Born in 1952, Hadden Clark had serious developmental issues and is considered a disturbed individual whose own brother describes him as “evil.” He is currently serving time in prison, having been sentenced to two consecutive 30-year sentences for the murders of Michele Dorr and Laura Houghteling. He has confessed to multiple murders throughout his years in prison, though so far only two of his murders have been confirmed. Now, however, he is eligible for parole. Michael Bay’s new docuseries Born Evil: The Serial Killer and The Savior dives deep into Hadden Clark’s past.
Jack Truitt
Jack Truitt was serving a life sentence for a murder he pleaded innocent to. Towards the end of his sentence, he was transferred to a new jail. On the transfer bus, he noticed a man rocking back and forth and grinning at him like the Joker. Jack hoped never to see him again; however, when he was taken to his new cell, Hadden Clark stood there with his Joker-like smile. Clark later told him, “Jesus, I know God sent you to me.” He said he would tell him everything he did to be forgiven. So, Clark admitted to Jack that he had killed someone in every state in the United States.
Michele Dorr
On Memorial Day weekend in 1986, 6-year-old Michele Dorr went missing in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her father Carl Dorr set up a mini pool outside for Michele to play in before settling inside to watch a NASCAR race. The Dorrs were neighbors of Geoff Clark, Hadden’s younger brother. Michele would often go over to the neighbors to play with their daughter, Elizabeth. Later that day, Carl Dorr went to check on her outside, but she was not there; he went to the Clark’s to bring her home, but she was not there either. After searching the neighborhood with no luck, Michele was reported missing.
Laura Houghteling
On October 19, 1992, 23-year-old Laura Houghteling went missing. She was a Harvard graduate who returned to her mother’s home after finishing school. She was reported missing when she didn’t show up for work one day. Hadden Clark had been working as a gardener for Penny, Laura’s mother. Hadden said Penny was nice to him and described her as a mother figure; however, when Laura came home from college, he said things changed.
Hadden Clark became the top suspect in Laura’s disappearance after he was connected to the disappearance of Michele Dorr. Forensics went in to examine Laura’s room, specifically her mattress. The black lights showed a large luminescent spot where the blood was. That was the moment they determined that a homicide had occurred. Though they still did not know what happened to her body, they searched the nearby woods. They found a dried-up bloody pillowcase that matched the set of Laura’s sheets. Later, they identified a fingerprint on the pillowcase and matched it to Hadden Clark.
Born Evil
The five-episode docuseries Born Evil: The Serial Killer and The Savior explores the life and crimes of Hadden Clark. Michael Bay directly reached out to Hadden with a letter. Bay later told People magazine that he wanted to get “into the twisted mind of a serial killer.” He did just that with this chilling documentary. Recording over 14 hours of phone conversation with the convicted murderer, Bay was able to get him to open up about his life and the other unidentified murders he committed. Bay hopes his docuseries can lead to the resolution of cold cases in multiple states.
The series focuses on the confessions that Clark made to his cellmate, Jack Truitt. After many weeks of being cellmates, Jack was tired of listening to Clark and told him to write things down and draw them. Clark would address his letters to Jesus and describe the details of his crimes; he also illustrated clues to find the bodies of the people he killed. When Truitt reached out to authorities regarding Clark’s confessions, it led to more interviews.
Final Thoughts
While sharing a cell with Jack, Hadden confessed to the murder of Michele Dorr. Twelve years after Dorr’s disappearance, Hadden Clark was charged with her murder. In October 1999, Michele Dorr’s murder trial began. Even without a body, Clark was convicted of 2nd-degree murder. In 2000, with the help of his cellmate, Clark led the police to where he buried Dorr’s body.
Jack Truitt never expected to be released from prison, even though he stood firm on his innocence; however, his cooperation in uncovering Hadden Clark’s murders led to his chance at parole. Joe Gamble advocated for him to the parole board and he was released after serving 36 years. Since Clark believed Truitt to be Jesus Christ, he was overly comfortable with sharing key details from his crimes. Detectives described talking to Clark as difficult since it was hard to keep him on a one-way track; however, Truitt squeezed confessions out of him like no other person could.
