A 76-year-old woman repeatedly beat her 63-year-old boyfriend with a metal baseball bat over the course of a day and a half, she told police after they found the victim unconscious and bloody in a closet in a northeast D.C. home, according to court documents.
The suspect, Thomasine Bennett, met officers responding to a report of trouble shortly before 1 p.m. Friday and told them her boyfriend was in the back and made her smoke the street drug "love boat" the previous night, according to court documents. She showed them to a hallway closet barricaded with a board and removed the board and opened the closet to reveal Walter Mack Clark unconscious, unresponsive and naked in the fetal position with his hands bound.
Clark was pronounced dead at Howard University Hospital about an hour later.
Clark's family believes Bennett lured him to her home on 21st Street NE.
Bennett told investigators Clark asked her to marry him on Valentine's Day while they were at a club, but she said she was tired of loving him and tired of him being with other women, according to court documents. Also on Valentine's Day, she almost got into a fight with someone else over Clark, she told investigators.
Bennett told police she beat him with a bat various times Thursday and Friday, according to court documents. A witness claims to have observed beatings both days and hearing Bennett call Clark a demon, police said.
The witness also claimed to have been held at gunpoint by Bennett at one point and struck on the head when escaping the home, but the witness didn't call police, according to court documents. The witness has a history of drug abuse and claimed to have bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, but the witness claimed to not be using drugs Thursday or Friday, though did admit drinking vodka with Bennett Thursday.
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Police did see the witness had a head injury, according to court documents.
Police arrested Bennett Friday and charged her with assault with intent to kill. After an autopsy revealed Clark died of blunt force trauma, the charge was upgraded to first-degree murder, police said.
Her public defender did not immediately return a message Sunday.
Bennett and Clark met at a home for senior citizens where he lived. She would sometimes go to his home to eat.
Clark received a $5,200 insurance settlement recently, but it is unknown if that was a motive.
Clark, a retired cook, previously had been married to another woman for 23 years until they divorced two years ago. He'd also lost part of his foot to diabetes.