Clark pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, a gun specification to aggravated murder and tampering with evidence in Warren County Common Pleas Court. Judge Neal Bronson will sentence him next month.
Clark originally asserted an insanity plea, but he was found competent to stand trial and he withdrew his insanity defense. Fornshell could not be reached for comment on the plea. A release issued by his office states Clark faces life without parole with parole eligibility after 20 or more years.
During testimony after he was first charged, Lebanon police Detective Mark Allen said Clark admitted that he broke into the home Eve shared with two other men at 418 Deerfield Road after receiving a threatening voicemail that Clark believed had come from Eve.
Clark entered the house through a side door and was carrying a gun he had purchased several years earlier, authorities said. He stole a pair of cell phones belonging to the home’s occupants, Allen said. Clark confronted Eve and Devin Luken, another of the home’s occupants, in an attached garage, authorities said.
After exchanging words, the three men became involved in an altercation in which Clark shot Eve, Allen said.
Eve stumbled outside of the garage and collapsed.
After threatening Lukin away, Clark told Allen he knelt down before Eve’s body and “put one in Nate’s head,” the detective said.
After fleeing the scene, Clark was spotted placing the gun in a creek near Mechanic Street, Allen said.
The witness alerted police about the suspicious behavior and they were able to retrieve a .38 caliber Colt revolver that Allen said was the gun used to shoot Eve.
Allen said witnesses from Deerfield Road identified Clark as the shooter and he was also identified by the person who allegedly saw Clark dispose of the gun.