Ohio investigators re-examining death of Betty Neumar's first husband
CHARLOTTE, NC (AP)- Authorities are now examining the deaths of four out of five men who were once married to a woman charged with conspiring to kill one of them. Related Content
On Monday, Ohio authorities said they would look again at the unsolved 1970 slaying of Betty Neumar's first husband, Clarence Malone. Medina County Sheriff's Detective Scott Phillips said his department was contacted by North Carolina authorities who have charged Neumar with solicitation of murder in the 1986 shooting death of her fourth husband, Harold Gentry. Authorities in Florida are reinvestigating whether Neumar's third husband actually committed suicide after an argument with her in 1965. And investigators are looking at what caused a septic infection that killed her fifth and most-recent husband in Georgia last year. Police are still trying to piece together the 76-year-old Neumar's life in the states where she was married and talking to friends and family members. Clarence Malone was shot once in the back of the head outside his auto body shop in Medina, about 35 miles southeast of Cleveland, about 18 years after his marriage to Neumar dissolved. Phillips said there's enough interest in Malone's death to "take another look." "We're pulling records and we'll see where it takes us," he said. Clarence Malone's brother, Robert, said the family has been haunted by his death. "We never knew why they dropped the case," Robert Malone told The Associated Press on Monday. "They just closed it up and that was it." He was surprised to hear the renewed interest stemmed from Neumar's charge in Gentry's death. "I hadn't heard her name in years," he said. "After they broke up, she just disappeared." Records show Malone and Neumar were married in 1950 in Ironton, Ohio. She was 18, he was 19. A year later she filed a court complaint claiming her husband had abused her. It's unclear what happened to that complaint or when the marriage broke up. There's no record of their divorce being filed in Lawrence County, Ohio. Robert Malone called his brother's relationship with then-Betty Malone as "rough." "She was the type that would jump on you and if you raised a hand, then you'd get in trouble. She was very, very demanding. He was just starting out, you know, driving a coal truck. That's how he made a living and it wasn't good enough for her," he said. They had a son, but after they separated, the family never saw the boy, Robert Malone said. "It just broke my mother's heart," he said. He said his brother joined the Army after the marriage dissolved and served in Korea. When he returned, he remarried and moved to Medina and opened a body shop. Another brother, Donald Malone, talked to police for years about the case until he died. Then "it just kind of faded," Robert Malone said. Neumar's second husband, John Flynn, died in 1954. The circumstances of his death have not been discussed by investigators of the North Carolina case. Neumar's attorney, Charles Parnell, didn't return a call Monday seeking comment. The following comments do not necessarily represent the views of NBC Augusta 26| news, weather, sports, community, entertainment, shopping for Augusta, Georgia. Users have agreed to these terms and in doing so accept full responsibility for their comments. Moderation is limited. Hide commentsMost PopularMore Good Stuff |
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