Kriti Mehrotra
In 1995, the entire world turned upside down for the Edwards family as 31-year-old beloved school teacher Mary Catherine Edwards was found heinously murdered in her home. Unfortunately, though, as explored in CBS’ ’48 Hours: Tracking the Killer of Mary Catherine Edwards,’ it was not until nearly three decades later that her perpetrator was finally apprehended. The authorities did do their best every step of the way, but it was the advancements in DNA technology that ultimately enabled them to bring this harrowing matter to a close for good.
Mary Catherine Edwards Was Found Dead in Her Bathtub
At the age of 31, Mary was honestly leading the best possible life in her hometown of Beaumont, Texas, as not only an educator but also a daughter, sister, as well as community member. The truth is she was happily teaching elementary at the time, but she was also looking forward to the ensuing school year as she had been promoted and assigned to the second grade. This had genuinely brought her a lot of joy since she knew it was her calling, and even her former students still vividly remember precisely how attentive and caring she was no matter what.
But alas, things changed on January 14, 1995, as Mary would not respond to any calls despite it being a free Saturday for her, driving her parents to grow seriously worried and do a check on her. They could never have even imagined they would walk into her home to find her dead, in a slouched position over the bathtub. They immediately dialed 911 before contacting her twin sister, yet it was already too late. The officials determined there was no way this teacher could be revived. As per her autopsy, she had been overpowered, handcuffed behind her back, and sexually assaulted before being asphyxiated to death.
Mary Catherine Edwards’ Murder Went Unsolved For 26 Years
Although the Beaumont Police Department and later the Texas Rangers began their investigations into this horrid case with utmost determination, they could unfortunately only come up with theories. According to records, the handcuffs used to render her arms ineffective to any attack were Smith & Wesson police-grade binds, making many wonder if this was maybe an active officer’s doing. However, even upon questioning countless law enforcement officers and checking with friends, family, as well as other loved ones, they came up with no possible leads or suspects.
It has been reported that detectives looked into Mary’s personal life, colleagues, ex-boyfriends, gym acquaintances, and church friends, too, in the hopes of finding her assailant, yet to no avail. They were actually sure about this detail because her killer had left behind significant prints/DNA on the cuffs as well as on her body, and nothing was coming to be a match (even partially). Officials had also entered this into their database, yet they still came up empty-handed, resulting in the case going cold despite the best efforts of those in charge – they never had anything concrete.
Mary Catherine Edwards’ Killer Was No Stranger to Her
Although investigators had been working on Mary’s case off and on for decades, it wasn’t until now-retired District Attorney Robert “Bob” Wortham took office in 2014/2018 that new hope ignited. That’s because he ordered an inquiry of all cold cases with a new outlook, especially since DNA technology had made a lot of advancements and they now had genealogy in their arsenal, too. Therefore, it was with the help of this genetic tool that the Beaumont Police Department, as well as the Texas Rangers, were able to identify Clayton Bernard Foreman as their suspect around early 2021.
It then came to light Mary had actually attended the same high school as Clayton and was even a bridesmaid at his wedding since she was close friends with his school sweetheart, Dianna Coe. As per reports, the Foremans’ marriage only lasted 11 years, crumbing around the same time the teacher was heinously murdered in her home, only for Clayton to allegedly have no reaction to it. In fact, Dianne still vividly remembers crying to him and telling him, “Oh, my God. Somebody has murdered Catherine,” just for his response to be, “Oh, really?” which she thought was odd.
After all, according to Dianne’s statements to the police, her ex-husband was fascinated by all things police to such an extent he had even ordered some tools like billy clubs and handcuffs for himself. She thus found it a bit strange when he not only didn’t have any emotional reaction to Mary’s killing but also showed no particular interest in the extensive investigations into the same. Moreover, and more importantly, it was then revealed that Clayton had pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a fellow high school classmate in 1981, and it bore some eerie similarities to the 1995 homicide.
Clayton Bernard Foreman Has Since Been Arrested, Tried, and Convicted
According to reports, the hands of Clayton’s 1981 victim were bound before they were taken advantage of, and around 1985/1986, he had allegedly tried to assault another one of Dianne’s friends. In the end, on April 29, 2021, the 61-year-old was taken into custody from his home in Franklin County, Ohio, charged with Mary’s 1995 murder, and extradited to Jefferson County, Texas, within days. There, he remained under custody until he stood trial in early 2024, which concluded with the jury finding him guilty following less than an hour of deliberations. The prosecutors had claimed he entered Mary’s home through the gates by knocking and stating he wanted to discuss his marital problems, only to then overpower her and leave with no trace of forced entry.
Read More: Clayton Foreman: Where is the Killer Now?
