Steve Clayton - Death by Eyedrops

The man whose wife poisoned him with eyedrops

This week we head back to the USA, to the Carolinas and on to the beautiful shores of Lake Wylie.  It’s a place of pristine beauty, gorgeous landscapes, forests, and breathtaking vistas. 

Background

Steven Clayton was a man who had done well for himself.  He and his wife, Lana Clayton, shared a grand home on the peaceful Lake Wylie in South Carolina.  He had taken his time to lovingly restore his home to a replica of the Mount Vernon George Washington Estate (the former home of George Washington).  Steven was a man who appreciated beautiful things, art, and good wines.  But he didn’t let the finer things in life change him.  If anything, he was determined to be of value in his community.  Having been a successful entrepreneur in the sports rehab field, at age 64, he was retired and comfortable. 

By all accounts, Steve is described as a gentle and caring soul.  He was funny and affectionate and a loyal friend.  He was always keen to help where he could and would mentor up and coming businesspeople, coach local teens and share advice.  He was well known in his local community and well liked; pretty much everyone who met Steve became a friend no matter their walk of life and he had a big and disarming personality. 

Steve though, despite being a successful entrepreneur, had not had much luck in love.  But he was a hopeless romantic and loved being in love and in 2010 he met Lana, who was a former Veterans Affairs nurse.  Steve fell head over heels for Lana and her seemingly caring ways and the couple married in 2013. 

Steve’s Death

On the morning of Saturday, 21^st July 2018, Lana reports that she had been mowing the lawn on their Lake Wylie estate.  She had come inside to find her husband slumped at the bottom of the staircase.  Lana had retreated outside to summon help and a passing motorcyclist was flagged down to call 911.  She also went next door to her neighbour’s house as they were close friends of the couple.  He had gone inside trying to get Steve’s pulse while Lana had sat on the front steps.      

When the emergency services arrived, they found Steve unresponsive at the bottom of the stairs.  Sadly, they were unable to revive him.  When the York County Police Department spoke to Lana, she informed them that Steve had been ill with vertigo and bedridden for two days prior to the fall.  She added that Steve had not wanted to visit a doctor. 

When Steve’s nephew had visited the mansion to console Lana, he found it odd that she had not mentioned trying to revive her husband.  There had also been two phones in the house, and he was confused as to why she hadn’t used one to call 911. 

The Events that Followed

A preliminary exam undertaken following Steve’s death though confirmed that the fall was not what had caused his death.  There had been no signs of bruises or abrasions.  Perhaps then Steve had suffered a heart attack?  There was discolouration of his body. 

Steve’s body was then released to the funeral home.  Lana was emphatic that she did not want an autopsy to be performed on Steve and she was keen that Steve’s body be cremated as soon as possible.  Steve’s family began to feel uncomfortable.  It wasn’t unreasonable that they should want an autopsy to clarify his cause of death.  They’d also made a horrible discovery when going through the bedroom where he’d been laying ill days before his death:  Steve had been in bed so long that a puddle of urine was found beneath his bed, the bedsheets were soaked.

Lana told family members that Steve did not have a will; this seemed highly unlikely given the high value of his assets.  The family pressed for an autopsy to be done:  Between the illness and the lack of the will, not to mention Lana’s growing hostility towards Steve’s family, they felt it was important to do so.  Oddly, Steve’s phone was also nowhere to be found.  The family were also deeply upset that Lana kept saying that the reason that she didn’t want an autopsy to be undertaken was because Steve was a hardcore drug user – when they knew that this was in no way possible. 

It was difficult for Steve’s family to believe that he could be gone.  Only a couple of weeks before they had been celebrating at the house for 4^th of July – the dogs had been running around, Steve had been telling jokes, there had been music and laughter. 

Autopsy Findings

In mid-August of 2018, the findings from the autopsy and in particular, the toxicology report was received back.  What the police found was shocking.  Extremely high amounts of the chemical tetrahydrozoline (more than 30 times the normal levels) were found in Steve’s system.  Police knew this could only mean one thing:  Steve had either committed suicide or was murdered. 

What is Tetrahydrozoline?

Tetrahydrozoline is a chemical found in eyedrops.  When used correctly, the chemical is meant to reduce redness of the eyes.  When used in a nefarious way, it can kill. 

If ingested orally, severe adverse medical reactions are triggered, and medical help needs to be sought immediately. 

The York County Police Department began their investigations and after not much time at all, they began to suspect Lana.  When they had told Lana about their findings, she had said that Steve sometimes added some eyedrops to his coffee to act as a laxative.  This again, seemed suspicious.  His family claimed that he would not have been taking any drugs/medicine as he was a strong believer in traditional Chinese medicine.  That he was ingesting eyedrops himself then made absolutely no sense. 

Who is Lana Sue Clayton?

When Lana met Steve, she had been a nurse with the Department of Veterans Affairs.  She regularly attended bible class and by all accounts seemed kind and sweet-natured.  When tragedy had befallen the Clayton household, she had played the part of grieving widow well.  Neighbours comforted her in the wake of Steve’s death.  She’d claimed she was heartbroken and held a memorial service in Steve’s honour.  But investigators at the York County Police Department were not so sure about Lana.  Why had she failed to do CPR on her husband?  Why had she not called 911 herself?  Where was Steve’s phone? Family reported that Steve always had his phone on him and now it had suddenly just ‘disappeared’. 

The Crossbow Incident

Even more worryingly, investigations into Lana’s character had led them to something quite unsettling.  In 2016, police had been called to the Clayton household to investigate a disturbing event.  Lana had fired a crossbow and shot her husband in the head while he slept.  Miraculously Steve had survived with only minor injuries.  Lana had said this was an accident and Steve had agreed with her, no charges were brought against her at the time.

It was time for the police to secure a search warrant for the couple’s home and Lana’s phone. 

Lana’s Motive

Steve was a wealthy man.  He’d made a good name for himself.  And a good living too.  In the absence of a will, Lana was the only one set to gain from Steve’s death.  The will had mysteriously disappeared when Steve had died and rather alarmingly investigators had found evidence of paperwork being burned on the Clayton estate. 

The Arrest

In August 2018, Lana was arrested and finally broke down under questioning.

False Allegations

Lana admitted that she had added eyedrops to her husband’s drinks and stated that she had only intended to hurt him as she was mad with him (not kill him) as she was suffering abuse at his hands – claiming that Steve was a violent man.  She claimed that he had a ‘mood disorder’ and possibly wanted to kill himself.  The police conducted a thorough investigation into these allegations of abuse and found no evidence at all of this.  In fact, when questioning previous partners, they had found quite the opposite to be true.  Understandably, Steve’s family were distressed that Lana was accusing him of abuse; they knew Steve would not have been able to do these things – he was a gentle giant.  There had never been any reports of Steve being violent or abusive. 

Something else was bothering the investigators.  There was no way that Steve would have survived the large dose of Tetrahydrozoline he was given, if it was given in one go.  He would have likely died on the Thursday if this had been the case.  There was no way around it.  Lana had been poisoning her husband over a period of days. 

Lana was charged with murder and taken into custody. 

A Plea Bargain

In case you might be unaware, South Carolina is indeed a death penalty state.  Referred to as capital punishment, it is a legal penalty within the state and between 1718 and 2021, more than 680 people have been executed in South Carolina.  Means of execution include the electric chair and death by firing squad. 

Murder therefore would be a crime punishable by death penalty if found guilty and Lana was up against some scary odds.  She decided to take a plea deal.  In January 2020, Lana’s trial began.  Lana admitted that she had fatally poisoned her husband.  She pleaded guilty to a charge of voluntary manslaughter and tampering with food or a drug.  She was sentenced to 25 years in prison together with a 20-year concurrent sentence on the tampering charge. 

During the trial, Lana said she had been abused as a child and was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.  She had also attempted suicide. 

Steve’s Suffering

As the police uncovered that Steve would no doubt have had to be poisoned over a period of days by Lana, we can only imagine what trauma he would have suffered.  It’s likely that Steve was unaware that he was being poisoned by his wife, eyedrops are difficult to detect being tasteless, odourless and colourless. 

Some of the symptoms that Steve would have suffered would have included tremors, irregular heartbeat, blurred vision, nausea and vomiting, difficulty breathing, seizures and sadly, eventual death. 

Lana ensured that Steve suffered a slow and steady poisoning - over the course of three days from July 19^th to July 21^st.  It’s a torturous way to go.  Especially given he was bedridden at this point and Lana did absolutely nothing to help him.  If she had only meant to hurt him as she originally claimed, why didn’t she end the suffering?  If Steve was physically able to, he would have got himself help. 

We can’t even say that Lana was unaware of the severity of her actions, she was after all a trained nurse. 

Case Analysis - A woman after money

Despite the care of a doting husband, the luxuries that the life she shared with him provided and afforded her, a stately house and privileged lifestyle – this was not enough for Lana.  She wanted more. We see a woman whose motive was indeed getting her hands on her husband’s vast accumulation of wealth, and she was prepared to go to great lengths to get it. She was also prepared to completely blacken his name and reputation in the process.  She would stand to receive millions of dollars following Steve’s death. 

Lana was out for money and used an unlikely and yet lethal weapon to get it. There is no doubt that the sweet, kind lady was an act, a mask to hide away the real Lana. Initially Steve’s sister was so pleased that he had married a nurse, a caregiver – but Lana was the furthest thing from this. 

Steve’s family believe there is the possibility of Lana poisoning Steve before the fatal incident.  Steve had been a strong and healthy man who enjoyed hiking and being outdoors. 

She pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes for a time, many believed Lana was a sweet person but ultimately, she was so cruel in her killing of her very own husband.  She wanted him to suffer. 

Today we hold space for Steve Clayton in our thoughts and think about the untimely and difficult death he must have suffered.

Sources:

New York Times

Oxygen

The Mirror

Image Credit: The Mirror

ABC News

CBS