Prosecutor: Time was right to charge Clay Waller with wife's murder

Click to download the probable cause statement

Saying there was "no point in waiting any longer," prosecutors have charged Clay Waller with first-degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence nearly 11 months after his estranged wife first went missing.

The murder charge alleges that Waller, 41, killed Jacque Sue Waller on or about June 1 by "unknown means," an offense punishable by a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole. Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said Monday he will not seek the death penalty.

The first tampering with evidence charge claims that Waller hid his wife's body with the intent of impairing the murder investigation. The second tampering charge, both are felonies that carry four-year prison terms, charges that Waller concealed bloodstained carpet in the hallway of the house he was staying at in Jackson also with the purpose of "impairing its availability in the investigation of the murder of Jacque Sue Waller."

Jacque Waller's body has still not been found, Swingle said Monday. But according to court documents, police began investigating her disappearance as a murder the day after she vanished.

Circuit Judge Gary A. Kamp set Clay Waller's bond at $1 million.

Swingle would not say exactly what prompted the charges Monday, which come after an 11-month investigation, dozens of weekend searches and countless hours of investigation by the Jackson Police Department, the FBI, the prosecutor's office and the six agencies that make up the Cape Girardeau County Major Case Squad.

"At this point, we're just ready to file the charges and proceed to trial," Swingle said. "There just no point in waiting any longer."

Clay Waller's lawyer on the state charges, Scott Reynolds, said Monday he wasn't even sure that his client had gotten the news of the charges. Waller is currently in federal custody serving a five-year prison sentence for transmitting a threat over the Internet against Cheryl Brenneke, who is Jacque's sister. The Federal Bureau of Prisons has agreed to make him available for the prosecution in the murder case, though a court date has yet to be set.

In this file photo Clay Waller, center, is escorted to a police vehicle after a court hearing at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011, where he appeared on charges of stealing and harassment. (Kristin Eberts)

Reynolds had left a message for Clay Waller with the prison in Oakdale, La., he said. Until he speaks to his client, he said he had little comment about what happens next. He reiterated that Waller has denied any role in Jacque's disappearance.

"He maintains his innocence, yes," Reynolds said. "He's always maintained his innocence."

Nothing new had recently emerged to prompt the charges, said Lt. David James of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department, one of the top investigators on the case. He said the charges were simply the next phase of the investigation, which he said was not over.

"We've just been able to piece parts of the puzzle together to be able to charge him at this point," James said. "We're going to continue to search for Jacque's body until we can find her. Way may not ever find her. But we're going to keep trying."

Having no body, James said, would present a "hill to climb" for investigators in making their case. But it's not unprecedented, he said, for "body-less cases" to culminate in convictions. It just means that prosecutors will have to prove more facts and circumstances to convince the courts and, eventually a jury, about what police believe happened.

"It's not like we have it on video," James said.

Still, James said he does feel the charges are a step toward justice. He also acknowledged that some law enforcement personnel tend to take cases like this one to heart, especially in that it involves the disappearance of a mother of three young children. James hopes for a "successful conclusion for justice and for the family," he said.

Taking Jacque home

Tips still come in occasionally, he said. Investigators have not stopped trying to find more evidence, James said. Searches have eliminated many places where Jacque Waller's body may be and James said he's no less optimistic about finding her than he was at the start that they will get the information they need to "take Jacque home to her family."

If Clay Waller is convicted, he will not face the death penalty. Swingle said he ruled out that option because none of the aggravating factors were involved. Aggravating factors include killing more than one person, killing someone after robbing or kidnapping them, or killing a prosecutor, police officer or judge because of their work. None of those were present, Swingle said.

FILE - This undated file photo provided by Ruby Rawson shows Jacque Sue Waller and her triplet children. Clay Waller, 41, the husband of Jacque Waller, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jacque on Monday, April 23, 2012, even though his estranged wife's body has not been found. (AP Photo/Ruby Rawson, File)

Swingle declined to discuss his strategy or any logic behind filing the charges now.

"It wouldn't be appropriate for us to go through our thought process right now," Swingle said.

Authorities have said since Jacque Waller's disappearance that Clay Waller was the last to see her alive. The story of a pretty blond and her former police officer husband captured national headlines last year, capturing the attention of Nancy Grace on her CNN talk show.

Early on, Clay Waller was labeled a murder suspect in open court and court documents related to this investigation and other cases.

According to a probable cause statement, Jacque Waller had been living in Ste. Genevieve County, Mo., since March 2011, while Clay Waller had been living in Jackson. The statement said Jacque had also started seeing someone while the couple were separated. Clay Waller also had a girlfriend, who lived in Illinois, according to the statement.

On the day Jacque Waller disappeared, the Wallers had met with an attorney about divorce proceedings. At the meeting, the couple argued about financial problems, according to the document prepared by Jackson Police Chief James Humphreys.

Jacque Waller's blue Honda Pilot was seen at the house where Clay Waller was staying into the evening on the day she went missing, though there is no account of her whereabouts for several hours that afternoon and evening. Her family last heard from her when she said she was going to meet Clay Waller to get one of their children from him.

This 2010 photo provided by Laura Helbig shows Jacque Waller, who disappeared on June 1, 2011. The husband of Jacque Waller, Clay Waller, 41, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jacque on Monday, April 23, 2012, even though his estranged wife's body has not been found. (AP Photo/Laura Helbig)

The child ended up staying the night with Clay Waller's girlfriend, court documents say. Clay Waller later told police that Jacque left the house on foot after an argument and, that when he returned home that night, her vehicle was gone. The man who owned the home where Clay Waller was staying came home that night, he found Clay Waller out of breath on the patio floor, the statement says. Clay Waller told the man he'd been out for a bike ride.

Police documents say Clay Waller was asked to leave the home where he was staying on June 3, but that he cleaned the house before he left. Bloody carpet was later found stashed away inside the home in a basement crawl space, as well as blood spatter evidence on the walls. The blood on the walls and the carpet had a DNA profile that matched Jacque's.

Jacque Waller's vehicle was found along the side of Interstate 55 with a flat tire on the morning of June 2.

Police say they found Jacque's laptop in her vehicle and it contained a personal diary detailing death threats Clay Waller had repeatedly made against her. In his statement, Humphries also said his statement that Clay Waller's accounts of what happened June 1 given over the course of numerous interview were inconsistent, incomplete and contradictory.

"Clay told me that I didn't deserve to live and he wishes he had a gun so he could blow my head off that day," Jacque wrote on March 18, 2010. "He told me that a divorce would be my death sentence."

Investigators later found her purse and other items just off Interstate 55 in November.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

1121 Woodland Drive, Jackson, MO