Family boosts reward with release of murder documentary

Nov. 14—Amateur sleuths are in luck: The monetary reward for information on one of Bakersfield's ugliest cold cases more than tripled just as the Discovery Channel released a 42-minute program earlier this month jogging local memories about the murder of real estate professional Bradley St. Clair 21 years ago Aug. 7.

The Paula Zahn episode titled "Alarm & Betrayal" grips viewers with new footage and interviews of St. Clair's family and Bakersfield Police Department detectives telling how the case unfolded and ultimately led to life sentences for Susan Clevenger and her boyfriend Keith Bryan Shell.

The audience is left with a strong impression the couple may have had help. Could Shell really have managed to tape together the legs of St. Clair, a fit and full-grown man, amid a desperate struggle, with or without the help of his pregnant girlfriend? And whose fresh blood was that on the office door?

St. Clair's family urges local residents to watch the episode, which first aired Nov. 6 and remains available for viewing online. Hoping someone might spot something and realize they have important information to share, the family recently raised the reward for cracking the case to $75,000.

The victim's mother, Arlana St. Clair, said she wouldn't have gone through the "emotionally ripping" experience of telling Zahn's crew about her son's murder this summer if she didn't think it might turn up a lead.

"It was very well presented, very accurate," she said. "We were very appreciative, of course, of the fact that they did a story because it allows us to remind the public that we're still looking for the third or fourth suspect that might have assisted Keith."

ALARM RESPONSE

The first anyone uninvolved with the crime knew about Bradley's murder was when an alarm went off at the offices of St. Clair Real Estate at 3401 Wible Road shortly before 6 p.m. Aug. 7, 2000.

The Bakersfield Police Department, contacted by the agency's alarm company, sent an officer to check the premises. Unable to find signs of forced entry in a part of town that didn't usually see much criminal activity, the officer was soon called off to another matter.

Arlana decided to check on what she assumed was a false alarm. Noticing Bradley's car in the parking lot, she knocked on the door, then banged on the door, but got no response. She called the police and only later realized how fortunate she had been not to enter and see the condition in which her son's body had been left.

Bradley had been bound with tape and strangled by his own tie amid clear signs of a fight. No money had been stolen but Bradley's wedding ring, watch and wallet were gone. The loaded gun in his desk was untouched. There was a small blood stain on his office door. Tiles in his office and that of the bookkeeper had been pushed aside.

"It was mind-boggling for all of us," BPD Detective Steve Ramsey told Zahn's crew.

BUSINESS TROUBLE?

Initially investigators suspected the murder had resulted from a business transaction gone wrong. They interviewed the company's recently evicted tenants. All had an alibi. The case went cold.

Then they got a call from the brother of Bradley's secretary, Susan Clevenger. He told them she had approached him about helping with a scheme that could make them both rich. It involved kidnapping her boss.

Presented with her brother's accusation, Clevenger incriminated Shell, whose fingerprints were confirmed to have been those found on duct tape at the crime scene.

Later investigators concluded Clevenger had masterminded the crime. On the day of the murder she had called Bradley's brother, Frank, confirming he was still out of town, presumably to make sure the victim would be alone at the office.

Clevenger and Shell were convicted of attempted kidnapping and murder. They are serving life sentences.

Ramsey said he remains unconvinced Shell had acted alone, or with Clevenger, in binding Bradley. The BPD's investigation continues.

UNSOLVED?

Frank found the program hard to watch but bearable. He's optimistic it will lead to a tip, he said, or that a DNA match will eventually turn up.

"Whose blood was that on the door?" he asked. "It's never been determined."

His mother wanted to add a final word.

"We're, all the family is, very appreciative of the efforts that the law enforcement community has put behind solving this question, this mystery," she said.

The episode can be viewed online at Directv.com and Discoveryplus.com.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the BPD at 661-327-7111.