Phone Call Was Taped, Attorrneys Argue

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.