Mark A. Clark

Case record

Mark A. Clark was 32 years old when he died in an explosion in September 1995 in Baltimore County, Maryland.

Timeline

• September 13, 1995 — Mark A. Clark lured his estranged wife to a mall with the promise of buying school clothes and blew up their car, killing her, their daughter, her other two children, and himself.
• Monday (day of the explosion) — The explosion occurred at 6 P.M. outside the Middlesex Shopping Center.
• Sunday — Clark had threatened to kill himself and his family.

Background

Mark A. Clark was last known to have had an address in western Maryland.

Clark’s estranged wife was Betty Louise Clark, who was 32. She moved in with her sister in Essex earlier in the year.

Baltimore County police, which included Essex, had no record of domestic violence involving the couple.

Neighbors reported that Clark had threatened to kill himself and his family on Sunday and Monday, but “we all just thought he was blowing hot air,” said Pamela Pierce, who lived upstairs from Mr. Clark’s wife, Betty Louise.

Mary Thomas, another upstairs neighbor, said:

“Sunday and yesterday he went out to the car a thousand times looking in the car, looking in the trunk. Last night when we saw the wreck on the TV news we put two and two together.”

Clark’s last actions before the explosion involved taking his estranged wife and their children to a mall for back-to-school clothing.

The offence

Mark A. Clark agreed to take his estranged wife to a mall near her apartment on Monday to take their children shopping. He detonated a bomb made out of commercially available explosives hidden in the glove compartment of a station wagon. The explosion shredded the man's station wagon and scattered debris and body parts across the parking lot of the mall.

The authorities suspected he brought his family in his car with the explosives and intended to kill them.

A police spokesman, Lieut. Steve Doarnberger, said:

“We strongly suspect that he brought his family in his car with the explosives and the intention to kill them.”

The blast ripped apart the 1987 Ford Taurus station wagon.

Investigators said they had no witnesses to the blast.

Another police spokesman, Brian Uppercue, said the car was stationary and all five of the dead were in it when it exploded, about 20 yards from the entrance of a department store.

Investigation

Police cadets searched the scene for more clues.

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were at the scene.

Investigators searched for evidence, including locating the car’s glove compartment, which was found a half-mile away.

Arrest

No arrest was described.

Trial

No trial was described.

Sentencing

No sentencing was described.

Outcome

All five people who were in the car at the time of the explosion died.

Aftermath

The thunderous explosion shook nearby homes, knocked out power nearby, and sent debris and body parts raining down blocks away.

People and relationships

• Mark A. Clark (32) — estranged husband and father; died in the explosion.
• Betty Louise (32) — Clark’s estranged wife; died in the explosion.
• Krysta (4) — the couple’s daughter; died in the explosion.
• Malissa Ray (11) — one other child; died in the explosion.
• Ricardo Valdez (6) — another child; died in the explosion.
• Pamela Pierce — neighbor who lived upstairs from Betty Louise.
• Mary Thomas — neighbor.
• Lieut. Steve Doarnberger — police spokesman.
• Brian Uppercue — police spokesman.
• Mark Edward Weitzel — dating Betty Louise since May; said:

“Yesterday I had a family -- a girlfriend and three kids,” Mr. Weitzel said. “Now I have nothing.”

• Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents — agents present at the scene.