… He, then, fully retired at the age of 40. Peter Van Sant: And he made millions off of this, correct? Steve's nephew, Kris Phagan, says his uncle was an accountant by trade who, in the 1980s, created a highly successful physical therapy business, targeting sports injuries. … It didn't always work out well for him. Kris Phagan: I think the number's somewhere around six or seven. Steve's family had lost count on the number of times he'd been down the aisle. Rosie Clayton-Leslie: I sensed that my brother loved her very much, that she loved him very much. Three years later, they married in nearby Charlotte, North Carolina. Steve and Lana Clayton on their wedding day. God forbid something should happen, he should fall ill. Rosie Clayton-Leslie: I felt, wow, she'll be there for him. Lana was a nurse – a calling that made Steve's sister, Rosie, very happy. She had his medications and things next to his bed, made sure he had everything he needed. Kristi O'Connor: She made sure he had his water. Lana said she checked on him around 11 that morning and found him sound asleep, so she went outside to mow the lawn. Peter Van Sant: Their bedroom was on the second floor of this house, right? Kristi O'Connor: He was nauseated and dizzy and bedridden.
News reporter Kristi O'Connor of CBS affiliate WBTV covered the story. And I just, I knew he was dead.Īccording to Lana, Steve had come down with a bout of vertigo three days prior. Then, what I really thought was strange, was she sat on the front steps. James Blackledge: I just thought it was an accident, a strange accident. Peter Van Sant: And what were you thinking as all of this is unfolding? Terry Floyd: And I said, "Well, where is he?" And she said, "He's at the base of the stairs there in the foyer." The two jumped into Terry's golf cart and dashed over to the Clayton's front door. Terry Floyd: And I asked her, of course, what was wrong. Terry Floyd is a close friend of Lana and Steve. … It almost sound like somebody, you know, was gonna bust the glass out. Terry Floyd: All of a sudden, I heard this loud knock on the screen. JAMES BLACKLEDGE: I was just ridin' by and a woman came running out and said her husband fell down the steps and she thinks he's dead.Īs Blackledge stayed on the phone with the dispatcher, he watched Lana run across the street to a neighbor's house. James Blackledge: She flagged me down, stopped me. It was Lana Clayton who apparently had just run out of her house.
… And all of a sudden, I see a woman running across this yard.and she was waving me down. James Blackledge: I was out riding my ing down this road. So, I've seen things, done things.īut James Blackledge wasn't ready for what was about to happen as he rode by the home of Steve and Lana Clayton on the morning of July 21, 2018.
What happened in the Clayton household? And could that case have led to a copycat crime? A STRANGE ACCIDENT? The blood test revealed an unusual chemical – tetrahydrozoline – in Steve Clayton's blood that would shift the investigation into a whole new direction. We were not able to find Steve's phone anywhere."Ĭoncerned about the nature of his death, the family asked for an autopsy and a toxicology test. "And Steve always had his phone with him. "She made no mention of attempting to revive him," French tells "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant. However, Clayton's nephew, Nick French, a police officer in a nearby town, noticed something was odd about Lana's behavior when he rushed to the mansion to console her. Initially, the coroner's office ruled Clayton died from a possible heart attack. The businessman, who created physical therapy clinics, had been married to his wife for five years when he died. Lana Clayton said she found her husband Steve Clayton dead at the bottom of a staircase in their South Carolina home.
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