In March 1994, 28-year-old Anson 'Buzz' Clinton was shot to death on a highway connector off Interstate 95 in Connecticut. Investigation revealed a hit-for-hire plot stemming from an intense family custody conflict over Clinton's stepdaughter, Rebecca. Clinton's sister-in-law, attorney Beth Carpenter, allegedly solicited her law firm boss and married lover, Haymon Klein, to eliminate Clinton to prevent him and her sister Kim from moving the child to Arizona. Klein hired drug dealer Mark DePrey for $8,500 to execute the killing. DePrey lured Clinton under the guise of buying a tow truck and shot him five times. All three co-conspirators were eventually convicted and sentenced to prison terms, with Carpenter receiving life without parole in 2002.
Country: United States
State/Province: Connecticut, United States
City/Region: Old Lyme
Incident Type: Murder
Relationship Status: Extramarital relationship
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Incident Date: March 10, 1994
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How the relationship or connection began.
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1994-03-10
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Dr. Grande · Original language: English
Lawyer Having Affair with Ugly Boss Has Clothing-Challenged Dancer Killed | Beth Carpenter Analysis
Custody Conflict
The incident highlights how an ongoing family custody dispute fused with an intense workplace extramarital affair to generate a fatal conspiracy. Beth Carpenter sought total control over her niece's upbringing, fearing her sister and brother-in-law would relocate to Arizona. Leveraging her emotional hold over her employer and lover, Haymon Klein, she motivated him to arrange a contract killing using a third-party hitman.
Police initially lacked leads until a tip in May 1994 identified Mark DePrey. DePrey confessed and named attorney Haymon Klein as the paymaster. Klein fled when police sought his arrest, but was located in California in 1996 after Beth Carpenter provided key payphone details to police. Klein subsequently entered a plea deal to testify against Carpenter. Extradited from Ireland in 1999 after Connecticut agreed not to seek the death penalty, Carpenter was tried in 2002, convicted on all charges, and sentenced to life without parole.
The primary investigative difficulty was establishing direct physical evidence linking Beth Carpenter to the contract killing. The prosecution's case rested almost entirely on co-conspirator testimony from Haymon Klein, who had severe credibility issues, including cocaine addiction, an antisocial personality disorder diagnosis, and a history of dishonesty.
The prosecution argued that Beth Carpenter initiated the homicide plan to stop Buzz Clinton from moving her niece to Arizona. After an initial hesitation, a false report of injury to the child prompted Klein to reactivate hitman Mark DePrey. DePrey staged a vehicle purchase meeting, led Clinton onto a highway connector, and shot him five times.
Escalating legal disputes over child guardianship accompanied by extreme emotional obsession in an extramarital dynamic represent high-risk warning signs. The willingness to resort to illegal, violent solutions grew out of unmanaged domestic hostility combined with access to criminal contacts through a legal practice.
Intense familial custody conflicts can escalate to extreme violent outcomes when external individuals are drawn into the grievance. The case demonstrates the power of co-conspirator testimony in organized contract killings where direct physical evidence against the orchestrator is absent.
The probate court battle over guardianship of Rebecca and explicit friction between Beth Carpenter and Buzz Clinton indicated severe, unresolvable domestic conflict.
A tipster naming drug dealer Mark DePrey provided the breakthrough clue, leading to his confession and exposure of the entire conspiracy chain.
The strongest evidence consisted of the detailed confession by triggerman Mark DePrey and co-conspirator testimony from Haymon Klein, supported by telephone records.
Motorists reported seeing Buzz Clinton's parked Firebird with the driver's door open and observing a tall, lanky man enter a blue car parked behind it before driving away rapidly.
Initial dead ends dissolved when DePrey confessed. Klein later reversed his stance after fleeing, agreeing to a plea deal that shifted focus onto Beth Carpenter as the central instigator.
Whether Haymon Klein acted entirely independently to impress Beth Carpenter or directly under her explicit direction remained a subject of ongoing legal argument during appeals.