The Clocktree
Click below to learn more about those who knew Stacey and the people who were connected to the case.
Click below to learn more about those who knew Stacey and the people who were connected to the case.
Elizabeth Stacey Stanton was murdered on February 3rd, 1990 on Ananias Dare Street in Manteo, NC. She was stabbed to death in her second-story apartment and discovered around two o’clock in the afternoon. At the time, she was 28 years old and working as a waitress at the Duchess of Dare diner in downtown Manteo.
Carl Walker is an Outer Banks resident and chef whose parents built and opened the Duchess of Dare in the 1930’s. At the time of Stacey’s murder Carl was working at the diner and knew Stacey well.
First appears on Episode 1
Terri Williams is a former Dare County Sheriff’s deputy. On February 3rd, 1990 she was working as a part-time hostess at the Duchess of Dare diner. She knew the victim and helped Manteo Police initially establish the crime scene at Stacey’s apartment. She declined to provide her photo.
First appears on Episode 1
Bert Austin is the former Dare County Sheriff. In 1990 the town of Manteo requested his office assist in the homicide investigation.
First appears on Episode 1
Mike Brandon is the ex-boyfriend of Stacey who spoke with police on the day of the crime. He lived with Stacey for a period of time in 1989.
First appears on Episode 2
Clifton Eugene Spencer is a man from the nearby town of Columbia, NC who was suspected to be the last person to see Stacey alive and visited her home in the late hours of February 2nd. He was considered a prime suspect in the case.
First appears on Episode 2
Lawrence Wayne Morris also known as Wayne Morris is a friend of Clifton Spencer. He is the primary alibi for the whereabouts of Clifton between four and six o’clock in the morning on February 3rd.
First appears on Episode 2
H.P. Williams is the former Dare County District Attorney who prosecuted the case against Clifton Spencer in 1990. He is still a practicing attorney in North Carolina but declined to participate in a recorded interview for CounterClock.
First appears on Episode 3
Romallus Murphy was Clifton Spencer private defense attorney in 1990. He operated from Greensboro, NC and initially sought to take the case to trial. He passed away in 2011.
First appears on Episode 3
Edgar Barnes is the former public defense attorney appointed to Clifton Spencer in 1992 and 1993. Barnes represented Clifton in his Motion for Appropriate Relief hearing in 1993. Barnes is currently a chief district court judge for North Carolina’s first judicial district and unable to participate in a recorded interview for CounterClock.
First appears on Episode 3
Lane DeGregory is a former Virginian-Pilot newspaper reporter who covered Clifton Spencer’s case extensively throughout the mid-1990’s and early 2000’s.
First appears on Episode 3
Gary Trawick is a former Dare County Superior Court judge. He denied Clifton’s motion for appropriate relief in 1993.
First appears on Episode 3
Joni and David “Stevie” Newman (Not pictured) are siblings who were inside the Green Dolphin Pub on February 2nd and provided police with statements of what they witnessed.
First appears on Episode 4
Patricia Rowe is the former girlfriend and ex-wife of Mike Brandon. In early 1990 she had recently started dating Mike and became pregnant. She was at the pub the same time Stacey was.
First appears on Episode 4
Susan Courington was a friend of Mike Brandon and his family in 1990. She was inside the pub on February 2nd.
First appears on Episode 4
Richard Fugate briefly visited Stacey’s apartment at the same time Clifton was there.
First appears on Episode 4
Elton “Ray” Griggs is Patty Rowe’s younger brother who attended the Manteo police conference the Monday after the crime. Ray did not return requests for comment from CounterClock.
First appears on Episode 4
Evelyn “Tina” Bass was the first person to find Stacey murdered. She is also Mike Brandon’s biological sister. She worked at the Duchess of Dare diner with Stacey and Carl Walker. She was at the Green Dolphin Pub on February 2nd. She passed away in 2017.
First appears on Episode 5
Dawn Tramontano-Beacham was the general manager of the Green Dolphin Pub in 1990. Her mother, Ginger, owned the bar. Dawn accompanied Ray Griggs to Joni Newman’s house in the early morning hours of February 3rd to pick up Patty. When they knocked, no one answered the door. Dawn declined to speak on the record or provide her photo for the podcast.
First appears on Episode 5
Donnie Varnell is a retired North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation agent. He was a resident agent on the Outer Banks in 1993. He is also one of the primary investigators on the Denise Johnson homicide from 1997.
First appears on Episode 7
Letitia Echols is a former North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services attorney. She represented Clifton Spencer from 1994 to 1998.
First appears on Episode 7
Christine Mumma is a former attorney for Clifton Spencer. Working for the North Carolina Center for Actual Innocence, she fought to have DNA evidence retested in the case in the early and mid-2000’s. She eventually recommended Clifton’s case be re-examined by the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission.
First appears on Episode 9
Dean M. Tolson is the current Dare County Clerk of Court tasked with keeping track of the records originally submitted for Clifton Spencer’s incurred court costs post-conviction.
First appears on Episode 10
Whitney Fairbanks is the Interim Executive Director of the North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services. She provided CounterClock with updated information on how much money the state is still seeking in compensation from Clifton Spencer for his post-conviction judgments.
First appears on Episode 10