ATF agent charged for murder in US Virgin Islands
ATF Special Agent Will Clark goes on trial for murder later this year for a 2008 murder in the USVI (ATF)
ST. THOMAS, USVI (ABC News) – An ATF agent is being tried for murder in the U.S. Virgin Islands in a case that has pitted local cops against federal agents, and caused furious U.S. law enforcement authorities to withhold help from local police while crime and gun violence in the popular tourist destination continue to climb.
Special agent William Clark is charged with second degree murder for shooting his neighbor Marcus Sukow at their St. Thomas condo complex in 2008. Sukow’s girlfriend had sought help from Clark during a domestic dispute, and Sukow was angry, inebriated and wielding a metal flashlight when Clark shot him. Local and federal authorities differ, however, on whether the shooting was justified.
What is not in dispute is that on September 7, 2008, Clark was leaving his condo when he saw his neighbor Marguerite Duncan trying to back her car up. Her boyfriend Marcus Sukow was blocking her car and yelling at her. Witnesses said Sukow and Duncan had been drinking at brunch before returning to the apartment complex.
Witnesses say Sukow took a foot-long metal flashlight and struck Duncan’s car. Duncan got out of her car and got into Clark’s car after he agreed to give her a ride. Sukow then yelled at Duncan to get out of Clark’s car, and Clark told Sukow to go inside.
Sukow then approached Clark’s car with flashlight in hand, and either struck Clark’s car with the flashlight or swung it at Sukow or both, according to witness accounts. Clark, who as an ATF agent is always on duty and always armed, shot Sukow and killed him.
After the local government decided to prosecute Clark, the ATF stopped sending agents to the U.S. Virgin Islands. A confidential letter obtained by the St. Thomas Source, a local newspaper, gives U.S. Attorney Paul Murphy’s account of the “collateral damage” to law enforcement in the islands, and indicates that other federal agents who remain in the islands are not assisting the local police department.
“Given the current legal and factual positions taken by the Virgin Islands government, federal agents are not responding and will not respond, wrote Murphy in a May 13, 2009 letter to U.S.V.I. Attorney General Vincent Frazer.
It was not until after Clark was charged in 2009 that a witness account emerged in which Sukow was charging at Clark and swinging his flashlight before he was shot. The witness who provided the account said she had given local police this account at the time of the incident, but the local police did not make it part of the official record.
The case has become a cause celebre for federal law enforcement agents. Advocates of Clark say he was operating under the federal Good Samaritan rule, which says officers may intervene when physical injury to someone is imminent.
Rep. Chris Lee (R.-N.Y.) plans to introduce a resolution in Congress this week in support of Clark, and said in a letter seeking a cosponsor for the resolution that “the facts show [Clark's] actions were heroic, not criminal.”
Earlier this month, the acting director of the ATF recorded a video message for ATF agents to update them on the Clark case. Kenneth Melson, who emphasized that an ATF shooting review panel had unanimously concluded Clark’s actions were justified and legal, said he knew agents were troubled by Clark’s case. “I have been monitoring all aspects this case to ensure that I am taking all possible actions to support Will,’ said Melson. “Accordingly, all agents have been removed from the island until further notice while we make sure that our agents are never again subjected to the ordeal being faced by Will Clark.”
“I think the Virgin Islands Attorney General should be giving Will an award, not violating his human rights by convicting him in a medieval-run court,” said Jonathan Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, a group that represents 25,000 officers from 55 different agencies, including ATF. Said Adler, “I fully support ATF’s decision to withdraw all their enforcement officers and I encourage all agency directors to pull their law enforcement officers out of what has become the ‘lawless islands.’”
CLICK HERE to follow the ABC News Investigative Team’s coverage on Twitter.
A spokeswoman for the Virgin Islands police confirmed that in 2009, the murder rate in the Virgin Islands was 51 per 100,000 population a figure eight times the U.S. average. The violence was concentrated on St. Thomas, the center of population and the tourist industry. St. Croix and St. John, the other two major islands in the group, had far less criminal activity.
On Monday, July 12, a 14-year-old tourist from the neighboring U.S. island of Puerto Rico was killed on a tourist bus in St. Thomas when she was hit by crossfire from a gang shootout. Lizmarie Perez Chapparro, a cruise ship passenger who was taking an island tour and was headed to a popular beach, died in front of her family. A second cruise ship passenger on the bus was also injured in the crossfire, and a teenage bystander on the street was killed.
A spokeswoman in the Attorney General’s office of the U.S.V.I. declined to comment on Clark’s prosecution, other than to say that Clark was being prosecuted for a local crime, and that the decision not to transfer the case to federal court was made by the judge. Clark’s trial is currently scheduled to begin in October.
17 Responses to “ATF agent charged for murder in US Virgin Islands”
Leave a Reply
Follow Us On
Related posts
Popular Tags
Recent Comments
- FAST TRACK on UPDATE – Winston Wilson yet to take up position; cost of contract still unknown
- RAT TAIL on Her Majesty’s Prison: Tortola Hilton Hotel & Resort?
- egg face on Rapido, Simple and Easy, says BVI’s new Volleyball Coach!
- weed on Luis Sprauve trial still up in the air
- Lower Estate on Shots fired in Huntums Ghut; no injuries reported!
Geez, it seems like there is a major problem in St. Thomas with drugs, gangs, illegal guns, and murder. Maybe the U.S. should send down some Federal Agents to help with this problem that the USVI obviously cannot cope with themselves. Oh wait a minute. They did send some US ATF Agents down to help, but unfortunately if one of these agents happens to shoot one of these career criminals or habitual offenders, they are charged with murder and the illegal use of their Government issued firearms.
Wow, this makes sense. Makes me want to book a vacation with my family to the Virgin Islands. Not.
It is time for the U.S. to have some sort of presence in this 3rd world Judicial System, and time for some judge on her high horse to worry less about public and political grandstanding, and more about how a Federal Agent sent to the murder capital of the U.S Territories is fighting for his freedom after being sent there to help.
Everybody would win if the CIA ran the drug racket in USVI.
Just follow the script in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
The ATF and everybody else would be happy.
Want to reduce the crime rate?
Get DHS and call the independent drug racketeers terrorists.
Unfortunately, USVI is too small to start dropping radioactive waste
(aka Depleted Uranium or DU) ordnance.
Problem solved!
Best Luck
V
Stealy, I concur. One has to wonder what the long-term effects of this will be for the USVI. In light of the young girl recently and tragically killed on STT and an exponentially increasing violent crime rate. It wasn’t that long ago that the cruise ships pulled out of STX. I wonder how long it will take for them to avoid the territory all together.
Pelican,
The long term effects will be that none of the cruise lines and travel agents are going to be bringing their passengers and clients to these islands. The fact that the United States realized there was enough of a problem to enlist Federal Agents to help clean up the issues, should say about all that has to be said.
It isn’t as though Agent Clark shot a pillar of society, or the beloved school teacher of the Islands. He shot a long time, repeat offender who was a known abuser of women, drugs and the law, and without his intervention, may have ended with an even more horrifying conclusion. Imagine what the headlines could have been instead. The jackals at the VI Daily News would have had a field day with these:
ATF Agent Sworn to Protect Stands Idly by as Man Beats Woman to Death with Flashlight.
Agent Refuses to Help Woman Being Beaten Because, “My shift does not begin until two”.
Agent and Woman Killed as Man Beats ATF Agent Unconscious with Flashlight, then turns gun on Girlfriend.
Agent Apologizes to Woman as 260 Pound Naked Man Bludgeons Her: “I cannot help you ma’am. If I shoot him with my Government Issued Firearm, I’ll Face Murder Charges”.
This is a joke. Probably not as big a joke as the VI Police Department’s ability to conduct an investigation free of mistakes, suppressed evidence, and to actually file eyewitness reports they took detrimental to the case, but a big joke nonetheless.
Are the Virgin Islands under the impression that they can exist as a separate entity of the U.S.? Is there some far fetched idea that there is some fancy secret Constitution that in one paragraph grants the unalienable rights to their citizens as outlined in the document, and yet on the other, allows for a judge’s legal interpretation based on which rights can be granted and to whom? I never knew you got to pick and choose.
Well, let’s see, the right to bear arms is cool and all, but that pesky Amendment 6 about the speedy trial by an impartial jury…. we’ll that just seems silly. Really Judge Brenda? Really??
Did someone die and leave Judge to ascertain “… the Constitution does not follow the flag” to the Virgin Islands that are… oh that’s right, PROPERTY OF THE UNITED STATES??
The word is out. The word is getting around, and at some point, when the door to the basement gets shut, and we stop throwing our table scraps down the stairs to the filthy animals that are ruining “America’s Caribbean Paradise” let’s hope the right thing gets done.
America’s Caribbean Paradise? What do we get to name it when the murder rate gets to TEN times the rate in the entire contiguous United States?
As a retired federal agent with over twenty – five years of service I will in active service took action in crimes in progress that were state in nature in New York City . If the facts present themselves that the ATF agent was protecting himself or a civilian and even if the option to flee did not present itself his actin is justified.
This based upon the information was not an intentional , wanton killing of of a human . This sends a chilling effect within law enforcement , specifically federal law enforcement . What concerns me , now as a private citizen ..forget if you are even a federal agent the actions ( once again based upon information via media ) the USVI is what Jim Crow South was in times past ( Just for the record if you were white , from New York , Jewish – catholic ) you DID not want any problems down south in the 1950′s .
I as retired Federal agent and alway a law enforcement officer will help support my brother ATF agent . I will gt the word out to local PBA here in NY/NJ FOP NOT TO VACATION IN THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS .
I must stand up and say to the Acting Director of the ATF in removing all special agents out of USVI field office .
There is a major problem here with some powerful cops here ,they are in control and they do as they like with some cops. They lie under oath and cover for each other and fabricate things.
I have two close friends –practically family– who witnessed this crime first hand, uplose and personal. Agent Clark had every opportunity to defuse the situation by driving away with the woman, calling local police for help, or simply walking/running away with the woman.
Instead he shot to kill.
US law enforcement I being amazingly petty by pulling their support. Unprofessional in the extreme, and I think it has to hing on an old feud between ATF and VI cops. The VI did not give a VERY good ATF agent down there a fair shake a few years back, but that should hve nothing to do with this situation.
This was murder.
Th loosers, as always, are the families on both sides, the VI tourism industry, and the tainted opinions of people lik you who don’t get all the facts and assume the VI courts are a third-world circus.
Maybe they should issue a warning to the VI authorities giving them 24 hours to release Will Clark or else….we take him by force. Its my opinion they should just go in there with the military and take him out of there instead of sitting by and talking about it while he gets convicted to rot in some 3rd world hell hole jail where they will a** rape him day and night because hes a cop?? The feds reviewed the case and cleared him fair and square. I think they should also withdrawal all Fed $$ from the island and let it slide into chaos and death.
what witness is saying is OPINION, not FACT. When witness says Clark could have driven away, she shows a lack of understanding of the situation. In fact, according to the police record Clark could NOT “just drive away.” And, at the heart of the matter…. suggesting he could have called the cops… HE WAS THE COPS. He didn’t volunteer his way into the situation, the girlfriend ASKED for his help. Clark didn’t start the problem…. the menacing drunk did. It’s a shame he got killed… it’s a shame he was an abusive drunk. It’s a shame he attacked his girlfriend and Clark. But when these so called witnesses talk about what Clark could have done, they just haven’t got a clue. And if they were there, why weren’t THEY helping the woman under attack?? Untrustworthy as witnesses, offering only opinion, and they certainly weren’t friends of either the dead man or his girlfriend. They need to keep their opinions to themselves. Clark doesn’t deserve to be tried for murder, he deserves to be treated like a hero.
Right on, Barbara Lee! Everything you wrote is accurate as far as I can tell. Where do these people come up with their stories? And they ARE opinions, nothing more. Opinions count for nothing.
On another note, I read so much b#($*ing about cops in general. Some day I hope there is a place for all the cop-haters and whiners to sign themselves into a police data bank of sorts, i.e., put an “X” in the appropriate box:
(X) If I ever call for help, please don’t send a police officer, even if I’m screaming.
I HEREBY WAIVE MY RIGHTS TO POLICE PROTECTION
Let’s save those guys and women in uniform a lot of grief. If someone doesn’t like ‘em and they think they know how to handle violence and other crimes better, let them fend for themselves. Or they can call their “witnesses” for rescue and leave the police out of it. Put their money where their mouths are.
Witness is lying or witness’s “friends that are practically family” are lying to witness. There are a couple people that claim to have seen the whole thing that actually did not. There is at least one person that DID see the whole thing that the VIPD refused to take a statement from. Agent Clark could have easily just driven away. Had he, the girlfriend would have had the crap beaten out of her (as she had many times before). Agent Clark did the right thing AND WAS ATTACKED BY AN ARMED MAN (witness, please read this twice). Once that happened, Agent Clark was defending his own life as well as hers. The irate, drunk, stoned, naked man weighed some 260 lbs by the way. Witness, did your “friends practically family” mention these details to you? I didnt’ think so. I can find no information about some old feud between ATF and the VI. There is a lot of information/evidence about other Feds prosecuting corrupt VI officers contemporaneous to Agent Clark’s arrest. I think Clark was prosecuted as ‘pay back’ for those VI officers arrested. By the way, anybody taken the time to google VIPD’s Capt. Saldano?
InTheKnow: I agree with you. Witness sounds like somebody with ulterior motives to pitch the prosecution strategy. At the very least Witness should evaluate his/her friends. They, presuming that they actually exist, are lying about being there.
As usual, the USVI is a total joke. They have 1.1 BILLION DOLLARS in federal allocations for 100,000 people!! The largest employer is of coure, the corrupt USVI government with over 13,000 employees!!! That’s equivalent to over 30,000,000 government employees in the states!!! What a sham this place is…The cops are a joke, and don’t even compreend the law here. The politicians and oficials here are even worse, they prefer to govern based on popular decision making even if it means harming the community..Yes, take a look at what they’re doing with money here. The roads are for crap, they’re puling money away from the hosptials and school system, WAPA is literally robbing the comunity and it’s near impossible to start a small business here legally because there are so many officals psticking their fat hands out for pay-offs. Even the elections here are rigged!!! Just look at the 20 yr old voting machines that can be changed by a sinle user!! This place is a god-damned joke and the Fed should stop giving any money to this place. Finally, people here are so stupid that they berate Hovensa, who is one of the only reasons the island of St Croix is still aflota. If Hoensa pulls, out, ths country will become litle more than a nepotistic 3rd world country like Haiti, Libera or Sierra Leon. Nice job USVI governement!
Too bad the USVI government does not have
Goldman-Sachs to justify the money they receive and apparently waste.
Your posting suggests that things run smoothly in Penn Ave.
Your comments on voting machines are puzzling.
They suggest that you find the Florida electronic voting results the pattern to follow.
As per expert advice: Electronic voting is bogus (can’t be crosschecked independently).
Thus, what experts recommend is old fashion paper ballot.
There are quite a few YouTube clips explaining this.
Finally, whoever believes that 1% difference justifies electing a
President, has to get a crash course on Statistical Significance.
Just look at the Opinion Polls.
They always include an Plus|Minus error.
This error is critical.
Moral of Story:
“Look Yourself At The Mirror” (so to speak).
Yes, things are bad in USVI.
No better in the mainland.
Check OSW movement and its progress.
Good to check independent media
(before it serves The Corporations).
God Bless America and USVI!
Why not let the courts sort this out? Isn’t that what they are there for? Why not ask the Governor to intervene and help the officer for his work. Everyone has their opinion of what should be done. The investigators felt that excessive force was used so let them sort it out. Cops are human just like everyone else and are prone to make errors. Personally, I think 5 shots was a lot but I’m not an officer so I don’t know what was going through his mind. Gman… What are you doing to make the islands a better place? If you don’t like it leave. To everyone else, what does boycotting the islands do for you or for us? When will you become part of the solution and not part of the problem?
This is indeed an unfortunate incident. I wish all the families involved God’s blessings.
I’m not here to say that Marcus Sukow was a victim. I just want to get the fact that he was a Biologist from mainland U.S. working in the islands, just like Mr. Clark. It seems like people are under the impression that he was a local.
Wait, the criminal ofganization known as the ATF is threatening to leave the USVI? Where’s the downside? Wish they would leave the Continental US, then we wouldn’t have murders like Ruby Ridge and Waco. Whether the agent was in the wrong or not, the ATF leaving is a good thing!