Billy Lee Clark, a 43-year-old longtime employee of John Deere Ottumwa Works, was tragically killed on the night of August 1, 1975, in a rural pasture in Wapello County, Iowa. His body was discovered the following afternoon, around 2:23 p.m. on August 2, lying next to his pickup truck on a farm owned by Martin Bergland, located about seven miles west of Ottumwa along Route 4. An autopsy performed in Des Moines revealed that Clark had been shot in the back at close range with a shotgun, suggesting that the killing was a planned ambush rather than a random act of violence.
The location of the crime—a remote pasture several miles outside of town—made it difficult for investigators to find witnesses or piece together Clark’s movements prior to his death. Despite interviews and the collection of physical evidence at the time, no suspects were ever publicly identified or charged. Over the decades, the case went cold and remains one of Wapello County’s unsolved homicides.
In recent years, Clark’s case has received some retrospective attention. On August 27, 2025, the Ottumwa Radio Group featured his story in its “Tune into the Past” series, summarizing what is known and emphasizing both the close-range nature of the shooting and the lack of resolution. The case is also listed on cold-case aggregator sites under the name “Billy Clark,” with the same basic facts documented: age 43, shooting in rural Wapello County, body found by his truck on a farm west of Ottumwa.
Many questions remain unanswered. There is no public record of any suspects, persons of interest, or charges, and there is no indication that the case has been formally reopened or that new evidence has surfaced. Because the murder occurred in a remote area with limited witnesses and apparently little physical evidence, the motive, identity of the killer, and whether the perpetrator was local or passing through remain unknown, leaving Clark’s death a lingering mystery more than 50 years later.
