← Going West: True Crime
Going West: True Crime
Hadden Clark // 524
00:51:25
In the 1980s and ’90s, a deeply disturbed man from New Jersey drifted from town to town, hiding behind a soft-spoken voice and a childlike demeanor. Seemingly tormented by delusions, and obsessed with revenge, he harbored gruesome secrets. By the time investigators connected him to the 1986 disappearance of six-year-old Michele Dorr, and later, the baffling vanishing of Harvard graduate Laura Houghteling, it was clear: this man wasn’t just strange... He was deadly. And he may have left behind more victims than anyone ever realized. This is the story of Hadden Clark, also known, as the Cannibal Gardener.
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- [00:02]
Heath
For years, everyone thought Verizon had the.
- [00:04]
Daphne
Best network because they did. But now the best mobile network in.
- [00:08]
Heath
The US is T Mobile. T Mobile's network has the most advanced 5G with more towers and their signal.
- [00:15]
Daphne
Reaches further than ever.
- [00:16]
Heath
So you can text an Insta talk and say, you won't believe where I am. T Mobile has the best mobile Network in the US based on analysis by Ookla of speed test intelligence data 1H2025CT mobile.com network. The best reviewed film of the year is also the best horror film of the year.
- [00:35]
Teeth
Something's happening to us.
- [00:36]
Daphne
You have to get out of here now.
- [00:38]
Heath
Starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie. As you've never seen them before. The thirst in your bones. I can't explain it. Critics are raving that together is the perfect date night horror movie.
- [00:49]
Daphne
Why is this happening?
- [00:51]
Heath
That will leave you laughing and screaming in equal measure.
- [00:54]
Jack
It's gonna be okay.
- [00:58]
Heath
Together. In theaters July 30th.
- [01:00]
Jack
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- [01:31]
Teeth
Foreign what is going on? True crime fans, I'm your host, Teeth.
- [01:48]
Daphne
And I'm your host, Daphne.
- [01:49]
Teeth
And you're listening to Going West.
- [01:52]
Daphne
Hello, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in today. This is truly one of the most jaw dropping cases we have ever covered. It's shocking. It's disturbing. Like you have to see it to believe it.
- [02:05]
Teeth
Yeah. And I do not think that we've ever covered a killer quite like Haddon Clark. And that's not to give this asshole any sort of credit whatsoever because this guy is a top of the line piece of shit. I mean, he is the creme de la creme of pieces of shit.
- [02:21]
Daphne
And I know we're going to talk about different movies today because, like, this story almost feels fake. Like certain details are almost too shocking to even believe believe. But there are very real victims on the other end of this. So without further ado, let's just talk about it.
- [02:36]
Teeth
All right, guys, this is episode 524 of Going West. So let's get into it.
- [03:14]
Daphne
In 1986, a six year old girl in Maryland disappeared after going outside to play. And six years later, a recent Harvard grad last seen at home seemed to vanish into thin air. The only common denominator between the two victims was their acquaintance with a troubled drifter hiding a strange past and gruesome secrets. These are the brutal murders of Michelle Dorr and Laura Hodeling committed by suspected serial killer Haddon C.L. hadden Irving Clark was born on July 31, 1952, to parents Flavia and Haddon Sr. In upstate New York, joining an older brother named Bradfield and then later a younger brother named Jeffrey and a little sister named Allison. And actually, Haddon and his siblings were born into a pretty distinguished family because as Flavia claimed, she could trace her family lineage back to their arrival in the States on the Mayflower. Haddon's grandfather on his father's side was at one time the mayor of White Plains, N.Y. and Haddon Sr. So Haddon's dad was a Korean War veteran who is one of the inventors of cling wrap as well as fire resistant carpet. So, you know, no big surprise that he held a master's degree and a PhD in chemistry, which obviously then helped him create these crazy inventions.
- [05:02]
Teeth
Yeah. And they probably made quite a bit of money.
- [05:05]
Daphne
Yeah, I feel like in a lot of ways that's what they were remembered for because they were certainly not remembered for being affable or friendly, particularly Haddon and Flavia. But Haddon was also remembered for his striking intelligence and Flavia, kind of shockingly, honestly, for her community contributions. And I say shockingly just based on the person that she is.
- [05:26]
Teeth
Cause she was a piece of shit senior.
- [05:29]
Daphne
Yeah. But she was an active volunteer for the Boy Scout as well as the pta. But beneath their illustrious exterior, Hadden's parents truly had their problems. Like, according to Hadden, both of his parents were excessive drinkers and were verbally abusive toward each other and their kids, while Haddon Sr. Was physically abusive. Actually, he had been diagnosed with manic depression and was prescribed lithium for this. So according to Haddon's retelling of his childhood, his father engaged in erratic and violent behavior. He later claimed that he caught his father eating raw meat often. I feel like people do that. But he decided to note that maybe for what's to come later. I don't know.
- [06:17]
Teeth
I mean, my grandpa did that too.
- [06:19]
Daphne
I knew you were gonna say that.
- [06:20]
Teeth
The. Yeah, salt and pepper on ra ground beef.
- [06:23]
Daphne
Couldn't be me.
- [06:24]
Teeth
Gross.
- [06:25]
Daphne
But more seriously, Haddon Senior also allegedly molested Hadden. And Haddon also says that he witnessed his father killing a woman that he was having an affair with. Now, I will add that there is no evidence to support any of these claims, and other members of his family have disputed them. But who the hell knows? Regardless, Hadden unfortunately came to identify as his father's mirror image.
- [06:55]
Teeth
Well, growing up in the 50s and the 60s, Haddon was developmentally delayed, which may have contributed to his feelings of rejection from a young age, as his family was very aware of these mental delays and they often kinda just bullied him for it. His brother Jeffrey even confirmed this account, remembering his mom describing Haddon as retarded to anybody who asked.
- [07:19]
Daphne
Jeez, lady, so messed up.
- [07:21]
Teeth
Yeah, but it does get worse because on top of this, Jeffrey recalled that their mom would jokingly manipulate Hadden's body as somewhat of a party trick for guests and as a punishment for being behind the rest of his siblings. You know, mentally, they would dress him up like a girl, either to embarrass him or perhaps to motivate him to work harder and just catch up with the rest of his siblings and peers.
- [07:44]
Daphne
I mean, no wonder this guy becomes a serial killer. Holy fuck.
- [07:49]
Teeth
Yeah, these guys, this whole family is just, they just bullied everybody.
- [07:53]
Daphne
But also, if he's developmentally delayed, it's not like that's his choice. So her kind of trying to embarrass him to say, well, catch up, buddy. Like, that's not how it works.
- [08:04]
Teeth
It's almost like that old saying, you know, pull yourself up by your bootstraps. But this is literally the worst version of that story.
- [08:11]
Daphne
He can't.
- [08:13]
Teeth
Well, Hadden's parents later did separate and his father took his own life in 1986 when Hadden was 34 years old. Hadden blamed his mother for this, claiming that she had cheated on him, though he also alleged that his father cheated on his mother. But let's go back in time again. As the family grew apart, Flavia accused Hadden of trying to murder her multiple times and claimed to be deathly afraid of him.
- [08:40]
Daphne
Girl, you're low key culpable though I.
- [08:42]
Teeth
Know you kinda did this to yourself. And Hadden even learned about this and scoffed, describing her fears as exaggerated, later claiming his mother was evil. And as he got older, Haddon developed vengeful behavior in response to his parents treatment. As a teen, he was known around his neighborhood for bullying the younger children and a little animal abuse. Warning here, Hadden would also allegedly kill and dissect animals. And it's kind of interesting here because it's like he spent his younger years being bullied by his family. So in turn, he decided, well, I'm gonna bully the little kids in my neighborhood that are younger than me. The people that I can overpower.
- [09:26]
Daphne
Yeah, exactly. To exactly. Like you're saying, get his power back. Which we discussed in our Anatomy of a Serial killer episode in 518.
- [09:34]
Teeth
Yes, we did.
- [09:35]
Daphne
But I just want to say, like, there's absolutely no justification for Haddon turning into the person that he did just because of his childhood. Because a lot of people have abusive childhoods and they don't turn around and hurt other people. So not saying that, oh, well, your mom and your dad were messed up, so that's. That makes it okay. But just saying that, because as you guys will see, Hadden is not the only sibling that is going to turn into a horrific monster.
- [10:06]
Teeth
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, this just kind of gives us a little more insight into how Haddon ended up. How he did.
- [10:13]
Daphne
Yeah, like the creation of a monster. So growing up, he did take refuge in art and would draw cartoon depictions of the world around him, which were later described as unsettling, especially when he used to illustrate his victims and his crimes, some of which we do have available and we will post on our socials if you guys want to go check that out. Now, Haddon never had much of a desire to date or to make friends. He actually self identified as a hermit who did not desire companionship. So after moving away from home, he moved to New York City by himself to attend one of the most lauded culinary schools in the country, the Culinary Institute of America. And this was one of the only accomplishments that he managed to pull off in his entire life. But even after graduating from culinary school, his problems persisted and he had trouble holding down a job. He would often get fired from restaurants and make off with kitchen knives, which he would then use to slash the tires of other employees.
- [11:20]
Teeth
So clearly this guy is a big baby. Like anytime anybody pisses him off, he feels like he needs to get revenge.
- [11:29]
Daphne
No, that is going to be so evident in this episode as well. But it's also like you're. He takes revenge on people that don't deserve it. Like, it's not your co workers fault that you got fired, but you're slashing their tires. You know, like this is who had and was. And this next part is really disgusting to me. This is probably disgusting to a lot of people, but he would also. Or he was also known to drink the. The drained blood of the meat that he was cooking when he did work in kitchens, which is really just like, the first or one of the first steps. I think the second step, probably after abusing animals and people into his, like, sick, twisted ways, is that he would drink blood from meat.
- [12:10]
Teeth
Yeah, it is pretty disturbing.
- [12:12]
Daphne
Well, after he continued to fail securing work, he enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to work in the kitchen of the vessel, which I would not. I wouldn't trust this man to cook my meals.
- [12:23]
Teeth
I just want to say, oh, God, can you even imagine, like, the shit that he was putting in the meals?
- [12:27]
Daphne
He's just. Just because he's so evil and so disgusting, I. I wonder if he ever did anything really nasty. But, yeah, even when he was in the Navy, his truly odd and disturbing behavior continued, of course. So he was soon diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia by a Navy psychiatrist and was then discharged from his service in 1985 at the age of 33. So the year before his father took his own life, he told a psychiatrist for the Department of Veterans Affairs, I think I have a split personality. I don't like to hurt people, but I do things I'm not aware of. Hadden continued to work a string of odd jobs at various restaurants and moved around, quite frankly, frequently. But then he settled in Bethesda, Maryland, where he faced legal trouble when he was asked to leave the property of a family that he was renting a room from. But Haddon was only living, or he was only essentially renting this room for a short period of time anyway. And he knew that this was a temporary situation because the couple's daughter. This was her old room, and she was studying abroad as part of, like, a program. So they were like, hey, we're just renting out her room for the time being, and when she gets back, this is gonna be her room again. Totally makes sense. But when she got back, he was kindly asked to vacate, and he basically flew into a rage over this.
- [14:01]
Teeth
But he did eventually move out, though this came with some other issues because the family noticed a noxious chemical smell that seemed to be lingering in the room that he had rented. And it took an exterminator to discover that Haddon had actually cut open the walls and placed dead fish heads inside before sealing them back up so that that rotting smell could just permeate in that room.
- [14:27]
Daphne
That's like. That's, like, creative evil.
- [14:30]
Teeth
Yeah. Yeah. He finds very interesting ways to get back at people. So he also reportedly left rotting fish in the piano, the chimney, and the stove of the home, as well as leaving A booby trap on the door which would hurt anybody that tried to enter that bedroom. And for this, rightfully so, they pressed charges against Hadden. His landlord later explained. His lifestyle is getting even. We feel scared, he told us, about getting even with other people. But of course things just went south from there because the following year he was charged with dressing up as a woman. And in order to gain access to a church where a women's chorus rehearsal was taking place, he reportedly told police officers that he was a woman and didn't seem to know, you know, that he was doing anything wrong here, which.
- [15:21]
Daphne
I guess he wasn't. Like, it's not like, I'm kind of confused why he was charged for this. Like you're charged for dressing up as a woman. Like how is that against the law?
- [15:30]
Teeth
I think it was just because maybe just the sneaking into the women's choir thing. But I also don't see that as an issue either. You know, like maybe it was just a sign of the times. This was the 1980s.
- [15:43]
Daphne
Very true.
- [15:44]
Teeth
But let's get into Haddon's older brother, the one that we talked about earlier that is also a psychopath, Bradfield, because he was not faring any better and he was up to his own misdeeds. So like their father had in a senior, Bradfield Clark was a celebrated student and he earned two undergraduate degrees and worked as a computer specialist, which you know, obviously in the 1980s was a rapidly expanding field. His co workers at Timeshare, which is a hardware maintenance company in Cupertino, California described him as clean cut and kind, albeit a heavy drinker. However, like Haddon, Bradfield seemed to struggle under the weight of the abuse that he endured at the hands of his alcoholic parents. In the summer of 1984, Bradfield's girlfriend of two years broke up with him. Though it's unknown whether this heartbreak was the inciting incident which caused him to snap and to commit murder. The timing seems more than coincidental, but here's exactly what happened next. Because Hadden, like Daphne mentioned, was not the only Clark to kill. One evening In July of 1984, 33 year old Bradfield Clark asked two co workers, Patricia and Sidney Mack, if they wanted to come over to his Los Gatos home for dinner. Sydney backed out at the last minute, but Patricia didn't want to cancel, so she went alone and sadly, this cost her her life. 29 year old Patricia was living in Union City, California with her husband at the time. And after eating what was supposed to be a friendly co worker dinner With Bradfield. He reportedly made an advance on her, which she spurned obviously because she's married. The night had been going well until Bradfield snapped due to this rightful rejection because he ended up slamming her head into a brick wall and strangling her to death. And this next part is very disturbing and very gory. So if you're kind of squeamish, we'd advise that you Skip ahead about 15 seconds or if you're eating because basically Bradfield then divided her body into 11 pieces, cooked her breasts on his grill and ate them before splitting the rest of her body parts into plastic bags with the intent of disposing them outside.
- [18:14]
Daphne
Well, Patricia was reported missing by her husband on Friday, July 20, 1984 and he knew that she had dinner plans with Bradfield. Again this is supposed to be like a friendly co worker dinner that she probably felt bad canceling because she probably felt bad for him in general. She seems like a very nice gal.
- [18:35]
Teeth
Because he's obviously such a fucking weirdo.
- [18:38]
Daphne
Yeah, so her husband said, I know that she was last seen here or she was last here. This was her plan. So detectives stopped by his house at the Riviera Terrace Apartments to conduct a search, but they actually didn't find anything. Then around 6am on the morning of Monday, July 23. So a few days later, Bradfield called the police to turn himself in. Though admittedly he had only done so because he had attempted to take his own life and needed help because Bradfield had slit his wrists and cut himself on the neck and in the abdomen around 2:30am that morning. So about three and a half hours before calling police. But when the pain became too intense, he phoned 911, having spoken with the police over the weekend and spotted them circling his apartment building. He panicked, knowing that they were closing in on him for the horrific crime he committed against this innocent, kind woman. So as his wounds were tended to, he told police where they could find Patricia, that her body had been divided into five trash bags which had been placed in the trunk of his car parked in the garage of his apartment complex. Police reported that most of her body was recovered, but there were pieces that were unaccounted for, which I imagine was in part due to the cannibalism. In what was described as an unemotional confession, Bradfield explained killing Patricia, then scrubbing his entire apartment clean, storing her remains in a closet. The following night he actually had two other women over for dinner. But according to these women, he threw up after eating the chicken that he grilled for them.
- [20:33]
Teeth
Oh, yeah. Chicken.
- [20:36]
Daphne
Yeah. It makes me wonder if it really was chicken or if this was like his absolutely horrific and disgusting attempt at ridding more of Patricia's remains or maybe even trying to mess with these women.
- [20:48]
Teeth
Like, yeah, like, did he force these women to eat remains that they didn't know were remains?
- [20:54]
Daphne
Makes me sick.
- [20:55]
Teeth
But it's just so crazy to me because I don't think we've ever covered a case where two brothers ended up being murderers.
- [21:04]
Daphne
Like, separately. No.
- [21:05]
Teeth
Yeah, separately. Like, that's just crazy to me.
- [21:08]
Daphne
I completely agree. And it's really interesting as well, as you guys will see once we get over to Haddon, like, how similar they were in how they committed these crimes.
- [21:18]
Teeth
Yeah. Cause it's not like, you know, Bradfield had accidentally, like, shot somebody or like, he literally killed a woman and then ate part of her. You know what I mean?
- [21:29]
Daphne
Yeah. And as you'll see, that is basically what Haddon did. So because Bradfield was so sick, you know, literally sick, but also he was physically sick, vomiting, the women left, and they just kind of let him rest up. And then Bradfield pleaded guilty in May of 1985 and was sentenced the following month, pleading guilty to second degree murder charges in order to sustain a lesser sentence, you know, opposed to first degree murder. And ultimately he was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison. So I just want to say that means he pleaded guilty the year before his father took his life. So at the very least, their dad, Haddon Sr. Knew that one of his offspring was a horrific killer.
- [22:18]
Teeth
Yeah, absolutely. Well, let's get back to Haddon here, because the same year that Bradfield was sentenced, Hadden was facing homelessness following his discharge from the Navy and was offered a place to stay by his brother Jeffrey, who at this point was a divorced father who had a home in Silver Spring, Maryland, which is really weird because that's the same town that we discussed in our last episode on Keith Warren. That's where Keith lived at this very same time and where he died the following year.
- [22:49]
Daphne
Yeah, that's pretty wild.
- [22:51]
Teeth
It's crazy. But Haddon's behavior eventually became so unpredictable and disturbing that Jeffrey feared for the safety of his kids and his new girlfriend that he was seeing. So he asked Hadden to move out and left him alone for a few hours in order to just pack up his stuff. But classic Hadden was so enraged by this that he snapped and he committed his very first known murder. Michelle Lee Dorr was born to Dorothy and Carl Dorr on October 12, 1970. 9 in Silver Spring at the time of her disappearance, she was remembered as a bubbly, friendly and happy go lucky six year old girl who aspired to become a teacher when she grew up. In the summer of 1986, Michelle's parents were navigating this contentious divorce and both wanted primary custody of Michelle. But on the day of her murder, which was May 31, 1986, she was playing outside in an inflatable swimming pool to combat the heat while her dad Carl was inside watching the Indy 500. Around 2pm that day, he remembered seeing her come inside the house to grab a towel before heading back outside. Their next door neighbor, Jeffrey Clark, was a fellow single father whose daughter Elizabeth had become good friends with Michelle. And sometime that afternoon, Carl heard Jeffrey arrive home and just assumed that, you know, maybe Michelle had run next door to play with Elizabeth, which is something that would happen often. But around 5:45pm that day, when he stopped by next door to get Michelle, Jeffrey was confused, claiming that neither he nor his daughter had seen her.
- [24:41]
Daphne
So Carl and Jeffrey quickly circled the neighborhood along with some helpful neighbors, but they found no trace of six year old Michelle. So her dad, Carl, raced to the nearest police station to report his daughter missing. Now, he later claimed that he hoped to notify his estranged wife Dorothy, who went by Dee Dee, that's what we'll call her from now on, but that she had gone to stay with family who Carl did not have contact information for, so she actually went unalerted for a little bit. But detectives took what they believed was a possible abduction very seriously and they began to canvass the neighborhood that she disappeared from right away. The next day. Naturally, Carl was brought in for questioning and offered himself up for a polygraph test. But to his shock, he failed it. Now, Dee Dee, who had been notified by then, told investigators that she believed that Carl was had murdered their daughter in order to keep her from gaining custody. So Carl remained in the hands of police as their suspicions against him mounted. When detectives spoke with neighbors and acquaintances, they happened upon a man who claimed to have stopped by the Clark home the prior afternoon, asking to use the phone. Jeffrey and his daughter Elizabeth were not home yet at this point, but the man recalled speaking with Jeffrey's brother Haddon, and remembered seeing a little girl there too. Now obviously, if that little girl is not Elizabeth, then it's got to be Michelle, right?
- [26:21]
Teeth
It has to be. Yeah.
- [26:22]
Daphne
Like who the hell else would this little girl be? So this is a really important tip on Memorial Day. So just two days after Michelle vanished, investigators stopped by at Jeffrey's home to speak with him and his family and to search the house. They also brought 33 year old Hadden in for questioning, struck by the possibility that he may have been the last person to see Michelle alive. Knowing that Jeffree had said, yeah he was moving out that day cause I kicked him out. But Haddon explained that he had been working in the kitchen at the Chevy Chase Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland. And he was even able to produce a timesheet that showed his arrival to at 2:46pm so this left a very narrow window of time to commit Michelle's murder. If Carl had last seen her around 2pm like he said. That's what Carl said. He said it was round two, that she came in to grab a towel and then she went back outside.
- [27:20]
Teeth
But it's also not an impossible timeline.
- [27:23]
Daphne
Exactly, but they're kind of like it feels really tight so we don't know. So police just didn't have quite enough to point suspicion towards anybody.
- [27:35]
Teeth
Meanwhile, Carl was further implicating himself while in police custody. And his mental health at this point was just rapidly deteriorating with the panic and the grief setting in. And he began seeing visions and hearing things that weren't there. Now his estranged wife Dee Dee secured a private investigator and Carl convinced himself that this PI was responsible for his daughter's murder. In his manic state, he began offering false tips and contradictory information to police, which only made him appear more suspicious. But still detectives couldn't find any evidence to link him to his daughter's disappearance. So he was eventually released. But the heartbreaking truth remained. There was still no sign of Michelle and she wouldn't be found until over a decade later. Which we are going to get back to here in a bit. Now eventually Carl would admit that he nodded off in his chair watching TV and that he may have confused the timeline of that afternoon, but not wanting to be blamed. While in the midst of his divorce and the custody battle, he estimated that the last time that he saw his daughter Michelle was around 2:10pm when it had really been closer to noon, as he would later admit. But instead of pointing blame at him, what this actually did was give police doubts about Haddon's involvement because of his work schedule. I mean, this was a crucial piece of information that they needed. But Carl had been too scared to offer up.
- [29:11]
Daphne
Yeah. Cause essentially that means that Haddon did have the time to kill Michelle before his shift that day.
- [29:17]
Teeth
Exactly. But because of the lag in time, Hadden was free to go after Michelle's disappearance and began living in a makeshift campsite in the woods, stringing together odd jobs to make ends meet. And six years later, Hadden would strike. My friends, spring is coming up. We're doing some spring cleaning and we're also buying some new things to be able to replace those old things.
- [29:58]
Daphne
And when we do that, we want to save as much money as we can.
- [30:01]
Teeth
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Daphne
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Teeth
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Daphne
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Teeth
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- [30:40]
Daphne
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Teeth
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Daphne
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Heath
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Daphne
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- [33:08]
Daphne
Laura Hodeling was born on April 8, 1969, in Bethesda, Maryland, to parents Penny and Frederick, growing up alongside an older brother named Warren. Now, Laura was intelligent and kind and always surrounded by friends. She was this amazing gal, and In January of 1992 she actually graduated from Harvard University. That is how smart she was. But then she moved back in with her mom while she looked for work, which she found in September of that year, landing a position with a public relations firm in Washington, DC. But on the morning of Monday, October 19th at 1992, Laura, who was usually very punctual and reliable, failed to show up for work, her boss, who also happened to be the mother of one of Laura's closest friends from high school. So her best friend's mom called Laura at home just to see what was going on, but she didn't get an answer. So she told her daughter Hillary that Laura hadn't shown up, and Hillary decided to head to the house to check on her. And at this point, Laura is still living at home with her mom, Penny. But Penny had left town that Saturday, so a couple days earlier for a conference, and Laura's father, Frederick, had passed away six years earlier. Her brother Warren, who worked as a teacher, did live nearby, but he had moved out of the family home by then, which meant that Laura had been there alone for the week, which of course should have been fine because she was 22 years old. Now. When Hillary got to the house, she noticed that Laura's car was still parked outside and the home was locked and seemed untouched and undisturbed. But with no sign of her, her brother Warren and a few of Laura's friends began circling the neighborhood, looking in and outside of the home and even walking the route that she took from her house to the train station to go to work. When they didn't find her, Warren notified their mom, Penny, who came home right away to help look for her, basically starting their own investigation alongside police. Among those questioned was none other than Haddon Clark, because guess what? He was working as Penny's gardener at the time because he had been recommended for the job by the pastor at his church. Because of this, Haddon had access to keys to the house, which were hanging in the shed in the backyard. At one point in the days after Laura's disappearance, Warren spotted Haddon driving by in his truck and tried to flag him down in order to speak with him. But Hadden refused to stop. Despite this, he actually sent the family a sympathy card that read, just please give me a call when you're ready to do some gardening again. And I can bring you bagels on Friday, too.
- [36:14]
Teeth
When detectives questioned Penny about Haddon's possible involvement as someone with access to the home, she said that he couldn't have been involved. She just didn't think that he could do something like that. Well, on a tip, police then searched a wooded area near Laura's family home and found a bloody pillowcase as well as a pair of women's shoes. These were, of course, admitted into evidence, and detectives circled back with Penny at her home, looking more intently at Laura's bedroom to see if the pieces would fit. And that's when Laura's friend Hillary pointed out that the bed had been made more sloppily than Laura usually made it and admitted that she found this kind of odd. And when detectives drew back the blankets on Laura's bed, they found that the sheets had been changed and the mattress pad had been removed. And in the closet was a set of sheets that matched the bloody pillowcase that they found in the woods. A luminol test lit up the mattress, confirming the presence of blood. And in the blood on the pillowcase was a fingerprint of Haddon's. Haddon, who had about $50,000 in savings and assets, despite being this weird ass homeless man that was living in a tent at the time, was renting a storage space, which, of course, they searched after the discovery made in Laura's bedroom. And inside this storage space, detectives found a receipt from a hardware store with supplies that they believed were used to murder Laura and dispose of her body, which was paid for with a check whose memo line said, Laura, you are joking. Like, what a fucking idiot. And they also found many other items, including women's clothing, shoes, jewelry, and wigs. And oddly, the blonde hair on one of these wigs matched the blonde hair found in a hairbrush in Laura's bedroom. And horrifically, a Sighting reported a woman fleeing the Hodling home on the day of Laura's murder, which is believed to have been Haddon, who was dressed up as a woman.
- [38:25]
Daphne
I can't even explain what's so creepy about that to me. I guess just like the idea of a disguise in any form. And I think because women are, you know, generally thought of as less dangerous than men, like less intimidating. I guess the idea that he dressed up as one to commit this murder, maybe to initially let her guard down, like, I don't know, it feels so psycho, like, so Norman Bates.
- [38:50]
Teeth
It also kind of reminds me of Silence of the Lambs, like.
- [38:53]
Daphne
Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
- [38:55]
Teeth
Buffalo Bill, he, you know, dressed up in wigs and stuff like that. I don't know. There is something so frightening about that image.
- [39:03]
Daphne
I know it's like I can't, I can't explain it, but it's, it's creepy, it's terrifying. Well, Haddon was questioned about his involvement on November 6, 1992, and he actually broke down in tears as he explained to them that Penny was like a mother to him and recalled that she took such good care of him, offering food and drinks when he was working in the garden. So, you know, they had a good relationship, which is, which is probably why she told police. Oh, not Haddon hadn't, Couldn't have done this.
- [39:33]
Teeth
Yeah. And obviously he manipulated her into believing that he was this good guy.
- [39:39]
Daphne
Yeah. But once Laura moved home, actually Penny had less time to spend catching up with him than. And he may have been like jealous of the attention that Laura was receiving because this is attention that he didn't get from his own mother.
- [39:55]
Teeth
I mean, literally, Norman Bates. Mommy issues continue here.
- [39:59]
Daphne
Yes, 100%. But still, Hadden continued to deny involvement, though he was clearly very upset about the whole ordeal in general. And during one of these interrogations, he seemed to have this break with reality because he started speaking to investigators, alternating between speaking as a baby, a man and a woman. Like literally Norman.
- [40:25]
Teeth
Yes, absolutely.
- [40:27]
Daphne
Haddon then told police to look for his victims in New Jersey, which seemed fitting, you know, given the fact that he spent a lot of his childhood in Warren, New Jersey. But after searches were conducted and nothing was found, this was believed to be one of many red herrings that Hadden had given. 40 year old Hadden Clark was officially arrested for 22 year old Laura's murder on November 14, 1992. And he blamed his mental illness and claimed that his alter ego, whom he referred to as Kristin Bluefin, had committed the murder. Like, he said that Kristen was a, quote, mean bitch, describing her as sneaky and cunning and saying that she loved to eat raw flesh.
- [41:19]
Teeth
It just gets. Oh, it's just.
- [41:22]
Daphne
Which in a way, if, like. If he does have, like, multiple personality disorder, like he said to a psychiatrist when he was in the Navy, he said, I have a split personality. There are times when, I don't know, I do things, and I don't know that I did them. If this is true, and he's saying this other Persona is Kristen Bluefin, who's a woman that could describe and explain why he dressed as a woman when he killed Laura. But he also, at the same time, did admit to his involvement. He actually explained, quote, I found Laura alone in her bedroom. I killed her by means of suffocation while she lay in her bed. I removed her from the home and buried her. I suffered no delusions at the time of this crime and committed the crime of my own free will.
- [42:08]
Teeth
So at least he's not, you know, kind of using this defense of, oh, well, I have mental health problems. He's saying, yeah, I was fully aware that I killed her. I wanted to do that.
- [42:19]
Daphne
It's just so confusing because he's going back and forth. So is he trying to use a mental illness as an excuse, or is that real? Because we're gonna get into some other shit here in a second. That just makes me really question his brain.
- [42:32]
Teeth
I mean, without a doubt, I believe that he does suffer from mental health or mental health issues. But, yeah, I mean, just the fact that he's willing to admit that he was not going through a crisis when he killed Laura, it's very telling.
- [42:46]
Daphne
Well, he also said that he slashed Laura's throat, which is what is actually believed to have killed her, and then cut off the earlobe with her earring on it in order to prevent her from being identified. Which. What.
- [42:59]
Teeth
I mean, they were gonna identify her by other means. It's not like that was gonna cover it.
- [43:03]
Daphne
The earlobe is not the only way to identify. I mean, I don't even. When do we even see that being the method of identification anyway? I don't know what's going on here.
- [43:12]
Teeth
And also, at this point, you know, they're able to use DNA to match her to her mom.
- [43:17]
Daphne
So it's like, this is the 90s, buddy. Well, during this murder, he had been wearing the blonde wig. Like, he'd said there was a blonde wig found in his storage unit. And apparently that was stolen from Laura's mom, Penny, at the time. And he's also believed to have been wearing Penny's clothes when he killed Laura, which makes this so much scarier. Like, imagine like she's being murdered by somebody that is dressed up as her mom, basically. Laura's body was found on June 14, 1993. So eight months after her murder, she had been buried in a wooded area less than a mile, or about one kilometer from her house. And Haddon Clark pleaded guilty to the second degree murder of Laura Hodeling and was sentenced to just 30 years in prison.
- [44:12]
Teeth
Well, there at the Western Correctional Institute in Maryland, he shared a cell with a man named Jack Truitt, who was also a convicted murderer, though he maintained for decades that he did not commit the murder of which he was being accused. And here's what Jack was accused of. So on June 28th of 1974, Jack dressed in a Halloween mask and fatally shot a man named Edwin Franklin Rice inside his shop, which was called Ed's Saddle Shop. Jack was arrested the next day on what he originally thought were drug trafficking charges. But instead he was tried and sentenced to life in prison, plus 15 years for Edwin's murder. And his accomplice, Bruce Harmonson, was also charged. Disturbingly, Haddon found inspiration from Jack. And through his delusions, he cast Jack as Jesus in his mind, telling Jack that he believed that he was sent by God in order to assist Haddon in confessing his crimes and repenting. That's just so strange. So while he was sharing this cell with Jack, he started admitting his crimes to him, telling him that he murdered at least one person in each US State. Though if this is true or just like the delusions talking, we really can't be sure.
- [45:32]
Daphne
Yeah, also, that feels like. I feel like it's rare for any person to visit every state in this country throughout their lives in the first place. And it's not like he was this known national traveler. So I think that's kind of like. That's a lot of different states to murder in as well.
- [45:50]
Teeth
Alone visit, he was described as a hermit.
- [45:53]
Daphne
Very true.
- [45:54]
Teeth
But I do want to add that Jack doubted all these claims and described Haddon as a nut. He recalled that Haddon liked to stockpile old cartons of milk in the locker of his cell and let them mold and rot, giving off a foul stench, which Haddon gleefully said reminded him of deceased bodies. So horrible. But Jack grew kinda suspicious about the murder of Michelle Dorr, for which Haddon was still suspected of responsibility. When Hadden began to openly admit his involvement to Jack, even telling him where she had been buried. So with this information, Jack decided to call his wife Jackie and asked her to report this development to the police, which led Jack to become a police ally. So with this tip, investigators revisited the Silver Spring home of Jeffrey Clark, doing a more in depth search of the interior. And they found what they thought might be forensic evidence that proved that Hadden did indeed murder Michelle in Jeffrey's daughter Elizabeth's upstairs bedroom. Because wrenching up the floorboards revealed Michelle's blood in the cracks of the wooden floors. So detectives came to believe that Michelle had wandered next door to wait for Elizabeth to come home. And angry about being kicked out of his brother's home, Haddon accosted her in an outburst and used a kitchen knife to stab her. His brother Jeffrey later said through sobbs in an interview, I welcomed him into my home. He had no place to go. And then the worst thing of all is that I'm realizing he can't stay here. And I tell him that he has to leave and he gets so mad that he murders a little girl. Oh God, I don't know how he got evil. I don't know when he got evil.
- [47:50]
Daphne
In 1999, despite the absence of a body, Haddon Clark was convicted of the murder of Michelle Dorr. Then finally, In January of 2000, Haddon agreed to an interview with detectives on the condition that Jesus or Jack was present as well. And he calmly shared with investigators what they had always suspected was true. He had stabbed Michelle to death with a kitchen knife. He then drank some of her blood before cleaning up and placing her body in his truck before going to work as usual. Clocking in that afternoon, he then began driving toward Baltimore and stopped on the way to bury her body in a park in Montgomery County, Maryland. Hadden even agreed to lead detectives to her body again only if Jack was permitted to tag along. And there, among litter and discarded mattresses, were the remains of Michelle's body under the rusted springs of a mattress, with the stripes of her pink bathing suit still visible. For his assistance in Putting this grueling 14 year investigation to rest, Jack was offered parole after having served 36 years. And he actually went on to do some good. He became an advocate for anti recidivism, which means that he was like against reoffending criminally. So he also advocated for PETA and St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Since his release, he has remained in Maryland with his wife. Now, although Hadden claims to have bodies scattered all across the country, authorities have not been able to link any more murders back to him. But it's absolutely possible. There's more. At some point, he even confessed to murdering the infamous lady of the Dunes, or Ruth Marie Terry, which we covered in a bonus episode. But the perpetrator was proven to be her husband, a guy named Guy Muldavin, who killed her in 1974. So kind of proves he's a liar. And I think. I think this guy really is delusional.
- [50:09]
Teeth
I think he just wants a lot of attention for murders that he did not commit.
- [50:14]
Daphne
He wants attention in general, so. But I honestly would not be surprised if there's more than two, at least. FBI Special Agent Lou Luciano conducted extensive interviews with Haddon in hopes of uncovering additional victims, Describing Haddon as pure evil. He said, you're dealing with multiple personalities. A guy eating moldy pork patties. He's a killer. He's a soulless individual. Behind those eyes, there is nothing. And he was the guy holding the cards because he had a pretty good idea where the bodies were. As Haddon started to demonstrate that his more forceful personality and more prolific personality was this woman, he began to become her more in the moment. He would shift back and forth. I think Kristen was probably his wall, his shield. Detectives came to the belief that Hadden didn't only want vengeance with his murders, he wanted to become his victims, and thus he literally consumed them. The FBI maintains that he is a person of interest in crimes in over 20 states.
- [51:30]
Teeth
So obviously, not every single state, but.
- [51:33]
Daphne
20 states is a lot many, Almost half. And again, who knows if this is true? But I. I do definitely think he killed at least more than two people. So his mother, Flavia Clark, passed away in 1995, so about three years after Hadden was arrested for Laura's murder. So she knew about Bradfield, and she knew about at least one crime committed by Haddon.
- [51:58]
Teeth
This kind of terrible woman raised two killers.
- [52:03]
Daphne
I mean, yeah. And as we. As we said before, as well, she was afraid of Haddon and was afraid that he was going to kill her, which he thought was ridiculous and laughable. But at least she did know what her sons got up to. And then Haddon's killer brother, Bradfield Clark, was first eligible for parole in 1994. But since then, he has either been denied parole, deemed unsuitable for parole, or voluntarily waived his right to a parole hearing.
- [52:34]
Teeth
As in, he wanted to stay in prison? Possibly.
- [52:37]
Daphne
Which I'm like, why? I'm sure he just wasn't eligible or was denied because, hello, he's a horrific person.
- [52:46]
Teeth
Yeah. Like, he just knew that he wasn't gonna get out.
- [52:48]
Daphne
I mean, 30 years for murdering an innocent woman because she rejected you and then eating her body. That man should not be free. So he has had nine possible chances for parole, actually, since his first hearing. And his next parole hearing is set for June of 2026, and he is currently 74 years old and imprisoned in Northern California, Whereas Haddon will be 73 at the end of this month, July, and remains in prison at the Eastern Correctional Institute in Westover, Maryland. Thank you so much, everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.
- [53:32]
Teeth
Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Hopefully it wasn't too disturbing for you guys. I know some of these serial killer cases can be very, very horrifying.
- [53:42]
Daphne
I think cases like this are just so disturbing in general, just when you like. But somebody like Haddon Clark is so unique. Like you said in the beginning of this episode, like, I don't think we really have ever covered a case of a serial killer like Haddon. Like, this is truly just such a disgusting, disgusting story. So thank you guys for getting through this one with us.
- [54:04]
Teeth
And I was completely right. He takes the cake for piece of shit.
- [54:09]
Daphne
He pretty much does.
- [54:11]
Teeth
Well, thank you guys again for listening. Also, we are going on tour in September. Get your tickets. We're going to be in Denver, Dallas, Boston, Atlanta, and Chicago. Daphne, where can they get the tickets?
- [54:23]
Daphne
Goingwestpod.com tour it's going to be seriously so much fun. Heath has been planning because we're going to do, like, fun games and Heath has been planning those, like, true crime games this week. And we're getting our case ready and it's just going to be. It's going to be a ton of fun.
- [54:39]
Teeth
I'll give you guys a little bit of a hint for these games. Just make sure that you know your true crime. Make sure that you know your true crime. That's all I'm going to say.
- [54:49]
Daphne
All right, guys, thank you so much and we will see you on Friday.
- [54:53]
Teeth
All right, guys. So for everybody out there in the.
- [54:55]
Daphne
World, don't be a stranger. Sam. Possibility means you have a chance.
- [56:01]
Teeth
Passion opens the door to all possibilities.
- [56:05]
Daphne
When I feel like anything's possible, I feel kind of giddy. I want to be an astronaut artist.
- [56:11]
Jack
An actress who visit another country.
- [56:13]
Teeth
All I need is a backpack and a pair of shoes and I'll find a way.
- [56:16]
Daphne
I'm able to do anything I set my mind to.
- [56:19]
Teeth
I've never felt like more things are possible than right now.
- [56:22]
Daphne
In the right shoes, anything is possible. DSW Countless shoes at bragworthy prices. Imagine the possibilities.