Herald staff
Key events in the Richard Matthew Clark case:
April 1, 1995: Roxanne Doll, 7, disappears from her bedroom at her home in south Everett. Hundreds of searchers volunteer to comb the county, looking for traces of the child.
April 7, 1995: Clark, then 26 and a drinking buddy of the missing girl’s father, is arrested on suspicion he is involved in Roxanne’s disappearance.
April 8, 1995: Two young girls find Roxanne’s body dumped among grass clippings and other debris on a north Everett hillside. The site is near Clark’s home. The slain child’s mother, Gail Doll, and Roxanne’s sister, Jennifer, weep at the news.
April 13, 1995: Clark is charged with murder and kidnapping. The charge is almost immediately upgraded to aggravated murder after evidence shows the girl was raped before being stabbed to death.
Sept. 19, 1995: Prosecutors call a press conference to announce they will seek the death penalty, but a glitch in how they deliver the news to defense attorneys triggers a yearlong legal battle that ends with a state Supreme Court ruling that Clark’s rights weren’t violated.
Feb. 27, 1997: Jury selection begins in Clark’s aggravated murder trial. Screening jurors takes nearly a month.
March 27, 1997: Trial begins.
April 15, 1997: Roxanne’s parents, Tim Iffrig and Gail Doll, are present for the verdict as the jury convicts Clark of aggravated murder.
April 18, 1997: Jury rules Clark should die.
April 25, 1997: A defiant Clark is sentenced to die. He calls Roxanne’s parents "murderers" and mutters, to no one in particular, as he’s led from the courtroom, "See ya. Wouldn’t want to be ya."
Sept. 11, 2000: The conviction and sentence are automatically appealed. The state Supreme Court orders Clark returned to Everett from death row for a new hearing on his case.
June 7, 2001: State’s high court rules that Clark’s sentencing was flawed because jurors were given too much information about one of his prior convictions.
Talk to us
- You can tell us about news and ask us about our journalism by emailing newstips@heraldnet.com or by calling 425-339-3428.
- If you have an opinion you wish to share for publication, send a letter to the editor to letters@heraldnet.com or by regular mail to The Daily Herald, Letters, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206.
- More contact information is here.
