Bitch are you crazy? No sweetie we haven't All buried a baby in a backyard.....i wish i knew you so I could punch you dead ass in the face....
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Duane Clark buried a baby in his backyard
But authorities say no crime was committed
"There were so many frickin' stories coming out of so many different people," Rasmussen recalls. "I'm just like, what's the truth? Just tell the truth of what happened to this poor child."
Rasmussen and Johnson conspired to get Duane to a police station, whether he would do it voluntarily or not. Rasmussen stuck by Duane's side the rest of the day.
Crystal Police Dept.
The Clark family home in Crystal as police found it in February
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"I didn't trust him. I knew he would run," Rasmussen says. "I wanted him to turn himself in. I wanted to have justice for that baby."
Just after noon, Duane Clark pulled his two children out of Northport Elementary School and dropped them off at Trisha Jean Johnson's apartment. That evening, police arrived to take them into protective custody at a shelter for kids. There, Clark's progeny described a culture of violence at the family home.
Ten-year-old Victoria Rose told cops her parents "fight a little bit," and said she doesn't like it. Victoria said her parents "have hit each other when they fight and they say bad words to each other."
Three days before police took them to the shelter, Victoria said, her parents had a fight where they exchanged blows until Tiffany asked, "Why did you hit me?"
Tellingly, Victoria seemed to enjoy the accommodations at the shelter.
"I like it here," she told investigators. "It's fun to have books and we can watch movies, and we can relax and stuff."
That sentiment was echoed by Wesley, who told investigators he was "fine" being at the shelter. Neither child asked about going home.
His parents "fighted" a lot, Wesley said, yelling at each other and throwing punches. He would see them fight "most of the time."
Wesley's eyes welled up as he told investigators that seeing his parents fight made him mad. Tears rolled down his cheeks.
Asked if his parents ever talked about having more children, Wesley said no.
"They didn't want to have kids."
Inside the Crystal police station's soft interview room, a small space off the front lobby with cheap red couches, a small coffee table, and bare walls, Duane told cops about his third child.
Late on an August night in 2008, Duane was in another part of the house when he noticed Tiffany was missing. He found her in the bathroom, where she had given birth in the toilet.
Duane said the baby was about the size of a five-pound sack of flour. He freaked and considered calling 911, but his wife talked him down.
"No, no," Tiffany said, according to Duane. "It's already dead."
Duane paced the house, unsure what to do next.
"All I was ever told was, 'It's already dead, there's nothing you can do for it,'" Duane explained. "Calling someone ain't gonna do no good."
Duane took the dead baby and lay it on top of a clear plastic bag across the floor. After checking the baby for signs of life, Duane took the fetus and buried it two feet underground in the backyard.
He'd had no idea that his wife was pregnant, Duane told investigators.
Then Duane shocked the cops with a second story: Two years later, Tiffany gave birth to another baby inside the home, this time in the bedroom. Tiffany claimed that this baby was dead on arrival too, but Duane saw signs of life and rushed it to North Memorial Hospital, where the infant survived.
Duane told the doctors he wanted to have the baby but his wife didn't.
"She won't let me have it," Duane claims he said at the hospital. "It would ruin our marriage and she won't let me take it home."
Tiffany sat in the Crystal Police Department's jailhouse conference room, a snug cube with one table and white brick walls, down the hall from the city's holding cells. She had come to the police station shortly after Duane arrived.
She told investigators Duane didn't react well to the news of Tiffany's third pregnancy. "He had asked me to get an abortion and I told him I wouldn't," Tiffany explained. "If he didn't want it that we could give it to somebody who's more deserving, and he just refused."
Instead of taking Tiffany to the clinic, Duane researched abortion online and bought over-the-counter medications to manufacture a miscarriage, giving her a cocktail of Tylenol, Advil, and "an unknown little red pill."
It didn't work.
Next, Duane attempted to abort the child by having Tiffany lie on the ground while he dropped heavy weights on her stomach.
That failed too.
Finally, on that fateful August night, Duane came home from work with a white barbed plastic strip used to clean drains. Duane cut off the barbs along the edges and filed the end into a sharp point.
Tiffany lay on the ground and Duane stuck the homemade spear into her vagina. Unbearable pain spread through Tiffany's body as her water broke.
Tiffany squatted over the toilet and birthed the baby into the bowl.
Duane grabbed the baby "right away" and told Tiffany to lie down and push out the placenta. Afterward, Duane helped Tiffany — who was losing a lot of blood — into the bathtub. She passed out there but not before hearing what she thought was the baby screaming.
35 comments
Hunter may not have his biological father in his life, but, he has Papa, Grandpa, uncle Justin and "dad" Neil. Wants to grow up and be like uncle Justin! I only wish the other kids had these influences in their lives. Melissa is a fantastic mom and I'm a blessed to have such an amazing nephew. Its a shame hunter has Duanes genes, but, he will continue to grow up with values, morals, respect and the love of & for his family!
And that's all he needs is a great family around him use all just need to be there for him and never let that scumbag near him and make sure he has the best life ever he will always have his dna but fuck it that's not wat makes a great person its the people around him
There is no need to worry about my son being around him. I will NEVER let that happen. I was always worried that he might change his mind and start coming around but, I don't have to worry about that anymore. We are so much better without him. Thanks for the encouraging words, Karen. It means a lot. :)
This type of behavior is more common in the "Coon Community"..It's known as "keepin it real".
Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that the baby was stillborn and no crime was committed regarding the birth. It still seems logical that to bury a human being in one's yard is in itself a criminal act. Citypages ran a story, "The Last Kennel," on January 6,1999 about pet cemeteries. From that piece: "It's illegal to dig a hole for your pet in the back yard or toss it in somebody's dumpster." So...illegal to bury your dog in your yard, but no charges filed when you bury a child? Is this not tampering with a body, at the very least?
Could this article have more irrelevant details (i.e. Mr. Clark's sexual proclivities, the condition of Ms. Laue's home)? More ethical violations (i.e. printing children's names)? More illusions about "evidence" that doesn't meet standards required for court? Nice attempt at journalism, Mr. Pratt. Perhaps you should reserve your skills for the opinion areas of online media. And "Shame on you" City Pages, for allowing this to be published, much less with so much fanfare. And "Shame on you" too, Crystal Policy Department for facilitating the leaked correspondence. Your future relationship with the County Attorney's Office has now been tarnished for years-to-come. But kudo's to Hennepin County Attorney's Office for demonstrating courageous judgement in what surely was a heart-wrenching decision. And, gratitude to Hennepin County Child Protection for what appears to be a successful termination of parental rights for the infant that was surrendered.
keep your head up melissa and dont you worry none of us gave any thought to this article other than the shame that prosecutor should feel for not prosecuting them!!! KEEP WORKING HARD MELISSA YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WILL BE IN MY PRAYERS!!!
Thanks Jessica! That really means a lot. I was shocked about the whole situation but more shocked when I found out that they werent going to prosecute them. I think it's messed up. I dont understand how someone can walk into the police station and say that there is a baby in their back yard and get away with it. It doesnt make sense to me at all!
They both agree that the baby in the back yard was a boy, when in fact it was a girl. Shouldn't the authorities be looking for the baby boy ?! Keep his name out there and lets get justice !
I first off; I want to say that I am very disgusted with parts of the article. I was put out there to look like white trash and a whore when I was 17. I never “logged onto yahoo chat to look for a good time.” Also saying that I live in a “public housing unit” as well as being “seated in a cramped living room.” We were never seated in my living room for one, and for second who are you to say that it is cramped?! Where I live and how I live never should have been in the article. It has nothing to do with this story at all! I am doing the best that I can for my child. I graduated high school with my class, with a newborn baby, with no help from Duane. I have a full time job, take care of my son and make sure that he has everything that he needs in life. But, of course none of that made the paper. I look back and wish that I would have never talked to Gregor Pratt. This is Duane’s whole ordeal and not mine. I am living my life without him and raising my son without him. I don’t need my son to be link to him at all. I made the mistake by talking to the media and I will never make that mistake again! I did not know what kind of monster Duane was. I can’t change the past and I wouldn’t either. I have the most beautiful gift that anyone could have ever given me and that is my son. He is my pride in joy! I’m glad Duane walked away. That’s the best thing that he could have ever done. I now have a wonderful boyfriend of 4 years who has stepped up and has taken the role as a father to my son.
Thanks Karen! My son is happy, I dont think he could ask for anything more. I have and will continue to give provide for my son and give him everything he needs. I couldnt have asked for a better son.
From the ages reported it looks like Tiffany would have only been 17 also when she was first pregnant. Count your blessings- you could have been stuck with this monster.
MomL, there is no way I would have stayed with that man. I dont put up with crap like that. He threatened me and my son once and that was enough for me to call the cops. No way was I go to stand for that. No one should have to put up with that.
Dig a really big hole and throw some donuts in it. When these two fat azses go in to retrieve them just fill it in.
A very sad story of major dysfunction for all the people involved. Not only were these individuals toatlly messed up has human beings, but everyone around them were just as messed up. Duane should have had a vassectomy years ago if he didn't want to father any children. Sadly, there are so many folks just like Duane and his family that keep the tragic cylcle of abuse and stupidity ongoing, except that they may not murder their offspring. I hope his other chidlren are able to live as far away as their parents as they can get - this would be a great follow up story, Mr. Pratt.
Classic battered woman syndrome. This man is a monster. I hope she gets the help she needs to heal and become a whole person.
If the baby "drowed" in the toilet then it would have been born alive. Of course she wasn't getting prenatal care; that which could have prevented this in the first place. Which means he knew not only about the 4th but 3rd pregnancy. Murder if you ask me.
my classmate's sister-in-law brought home $15004 the prior month. she makes money on the internet and bought a $384500 house. All she did was get lucky and use the clues revealed on that website top of this comment
Both Tiffany and Duane Clark need to be sterilized ASAP. No way in hell should these losers have the ability to breed
Why was it necessary to recount the activities of these next door monsters in such lurid detail? This sad story of dysfunctional violence doesn't do anything to make anything better. It's not an expose that will help us stop this next time, it's just a narrative journey into pointlessness.
It is porn. But I suppose it's worthwhile to remind the rest of us that all is not necessarily well around us.
There's no question Duane Clark will wind up in prison, or dead long before his time. Whatever is wrong with him is the kind of thing that only gets worse. You have to wonder, "Worse than this?", but yes; worse than this. Our legal system isn't perfect, and sometimes it isn't even very good. But we must remember that our system tends to do the worst in the most sensational and outrageous cases. That's too bad, but it's far worse to legislate or enforce laws on the basis of the most extreme situations. Maybe prosecutors can't prosecute anyone in this situation. But these people flagrantly can't act right, and it doesn't look like they're suddenly going to become functional human beings. Also bear in mind they have to live every day being themselves. Nobody's getting away with anything here, in the larger sense.
So, the prosecutor sends a letter to the police department listing the reasons why they can't prosecute Duane. The prosecutor does not need to list the reasons why Duane is likely guilty, because the police already know those reasons... they're the ones who recommended it to the prosecutor. Tiffany is a completely unreliable witness, and without physical evidence, you can't convict someone of murder if you can't prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that there has even been a murder. There is no way that that standard is being met here. There's too much confusion and not enough physical evidence to prove murder. This may change in the future; some new technology may allow them to reopen the case later with more physical evidence, etc. But now Duane has a list of holes to poke in any argument the prosecutor tries to make against him in court thanks to an "anonymous" police tipster and Gregory Pratt. It is entirely possible that Duane's eventual lawyer may have overlooked a point that prosecutor listed in his response to the police. Thanks to Gregory and our friend at the police station, there is no chance of that now. Making it that much harder to successfully prosecute a wife-beating baby killer. Which is why these documents are "confidential". You can only take someone to trial for murder once. If you lose, it doesn't matter what physical evidence or new testimony comes out, you can't charge them with that murder again. So when you do it, you want to make sure you're going to win. The basis of the entire case for murder against Duane was the word of Tiffany who has every reason in the world to lie to cover herself. The prosecutor is doing their job by not taking a case they can't win in spite of political pressure. Despite the author's attempt to the contrary, the prosecutor is one of the very few people in this entire story who comes out not looking like a moron. Wish the author and the "anonymous" informant at the police department could say the same. It's not about what you believe, it's about what you can prove. So congratulations, Gregory, you've helped keep Duane out of jail, continuing to spread anger and fear. Hope it was worth it.
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