Bio

Beth Ann Carpenter was born on November 2, 1963. She grew up in Ledyard, Connecticut, the oldest of three children. Her parents were Richard and Cynthia Carpenter. Her father served in the Navy for many years and later ran a landscaping business. Her mother worked as a nurse practitioner who consulted with local nursing homes.

As a child, Beth liked crocheting and sold her projects at church fairs. She and her friends rode horses and bicycles on nearby trails. In school she was an honors student. She played on the track, basketball, and swim teams. She also worked on the school newspaper and the yearbook. Her classmates called her "Red" because of her reddish-blond hair.

A guidance counselor urged her to consider George Washington University, and she took pre-med courses there at one point. After college she decided to study law. She earned her law degree from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University in 1990. She also interned at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

After law school she traveled in Europe for several months with her brother before looking for work in corporate law. She volunteered in the Norwich public defender’s office and worked with attorney Edward O’Regan. Early in her private practice career she shared office space with another young lawyer, Michael Hasse. She passed bar exams in Connecticut, New York and Washington, D.C., and joined the Old Saybrook law firm of Clein and Frasure in November 1992.

Beth remained connected to her family home in Ledyard. Her parents and siblings lived nearby, and her childhood community included places that later changed, such as the area where the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Foxwoods were built. Her background was described as Protestant with English and German ancestry, and she was often mistaken for Irish because of her hair color.

Murder Story

Anson "Buzz" Clinton III was shot to death on March 10, 1994, near Interstate 95 in East Lyme, Connecticut. The killing came after a bitter custody dispute involving his wife Kim and her daughter, Rebecca. Authorities later said the killing was arranged as a murder for hire tied to that custody battle.

Police investigation led them to Mark Despres, who eventually pleaded guilty to the killing. Despres told investigators that attorney Haiman Clein had hired him. Clein later admitted involvement and reached a plea agreement. Court records and testimony said Clein paid Despres and helped arrange the meeting where Clinton was killed.

State prosecutors argued that Beth Ann Carpenter, a lawyer, had asked Clein to arrange the hit because of the custody dispute. At trial the state presented Clein and other witnesses who said Carpenter sought Clinton's death to keep him from moving with his wife and daughter. The defense called Carpenter to testify and argued that Clein had acted on his own and that she had been under his influence.

Carpenter was arrested in Dublin, Ireland, on November 11, 1997. She later waived extradition and returned to Connecticut in 1999. Clein and Despres both pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Despres received a long prison term and Clein's sentence was capped in exchange for his testimony.

A jury convicted Beth Ann Carpenter in April 2002 on charges related to the murder-for-hire plot. The court merged counts and sentenced her to life in prison without parole on August 1, 2002. The conviction and sentence were later upheld on appeal by Connecticut courts.

Other participants received prison terms after plea deals. The victim's family pursued civil and criminal remedies and attended hearings through trial and sentencing. Carpenter later filed post-conviction petitions, including a habeas corpus petition, seeking relief from her sentence. As of the records in the research you provided, she remains imprisoned with no possibility of parole.