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Clayton Lewis Carter -
Roy Willman
A Hardin County man is in jail under a $2.565 million bond in the murder of a former Jefferson County employee who was reported missing last week.
Hardin County Sheriff Mark Davis said Clayton Lewis Carter, 36, of Kountze was arrested Sept. 21 in connection with the death of Roy Dean Willman, 64, of Kountze. Willman was found dead in a ditch on a north Hardin County road on Sept. 22.
Carter, who is being held in the Hardin County Jail, was arraigned Sept. 24 before Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace Charles Brewer. His bonds are $1.5 million for murder, $500,000 for tampering with evidence, $250,000 each for theft of property and for fraudulent use of identifying information for the elderly, $50,000 on a second charge for tampering with evidence, and $15,000 on two drug charges.
According to Davis, Willman’s family reported him missing from an RV park the was living at 2525 U.S. 69 North near Kountze. His family reported his truck and camper trailer was missing from the park.
Hardin County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) investigators, with the help of the Silsbee Police Department (SPD), located the missing truck and camper, driven by Carter, in Silsbee the same day.
Carter was arrested by SPD on unrelated charges for possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance and tampering with evidence.
Davis stated during an interview with deputies, Carter confessed to murdering Willman and leaving his body in a wooded area off Cravens Camp Road, about 10 miles northeast of Silsbee. Carter led investigators to Willman’s body and a pending autopsy scheduled this week should provide more details on the cause and manner of death. No motive is known at this time.
According to media reports, there was a lot of blood inside the trailer and Willman’s bloody clothes were found in a dumpster.
Willman retired as a Jefferson County maintenance worker on Sept. 30, 2016, after 30 years.
David Knight said he first met Willman in 1990 when he began work with Jefferson County. Knight, who retired in 2019, served as building director and Willman’s supervisor for several years.
“You could not have asked for a better worker or for a better employee,” he said.
Knight said Willman “lived for the Christmas holidays” and loved decorating the large tree inside the courthouse.
“He did that tree every year because I was burned out from it,” he laughed. “He lived for it. He would show up right after the Thanksgiving holidays and start getting Christmas decorations and lights out. He made it happen.”
Knight recalled a story about Willman from a court reporter who worked at the courthouse.
“The court reporter said when she had to work overtime at the courthouse, Willman was a night supervisor over janitorial there,” Wright said. “She said he would come to check on her and if I needed to walk out to my car, he’d walked out there with her. She said Willman would check on her every 30 minutes.”
Knight said Willman would help anyone who needed it.
“He would give you his last dollar and probably his shoes if you needed them,” he added. “He would break his neck for anybody.”
Knight, now a homebuilder, said he had not seen Willman for the past three years until he ran into him while eating lunch at a Hillister restaurant in July.
“He told me that he had a couple of toes cut off because of diabetes,” he added.
Knight said he learned of Willman’s death while watching television.
The funeral service for Willman is 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 30, at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Beaumont.
Dannie Oliveaux, a veteran and award-winning journalist, has more than 40 years experience in the newspaper industry. He can be reached at (409) 832-1400, Ext. 227, or dannieoliveaux@theexaminer.com.