The death of a 76-year-old former priest found bleeding and unconscious outside a Northeast Washington bank in January has been ruled a homicide, D.C. police detectives said yesterday.
Aloysius R. Clarke, executive director of two group homes for the mentally challenged, was discovered in the parking lot of the Riggs Bank in Brookland on Jan. 10. He died a week later at Washington Hospital Center.
Aloysius Clarke ran two group homes in Brookland.
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Because Clarke suffered from other medical conditions, it took nearly two months for the District's medical examiner to determine what killed him, police said. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide Friday, and investigators believe he was struck hard on the head during a robbery, police said.
Clarke's son said yesterday that footage from a bank surveillance video that he reviewed over the weekend at the detectives' offices shows his father being attacked. He said police should have been more aggressive in their investigation.
"This was a strong armed robbery and homicide from Day One, and the bank video supports that," said Roland Clarke, 35. "I am convinced the police should have enough evidence to make an arrest in this case soon. . . . They shouldn't have had to wait for the medical examiner to rule. The minute they got that video, they should have known" Clarke's death was a homicide.
The incident is one of several recent muggings of bank patrons in the Brookland neighborhood. Clarke's wallet is missing, and police believe it was stolen during the assault.
Police officials yesterday defended the pace of the investigation.
"We're following up leads we have developed," said Sgt. Fred Johnson of the D.C. police violent crimes branch. "We have treated this as a homicide since Day One."
From the beginning, police said they were suspicious about what happened to Clarke because he had suffered a severe head injury. However, detectives did not know whether he was assaulted or hurt himself falling, they said.
Last month, police said detectives reviewed the surveillance video that showed Clarke walking to his car. Police said at the time that there was a gap in the video followed by footage of Clarke lying on the ground.
A man is next seen standing over Clarke before leaving the scene, police have said. Detectives believe that man took Clarke's wallet. Johnson said police stand by their account of the video.
Roland Clarke said the video shows his father walking to his car. Then, it shows a man quickly approaching him from about 15 feet away, he said. There is a blur of motion and the two suddenly end up on the ground together, he said.
"If a jury sees that video, they will convict somebody of murder," Clarke's son said.
The son said he provided police with crucial information about the case in recent days -- work he said police detectives should have done much earlier. Roland Clarke and police declined to discuss that information.
Johnson said detectives had done everything they could in the past few weeks. He said investigators were going to send the video to the FBI or U.S. Secret Service to see whether it could be enhanced.
He urged anyone with information to call police at 202-727-9099. Police will boost the reward for information about the case to $25,000, as they do in all homicides, Johnson said.
Clarke is one of four patrons of two banks in Brookland -- the Riggs and Citibank in the 3800 block of 12th Street NE -- who were robbed after leaving the branches in January and February, police said.
Police stepped up patrols and surveillance in the area after the holdups.
Clarke was a well-liked director of two group homes for adults with mental disabilities and lived in one of them, in the 1200 block of Quincy Street NE.
A District native, he entered the Catholic priesthood soon after graduating from Armstrong High School and earned bachelor's degrees in philosophy and medieval history.
Clarke left the priesthood in the late 1960s and eventually became executive director of the group homes.
