An ex-minor league hockey player who decided that hiring a hitman to murder his wife was cheaper than a divorce was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
A jury found Thomas Clayton guilty of first-degree murder in February for hiring his former employee Michael Beard to kill his wife, Kelley Clayton, in exchange for payment, according to the Star Gazette.
Witnesses testified at trial that the dad of two didn’t think divorcing Kelley was an option because she would “take everything,” the Star Gazette reported.
Cell phone data entered as evidence at trial showed that Beard and Thomas were in close contact in the weeks leading up to Kelley’s death and Beard left his home an hour before the slaying — after receiving a call from Thomas.
Thomas, who played for the Elmira Jackals in the early 2000s, tried to use a poker game as his alibi.
Testimony also revealed that Thomas cheated on his wife with several other women.
The maximum sentence was handed down Monday in Steuben County Court by Judge Peter Bradstreet. The judge also sentenced him to 25 years to life on a second-degree murder charge.
Reading a statement out loud in court, Thomas was adamant that he was innocent — as he thanked Kelley’s family for caring for his two kids “until I get them back.”
“There are two families that lost something in this tragedy. My children lost their mother and were ripped away from their father,” he said. “I’m sorry Kelley is dead. I’m sorry that I can’t see my kids. I had absolutely nothing to do with the death of Kelley, absolutely.”
His and Kelley’s 8-year-old daughter, Charlie, wrote a letter to the court which was read aloud.
“I feel my dad is a coward because he asked Michael Beard to kill my mom,” the little girl wrote.
Family members said Charlie suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder while her younger brother Cullen, who was just 3 when his mom was murdered, calls out for her at night.
Defense attorney Ray Schlather’s eleventh-hour bid to get Thomas’ conviction tossed — arguing that a polygraph test showed he was telling the truth about not being responsible for Kelley’s death — was denied Monday.
“Tom Clayton did not kill his wife, was not responsible for the death of his wife,” Schlather said. “I’ve been doing this 40 years. I have the utmost faith in the jury system. This is one time the jury got it wrong.”
Beard, meanwhile, is serving a life without parole sentence after he was convicted on the same charges.
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