Waller's ignorance may lead to more deserved prison time

Clay Waller killed his wife. He first claimed he didn't do it to the media and to police. As he became a suspect, he heckled volunteers as they searched the countryside to find Jacque Waller's body in 2011. Waller threatened his sister-in-law, providing just what authorities needed to put Waller behind bars while they had time to unravel the murder. Law enforcement amped up the pressure with evidence, and finally Waller caved, agreeing in 2013 to plead guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a confession and for taking authorities to the place where he buried Jacque: Devil's Island on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. He received a sentence of only 20 years, a sentence no one truly believed was just, but a deal the family was willing to accept to attain closure for Jacque's resting place.

We believe Waller would like to be called a "Monster," but we will refrain from doing so, because apparently he wants to be feared.

At this point, Waller may be remembered as much for his stupidity, arrogance and undisciplined impulses as much as he is for his violence. Waller seemed to fashion himself as a clever killer. He planned the murder, preparing a bicycle so that he could ride back home after leaving his wife's Honda Pilot on the Interstate with a flat tire. He had mistakenly hoped the abandoned vehicle would convince detectives she had been randomly abducted. Waller couldn't control himself. He knew he would be a prime suspect, having just met with Jacque and a divorce attorney the same day he killed her, but he was not able to wait. He was a slave to his anger. He didn't think to drive the Pilot after he slashed the tire, something experts would note in court, and he probably could've done a little more research on tire deflation to make it look more like the car ran over something rather than someone just sticking a knife into it. The punctures didn't fool anybody. He cut out carpet to hide blood stains, but didn't bother to dispose of them; he just tossed them in a crawl space under the house. Waller staked out a place to bury his wife, but he didn't research the criminal ramifications of crossing state lines and how that might affect his prison sentence later. He went to great lengths to try to throw off authorities, but in the end he was not nearly as clever as he thought he was. As a former cop, and not a very good one, he should have known better.

Waller's arrogance and ignorance has gotten the better of him once more, it appears, and if prosecutors are successful, Waller could end up spending the rest of his days in prison. He now faces a federal charge of interstate domestic violence. Waller's second-degree murder charge was carried out by the state of Missouri. Because Waller crossed state lines in his crime, the feds thought it apt to proceed with federal charges. So how did the new charges come about?

The murderer, who presented himself as meek and soft-spoken in court and to journalists, was writing a manuscript in prison. It was titled "If You Take My Kids, I'll Kill You!: The Public Confession of Missouri's Most Notorious Wife Killers."

FBI agents came in possession of the document on March 8.

"There was some very good police work that enabled authorities to locate" the manuscript, federal prosecutor Richard Callahan told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

While the Cape Girardeau assistant prosecutor acknowledged at the time of Waller's sentencing that the plea deal would have no bearing on what federal prosecutors might bring later, there had been no movement.

"There were some legal issues as to whether we would be able to use his guilty plea as evidence," Callahan told the St. Louis newspaper. "So the manuscript certainly provided an independent source of evidence."

Waller might have thought he was clever before he killed Jacque Waller. He may have thought he was clever when he made the plea deal, and would get only 20 years after admitting to killing his wife. He may have thought writing a book might have been a clever idea to try to make some cash on his crime. Surely by now he's realized how clever he isn't.

It's a very rare occasion that federal prosecutors will piggyback on a state prosecution. It's not been revealed if there was a calculation to this arrangement, whether the state didn't pursue certain charges so to leave open the possibility for federal charges and longer prison time later.

Regardless, the federal charges are warranted and justified. We applaud the efforts made by federal law enforcement and local law enforcement officials to keep plugging away and not resting after the first conviction.

Waller took the life of a mother of triplets. He robbed her of her life and damaged the futures of his own children. He feigned meekness but desired attention. He lied about his innocence then bragged of his violence. Far from a notorious wife killer, Waller would not look Jacque's family or the judge in the eye at trial. He is a coward.

Waller deserves every slow ticktock he spends in prison. Twenty years is not nearly enough.