Anger, violence detailed in prior arrests of accused West Goshen killer

Clayton P. Carter III, the man prosecutors say shot and killed his next-door neighbor Tuesday in Chester County, had a history of violence that spanned nearly two decades — including another altercation with a neighbor, according to court documents.

In 1998, Carter drove his pickup truck through the front of his in-laws' West Goshen home, the one he would later move into in order to care for them, court records show. In Lancaster County in 2012, Carter allegedly punched a neighbor in the face after a confrontation with her and her boyfriend.

Carter's attorney, Terrence J. Marlowem stressed that the 1998 incident was reduced to a summary offense and said the District Attorney's Office decided not to prosecute the 2012 assault because the woman had attacked Carter.

The criminal complaints provide more insight into the 51-year-old retired mobile home park owner, who faces murder charges in the death of George Brooks Jennings, also 51. Prosecutors say Carter shot and killed Jennings after a confrontation over a spotlight. Carter's attorney said his client was attacked and acted in self-defense.

A few years ago, Carter moved in next door to the Jennings family on the 300 block of Box Elder Drive in West Goshen and began to torment the family, particularly the husband and father, Jennings, as well as other neighbors, according to Jennings' brother-in-law Steve Oliver.

A man living at the home with Carter declined to comment this week.

A criminal complaint shows that nearly 20 years ago at the same house, Carter's anger boiled over — that time, toward Carter's father-in-law, William Magill.

After midnight on Jan. 11, 1998, Carter called his in-laws' home twice from a car phone. A few minutes later, Magill told police he heard a car ramming the front of his house several times, according to the complaint.

Standing at the top of the stairs with a golf club in hand, Magill said he watched Carter get out of his blue Chevrolet pickup truck, which was now inside the home, and come up the stairs toward him. Carter knocked the golf club out of Magill's hand and shoved him a couple times, asking where Carter's daughter was, according to the complaint.

Marlowe, who also represented Carter in 1998, said Carter's daughter was then a newborn and the wife and baby had moved in with her parents, the Magills.

When police arrived at the Box Elder Drive home, they found Carter's truck crashed through the front of the house, causing extensive damage to the front door, exterior wall, and living room. On the front lawn, police saw several tire tracks and an uprooted tree, according to the complaint.

As police approached the damaged front door, Carter walked out and said, "I know what I did, arrest me." Police asked whether the truck was his. "Yes," Carter responded, "I came to get my daughter," according to the complaint.

Carter never denied driving the car into the home, Marlowe said.

When police later asked Carter if he was suicidal, Carter, then 32, said "No, I just want my daughter," according to the complaint.

Carter was arraigned on felony charges of aggravated assault, criminal trespassing, and criminal mischief, as well as lesser charges. These charges were ultimately reduced to a summary offense, and Marlowe said Carter paid an agreed-upon penalty.

Since it occurred almost two decades ago, Marlowe said, he did not recall too many specifics about the case.

Fourteen years later — and 40 miles away in Leola, Lancaster County — Carter, who lived there at the time, was arrested again after a dispute with a couple in a neighboring home.

Around noon on Sept. 9, 2012, a woman called police to report that she was being attacked by Carter. When police arrived at her residence, she told them Carter had confronted her boyfriend on their property and then started to fight him. She said Carter punched her in the face and chased her around the property, according to the complaint.

She told police Carter hit her in the head again as she spoke with 911 dispatchers. The woman had a bruise on her face, a swollen lip, and a bleeding scratch on her arm, according to the complaint.

The woman told police Carter had also stolen a key to a lawnmower and weed whacker she had been using. When police spoke with Carter, he admitted to striking the woman. He said he was attempting to retrieve a hat that she had stolen from him, according to the complaint.

Carter was charged with two misdemeanor counts of simple assault. Marlowe, who also represented Carter in a later part of this case, said authorities decided not to prosecute Carter because the woman had attacked him.

Two months later, that woman was charged with making a false report in a different Lancaster County township. That charge was reduced to a lesser offense, and it was unclear Friday whether it was related to the Carter altercation. She could not be reached for comment.

In West Goshen, police said they had encountered Carter seven times since January.

Carter moved into the Box Elder Drive home several years ago to care for his in-laws, according to Marlowe. Carter's mother-in-law died in 2013, but his father-in-law and wife still reside at the home. Carter has one daughter, according to Marlowe.

Carter remained jailed without bail Friday at Chester County Prison. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 24.

A funeral service for Jennings will be held at 9 a.m. Monday at Westminster Presbyterian Church in West Chester. A GoFundMe page was created Wednesday to support Jennings' wife, Jill, and his 9-year-old son, Matthew; by Friday it had raised nearly $12,000.