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The House in the Woods, Dateline's 25th episode of season 25 looked at the horrific murder-for-hire mystery involving former hockey player Thomas Clayton.
A 35-year-old, Kelley Clayton, was found dead on the kitchen floor of her own house in Caton, New York, in September 2015. It was later revealed that her husband, Thomas Clayton, had hired another man to have his wife killed. Later the same night, Thomas called 911 to report Kelley's murder.
Clayton's eldest daughter was a key witness in the case.
Whereabouts of Thomas Clayton
Thomas Clayton is currently serving his life sentence at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York. He was found guilty of hiring another man to kill his wife and was convicted on first and second degree murder changers after a trial that lasted several weeks.
A former hockey player and Binghamton native, Clayton spent four seasons playing hockey from 1998 to 2002. He retired from hockey in 2002 and started his own business soon after.
Clayton was reportedly known for having multiple relationships outside of marriage and for being involved in gambling.
The night of the murder of Kelley Clayton
Kelley Clayton's murder was incredibly dramatic.
Thomas Clayton, who hired another man to have Kelley killed, rang 911 at 12:30 am to report his wife's murder. As police rushed to the scene, suspicion immediately fell on him and he was charged with second-degree murder.
Eventually, investigators revealed that it wasn't just a murder but a conspiracy involving another man, Michael Beard. Clayton had reportedly offered Beard $10,000 to get Kelley killed.
Things got more interesting and difficult for the police when Beard changed his statement later. Beard claimed that Clayton only wanted him to burn his house down when "nobody would be inside" to collect his insurance money.
Beard added that when he entered their house on the night of the murder, he saw Kelley lying dead. Upon seeing the body, Beard claimed that he ran away from the scene, which complicated the case against Clayton even more.
Additionally, there was enough evidence to prove that Clayton was not as innocent as he was trying to seem. Cellphone data used as proof in the trial revealed that Beard and Clayton were in constant touch in the weeks before the murder.
In November 2016, Beard went to trial and was found guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The daughter saw her mother getting killed
It was probably Clayton's eldest daughter who had the most dreadful experience in the entire episode. She witnessed Kelley being hit with a pipe and die before her eyes.
In one of the police interviews, she said,
"A guy came and hit my mommy with a pipe thingy. I thought she was dead when she was lying on the ground.
The then 7-year-old also added that she thought the man hitting her mother was her dad because his eyes were similar to Clayton's eyes.
In a letter to the court, she wrote, “I feel like dad is a coward because he asked Michael Beard to kill my mom.”
The daughter's testimony was one of the key pieces of evidence against Clayton's conviction.
Currently, the children are not in touch with their father.
Relationships outside of marriage
According to investigators, Thomas Clayton's motive behind the murder could be that he was no longer in love with his wife. He was apprehensive about Kelley getting all his money if they divorced.
Several other women also testified against Clayton, saying the former hockey player was involved in sexual relations with them. Thomas Clayton often complained about his wife being "lazy and ungrateful," the women confessed.
Some reports also suggest that Thomas Clayton used poker as an alibi on the night of the murder.
Allegedly, Clayton was playing poker at the time of his wife's murder. A woman also came up later and stated that Clayton had asked to borrow her phone to make a call around 90 minutes before he reached home.
