Slain Officer’s Widow Mourns Her ‘Hero,’ Denounces His Killer

A policeman’s widow mourned publicly Monday over the death of “the only man I ever loved” and denounced his killer, saying, “I can’t even call him a person, I don’t have a word to call it .”

Holding back tears in the glaring TV lights of a City Hall news conference, Jenifer Clark remembered slain Simi Valley Officer Michael Frederick Clark as “an assertive and dedicated officer” who was “my best friend and my confidant.”

She vowed to tell their 5-month-old son, Bayley, that “his daddy died a hero.” And she thanked Simi Valley officers who risked their lives trying to save her husband in the gunfight that killed him.

Then, Jenifer Clark swore that if Michael Clark’s accused killer ever faces a parole board or the executioner, “I will be there.”

In baring her pain, she underscored the danger faced every day by people who chose to become police officers--the risk of death in the line of duty.

Clark, 28, was the first police officer killed on duty in the Simi Valley department’s 24-year history.

He had moved there last May from the rougher streets of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Devonshire Division in the San Fernando Valley “because he wanted a safer lifestyle for us,” his widow said.

He was called out Friday to calm a suicidal man named Daniel Allan Tuffree.

And he died trying to talk to Tuffree, police said, when Tuffree began shooting at him.

Tuffree, 48, is to be arraigned on murder charges today in Ventura County Municipal Court. A Los Angeles County high school teacher, Tuffree will be placed on administrative leave once charges are filed, school district officials said.

And the fallen Clark is to be honored Wednesday, in a massive funeral with full police honors from the Simi Valley and Los Angeles police departments.

In her way, Jenifer Clark paid tribute Monday to her husband, whom she fell in love with when she was just 13.

Clad in a polka-dot sun dress with an angel-shaped pin given by a supporter, she said: “There’s never going to be a day that’s going to go by that I’m not going to tell my son his dad loved him more than anything. That little boy was my husband’s whole life.”

Jenifer Clark said she lived daily with the fear that her husband could die at the job he loved.

But she had firm faith in his skills as a policeman, she said, remembering one off-duty brush with danger:

“Three years ago, we were on the freeway, and some young kids pulled a gun on us,” she said. “My husband pulled out his gun, he identified himself as a police officer, pulled them over and got them out of the car. The kids were arrested.

“My husband had every opportunity to shoot that bullet,” she said. “And when we got home, he hugged me and he cried and he said, ‘I am so glad I never took that child’s life.’ ”

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Michael Clark’s sister, Meredith Clark, said he knew the risks. “He said, ‘Meredith, don’t worry about it. There’s only going to be one person who’s going to go home [after a confrontation], and it’s going to be me.’ ”

Jenifer Clark added later, “My husband, from what they told me, got in his fair share of shots” in the gunfight with Tuffree, who police said was hit five times. “He always told me that if anyone shot him, they were going too.”

Clark was not wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of the shooting--wearing a vest is not compulsory, said Lt. Tony Harper.

But Jenifer Clark said that emergency room workers told her a vest would not have saved his life. He was shot once in the arm and once, fatally, in the back.

Jenifer Clark never mentioned Tuffree by name. But she spoke harshly of her husband’s killer.

“I also want to say that this person who’s done this . . . I will be there for his hearings,” she said. “Any time he will come up for parole, I will be there. If he is executed, I will be there.”

Simi Valley police had visited Tuffree’s home several times over the years to answer complaints of gunfire, neighbors and officers said.

At one point, they even arrested him for shooting up a passing pickup truck, investigative sources said. But they later had to release Tuffree and give back his gun because, one source said, the Ventura County district attorney’s office rejected the case as being too weak to take to court.

That gun--a .40-caliber Glock--was the same one used to kill Clark on Friday, the source said.

Tuffree, a social studies teacher, had worked in the Los Angeles Unified School District since 1986, serving most recently at Grant High School in Van Nuys, said district spokeswoman Diana Munatones. He was to be assigned to Van Nuys High School this fall, but will be placed on compulsory leave once charges are filed, Munatones said.

Jenifer Clark said of her husband’s killer: “In a matter of seconds, this person--if you can call him that--took away my husband, my best friend and my confidant.

“The worst part of all this . . .” she said, breaking off to regain her composure, “the worst part of all this is that he took my son’s chance to grow up with his father.”

Jenifer Clark said she hopes her son will reconsider if he ever thinks about becoming a police officer. “But if that’s what he wants to do, to be like his daddy, then I will give him his 100% support.”

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Visiting the funeral home to plan burial services was one of the hardest things she has ever done, Clark confided.

“I sat in there and I cried, and I said, ‘I just can’t believe Michael’s gone,’ ” she said. “I couldn’t even pick out the casket for him. His best friend had to do it. I fell apart.”

But Jenifer Clark said she has been overwhelmed by the sympathy and support shown by her late husband’s fellow Simi Valley officers.

City Council members gave emotional tributes to Clark before adjourning their meeting Monday night in his honor.

“I feel angry and sad, but I also feel very proud of this Police Department,” said City Councilman Paul Miller, a former Simi Valley police chief, tears welling in his eyes. “It is a tribute to the professionalism of the men and women of this department that the suspect is still alive.”

Strangers from across the city have also responded to the tragic death.

They have sent flowers, written letters and given their phone numbers, offering, “If I need anything, to just call,” Jenifer Clark said, calling them “the most wonderful people.”

One man gave her a small bag of angel-shaped objects.

When she put on a tiny gold-plated lapel pin, it changed from dark blue to the picture of an angel, she said, “telling me that my husband is here with me. My husband sent me something--I don’t know what--his spirit,” she said.

Times staff writer Beth Shuster contributed to this report.