David Paul Edward Wooten
Site of Fort Payne, Ala., slaying.A Fort Payne, Ala., man is dead and his neighbor is charged with murder in the investigation of a Saturday slaying in a mobile home park in the south end of town.
David Paul Edward Wooten, 42, is charged in the death of 45-year-old Bernie Wayne Clark, who lived at lot 10 of Hardeman Trailer Park at 2219 Gault Avenue South, according to Fort Payne Police Chief Randy Bynum. Wooten's home was at lot 12 in the same park.
Wooten had been named a "person of interest" and was held for questioning in the slaying on Saturday but charges were not filed until Monday, officials said.
The investigation began around 8:30 a.m. CST Saturday with a 911 call about an assault that possibly happened Friday night, according to statement from Bynum. When officers went to the mobile home park they first spoke to a person they initially thought was the reported victim, but then they went to another mobile home, Clark's residence, where they found him dead on a couch.
Clark's body was sent to the Huntsville Department of Forensic Science to determine the cause of death, police said.
Fort Payne officials on Monday were unwilling to expand on details or talk about a motive in the killing or what injuries officers observed.
Meanwhile, Wooten remains behind bars on $250,000 bond, DeKalb County Jail officials said Monday afternoon.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.