Trial for Omro man charged with double homicide to begin Monday
The trial of an Omro man charged with a double homicide begins Monday in Winnebago County Circuit Court before Judge John Jorgensen.
Andrew Clark, 54, is charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one count of attempting to mutilate a corpse for allegedly killing his wife and another man in 2020.
According to the criminal complaint against Clark:
On the morning of Oct. 21, 2020, he called police and said his house was on fire, someone had broken in and his wife wasn't breathing.
When police arrived at the residence, on Elo Road in Omro, they found two people dead: Melissa Matz, 36, of Omro, who was Clark's wife; and Lavar Wallace, 40, of Appleton. Officers detected a strong smell of gasoline or some other type of accelerant at the scene. They also found burned rags that appeared to have been soaked in the accelerant in a bathroom near one of the victims and a candle that seemed to have been used as a fuse.
Investigators discovered Clark had been with Matz and Wallace, along with Michael Draine, an Iowa man, the previous night at the Peppermint Hippo, an adult entertainment club at 1413 Green Valley Road in the town of Neenah.
Clark initially didn't mention Draine when interviewed by investigators, and said he was "a drug connection" after police asked Clark who the fourth individual was in surveillance video obtained from the Peppermint Hippo.
The surveillance video also showed an argument between Clark and Matz.
Hours later, at 3:32 a.m., Clark and Draine were seen on surveillance video arriving at Greene's Pour House, at 44 W. Sixth Ave. in Oshkosh, and leaving at 4:53 a.m. Clark told investigators he works as a bar cleaner.
Clark told investigators he stopped at the BP gas station on Ninth Avenue in Oshkosh on his way home from Greene's. Investigators found surveillance video of Clark arriving at the gas station at 7:08 a.m. and leaving at 7:15 a.m. The video showed Clark rummaging in the back of his vehicle, then going to the garbage can near his fuel pump.
Police verified with an employee that the garbage hadn't been changed since Clark's visit, then investigated the trash. They found two black gloves with two spent .40 caliber shell casings inside that matched the .40 caliber shell casings recovered from the scene.
Investigators interviewed Draine, who told police he was Clark's nephew by marriage.
Draine told police Clark and Matz had been arguing earlier in the night about money that Clark believed Matz had either taken or lost. When they returned to the home from the Peppermint Hippo, the argument continued in a bedroom, with the door closed. Draine said he and Wallace were in the house when they heard a single gunshot from the bedroom. They went in and found Matz with a gunshot wound to her chest and Clark holding a gun, Draine said.
Draine told police Clark later said he found the missing money.
Draine told investigators he and Wallace went to the garage to get a gas can, at Clark's direction. Draine was aware Clark was pouring gas around the residence and said Wallace was "freaking out" and seemed to be hyperventilating. While Draine was outside the residence, he heard another gunshot and saw that Clark had shot Wallace in the living room.
Afterward, Clark got into the vehicle, still with the gun, and told Draine that Draine had to help him clean a bar, which would be an alibi for the shootings.
Investigators believed Clark attempted to start a fire in the bathroom before leaving for Greene's Pour House.
Based on a witness who said they saw an SUV matching the description of the one Clark drove return to the residence, investigators estimate Clark and Draine got back from cleaning the bar around 5:10 a.m. Clark later drove Draine to a hotel and gave him a backpack, money and a cell phone Draine was supposed to get rid of. Draine told investigators he left the backpack near railroad tracks by the hotel, which investigators determined was in Appleton. Later that day, Draine's sister picked him up, and Draine ditched the phone at a gas station.
Draine told investigators where he left the backpack, and they located it. Inside, there was a gun that matched the caliber of the casings found at the residence and the gas station garbage, as well as over $3,000 in cash, MDMA pills, about 3/4-pound of marijuana and about five ounces of cocaine.
Draine was arrested and charged with harboring or aiding a felon, but his charges were dismissed in January of this year. In the motion to dismiss, Winnebago County District Attorney Eric Sparr stated that the state found Draine's statements credible and that he was "much more of a mere witness to these crimes, rather than a person who should be prosecuted."
RELATED:Omro man faces homicide charges in connection with deaths of his wife and another man
Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Trial for Omro man charged with double homicide to begin Monday
