Viswa Vanapalli
In September 2015, a horrific crime in Caton, New York, led to the death of Kelley Elizabeth Stage Clayton, a young mother of two. She was bludgeoned to death by Michael Beard, a man hired by her husband, Thomas “Tom” Clayton, for $10,000. The gruesome murder-for-hire plot shocked the tiny town of Caton, but, more importantly, left two children without their mother. NBC’s ‘Dateline: The House in the Woods’ as well as ABC’s ’20/20: What The Little Girl Saw’ shine a light on this very case and the aftermath.
Tom and Kelley Clayton’s Kids Were Very Young When They Lost Their Mother
Thomas and Kelley met sometime in the early 2000s. One thing led to another, and the two happily tied the knot sometime in 2006 before settling down in the beautiful small town of Caton. The couple then went on to have two kids together: a daughter, Charlie, and a son, Cullen. At the time of the incident, they were only 7 and 3 years of age, respectively. Tom, who came home sometime after midnight on September 29, 2015, found Kelley dead in the kitchen and called 911. The two kids were at home when the murder occurred, with the authorities learning within hours that the daughter had partially witnessed what happened.
According to Sheriff Jim Allard, “She (Charlie) told me that, ‘a man was hurting mommy.'” When asked if she knew the man, the little girl responded that it could have been her father because he was wearing a mask that she knew he owned. She also stated, “his eyes look just like daddy’s.” Later, she was taken to a child advocacy center, where the authorities spoke to her more. The then-7-year-old said, “In the middle of the night, this guy came and started hitting my mom with like this pipe thingy. There was blood everywhere. On my door, on the floor. Not on the carpet, though. And I thought she was dead when she was lying on the ground in the blood.”
Furthermore, in a devastating development, Charlie recalled that her mother was suffering before she passed away, so she hugged her leg. According to Tom and Kelley’s daughter, the intruder wore dark-colored jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and a mask. She reiterated that the mask looked like something that her father wore during hunts. Later, when the police found the bloody clothes, they matched what the little girl mentioned.
Tom and Kelley Clayton’s Kids Lead a Quiet Life Now
The investigation eventually led to Tom and Michael being imprisoned for life without parole – the latter was convicted on November 4, 2016, whereas the former was found guilty on February 23, 2017. As a result, Charlie and Cullen were left without both their parents. According to records, after the murder, the kids were taken in by Kelley’s older sister, Kim Bourgeois, and her husband, Corey. They seem to live in New York to this day, and Kim has said she is thankful for the kids. The young children don’t have any contact with Tom, but in a letter to the court during his trial, Charlie wrote, “I feel like dad is a coward because he asked Michael Beard to kill my mom.”
In March 2017, Thomas’ former hockey team hosted a Domestic Violence Awareness Night, with all the proceeds going toward supporting these kids. Today, Charlie is likely in her senior year of high school at age 17, and Cullen is about 14 years old. They have understandably been kept from the spotlight and continue to live with the support of their family. In 2019, Kim shared a brief insight into the children’s lives, saying, “[She] still does not speak of it. She rarely talks about her mom. It’s too painful. [He] still cries out at night, ‘I miss my mommy. I want my mommy.'”
Read More: Kim Bourgeois: Where is Kelley Clayton’s Sister Now?
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