FAMILY FEUD
A real estate lawyer in Connecticut's moneyed seaside communities, Beth Carpenter, 31, had beauty, brains and success. But she wanted more-namely guardianship of her two-year-old niece, Rebecca, daughter of Beth's estranged sister, Kim. When Kim married Anson "Buzz" Clinton, 28, a former male exotic dancer deemed an unsuitable guardian by the Carpenter family, Beth became obsessed with the idea that only his death could ensure that she and her parents would get custody of the child. On March 10, 1994, on a lonely stretch of road, Clinton was shot five times.

MISFIT MURDERERS
Behind Clinton's death lay a bizarre murder-for-hire conspiracy that found privileged professionals and local misfits joined in a cold-blooded plot against an innocent man. This homicidal group included attorney Haiman Clein, 53. A husband, father, and successful businessman, Clein was Beth Carpenter's boss - and also her sexually obsessed, cocaine-snorting, murderously obedient lover. The paid killers were two buddies, organizer Joe Fremut and triggerman Mark Despres, who brought his 15-year-old son Christopher along for the hit. The aftermath of this brutal crime would set investigators and prosecutors on a long and twisted path strewn with lies, treachery, and deceit that would cross the Atlantic Ocean before finally bringing justice home.

Shortly after this mugshot of Beth Ann Carpenter was taken, she was released from prison. Many of her supporters say she had nothing to do with Buzz Clinton's murder - that it was all Haiman Clein's doing. LETHAL GUARDIAN, the only book about the case to be published, goes beyond the sensational headlines, beyond the speculation, rumor, family opinion and gossip, giving readers definitive answers to all the questions raised both during the trial and after a verdict was handed down. The new information and shocking revelations in the book will, without a doubt, stifle the controversy this case caused.

Joe Fremut (left) was Mark Despres's partner in the planning of Buzz Clinton's murder. That much has been spelled out in court. But why did Joe Fremut, who had promised Despres he would go with him to murder Buzz, bail out at the last minute?

There's no doubt that Mark Despres (right) murdered Anson "Buzz" Clinton on March 10, 1994; he shot him five times at pointblank range. What isn't clear to most people, however, is who hired Mark to do it? Many people close to the case have a theory, and the State presented enough evidence at trial to convict someone in a murder-for-hire plot that involved Despres. But there is so much more to this case that is covered in LETHAL GUARDIAN.

This photo of Haiman Long Clein, taken shortly after Clein turned 55, serves as proof that no matter how much money people have, no matter how well their standing in the community, they are only as rich as the soul they keep. Clein, a convicted conspirator in Buzz Clinton's murder, had been on the run for three months before this photo was taken. Previous to that, Clein had been one of the most sought-after real estate attorneys in Connecticut circles of wealth. A millionaire at one time, with two law practices, living in the lap of luxury in a mansion, with another house on the Atlantic Ocean, Clein had $2.81 on him when the FBI took him into custody in Long Beach, California.

So how does a one-time wealthy attorney with four young children at home and a 20-year marriage let it all slip out from underneath him? Excess. Obsession. Greed. Selfishness. Clein had become addicted to many things throughout the years: women, booze, cocaine, money. He had even stooped to the point, his own psychiatrist testified during Beth Ann Carpenter's trial, where he was inviting friends and potential clients over to his house to have sex with his wife while he watched.

FROM THE AUTHOR
"The female murderer, from a literary standpoint, has always interested me," says Phelps. "She is a rare breed. Beth Ann Carpenter-young, beautiful, professional-presented me with several intriguing and complicated issues: She was a woman who, from the outside, anyway, one would never suspect of being involved in such a heinous crime. She had everything going for her. Underneath the façade, however, I found a sullen, yet sobering portrait of a manipulative woman who lied to a lot of people . . . a woman who would use her charm and obvious sexual appeal to convince men to do whatever she wanted. . . . I wrote this book like an episode of CBS's CSI with this dynamic in mind. I wanted readers to walk with law enforcement on their six-year journey and find the truth through the evidence. The same way I did."

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