GUILTY AL - Clo Ann Stoner, 57, & Joanne Butler, 41, slain, Lauderdale County, 17 March 2014

[justagirl247]

i saw you post on another case and decided to check it out...thats so sad i'm so sorry about you friend but i can say i am 100% sure she would be so thankful to you for advocating for her the way you are ...hope justice is severed

 

[hisjerseygirl]

SeekingaJana, you are so strong and a fantastic friend.

 

[SeekingJana]

SeekingaJana, you are so strong and a fantastic friend.

Thank you so much. Love doesn't stop at death, you know?
I know Clo would have felt the same for any of her friends, and she had more friends than anyone else I've ever known.

 

[IBsleuthin]

In case anyone wants to know where the murders took place, the women were killed in Lauderdale Co, AL., outside the city limits of Florence, AL. Clo lived in Florence, AL.

I want to thank Believe for adding this case to the " Awaiting Trial" section. I'd never added a case of a non- high profile murder, and didn't know if it was proper to do so on the site.
For those who knew and loved them, I'm sure both ladies were more important than any distant celebrity or high profile murdered victim who happened to be in a large city, thus getting much more news coverage.

Dear Seeking Jana;

I too have been affected by domestic violence taking the lives of people close to me. A friend of mine is an artist and she started an art memorial dedicated to people who have died as a result of domestic violence.

This started out as a memorial to two women who have died and now it has grown to many portraits around the United States, Canada and Britain.

All of the portraits will be shown together in a single venue to raise awareness of domestic violence and to help honor the memory of the people slain.

It is completely free to the families.

She is not on Websleuths but she has a Facebook page that explains the project better:

https://www.facebook.com/TheBeautifulLifeProject?ref=hl

Maybe you could read about it and afterward you would grant permission to have your friend's portraits painted?

 

[SeekingJana]

What a wonderful memorial to all the women, children and men who lost their lives to someone who " loved" them but murdered them.
I know Clo would approve of your wonderful friend's "Beautiful Life Project" and her inclusion, so my approval is freely given. It is bittersweet to know that she exists only in images and memories, but if what I believe is true, she's in a place of perfect love and peace now and forever more.

Could you let me know when and where this project will be exhibited? I can't imagine the amount of work required, it has to be very massive. Please thank her for me, and thanks to you for thinking of my dear friend.
I don't have a Facebook account, nor can I have one for reasons of personal safety and also a separate security requirement involving my spouse's career.
I will be in contact, and please do the same.
I hope Clo is never forgotten.

Dear Seeking Jana;

I too have been affected by domestic violence taking the lives of people close to me. A friend of mine is an artist and she started an art memorial dedicated to people who have died as a result of domestic violence.

This started out as a memorial to two women who have died and now it has grown to many portraits around the United States, Canada and Britain.

All of the portraits will be shown together in a single venue to raise awareness of domestic violence and to help honor the memory of the people slain.

It is completely free to the families.

She is not on Websleuths but she has a Facebook page that explains the project better:

https://www.facebook.com/TheBeautifulLifeProject?ref=hl

Maybe you could read about it and afterward you would grant permission to have your friend's portraits painted?

 

[lawandorder]

SeekingJana --

I am so sorry about the loss of your friend. I read your tribute to her. I wish I could have met her.

 

[borndem]

In case anyone wants to know where the murders took place, the women were killed in Lauderdale Co, AL., outside the city limits of Florence, AL. Clo lived in Florence, AL.

I want to thank Believe for adding this case to the " Awaiting Trial" section. I'd never added a case of a non- high profile murder, and didn't know if it was proper to do so on the site.
For those who knew and loved them, I'm sure both ladies were more important than any distant celebrity or high profile murdered victim who happened to be in a large city, thus getting much more news coverage.

Just joined this thread, SeekingJana -- I got talked into it over on the Carrie Bradshw-Crowder thread -- so here I am. This is distressing and maddening. To strike down two women -- TWO women -- SMH. And from the discussion, I feel like I know her, at least a little bit. Grrrrrr. What is this f####d-up passion some people have that makes them feel like they have to do this sort of thing -- and some of them enjoy it. Makes me want to holler.

Anyway, let's support Clo and her friend and their families and each other on this thread and see what we can uncover... One more, and another. Dammit.

 

[SeekingJana]

Thank you, LawAndOrder and Borndem.
Mark Montgomery shot and killed Clo and his brother's girlfriend, Joanne Butler, along with Joanne's little dog in a carrier.
His adult sister witnessed the shootings and called 911.

It would seem like an open and shut case of 2 counts of capital murder. However, he has entered a
"Not Guilty" plea, as is his right, and is in jail without bond awaiting trial.
His trial is supposed to begin in September.

Clo was a dear friend of mine for over 25 years, and while justice will be bittersweet, nothing really stops the pain of knowing that she's not in this world, laughing, helping others, loving her little dogs. She was a one of a kind lady and so many people will always miss her, I know.

 

[SeekingJana]

Thinking of you today, my dear friend. Hoping for justice for you and Joanne in autumn, if not before. I will miss you forever.

 

[SeekingJana]

Mark E. Montgomery is on the court docket for December 2015.
My mother read the notice in the local paper and phoned me yesterday to tell me. Bless her heart, she's 86 years old and she knows how shattered I am over losing Clo, and the totality of what Montgomery did.
Hoping the new year starts off with his LWOP sentence being served.

He's been in jail now since March, 2014. Rot, Mark, rot.

 

[borndem]

Thank you so much. Love doesn't stop at death, you know?
I know Clo would have felt the same for any of her friends, and she had more friends than anyone else I've ever known.

Just getting back onto this case -- You have many friends here,SeekingJana! And as you know, there are so many caring folks on WebSleuths, and we can come together for so many good reasons. We'll just see what happens between now and December together. Reach out when you need us!

Sympathy and love headed your way.

 

[SeekingJana]

Just getting back onto this case -- You have many friends here,SeekingJana! And as you know, there are so many caring folks on WebSleuths, and we can come together for so many good reasons. We'll just see what happens between now and December together. Reach out when you need us!

Sympathy and love headed your way.

Thank you so much. The support means so much more than words can ever say. Clo was SO loved by so many friends. I cried when my mother, at the age of 86, knows and keeps an eye out for news about the case ( she's local to the news area which covers this part of N. Alabama). I mean, she really shouldn't have to ever think about a nurse her daughter worked with and was instant friends with dying in such a tragic way. She's elderly, and although she " talks strong", I'm sure she's very fragile, still, due to the loss of my dad and her own health issues.

I'm so emotionally involved in the case, the trial, and the verdict or verdicts. Everyone I've talked to or emailed with seems to agree that they see no possible way for a mistrial or a not guilty verdict, but every time Mark Montgomery is in the news, the wounds are opened again in my heart.
I thank God that I do not understand evil on a level that is present in this man ( and so many other killers as well). I worry about mankind, about his generation raised on fantasy First Person Shooter video games, the blurring of reality and fantasy from childhood.
My mother says she thinks the wanton killings we are seeing so much of is due to drug use on the part of the killers.
I'm sure multiple factors are involved in most situations, whether stranger killings or S.O. murders.
There are no easy answers. There's no way to understand true depravity and evil. There is no closure, truly. Just grief.

Knowing Clo like I did, and knowing what our mutual friends told me she had posted to her FB about Mark the fall before, I'd say she trusted him, believed him to be a good person, and possibly the man she loved. How he could literally blow her head to bits ( and Joanne's and shoot one bullet into Joanne's dog) with his gunfire is something I cannot fathom.

 

[borndem]

Beautiful post, SJ. I feel that I know you better after reading it. I think we have a lot in common after reading what you posted above. And there are a good many of us here on WS who feel so much of what you said. At least the ~man~ is in custody and he may never walk on the grass or get caught in the rain again. Just concrete walls and bars for him. Concrete and bars.

 

[SeekingJana]

Just stopping by Clo's thread to say that as far as I know, there have been no updates on the impending trial date or any other news regarding the case.
I miss my friend every day, but know she is in a most perfect place now, where she can never know any more loss and hurt.

Love remains even after death.

 

[SeekingJana]

Mark E. Montgomery is still in jail awaiting trial for the murders of Clo Stoner and Joanne Butler. No new developments have been reported.

 

[0101ABA]

Motion to bar death penalty denied, capital murder trial set for May

Lauderdale County Circuit Judge Mike Jones has denied for the second time a motion to bar the death penalty from the upcoming capital murder trial of Mark Montgomery.

After a 30-minute hearing Thursday, Jones denied the motion filed by the defense team of Vicki Willard and Jean Darby. The defense team based the motion on a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in regards to a Florida death penalty case.

(...)

The trial is scheduled for the week of May 16. Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly has said he plans to seek the death penalty if Montgomery is convicted of capital murder.

http://www.timesdaily.com/news/moti...cle_424f9a3d-b95a-588a-a9c7-de41e196a693.html

 

[SeekingJana]

It's May, and I am impatiently waiting for the trial to either begin or for old bird Jean Darby, his attorney whom I thought passed away years ago, to do a last minute " change of venue" argument.

I don't even know if Darby or her assistant have ever defended a capital murder charged defendent. ( Likely 2 separate charges of capital murder).
She's as " down home country" lawyer as has ever come of out that rotting part of the country. I just hope my distinct but distant memories of her are spot on accurate. If not, he may win an appeal for inadequate or ineffectual counsel. ( Realizing that a likely guilty verdict with a possible death sentence carries an automatic appeal.)

Although I'd love to live long enough to see him executed, most of our friends want LWOP. They think he will suffer worse and longer. IDK, but I do know the DA is convinced of the state's chances in this case.
Clo and Joanne will know justice. This is not Pinellas County, FL justice ( Casey Anthony) or L.A. justice ( O.J.), but justice which I pray will be borne out by the cold hard facts of the case.

I got a new puppy 2 weeks ago, and I think of Clo and our dogs about 100 times a day. Friendship and love last far beyond this life, y'all. I KNOW it's true.

 

[SeekingJana]

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/05/lauderdale_county_man_pleads_g.html

"Mark Edwin Montgomery, 39, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder on Thursday. He was convicted of shooting and killing Joanna Elizabeth Strickland Butler and Clo Ann Stoner.Montgomery agreed to serve life in prison without parole as part of his plea. Sentencing is scheduled for June 30."

Now, I'll never know what happened that day. I'll never know if Clo was happy, or if she was unaware, or if they were fighting or if a 3rd person was involved in an altercation.

I'll never know if she was shot first or second, if she knew what was about to happen. If she had time to plead for her life, or start to run, or maybe even protect the dog, who may have been killed first.

I have waited and waited and waited for over 2 years to hear him tell his story of what happened that day and how and well, there is NO WHY. But, SOMETHING.

Now, nothing. No closure because we've ALWAYS known who did it. This is not what I thought would happen.
I'm sorry I can't put sentences together cogently right now.

I miss my friend so much. WHY did this happen to her? She was smart. She was educated. She was alone most of her life after her husband died.

And the DA had the NERVE to say this is a double death penalty case.

 

[SeekingJana]

http://www.timesdaily.com/news/crim...cle_3d46fa92-040d-5c90-91ee-97d740c2ebeb.html

First, Montgomery has given up all right to appeal. Both victims' families agreed to the terms of the plea deal- LWOP for each murder.

He told Judge Mike Jones what he says he did and why to my friend and his brother's girlfriend, Joanne Butler. No mention of her dog.

Montgomery showed no emotion as he stood in front of Jones and pleaded guilty to capital murder, and described to the judge how he killed the two women.
He said he, Clo Ann Stoner, Joanna Butler and his sister, Sara, were at his brother’s house when the shooting happened.

“Sara was washing dishes and me and the others were in the living room,” Montgomery said. “The best I remember I had been arguing with Clo and I shot her with a rifle.”

Jones asked him where he got the rifle.

“It was beside the door,” he said. “(My brother) had guns laying all around.”

Montgomery said he shot (Stoner) in the head while Butler sat on the couch. “Then I shot (Butler) in the head,” he said.

“When you shot them, did you intend to kill them,” Jones said.

“Yes,” he said.

 

[believe09]

Clo has some measure of justice. My heart hurts for you but I am grateful there will be no victim bashing. This man is stone cold. Society would never be safe if he were ever freed.