Tacony murders
remain as unsolved cases

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

As Bette Clark watches and reads the news about slain Philadelphia police officer Charles Cassidy, the single mother from Tacony can’t help but feel a tragic personal connection to the family of the murdered cop.
That’s because Cassidy’s Oct. 31 murder and the shooting death of Clark’s 16-year-old son Timmy on July 13 have an awful lot in common.
Timmy’s killer continues to elude homicide investigators, much like the man who shot Cassidy to death did for an agonizing week before police tracked him down in a homeless shelter in Miami, Fla.
The Citizens Crime Commission has administered rewards for the capture and conviction of the killer in both cases. Cassidy’s reward had grown to $153,000 by the Nov. 6 capture of his alleged murderer. Thanks to recent fund-raising efforts spearheaded by Bette Clark, the reward in her son’s case is now $8,000.
But perhaps the most poignant similarity between the Cassidy and Clark cases is that, by all accounts, neither victim stood a chance against the shoot-to-kill mentality of his assailant.
Like Cassidy, Clark suffered a single gunshot wound to the head from close range. Citing her son’s autopsy report as well as her conversations with investigators, Bette Clark believes that the unarmed Timmy was ducking away from his killer when the gunman executed him.
"They said it was close range and he was in a ‘protective stance,’" Bette Clark said. "I know he was scared and I know he knew it was coming."
Clark was gunned down just before 2:30 a.m. on the 6900 block of Vandike St., minutes after he and a family friend had walked to a nearby convenience store to buy some snacks and drinks. They were one block from Clark’s home.
The assailant or assailants also shot and killed Clark’s companion, Damien Holloway, 27. Police have not determined a motive for the attack.
While the mystery surrounding the killing continues to baffle city homicide investigators, it has been a heavy burden for Bette Clark to contemplate why it happened, what if anything she could have done to prevent it and why nobody has come forward with vital information for authorities.
"I torture myself over these questions, but I have to know," said Clark.
On the night of the killing, she didn’t even know the youngest of her three sons had plans to leave the house. When she went to bed, he was sitting at the family’s computer.
"The last thing I said to my son was, ‘Don’t stay up late,’" Clark recalled. "He said he was tired and going to go to bed."
Timmy Clark was planning on working with Holloway mowing lawns the following morning, the victim’s family has said. For years, Holloway had operated his own lawn service, Clark explained. He would hire youngsters from the neighborhood on a per diem basis. The youths naturally jumped at the chance to make some extra cash.
Coincidentally, Holloway was also living with the Clark family at the time. About two months earlier, he and a girlfriend broke up, leaving him without a place to stay, Bette Clark said.
Clark’s 21-year-old son, Joe, was a close friend of Holloway’s and invited him to stay there. Holloway had lived with the family for short stints several times previously, Bette Clark said.
Clark says she knew that Holloway — who used the nickname "Bask" — had a troubled past, that he had been stabbed in the abdomen during a fight about two years earlier. Though he was always respectful to her, she insists, Clark can’t help but wonder if the shooters were primarily after Holloway, while her son merely was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
"There’s a lot of possibilities out there and we may never know," Clark said.
The mother is quick to add that the evidence seems to contradict rumors that her son was somehow involved in drugs.
"One of the things that really bothers me is people saying that Timmy was into drugs," Clark said. "But I’ve got his toxicology report and he wasn’t."
Unfortunately, rumors like that seem to be the only new information about the case in circulation.
"I try to call the detective every week," Clark said. "(Investigators) have gotten a few leads off of the streets, but they can’t tell you a lot, which I understand. Most of the time, (the information) is just people talking."
It’s frustrating to Clark to think that the killer or killers seemingly slipped into the area, opened fire on two people in the middle of a densely populated block and made a getaway, all seemingly undetected.
"I know someone knows something," she said. "There’s people outside all night long during the summer. There are apartments right there. Somebody knows something. Maybe they’re just scared."
Her best hope now is that money will be a strong enough incentive to convince a witness to do the right thing. In coordination with the reward, the case has been featured on an Action News Crime Fighters segment and will be featured similarly on an upcoming Fox29 news broadcast.
The reward started out at $2,000 but has grown thanks to several fund-raisers, including two car wash events organized by Timmy Clark’s friends.
"They were right in front of my house. All of the neighbors brought their hoses. It was good for Timmy’s friends to get together like that," said Bette Clark, who on Oct. 5 hosted a successful beef-and-beer event at the Sheffield Tavern.
"I have committed so much of myself to this because he was my baby and I’m never going to let it rest until (the killer) is caught," she said.
"And even if this person gets caught, I’m not going to stop. I’m going to keep raising money and donate it to organizations for kids to keep Timmy’s memory alive." ••
Contributions to the Reward Fund for Tim Clark should be sent to Citizens Bank, P.O. Box 28560, Philadelphia, PA 19149.
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com