Newtown Man Pleads Guilty To Charges In Bludgeoning Death

By Andrew Gorosko

WATERBURY — A Newtown man pleaded guilty in court this week to murder charges stemming from the bludgeoning death of his estranged wife’s new boyfriend while the couple slept in the killer’s former Waterbury home.

On May 4 in Waterbury Superior Court, Nicholas Clark, 33, pleaded guilty before Judge Roland D. Fasano to charges of murder, first-degree assault, and first-degree burglary in connection with a November 17, 2007, incident in which he wielded a screw-studded pipe against Erich Tabert, 26, and then against his estranged wife, Christa, then age 29.

Tabert was so severely injured in the attack that he was declared brain dead and was later removed from life-support equipment; he died two days after the attack. Injuries caused by blunt force head trauma caused his death, according to the medical examiner.

Christa Clark received serious injuries in the attack.

The incident occurred in the Knoll Street house in Waterbury’s East End where the Clarks had formerly lived together.

Assistant State’s Attorney Amy Sedensky, who is the prosecutor, said the state and the lawyer representing Mr Clark reached no plea agreement in the case. Mr Clark is being held on $2,525,000 bail at the state’s MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield.

At his sentencing, which is scheduled for July 10, Mr Clark is facing a prison term ranging from 25 to 100 years, Ms Sedensky said.

The prosecutor said the state would seek the maximum sentence for Mr Clark.

Christa Clark now lives in Florida, Ms Sedensky said. Ms Clark has received many surgeries to repair the physical injuries that she suffered when Mr Clark attacked her, the prosecutor said. Ms Clark is expected to attend her ex-husband’s sentencing in July, Ms Sedensky said.

Mr Clark’s guilty pleas to the three criminal charges is the best way for the criminal case to resolve itself, the prosecutor said. The families of those involved thus do not have to undergo the ordeal of a criminal trial, she said.

Attorney John R. Gulash, Jr, representing Mr Clark, had no comment on why Mr Clark pleaded guilty to the three charges.

“He will have an opportunity to address the court at the time of sentencing and an opportunity to demonstrate his high level of remorse,” Mr Gulash said.

Other criminal charges which have been pending against Mr Clark in Danbury Superior Court will be resolved in Waterbury Superior Court on July 10, he said. Those charges stem from an incident that occurred at a Danbury nightclub in the hours before Mr Clark attacked Mr Tabert and Ms Clark.

Mr Gulash said he would speak on behalf of his client at the sentencing.

Waterbury police have said that at about 4:30 am on Saturday, November 17, as Mr Tabert and Christa Clark slept, Mr Clark burglarized his former Waterbury house at 49 Knoll Street. After beating the couple with a metal pipe, Mr Clark fled the scene.

At that time, the Clarks were in the process of getting a divorce. Mr Clark had moved to a family member’s home in Newtown while his divorce was underway.

After the assaults, Waterbury police contacted Newtown police informing them of the incident. Newtown police then went to the Newtown location where the Clarks’ two small children were staying in order to protect them in the event that Mr Clark should go there.

By arrangement with Mr Clark, Waterbury police arrested him on November 17, 2007, in Newtown at the commuter parking lot on Wasserman Way, near Exit 11 of Interstate 84.