Ila Mae Clark

Ila Mae Clark

Homicide

Ila Mae “Sis” Clark
73 YOA
116 Iowa Ave. W.
Marshalltown, IA
Marshall County
August 29, 2001

Case Summary by Jody Ewing

Marshalltown in Marshall County

Ila Mae Clark was found beaten to death in her Marshalltown, Iowa home on August 29, 2001. An autopsy showed the 73-year-old died from multiple head injuries.

Marshall County in Iowa

Clark managed a seven-unit apartment complex where many residents paid cash. About $500 was missing from Clark’s home, which was located less than 100 yards from the apartment building.

No fingerprints or DNA were found, and no suspect has ever been named in the case.

Assistant police chief Brian Batterson — a former detective who worked the original case — told the Marshalltown Times-Republican in an August 2011 interview that there had been some suspicion of a couple staying at a nearby hotel, but police had been unable to find evidence connecting them to Clark’s slaying. They believe robbery was the original motive.

Courtesy photo Ken Black/Times-Republican

Capt. Brian Batterson of the Marshalltown Police Dept. looks over Ila Mae Clark’s case file.

Batterson said he remembers the date well. High temperatures reached 86 degrees that Wednesday, and Batterson had been on his way to execute a search warrant in a drug bust. He was diverted by a call, he told the Times-Republican, after another officer requested assistance at 116 Iowa Avenue West. There, Batterson went inside and found the elderly woman beaten to death.

A Fareway receipt found in Clark’s purse placed her at the store at 5:21 p.m. on Aug. 28, so police knew she’d been alive at least 24 hours before her body was discovered. Given the amount of traffic in the area, officials believe Clark was murdered some time after dark that same evening, or before sunrise the next day.

Courtesy photo Ken Black/Times-Republican

The Marshalltown home where Ila Mae Clark was found beaten to death.

Although he’s committed all the case’s facts to memory, the assistant chief is reluctant to divulge any key details lest the value of the little evidence collected be damaged. Nor will he reveal what kind of object police believe was used to beat Clark. Batterson said crime scene details indicated that at least two individuals were in Clark’s home, and that a third party may have waited outside in a getaway car.

A feisty woman less than one week away from her 74th birthday, Clark had planned to celebrate the day by attending a casino with a friend.

Batterson said a confrontation with the intruders may have led to Clark’s death.

About Ila Mae Clark

Courtesy Times-Republican

Ila Mae Clark — called “Sis” by many — was born September 4, 1927 in Wright County. She married Donald Clark, her second husband, on April 14, 1962, in Princeton, Missouri. After moving to Marshalltown, she worked as a cook at the Iowa Veterans Home and at Grandview Heights Nursing Home. She also was a member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars auxiliaries.

Sources:

• Marshalltown Police Department
• “Investigators hope for leads six years after local murder,” Times-Republican, March 9, 2008
• “The unwanted anniversary: 10 years after the brutal murder of Marshalltown’s Ila Mae Clark the search continues for her killer,” The Times Republican, Aug. 28, 2011
• “Iowa killing remains unsolved 10 years later,” WCF Courier, Aug. 28, 2011
• “Marshalltown murder unsolved after 10 years,” Globe Gazette, Aug. 29, 2011