ATF Agent Faces Murder Charge in U.S. Virgin Islands

July 14, 2010 — -- An ATF agent is being tried for murder in the U.S. Virgin Islands in a case that has pitted local cops against federal agents, and caused furious U.S. law enforcement authorities to withhold help from local police while crime and gun violence in the popular tourist destination continue to climb.

Special agent William Clark is charged with second degree murder for shooting his neighbor Marcus Sukow at their St. Thomas condo complex in 2008. Sukow's girlfriend had sought help from Clark during a domestic dispute, and Sukow was angry, inebriated and wielding a metal flashlight when Clark shot him. Local and federal authorities differ, however, on whether the shooting was justified.

What is not in dispute is that on September 7, 2008, Clark was leaving his condo when he saw his neighbor Marguerite Duncan trying to back her car up. Her boyfriend Marcus Sukow was blocking her car and yelling at her. Witnesses said Sukow and Duncan had been drinking at brunch before returning to the apartment complex.

Witnesses say Sukow took a foot-long metal flashlight and struck Duncan's car. Duncan got out of her car and got into Clark's car after he agreed to give her a ride. Sukow then yelled at Duncan to get out of Clark's car, and Clark told Sukow to go inside.

Sukow then approached Clark's car with flashlight in hand, and either struck Clark's car with the flashlight or swung it at Sukow or both, according to witness accounts. Clark, who as an ATF agent is always on duty and always armed, shot Sukow and killed him.

After the local government decided to prosecute Clark, the ATF stopped sending agents to the U.S. Virgin Islands. A confidential letter obtained by the St. Thomas Source, a local newspaper, gives U.S. Attorney Paul Murphy's account of the "collateral damage" to law enforcement in the islands, and indicates that other federal agents who remain in the islands are not assisting the local police department.