Slain landscaper took accused killer 'under his wing'

By LARRY HARTSTEIN

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Conyers landscaper and the employee accused of killing him, then dumping his body in a creek, had what appeared to be a good working relationship, authorities said Wednesday.

Pablo Maldonado, 22, one of four suspects charged with Timothy Clements’ murder, not only worked for the 55-year-old husband and father of two. Maldonado lived at reduced rent in an apartment Clements owned, Newton County Sheriff’s Capt. Marty Roberts said.

“Tim kind of took him under his wing and helped him out,” Roberts said. “Mr. Clements took care of his employees. That was one of the strange things about this case. We couldn’t tie it to anybody being mad or anything like that.”

A magistrate judge bound over to Superior Court the cases against Maldonado; Christian Caldwell, 17; Brittney Beasley, 18; and Katria McClain, 16. All four are from Covington.

Roberts, who testified at Wednesday’s hearing, said the suspects’ original plan was just to rob Clements.

“Then they realized they would have to kill him because they knew him too well,” Roberts said.

Roberts gave this account of the killing:

Clements drove to Maldonado’s apartment around 7 a.m. Thursday, June 11, to pick him up for work. The suspects were waiting.

“They ambushed him,” Roberts said. “They knocked him unconscious.”

Clements was killed in the apartment later; Roberts would not identify the weapon used. The suspects wrapped Clements’ body in a sheet and threw him off a bridge into Snapping Shoals Creek, Roberts said.

The robbery didn’t net much, just some lawn care equipment, Roberts said.

“Mr. Clements didn’t have a lot of cash, and he didn’t keep a lot on him, maybe 20 bucks to eat lunch or whatever,” Roberts said.

Clements’ wife reported him missing the morning of June 12. A fisherman found his body that afternoon, in the creek near Ga. 212.

It didn’t take authorities long to capture the suspects.

Caldwell and Beasley were arrested June 13 at a home in DeKalb County, and Maldonado and McClain were picked up in Anniston, Ala., a day later.

Clements’ 1991 Ford pickup truck was found June 15 off Evans Mill Road in DeKalb.

Attorneys for Maldonado, Beasley and McClain could not immediately be reached. Caldwell’s attorney said his client looks forward to all the evidence coming out.

“Christian Caldwell was not, by any stretch of the evidence, the main actor in what happened to Mr. Clements,” attorney Ryan Swingle said. “He’s a 17-year-old kid who’s very scared about what’s going on.”

Caldwell and Beasley were staying with Maldonado at the time of the killing.

“By no stretch were they close friends [with Maldonado],” Swingle said.

District Attorney Ken Wynne said Maldonado, Caldwell and Beasley are charged with murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, concealing the death of another, theft by taking and second-degree forgery. McClain is charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

The case will go to a grand jury next month.