WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Fighting for custody of his two children in 2008, Clem Beauchamp preached of the meaning of fatherhood, extolled his parenting skills and told of how he helped with homework and gave life lessons.
So compelling was his combination of self-promotion and denigration of the children’s mother, the court awarded him custody, though it was short-lived. A judge rescinded the order about a year later when Beauchamp wasn’t complying with the terms.
When the mother was given custody again, Beauchamp was deemed “willing to manipulate the stability of his children” in a July 22, 2010 order. The judge said Beauchamp needed to do what was best for the children “rather than acting upon his need to be able to control whatever situation he wants to control.”
Now those two children he fought so hard to keep are in the state’s custody and two others who lived with Beauchamp are dead, found stuffed in luggage last week and dumped in a Delray Beach canal. Their mother is dead, too, finally identified after her body was found in a landfill in August. Though Beachamp has not been charged in the deaths, authorities say he is the sole suspect in all three killings.
Beauchamp is being held on firearms charges unrelated to the deaths of 10-year-old Jermaine McNeil, 6-year-old Ju’tyra Allen and 25-year-old Felicia Brown. He appeared in court Wednesday, where a judge refused to grant him bond or to appoint him a public defender, but was largely silent. The tomes of case files related to his custody battle, however, reveal much.