Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]


Welcome to Conversations. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Western NC Individual Receives Life Sentence In ISIS-Inspired Killing
Topic Started: Jul 18 2017, 03:33 PM (6 Views)
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
....someone should tewll Mr. Sullivan that he better get used to the cells at ADX Florence 'cause odds are, that's where he's headed.....

Posted Image
Quote:
 
(Morganton News Herald) Justin Nojan Sullivan was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the chance for parole for the murder of his neighbor John Bailey Clark. The life sentence will be served on top of the life sentence Sullivan received in federal court on June 27 for attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries.

District Attorney David Learner confirmed Monday that Clark’s murder was the first ISIS-connected murder committed on American soil.

Outside the Burke County Courthouse, Clark’s sister-in-law, Glenda Clark, said hearing the details of the crime was rough but the family can now have some closure. She said they wanted justice for Johnny and feel they got it. She said they are satisfied with the plea deal and sentencing.

During Sullivan’s sentencing, family members of Clark got the chance to address the court. Glenda Clark read a statement for the family. She said John Clark was a very good person who would take his mother out to eat and then take her riding around when she was alive.

John Clark lived in the house on Rose Carswell Road his mother left him when she died in the 1970s, Learner said. Glenda Clark said her brother-in-law had a saying, “Everything living should have a chance to live.”

John Clark was a vegetarian and wouldn’t kill anything, even a spider, according to family members. Glenda Clark said John Clark shouldn’t have had to die the way he did.

While the family received some closure with Sullivan’s sentencing and guilty plea, Sullivan did not apologize to the family when he got a chance Monday to address the court. Before speaking to the court, Sullivan affirmed to tell the truth rather than swear on the Bible, which typically is standard procedure. Sullivan has converted to Islam.

Sullivan, 21, said before he got to court Monday he was afraid Clark’s family would “trash-talk me” but they didn’t. “I appreciate that,” Sullivan said. The closest Sullivan came to apologizing to Clark’s family was to say, “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

He added that he never wanted to move to Morganton.

Sullivan lived with his parents at the time he killed Clark and started communicating with ISIS.

During a press conference after the sentencing, Clark’s brother, Douglas Clark, said they’ve never said anything negative about Sullivan’s parents or him. Learner said he feels bad for Sullivan’s parents, and added it must be a horrific burden to have a son commit murder.

In court, Learner talked about some of the evidence he would have presented if the case had gone to trial. He talked about how Sullivan shot Clark in the head three times as he lay in his bed with his back to the bedroom door, dragged Clark out of his house, striped him naked and spent hours digging a grave before burying him.
...continued in next post...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
....continued from previous post....
Quote:
 
Learner said Clark, who was 74 years old when he was murdered, was otherwise in good health.

He said Sullivan stole a .22-calibur rifle from his father and killed Clark while Sullivan’s parents were out of town.

John Clark lived mostly as a hermit without running water, never married and lived on a $600 monthly check from the government, according to family members and Learner. Glenda Clark brought him groceries, which she did the evening she discovered something was wrong.

Glenda Clark called 911 just after 6 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2014, saying the doors of her brother-in-law’s house were open, there’s was blood all over inside, drag marks and John Clark was missing. Glenda Clark told investigators that no one had keys to her brother-in-law’s house and his family said it was doubtful that he would have opened his door to a stranger.

Learner said Sullivan told a cell mate after his arrest that he was in the clear with regards to Clark’s murder because Clark was a hermit; a nobody. Investigators have said Clark’s murder was a trial run for Sullivan and his intent to commit a mass murder on the scale of the Pulse Nightclub killing in Florida. That shooting was believed to be a terrorist attack that killed 49 people and wounded more than 50 others.

Sullivan planned to carry out a mass shooting and had become focused on an area nightclub before his arrest, Learner said. He also had visited a local gun shop to try to buy some hollow point bullets, Learner said.

Sullivan’s attorney, Victoria Jayne, denied in court that her client told a cell mate anything about Clark’s killing because it was known there was a jail house snitch where he was being held.

Learner said not only did Sullivan kill Clark but he wanted an undercover FBI agent to kill Sullivan’s parents, even offering money to the agent to make that happen. “The murder of John Clark was as cowardly an act as has ever happened in Burke County, as was Sullivan’s plan for mass murder,” Learner said.

In addition, because Sullivan was the dependent of a retired U.S. Marine, Sullivan had a military identification that would have allowed him on military bases, Learner told the court Monday.

Burke County Sheriff Steve Whisenant said when the FBI came to his office saying they were investigating Sullivan, he told them he had an unsolved homicide and his investigators had exhausted all leads and “this, as strange as it may sound, made more sense than anything else.” The unusual circumstances of the case were something the Burke County Sheriff’s Office had not dealt with previously, Whisenant said. That’s when the FBI started investigating the murder, Whisenant said.

Learner and Whisenant said the murder case was one that had great coordination and cooperation between of law enforcement agencies. “We’re very pleased that all of this came together the way that it did,” Learner said. “It was a very complex case. It involved a lot of agencies at the local, state and federal level. We have worked very closely and kept the Clark family informed as this case progressed.”

When Sullivan was indicted for Clark’s murder, Learner said, at the time, that he would seek the death penalty.

On Monday, Learner said the death penalty in the state today isn’t what it used to be. He said there are 146 people sitting on death row in the state — 67 of which have been on death row for 20 years — and the state hasn’t executed an inmate in 11 years. He said those on death row file appeal after appeal and the taxpayer keeps up the inmates. Learner said the guilty plea ensures Sullivan will never be free and there won’t be any appeals.

The conviction for the terrorism charge, on top of the murder, means Sullivan won’t be a danger to the public and won’t ever be able to harm another innocent person or further the business of ISIS, Learner said.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · The News Hub · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Aquös by tiptopolive of the ZB Theme Zone