5 things to know about the case

May 01, 2024

The latest episode of American Monster, which aired on January 8, 2023, covered the brutal murder of Tammy Gardner, who was beaten to death inside her home by an angry ex-boyfriend. Gardner's case dates back to 2009 when Clifford Wright beat the 40-year-old mother to death a few days after their breakup. This was right after Clifford extensively stalked and harassed her.

Titled You Got Me Mean, the synopsis for the episode read:

"Tammy Gardner loves being a mom and running a daycare out of her suburban Delaware home; she also loves a night out on the town; what starts as innocent fun leads this 40-year-old down a dark path of jealousy and deadly rage."

Gardner's murder was one of the events that sent shockwaves through Wilmington. Here are five chilling facts from the intriguing case.

Five quick facts about Tammy Gardner's murder

1) Tammy Gardner and Clifford Wright had a rocky relationship for quite some time

It seems that Tammy and Clifford seemed to be on the wrong end of the lover spectrum for quite some time before the murder took place. They allegedly fought often, and on occasions, Tammy even threw her boyfriend out of the house. Tammy's children, who resided with them, testified to this fact.

After a heated fight between Gardner and Wright on July 1, 2006, Tammy took her kids to a friend's pool party and asked Wright to pack up his belongings before she came back.

2) Clifford Wright increasingly grew obsessive about Tammy after the breakup

Clifford continued to be fixated on Tammy Gardner despite what appeared to be a change in circumstances. Wright, for instance, made 35 calls to Ms. Gardner on the evening she requested that he leave. This went on for quite some time. Clifford allegedly continued to phone Gardner many times each day over the following few days.

He also tried to maintain a forceful relationship with her in one form or another.

3) Clifford's obsession soon grew into full-blown harassment

The case's fastest transition from Clifford's developing fixation to harassment and stalking, which made Tammy Gardner fear for her safety, was one of its scarier aspects. Clifford started attempting to ruin Gardner's life after she informed him that she intended to cut all relations with him. He even called her ex-husband to inform him that she was doing drugs and was unfit to be a mother.

He also followed her to a bar that she visited with friends. Upon insistence from her ex-husband, Tammy called the police, and Clifford was arrested for harassment that night.

4) On Saturday, July 8, 2006, Tammy sent her children to their father's place, growing hysterical over the harassment from Clifford

Nearly a week after the breakup that inadvertently altered things, Tammy sent her children away to their father's house as she was hysterical over everything that was happening with Clifford.

Sadly, this was the last time the children would see their mother alive.

5) Wright snuck into Tammy's home and killed her with either a baseball bat or a hammer

Clifford Wright snuck into Tammy's home that night and crept up to where Tammy and her friend Gabrielli were sleeping. He proceeded to beat them to death with either a hammer or a baseball bat. Evidence suggests that they were killed while they were sleeping as there were no defensive wounds in their body.

The exact events of the night are unclear, but evidence suggests that Clifford left himself at an entry point while he was in the house earlier.

Clifford Wright was sentenced to life in prison.

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