial

and the end of the trial, there can be a lot of coverage. There can be. And then after that, unless there's something huge that comes up, not a lot. The media loses interest. Even when people get out, sometimes it's not really covered that level. It's just not newsworthy for most media outlets. So, you know, as we wrap this one up, Giz, one of the reasons why I found it very interesting is it's a pretty uncommon example, right, of a killer confessing because of what seems to be like

their immense amount of guilt. Yeah. Now, did some of that have to do with how her life had changed over the years? Yeah, I think it could have. But were it not for Claire's spontaneous confession after she was charged with stalking and harassing her pastor, Tommy Hope's murder might have gone unsolved. Might have. For either many more years or forever.

You know, we just don't know. Just such a, such a strange case. It really is. I mean, you think about it. But like you mentioned, luckily she came clean. Yeah. Because I think she was on the radar. Yeah, but I don't think they had what they needed to.

No, they didn't, or they would have charged. And I don't know that they would have ever gotten it. Because years had gone by and they still hadn't. No, I don't think they would have. Because at that time, you still had Clara and Jason protecting each other too. That is true. Yeah.

And that does kind of shed some more light on them giving each other an alibi. Because now we find out that not only did she commit the murder, but he helped her dispose of evidence. Right. So not too hard to think that they were, each other's alibis as well. So that's it for our episode on Clara Rector. I found it extremely fascinating.

I did too. It's also it for another episode of true crime all the time. So for Mike and Gabi, stay safe and keep your own time ticking.