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In July 2018, retired millionaire Steve Clayton was found unresponsive inside his home in Lake Wylie by his wife, Lana, who had just entered the house after mowing the lawn. A medical examiner initially ruled that he died of natural causes - a heart attack - after his wife claimed he was ill and bedridden with vertigo for three days at the time. However, a subsequent autopsy and toxicology report ruled that a chemical found in eyedrops were detected in his body in large amounts.
His wife, Lana Clayton, claimed her husband preferred adding a few drops of Visine in his coffee every morning, but she later confessed to spiking his drinks herself with a deadly dose. She claimed that he had been abusive towards her, which caused her to act. However, prosecutors believed she murdered him for the money. Lana pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and tampering with food or drugs.
ID's American Monster will revisit the murder Steve Clayton from eyedrops poisoning in an episode titled Everyone's Favorite Uncle. The official synopsis of the episode states:
"Steve and Lana Clayton seem like a devoted couple, but all isn't as it seems; a sinister plan is acted out over the course of several days, leaving one of them dead."
The upcoming episode airs this Friday, May 19, at 8 pm ET.
Steve Clayton's death was ruled to be natural until a toxicology report detected tetrahydrozoline in his system
Lana Clayton called 911 on July 21, 2018, and told them that she had only entered the house after mowing the lawn when she found her husband Steve unresponsive at the bottom of the stairway.
Steve Clayton was a retired millionaire who was once had an entrepreneurial success in the sports rehab field. He was living with his 52-year-old wife on a waterfront property, which was modeled after President George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate. Lana, his seventh wife, was a nurse from Oklahoma. The couple had married in 2015 and settled in the Lake Wylie, South Carolina,.
According to Oxygen, Lana intially told authorities that Steve was ill and bedridden for a couple of days but refused to see a doctor. She claimed she tried to administer CPR when she found the 64-year-old unresponsive. However, she was unable to turn him onto his back.
Investigators claimed that the coroner's preliminary examination found no indications of bruising or abrasions, which concluded that Steve Clayton did not die from the fall. The discoloration in his body suggested that he suffered a heart attack. However, Lana refused to get an autopsy done, claiming that it could reveal embarrassing secrets about the victim smoking marijuana.
Steve's family members, who were suspicious of his wife, asked her about his will when she allegedly became hostile, which prompted family members to get an autopsy done. In August, a toxicology report finally revealed that there was tetrahydrozoline, a chemical found in eye drops that can cause cardiovascular and respiratory issues, and even death if ingested, present in his system in large amounts.
Steve Clayton's seventh wife, Lana, confessed to emptying a bottle of Visine in his water, claiming he was abusive
Steve Clayton died after consuming a fatal amount of Visine, but his wife did not seem surprised by the revelations. Lana claimed that Steve preferred taking a few drops of Visine in his coffee every morning. Moreover, her account of the incident, when asked again, was inconsistent with what she first told police.
Authorities also learned about an incident with a crossbow from 2016 when Lana reportedly discharged an arrow at Steve that struck him in the head. At the time, the couple told police that it was an accident.
During a subsequent search of their property and her cell phone, she admitted to putting "Visine in his water" because she had grown tired of his controlling, manipulative, and abusive ways. The nurse claimed her husband was violent and hit her in the past before finally admitting to emptying a full bottle of the eye drops into the victim's water. According to Oxygen, Lana Clayton said:
"I squeezed it hard. I was so angry. I just wanted him to have diarrhea to just be miserable."
Lana never admitted to planning to kill or hurt Steve, but detectives concluded that it was a murder based on all the evidence they found while investigating his unusual death. They speculated that Lana wanted to maintain her lavish way of life, but their marriage had reached its breaking point, and without a will or prenuptial agreement, she would inherit Steve's wealth.
In January 2020, she pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and tampering with a food or a drug causing death and was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole in Steve Clayton's murder.
Learn more about the case on ID's American Monster this Friday at 8 pm ET.
