Former ‘Most Wanted’ man in court for alleged killing of Weymouth woman

WEYMOUTH – A  guy as soon as on the State Police list of most wanted fugitives is going through a Norfolk County jury practically five several years following prosecutors say he killed his ex-girlfriend and fled the state.

Cornel Bell, 50, is charged with first-degree murder in the August 2017 killing of Michelle Clarke at her Lake Avenue apartment in Weymouth, the district attorney’s office reported at the time. He has been held with no bail considering the fact that his arrest in late 2019.

Bell’s trial in Norfolk Nation Top-quality Court docket started out Wednesday with jury choice. Opening arguments have been read Thursday and witness testimony begun Friday.

Law enforcement claimed Bell killed Clarke, 33, following she still left her task as a bartender in Dorchester on Aug. 18, 2017. Law enforcement discovered her dead from “sharp trauma” in the early early morning several hours of the subsequent working day, after a close friend identified as police prior to 4 a.m. and requested officers to do a nicely-remaining test.

Investigators mentioned Bell still left in a stolen pickup truck, which was recovered quite a few times later on by police in Florida, exactly where he has household.

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Bell was added to the Point out Police’s “Most Desired” fugitive record in September 2017, followed by his indictment in October 2017. Police arrested him at a Florida development web site in September 2019.

Condition Law enforcement later on mentioned that Bell has a “long historical past of violent crime” and was wanted on two more warrants beneath unique aliases – a single for assault with intent to murder in 1997 and the other for armed robbery in 2002. Law enforcement stated Bell had Massachusetts driver’s licenses less than at least four diverse names.

Clarke still left powering a son, who was 6 several years previous at the time. She labored as a health-related assistant at the personnel wellness and wellness middle at Linden Ponds, a Hingham retirement community.

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Marcia Tyson, Clarke’s mother, said her daughter briefly dated Bell and he was “obsessed” with her daughter when she finished their romance.

The demo was at first scheduled to begin past thirty day period, but Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office spokesman David Traub stated an expert was completing  Bell’s psychiatric report and prosecutors were tracking down a witness for the situation.

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This write-up initially appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Cornel Bell faces jury in loss of life of Weymouth mother Michelle Clarke