Published: June 21, 2008 11:12 pm      

Defendant visits home in search of evidence

EVERETT — Joseph W. Clark, the man accused of kidnapping and murdering Holly Notestine, got to go home for a short time Saturday to search for what he earlier described as evidence needed for his defense.

The visit lasted about an hour at the home of Clark’s mother, Eunice Clark, and was conducted under tight security.

Clark was transported to the scene 13 miles east of Bedford by members of the Bedford County sheriff’s department, all dressed in plain clothes and driving an unmarked sport utility vehicle with tinted windows.

He was taken from the courthouse shortly after court adjourned around 5:10 p.m. and brought out of the house shortly before 6:30 p.m.

State police in marked and unmarked cruisers also were present, with troopers in two cruisers parked at the entrance to the quarter-mile long dirt road on a ridge outside of Everett.

Clark’s attorney, Thomas Crawford, and Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins could not be reached for comment Saturday night.

Ronald Grubb, Notestine’s partner and the father of her two children, said he heard about the visit from friends who live in the vicinity of the Clark farm.

“They left him come home. He was handcuffed and shackled,” said Grubb, who was angry at not being told prior to the visit.

Neighbors living along Route 26 near the Clark farm watched the activity outside the farmhouse located in a little valley. They expressed concerns about their safety.

On Monday, Clark’s attorney asked the court to allow his client four hours in the house where he lived prior to the 2005 arrest.

He wanted to search for statements he said he got from two clerks at a convenience store in Warfordsburg stating the time he stopped for gas and pretzels on his way home from Hancock, Md., the evening Notestine disappeared.

His mother, fiancee and attorney already had unsuccessfully searched his bedroom for the documents that he said would provide an alibi.

It could not be immediately determined if any documents were located.

Saturday marked the fifth day of testimony in the capital murder case against Clark, a day that began with a meeting in the chambers of Judge Daniel Howsare.

The 15-minute session included the prosecution, defense, Sheriff Charwin Reichelderfer and the court stenographer.

The court day ended around 5:10 p.m. with Howsare allowing Crawford to meet with Clark in a conference room near the courtroom prior to adjourning for the day.

Higgins opposed Clark’s visit home, fearing Clark, who would know the location of weapons in the farmhouse, may attempt to escape, harm the deputies or harm himself.

Crawford said the evidence would be important to his client’s defense. It remains unclear when Howsare ruled on the request.

Clark has been in jail without bail since his April 30, 2005 arrest.

Clark, 49, a former iron worker who lived with his widowed mother, maintains he is innocent. At the time when Notestine was kidnapped, he was on his way back from Hancock, Clark contends.

The Everett Area Fire Company was called to the Clark home early the next morning to find the defendant’s car in flames.

Saturday’s testimony focused on the cause of the fire, along with a tire mark left at the Grubb-Notestine farm linked to Clark’s car.

Trooper Craig Grassmyer said he eliminated smoking, engine and electrical malfunctions as potential causes for the fire.

“It was intentionally set by human hand,” Grassmyer said. “It’s a deliberately set fire.”

No accelerants were detected, something that could have soaked into the floor carpeting and burned up.

Sgt. Ken Deskiewicz, with state police forensic services in Harrisburg, conducted significant testing of the tire prints left in the driveway of the farm as well as the badly burned tires taken from the car.

Clark’s car had two Goodyear, one Stampede and a Cordovan Criteria, an after-market tire that is not sold within 50 miles of Bedford, Deskiewicz said.

It was the Cordovan tire on the right front that left the best marking.

“Most of the tire is missing. I couldn’t get a full comparison,” he said. “The tire design on the Cordovan Criteria did match the design of the plastic cast. The tread design on that tire could have left that crime scene impression.”