SPOKANE, Wash.—A murder-for-hire plea deal on Wednesday led to the truth about the 2012 disappearance of Kristopher "KC"Clarke, 29.
Timothy Suckow pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in the 2013 death of Doug Carlile in Spokane. In court, Suckow, 51, told the judge "the truth must be told."
The truth Suckow said he needed to tell was his involvement in the murder of Clarke who vanished in North Dakota in 2012.
Investigators believed Clarke was murdered because James Henrikson thought he was going to start his own trucking firm and steal Henrikson's employees.
On Wednesday, prosecutors detailed how Suckow and Henrikson brought Clarke into the shop of a trucking firm.
Prosecutors said Suckow then hit Clarke in the back of the head four times with a lead pipe. Prosecutors said Suckow cleaned up the blood on the floor with bleach and oil. However, when investigators did a DNA analysis on the floor they were not able to match anything to Clarke.
Prosecutors then said Suckow and Henrikson buried Clarke's body in Badlands State Park in South Dakota. His body has never been found.
Clarke's mother, Jill Williams described him as the light of her life, but said he began changing and carrying a gun when he started working for Henrikson.
"He started carrying it everywhere he went," she said. "He also told people around him he was afraid for his life and for friends of his."
Suckow was eventually arrested in January 2014 for the murder of Carlile in Spokane. Suckow's plea deal could land him in prison for 30 years, but it is up to a judge to decide sentencing at a later date.
