Man Who Plotted Fake Bear Attack on Ex-Girlfriend Jailed

Clyde Gardner wanted to kill and skin a bear, dress up in the hide and claws, and maul his ex-girlfriend to death, prosecutors said.

A New York man came up with an unusual plan to hurt his ex-girlfriend: kill a bear, skin it, and then dress up in the carcass and attack her.

The Associated Press reports that Clyde Gardner, of Malone, N.Y., planned to wear the bear hide and claws to attack his ex-girlfriend and kill her, leaving no trace of his foot or fingerprints at the scene of the crime. The woman, with whom he had a violent, on-again off-again relationship and a child, had recently thrown him out of the house again, the report said.

Gardner allegedly abandoned the bear plan, however, in favor a more practical one: hiring a hit man.

According to prosecutors in Franklin County, Malone gave his friend $500 toward a $15,000 payment for crashing into Malone in a car wreck, hopefully killing her on impact. If she survived, he allegedly instructed his friend to take a shard of glass and cut her throat, the AP reported.

The friend went to the police, who orchestrated a string operation and arrested Gardner. He was charged on the murder-for-hire plot.

At trial, Gardner said he was drunk and would have stopped the plan once he sobered up.

The AP reported that Gardner was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison and will have an order of protection preventing him from contacting the woman until 2031.