A Cleveland man who set up two fundraiser pages asking for donations after his fiancée died of an “accidental fall” has been charged with aggravated murder.
In an indictment filed in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas on Friday, Clarence Bogan III was charged with aggravated murder, felonious assault and domestic violence.
According to police records Bogan’s fiancée, Stacey Marie Tucker, 39, died in his apartment on West 115th Street early in the morning on Feb.10.
Bogan told neighbors his fiancée was intoxicated and “fell four times” causing a fatal head injury.
The next day Bogan published at least two fundraising pages asking for money for Tucker’s funeral expenses, saying she died “from a head injury suffered in an accidental fall in the early morning.”
Apartment Manager Jay Anthony Smith told newsnet5.com that he and others suspected foul play because Bogan was speaking with many of the residents to “make sure they had the story straight.”
Smith said the complex had issues with Bogan in the past.
According to court documents, Bogan is a registered sex offender after pleading guilty to rape and serving time in 2009. He’s considered a “repeat violent offender” but Smith said he did not notify the apartment owner when he moved in.
“My boss got a couple pamphlets in the mail and everybody’s threatened to move out,” Smith explained. “I’ve had three tenants move already out of this build because of him.”
A medical examiner determined that Tucker died from “blunt impacts to head, trunk, and extremities with visceral and soft tissue injuries” and ruled the death a homicide.
As of late Monday afternoon, Bogan was not in the custody of the Cuyahoga County Jail.
