Trial begins in case of man accused of strangling his mother in 2017
It started as a missing person’s case. Kay Raines, 68, of Mobile, went missing after visiting the casinos in Biloxi in 2017.
Investigators had a hunch that Raines’ son, Clarke, had something to do with his mom’s disappearance. That’s because, Mobile Police said Clarke began using his mom’s credit and debit cards and sold her belongings not long after she went missing. Investigators said they put a tracking device on his car and then followed him.
In March of 2017, police said Clarke unknowingly led them right to her body. It was just off of Highway 225 north of Bay Minette. Investigators said Kay was face down, wearing the same clothes she had on the night she disappeared. Her cause of death was ruled strangulation. Once arrested, court testimony pointed to Clarke as a drug addict with a history of arrests across the United States.The five-year-old case had some delays due to questions of whether or not Clarke was competent to stand trial. In 2019, a judge ruled the murder case against him would move forward.