Phone Call Was Taped, Attorrneys Argue

Wed., April 19, 1995

From Staff And Wire Reports

Attorneys for accused murderer Michael E. Clements say his former fiancee was working for the police when she taped a phone call from her hospital bed during which Clements admitted trying to kill her.

Clements, 44, of Blackfoot, is charged in the Aug. 17 shooting death of Mary Ellen Johnson-Hill, 35, and the wounding of her niece, Lori Ann Oakes, 28, in Oakes’ Idaho Falls apartment. Oakes spent three weeks in the hospital, but survived a single gunshot to the chest.

Clements is scheduled for trial June 6 on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Clements called Oakes three times from his jail cell nearly two weeks after the shooting while she remained in the hospital, according to court testimony.

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Phone Call Was Taped, Attorrneys Argue

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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