Thu, Dec 04 2008
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Published August 22, 2008 01:08 am - Prosecutors seek death penalty Two men accused in 2004 alleged murder-for-hire slaying By D.E. Smoot Phoenix Staff Writer The 2004 death of a Boynton man was part of a murder-for-hire scheme, according to filings in a Muskogee County murder cases against two men.
Clinton Riley Potts paid Jerry Chad Pippin $1,500 to kill Greg Clark, Assistant District Attorney Jeff Sheridan alleges in a bill of particulars filed in the cases. A bill of particulars is required to be filed when the state seeks the death penalty. The state must be able to show the circumstances of the crime committed meet the criteria set out in state statutes. Potts, 33, of Hitchita was bound over Thursday to stand trial on a first-degree murder charge. Pippin, 35, of Santo, Texas, has waived preliminary hearing on the first-degree murder charge against him. Clark was found face down in the yard of his home about five miles south of Boynton. Potts and Pippin acted together to shoot Clark in both arms before beating him in the head with bricks, according to the document. Clark sustained skull and facial fractures as a result of the beating, the filing states. Multiple abrasions, contusions, hemorrhaging and dried blood found on Clark’s upper torso and limbs, and hemorrhaging near an incision on his throat indicate the Clark was alive during the beating. Sheridan alleges the shooting, beating and knifing constitute an “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel” death. He also alleges both Potts and Pippin are likely to commit violent crimes in the future, and both men “constitute a continuing threat to society.” The Potts and Pippin cases are the first two in which Muskogee County prosecutors have sought the death penalty since District Attorney Larry Moore took office in January 2007. Potts and Pippin were charged with Clark’s death this past November, nearly three years after Clark was found dead by his estranged wife. She went to Clark’s home after learning he had not shown up for work. “It was a long investigation,” Sheridan said. “Tim (Brown, a former Muskogee County sheriff’s investigator) ended his investigation in September, and it is continuing vigorously today.” Potts, who is being held without bond, is scheduled to be formally arraigned Sept. 18 on the first-degree murder charge in Muskogee County District Court. Pippin also is being held without bond, is scheduled to appear Sept. 12 on the court’s felony disposition docket. Reach D.E. Smoot at 684-2903 or dsmoot@ muskogeephoenix.com. 
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