On Sept. 29, 2015, former Elmira Jackals player Thomas Clayton went out for a game of poker. Around 2:30 a.m., he arrived home and found the lifeless body of his wife Kelley.
Kelley's body was in the kitchen. She was beaten to death, but after putting on a struggle as a trail of blood led up the steps and ended where she was killed. Thomas dialed 911 upon returning home, but soon became the primary suspect in the police investigation.
According to prosecutors in the case, Clayton hired a former employee of his, Michael Beard, to kill Kelley in exchange for money.
Additionally, the police discovered that Clayton had "doubled his wife's life insurance policy" earlier that year. They also found out that Clayton had supposedly been seeing other women.
Later that year, Clayton received a life sentence for first-degree murder. He is currently serving his punishment at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York. He does not qualify for release.
Thomas Clayton was alleged to have had multiple affairs
Investigators believed that Thomas Clayton's lack of affection for his wife may have been the driving force behind the murder. He was concerned that Kelley would inherit all of his wealth if they separated.
Other women who swore against Clayton during the trial claimed he had sex with them and often complained about his wife being "lazy and ungrateful."
Clayton, however, maintained his innocence all along.
"There are two families that lost something in this tragedy. My children lost their mother and were ripped away from their father," he said during the trial. "I'm sorry Kelley is dead. I'm sorry that I can't see my kids. I had absolutely nothing to do with the death of Kelley, absolutely."