THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 5, 1995 TAG: 9505050548
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
A Deep Creek businessman accused of arranging the killing of his wife is expected to testify in court today to dispute evidence linking him to the crime.
Clark Bedsole, owner of Clark Electric, faces capital murder and firearms charges in the Nov. 9, 1993, shooting of Helen Bedsole.
He is accused of paying a man $4,000 to kill his wife, a 44-year-old C & P Telephone employee.
Police say they became certain of Clark Bedsole's involvement after detectives secretly taped the alleged hired gun, Marlon Williams, talking to a police informant about the shooting.
Williams is scheduled to be tried next month on capital murder and firearms charges.
In the taped conversation, Williams told the informant that he shot Helen Bedsole in the head and neck as she stood in the kitchen of her Geneva Shores home.
Williams also said Clark Bedsole hired him to kill his wife of 25 years because she was going to get half of his assets in a divorce settlement.
Williams said Bedsole also wanted to collect on his wife's insurance policy.
The couple were undergoing a bitter split.
Helen Bedsole had filed for a divorce in 1992, alleging that her husband had committed adultery, according to family members, friends and court records.
Clark Bedsole's son, Clark Clifford Bedsole Jr., testified in court Thursday that Williams had come to his father's shop the night of the murder.
He also testified that Williams and the police informant had met with his father at the shop on other occasions before the slaying.
Another witness testified Thursday that in January 1993 Clark Bedsole admitted to hiring someone to kill his wife.
The witness, whom detectives requested not be identified for her safety, said she and Bedsole were staying at a motel on Military Highway, using cocaine and drinking, when he made the confession.
``He had told me he had his wife killed,'' the woman said.
She later telephoned police with the information. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
TAMARA VONINSKI/Staff
Clark C. Bedsole, left, is accused of paying a man $4,000 to kill
his estranged wife, Helen Bedsole. The case began Monday with jury
selection, and several witnesses have already taken the stand. The
Deep Creek business owner is expected to take the stand to dispute
evidence linking him to the crime.
KEYWORDS: MURDER-FOR-HIRE TRIAL by CNB