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“This is all about intimate partner violence … taken to the highest degree possible,” Jack Stollsteimer, Delaware County District Attorney, also said at the conference. “He tried to kill four people because one of their family members didn’t want to be romantically involved anymore.”
Clark and his ex-girlfriend, Amira Rogers, worked together at the USPS, and Rogers filed a complaint against him with the Postal Inspection Service just one day before the fire. She said he’d tried to choke her that morning when she told Clark she was ending their relationship, the probable cause affidavit says.
Before Sunday’s deadly fire, Clark allegedly sent multiple menacing texts to Rogers, per the affidavit. He also threatened to post explicit photos of her on social media, allegedly texting, “Pick up before I do something crazy, hope you don’t miss the show.”
DARBY TOWNSHIP POLICE DEPARTMENT
The fire at Rogers' home broke out a little after midnight on Sunday, and Clark was allegedly seen on surveillance footagewalking away from his ex’s house soon after.A neighbor told police they saw Clark allegedly throw an object, with an “orange glow,” at the house.
Three people escaped, but they could not get Drasher out. By the time firefighters arrived, the flames and smoke were too intense to broach, the affidavit states. An autopsy determined Drasher had died from smoke and soot inhalation, as well as thermal body burns.
“[Drasher] was in this house, unable to move, unable to communicate, as her body is being fried and as she’s choking to death because of the smoke, all because Mr. Clark was angry about her older sister breaking up with him,” Stollsteimer later said,according to NBC Philadelphia.
Even after Clark’s arrest, Stollsteimer alleged, the suspect continued to send threatening texts to his ex. While in the holding cell, Stollsteimer said, Clark texted Rogers from an Apple Watch he’d hidden inside his rectum, “…just so he could further bring it home to this woman, what he did to her.”
Clark was allegedly “combative” and tried to spit on officers when they took the watch away.
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In an interview with CBS, Drasher’s great aunt said she had concerns about Clark when she met him. She told the station that his smile looked “sinister” and that something “didn’t seem right” about him.
Clark remains in custody and was reportedly denied bail. It’s unclear whether he has retained an attorney.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
