Tucson, Arizona (13 News) – The second murder trial of convicted child murderer Christopher Clements ended in a miscarriage of justice on Friday, March 3.
The jury gave the judge a note saying he was stuck on first-degree murder charges and could not reach a decision.
Clements was charged with murder, kidnapping and robbery in the 2012 disappearance and death of Isabel Celis. He is serving a life sentence for kidnapping and murdering Maribel Gonzalez in 2014.
The jury deliberated over nine hours over two days before announcing its decision.
Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said the state will retry Clements with another jury. It doesn’t say how long it will take.
“At this point, a new trial date has been ordered and a new jury must be selected to decide the matter,” Conover said. “Our thoughts tonight are with the families of Celis and Gonzalez. .”
Clements will hold a murder status meeting on Monday, March 27 at 4:00 pm. At the same time, he is scheduled to hold a case management meeting for the prison smuggling charges he imprisoned earlier this week. He is said to have snuck a sharpened pencil into the prison.
A judge has ruled that Clements will remain in the Pima County Jail until further notice.
13 News reached out to Clements’ lead attorney, Eric Kessler. He said he was not ready to comment on the decision yet.
Despite the jury’s decision, the state presented some evidence suggesting that Clements was responsible for Isabel’s death.
- Clements’ phone was found near Celis’ house the night she went missing, and her body was dumped hours later.
- Clements’ ex-girlfriend testified that she had destroyed a piece of paper bearing Isabel’s name that she found under a rock in Clements’ house.
- Experts say Clements’ Internet search history contains several references to Isabel, including “Isabel Celis Sexy”, “Isabel Celis – Dead Body Found in Desert”, “Child Murder Conviction”, and “Arizona Unsolved Case”. He testified that it contained references to
- Authorities said they found several photos of the girl on Clements’ device. Some of these photos were taken around Tucson. Links to child pornography sites were also found on the device.
- Fellow inmates said they showed him a photo that Clements had hidden in his bible, a photo purported to be of the Sellis home.
Background
Clements was on trial for the disappearance and death of Isabel Sellis in Tucson in 2012.
The case quickly gained national attention as Isabelle went missing from her bedroom more than a decade ago and communities in southern Arizona searched for her.
Despite some leads, the incident remained cool until 2017. That’s when Clements’ fiancé called the FBI, and she told him that Clements knew where Isabel was buried.
A month later, Clements led investigators to search for Isabel’s body in a desert area near the West Avra Valley and North Trico roads in rural Pima County.
Clements, who pleaded not guilty, claimed he had nothing to do with Isabel’s death.
A year after Isabel’s body was recovered, Clements was charged with the deaths of both Isabel and Maribel. Maribel’s body was found in the same area as Isabel’s.
last year, Clements is Convicted of Kidnapping and Murder of Maribel Gonzalez and was sentenced to life imprisonment. On June 3, 2014, at the age of 13, Maribel went missing while walking to a friend’s house. A few days later, her body was found in a desert area near the road between Toriko and Avra Valley.
Clements has already served 35 years in prison for the Maricopa County robbery.
previous coverage
disappeared in the desert
KOLD has covered this case for years. In 2021, he released his award-winning podcast, Disappeared in the Desert.
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