Wife Chopped Up Green Beret Husband After Shooting Him: Cops

Clint Bottle, a decorated Green Beret. and physician assistant student, was. found dead under shocking circumstances. out in North Carolina. Circumstances. that prosecutors allege involve his. wife, Shaina Cloud, amid divorce plans. and a possible affair. And now, months. later, the official autopsy report has. been released and this is revealing. deeply disturbing details. We are going. to break it all down with a coroner and. nationally recognized forensic expert. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and.

Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. A disturbing 911 phone call came in on. February 25th, 2025 from a man who owned. property off Gayy Road in Cumberland. County, North Carolina. He thought he. was just checking on land that he rarely. visited. Instead, he stumbled onto. something that was absolutely. horrifying. A mutilated human body. drifting in a pond. >> Cumberland County Emergency Services. Is.

this an emergency? >> Uh, yes or no. Uh, it's got a a pond on. it. And I stopped by to check on the. property in the house I got here cuz I. don't live in it. And it looks like it. might be a part of a body floating out. in the water. And it look like it's if. that's what it is. I don't I'm not sure. Look like it's been there a while. There's no legs or arms or nothing on. it. And that would turn out to be the. remains of Clinton Clint Bonnel, a. decorated Green Beret veteran, physician.

assistant student, a family man who. disappeared weeks earlier. And what. unfolded from there was a murder case. that prosecutors allege is filled with. deception, marital turmoil, and forensic. revelation. And when we last brought you. this case here on Sidebar, it was just. after authorities had made a shocking. arrest, charging none other than Clint's. wife, Shaina Cloud, with his murder. But. now, the newly released autopsy results, they are shedding disturbing new light.

on exactly what happened to him, according to officials. And we are going. to get into those very disgusting. details inside that report. But first, if you haven't been following this case, here's how we got here. So, the case. begins on January 28th, 2025 because. that is when Clint, who was studying to. become a physician assistant, failed to. show up for class at Methodist. University. And a program director grew. very, very worried because this was. completely out of character for Clint. According to his family, he was deeply. devoted to his career path. So, him not. showing up didn't make any sense. That.

concerned program director made this 911. phone call to request a welfare check at. Clint's home. Cumberland County. Emergency Services. >> How do I go about getting a welfare. check performed on a resident of. Cumberland County? We can put the call. in. What's the address? >> It is 3265. Butler Nursery Road. Is that off 87?

Yep. And what's your name? So, I'm the program director at. Methodist PA program and one of our. students, he's um older student um in. his 40s. He hasn't shown up all day. today. He hasn't u been in class at all. and they have class every day of the. week. Some of his classmates spoke to. him last night. Um I think around 7 or. 8:00 p.m. was the last time they heard.

from him by text. But all the numbers. that I have for him are going straight. to voicemail. He's not responding to. email or anything. It's It's very out of. character. He He's former military. He. lives alone. I I We've know that he. lives alone and his wife is in Virginia. and daughter lives in Florida. So, I. don't I don't know if anyone's looking. for him except us and I wouldn't. normally call, but it's completely out. of character. >> Okay. Give me just one second.

And are you at that location now? >> I am not. I am in actually my faculty. called me to let me know. He still. hasn't shown up. They had class that was. supposed to start at 8 this morning and. they're still in class and no one's. heard from him all day. >> Okay. I need to get his description. What race is he? >> He's white. White male. Um. maybe 510 5'11. He's got um a brown.

hair. It's not real short, but um. medium, like not real long. Um. fit, probably maybe. >> he's he's in his late 40s, maybe 46, 47. >> And what's his name? >> Clint. Clinton is his full first name. Bottle. B O N E L L. He goes by Clint.

>> Does he have any physical, medical, or. mental conditions that we need to be. aware of? >> Not that we are aware of. >> Okay. And you may not know the answer to this. question, too, but I have to ask you. Does he have does anyone have access to. weapons? >> Uh, he was former military, so I I would. assume I would assume. >> Okay. But that would just be an. assumption. >> All right, I'm gonna go with unknown. >> And he's he he is he's in the program.

He was admitted. He was foreign. military. Um he was active duty up until. uh he came into the program. He may. still be in reserves or active duty may. be on hold for him to be in the program. So he's he's got security clearances. Um. there's no threat or anything that we're. aware of. There's. Yeah. Well, to tell you the truth, why. I'm worried is for one, it's not like. him to not show up. This it's a high.

stakes program. So, if they don't come, they let us know ahead of time that. they're not going to be there. They he. definitely wouldn't miss the whole day. >> All right, I'll let you go now and. officer will be dispatched as soon as. possible and just call us back to get. new information. >> Now, here on Sidebar, we talk a lot. about emergencies, but you know what we. don't talk about enough is how to. prepare so you can face anything with. confidence. And I will tell you falls. are one of the leading causes of injury. for older Americans. In fact, one in. four experiences one each year. And. getting help fast, that can make all the.

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medicalgardian.com/sidebar. 75. Use code sidebar 75 or DDS75 today. to claim your 75% off. So, deputies, they go to Clint's home on Butler. Nursery Road in Fagetville. his car, his. book bag, his wallet, personal. belongings, they were inside. There was. no Clint. His wife, 51-year-old Shaina. Cloud, told deputies she hadn't seen him. since the day before on January 27th. when she said they had worked out. together at a nearby Fitforlife gym.

According to Shaina, the two of them. worked out at this gym. They left in. separate cars. She said Clint told her. he was headed to Methodist University to. study for an upcoming exam. But when. investigators pressed her further, she. claimed she couldn't remember if he ever. came back home that night. And according. to an application for search warrants. that we reviewed in this case, deputies. noticed a few other odd things. For. example, Clint's car, Mercedes that he. almost always drove, was still parked at.

the house. And despite her husband being. missing, Shaina refused to file a. missing person's report, according to. authorities. But now, but let's talk. about what happened later that same day. Because you see, that is when deputies. get a second call. This one from Clint's. girlfriend. Yeah. Turns out Clint was. reportedly having an affair. And what. this girlfriend told investigators. seemingly contradicts Cloud's account. because per the application for a search.

warrant, this girlfriend said Clint told. her he met with a divorce attorney on. January 27th. She also said that he. texted her later that night around 7:53. p.m. saying he had told Shaina about the. divorce and was going to bed. Cell phone. records would later confirm that Clint's. phone pinged at his house that evening. and into the following morning, January. 28th. And after that, his phone. apparently went offline suspiciously. until January 30th. January 31st, investigators returned to the Bono home.

with a search warrant, and what they. found deepened their suspicions. Why? Clint's book bag and laptop appeared to. have bullet holes. By February 1st, investigators expanded their search into. Virginia, where Shaina had owned. property. And with the help of Virginia. State Police, they seized her car, phone, they searched a rental property. And that same day, Shaina admitted to. deputies that she had confronted Clint. about a note that she believed was from.

his girlfriend. And then you go to. February 25th, right? The chilling. discovery of this torso in a pond just. miles just a few miles from Clint's. home. And going back to this call, the. 911 caller's words painted such a grim. reality. >> County Emergency Services. Is this an. emergency? Uh, yes and no. Uh, it's got a a pond on. it and I stopped by to check on the. property in the house I got here. I. don't live in it and it looks like there.

might be a part of a body floating out. in the water and it looks like it's if. that's what it is. I don't I'm not sure. Look like it's been there a while. There's no legs or arms or nothing on. it. >> Okay. And just to clarify, is it is this. still ongoing? Is that correct? >> There's no there's nothing going on. This is if I am middle of nowhere. >> Then we go to March 28th. DNA confirmed. the remains belong to Clint Bonnel. And. on that same day, authorities arrested.

Shaina Cloud on suspicion of. first-degree murder and concealment of a. death. And now, months later, the. official autopsy report has been. released. And that report that was. reviewed by local media seems to confirm. some very disturbing details. So to help. me break down what this report says, I. want to bring on a special guest. We're. joined once again by Dr. Na Rutherford. of the Richland County Coroner's Office. I am so happy to have you on, doctor. Thank you so much for taking the time. When you hear about a case like this.

where a dismembered body is found weeks. after a disappearance in this particular. location, this watery location, what. immediately comes to your mind? What are. some of the immediate challenges that. investigators and coroners face? >> The immediate challenge is that you have. part of the body. That's that's the. biggest issue. So, when I saw the. autopsy results revealed, I was like, "Oh my gosh, you've got a gun, you've.

got dismemberment, and you have a woman. possibly scorned. That's a deadly. combination." So, not only does this. torso have water log and water damage, wet things break down faster, you're. going to lose so much evidence just. because of the fact that the body's in. the water. You have a dismemberment, so. you don't know where the head and the. limbs are. You're going to have to bring. in so many experts to help you. I don't. care how great of a medical examiner or.

coroner you are, you are going to have. to find an expert forensic. anthropologist to help you break down. what happened to this body. >> Let's try to talk about it now. So, according to the Fagville Observer, the. autopsy was performed on February 26th. at the office of the chief medical. examiner in Raleigh. This is just one. day after that torso was recovered. And. the findings reveal that uh Clint Bonnel. was shot four times in the back before. his body was dismembered. The.

pathologist noted four entry wounds in. his upper and lower back. Each bullet. traveled through the body exiting. through the chest. And because the torso. had been submerged in water, there was. no GSR that was preserved. There was no. gunshot residue that was preserved. meaning investigators couldn't determine. right how far the shooter was from the. victim when the bullets were fired. There were no bullets or bullet. fragments. Now there are some really. really horrific details about the.

dismemberment listed here too. We will. get to that first though. First, Nata, from your perspective as a coroner, the. trajectory of these wounds, right? How. accurate is that analysis, is that. conclusion, and what does that. trajectory tell you about a case like. this? >> So, when we're looking at GSWs in a. body, we want to be able to look at the. path that they go through through the. body so that we can determine which of. the shots may have been the fatal.

injury. So this is where you're seeing. at an autopsy, especially when you look. at court photos, how they have the. probes into the wound so that you can. see exactly the trajectory. But the way. this body was found, there are some. things missing here like the internal. organs. Some of the internal organs are. missing. Why that is, I don't know. Did. she cut them out or allegedly cut them. out? What happened there? And the fact. that those organs are missing, we lose a.

lot of that trajectory information that. we would have gotten had they been in. place. >> But but the trajectory from the back, right? Would that signify that Bonel. didn't know the shots were being fired? Was he in a position of running away? It's different than if someone's shot. directly in the head or in the chest, right? The positioning of that is very. significant. And by the way, the problem. is, as I mentioned, you have that loss. of GSR. You have that loss of gunshot. residue evidence. So, what again, how. much of a challenge is that in. determining how this shooting took.

place? >> It's going to be difficult to determine. the range that the shooter could have. been at in order to determine what. exactly happened. So, was he laying down. and she shot him in the back? Was he. running away? Was he trying to get walk. away from her after the maybe a. difficult conversation about wanting a. divorce? We don't we don't know that. We. also don't have a head or limbs to be. able to determine if those have gunshots. to them. So, the medical examiner.

explicitly stated that with the. information that he has in front of him. that the gunshot wounds are the cause of. death, right? But then you also have. this dismemberment that has occurred. And I know we're going to talk about. that in a lot more detail, but those the. trajectory of the of the bullets. somewhat important, but in this case, not so important. We know that this. person is dead. We know that this is a. homicide. Now, just proving which of. these things is the fatal injury is. going to be important for the medical. examiners to include in that report. And.

again, before we get to that, the idea. of the projectiles not being recovered, not being retrieved, is that a problem. and is that unusual? >> It's not unusual, but it is a problem. because it it can't line up with any. potential weapons that they may find at. the home. Did he have a gun? Did she. have a gun? Was it registered to them? Whose gun was it? if they do find a gun, you don't have the projectiles to be. able to compare those striations on the. bullet with the muzzle of the of the.

gun. So, you lose a lot of forensics. there. You lose a lot of that ballistic. information that you would normally. have. And so, yes, it does create a. problem. But what's not um what's not. murky here at all is the fact that this. is a homicide and that he sustained. these these GSWs to the back. That tells. us a lot about what the shooter may have. been doing and what their motives may. have been. She's a woman. He's a guy. This guy's a green beret. He's had. combat training. He's very skilled. So,

how did she take him down? Did she. poison him first and then shoot him in. the back later? We don't know until we. get more reports back. But I'll tell you. what's not alleged. There was planning. that took place for this murder. Someone. had to know what to do. She has medical. training and background. She works in a. correctional facility or at least has. had some experience working in a. correctional facility. She has access to. information. She has talked to someone. allegedly about what it was that she was.

possibly planning to do. And this was. not just a spur-ofthe- moment thing. She. had to have some sort of premeditation. in this crime if she truly committed it. in order to kill him, to have the means. to kill him. and then to dismember his. body. She didn't just dismember him and. left him at the house. She had to. transport this body. So, at any point in. this process, she could have called. authorities. She could have let them.

know, but she didn't do any of those. things. And that's the part that her. defense is going to have to talk about. >> And allegedly, right, I mean, she's been. charged with this. Uh, she's entitled to. a defense. But. >> it is interesting to say the least based. on what we talked about before. uh in. the story. Now, according to the report, this is what's so eerie, right? The. remains consisted only of this torso. So, Bunnel's head, arms, legs, they're. all missing. The autopsy states that a. quote sharp tool, maybe even a.

mechanical saw was used in the. dismemberment. In addition to the. missing limbs, by the way, the report. notes, a large 10in gash across the. abdomen, and as Dr. Rutherford said. several organs, the stomach, the kidneys. gone. So whether they were removed. during the dismemberment process or they. were lost during decomposition, it. remains unclear. And despite the. condition of the body, the medical. examiner was clear about this, that.

Clint Bonnel's cause of death was. multiple gunshot wounds. The manner of. death was homicide. The report concludes. that while additional injuries may have. been present but obscured by. decomposition and dismemberment, the. gunshot wounds alone were independently. fatal. First of all, let's start there. How do they know that? How do they know. it's the gunshot wounds that caused the. death? I mean, okay, from a human point. of view. This is so macob to say, but if. you're talking about organs being. removed, I hope that the cause of death.

was gunshot wounds as opposed to someone. feeling uh the dismemberment. Again, just putting that aside, but how do they. know independently those were the were. fatal given there's a lot they don't. know? >> Because the heart wasn't removed and the. lungs weren't removed. And so if those. if those gunshots hit those two areas, then more than likely a person is going. to bleed out without medical care. So. quick, sudden, that's what you hope for. And again, like you said, scary and.

weird and disgusting to think about, but. we hope he didn't feel any of those. things. I hope it was a sudden death. >> Two things. Why would someone want to. Okay, let's back up for a second. How. tough is it for someone to actually. dismember a body? A physically, how. tough is it for someone to do? >> B, emotionally and mentally to dismember. somebody allegedly somebody you knew, somebody you were in love with. Talk to.

me about that. So, when I first saw this case, what I. thought was this person had to be. enraged or they had help. I don't rule. out, you know, her lawyer says she's. innocent. And what I thought about that. was, well, if she's innocent, now is the. time to start snitching and singing like. a canary because if someone else helps. you do this or or you got this idea that. maybe you didn't want him around and and. you enlisted the help of someone else, you need to start telling the story. But. if she did this alone, she would have.

had to um get him to a point where he. was no longer able to move. She would. have had to debilitate him in some way, either through the gunshot wounds or. through poisoning, shoot him, and then. dismember him. I don't know if you've. ever tried to, and this is horrible to. say, but I don't know if you've ever. tried to like cut up a whole chicken. It. can be very difficult if you don't know. what you're do what you're doing. She's. a nurse. She has medical training. She. doesn't need to Google anything. She. literally has a plethora of knowledge.

already in front of her and at her. fingertips simply by asking questions to. physicians to uh scientific journals. She could literally look this up in a. professional capacity and no one would. think anything was weird about it. because she's in the healthc care field. It is very difficult though to cut up a. human body. the head not so much but the. arms and the legs the to get through. those joints that is a difficult. process. How did she do this? And she. would have had to have used some sort of. mechanical or power assisted device.

because think about a handsaw and the. back and forth just the physicality of. that. Yes, she may have worked out. Yes, she may have been in tip-top condition. and shape. But a a normal average person. cannot sit there and saw someone up. She. would have to either have had assistance. either from a power assisted saw device. or someone helping her. >> And this 10-in gash across the abdomen, um, what do you make of an injury like.

that? How do you determine whether it. happened before Bonnel died, during. dismemberment, later during. decomposition? Does that stand out to. you? >> It does because the organs were removed. So I would want to know was there any. animal activity near that area that. could have caused this gash? We lose so. much information by that body being in. the water and the state of decomposition. that it was in. So in a in a fresher. death, we could see certain patterns. We.

could see serrated edges. We could see. how the wound, you know, may have been. created. But in a case like this where. you possibly have animal activity, something could have clawed at the. abdomen and and possibly fed on the. organs, we just don't know. Again, the. medical examiner's report, the detailed. report is going to tell us so much. because even though the body was. decomposed, we should be able to see if. something was like surgically cut out. like the the anatomical knowledge that.

you would have to have to be able to. remove those organs versus an animal. eating at at something that they think. is just, you know, like dead in the. water. But this is a. >> disgusting case honestly to me like the. amount of emotion that you have to have. to cut up someone that you were in love. with, that you were married to for 16. years. Oh, h you know, hell hell hath no fury. like a woman scorn. what is what they. say. >> That's what the prosecutors will say. from the defense perspective. And this.

is what something I mean you've seen. this countless times. It's not outside the realm of. possibility. The defense, if this goes. to trial, will call their own expert to, you know, provide a different conclusion. about what happened here. If you don't. have uh these limbs, if you don't have. the organs, what are some arguments that. a defense forensic pathologist could. make regarding cause and manner of. death? What are some areas they could. explore? Because if you don't have these. other components, what do you imagine. the counterargument could be regarding.

what happened to him or do who did this? >> There's no counterargument as to whether. or not this is a homicide. And there's. no counterargument as to how the. injuries occurred. So, I don't care who. they bring in. Any forensic. anthropologist worth their education and. their salt is going to tell you that. this dismemberment occurred using some. sort of a sharp force trauma. They're. going to me the defense is going to have. to go after her emotional state or.

whether or not she had an accomplice or. just stick with the with the defense. that she just didn't do it herself. But. I don't think you can argue the wounds. and I don't think that you can argue the. mechanism by which he died. They're. going to have to go after emotion. To. me, you can't argue with the facts of. the case. The facts are he was shot. >> I guess the question is, they never fi. if they never find these other parts of. his body, can they still explain what. happened and get a successful. prosecution?

>> Absolutely. See, what they're going to. do is they're going to do something. called a tool mark analysis, and they're. going to look at the bones that are left. because she didn't just cut these bones. clean. There are going to be marks. There are going to be um certain uh cuts. that are in there. There are going to be. things called false starts, which are. like these kind of superficial. non-penetrating cuts to the bone. Um. again, if you have never done this. before, this is not an easy thing to do.

Let's say she used a chainsaw. They have. all sorts of tools and analysis that. they can do to determine what type of. device that she used. There are several. classes of saws and again she did not. use a manual saw to do this. She would. have had to have something like a. mechanical power assisted device in. order to to do this. and the the. prosecution and the defense are going to. find their own forensic anthropologist. to break down this toolmark analysis to.

put a report together and say how could. this have happened because here's the. thing, there's no question as to whether. or not he was killed. The only question. here is who did it. They they cannot. argue the forensics of this case very. well. They're going to have to go after. her or or who they think it could be. And I feel so bad for his family and. friends who have to hear these details, right? They have to now experience what. happened here. And if this goes to. trial, they sit in that courtroom. A.

jury has to see these graphic graphic. images. It's just a really disturbing. and disgusting case on a lot of. different levels. Now, going back to. Cloud, by the way, who turned 51 since. her arrest, she's charged with. first-degree murder, uh, you know, concealment of a body. Uh she remains in. the Cumberland County Detention Center. without bail and we will keep keep a. very careful eye on what happens next. Uh Dr. Nater Rutherford, thank you so. much for taking the time. Always. appreciate it. >> I thank you so much. >> And that is all we have for you right.

now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us and as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcasts. You can follow. me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you next time. [Music].