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Wednesday, June 25, 2003

By Michael A. Fuoco, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Investigators fanned out in two states yesterday seeking clues to the fatal shooting Monday afternoon of a postal carrier who had stopped in Ingram while on his delivery route.

	Justin Welch, 18, and his sister, Ashlee, 17, of Colliers, W.Va., said they were shocked to hear of the death of their neighbor, Clayton J. Smith, a U.S. Postal Service carrier shot Monday at the Crafton-Ingram Shopping Center. “He was really nice,” Justin said. “He was quiet and he worked a lot.” Click photo for larger image. (Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette)

Law enforcement officials returned to the Crafton-Ingram Shopping Center, where carrier Clayton J. Smith was shot, to recanvass the area and the carrier's Monday route.

At the same time, U.S. Postal Inspectors from Pittsburgh traveled to rural Colliers, W.Va., where Smith, 45, a Pittsburgh-area native, had lived for the last four to five years. There, in the unincorporated community five miles south of Weirton, they interviewed neighbors and searched his blond-brick, ranch-style home.

Those who knew Smith in Colliers, where the main drag includes a mom-and-pop grocery store, a tiny post office and a barbershop open Tuesdays and Thursdays, reacted yesterday with shock and dismay.

"I don't believe he's gone. I loved that man like a son," said Evelyn Johnson, his next-door neighbor.

She spoke of how immaculately Smith maintained his home and yard and how he would do anything for anybody, always with a smile. With a mixture of sadness and warmth she pointed to a large gray tree house that Smith had built for his son, Clayton Joseph, who was called "C.J."

"He loved his son so much," Johnson said.

Smith's wife, Jeannette, filed for divorce in May 2000, according to court records. Johnson and other neighbors said she lives with the couple's son at her mother's farm in nearby Ohio, but C.J. often visited and spent time with his father.

"He was always smiling, no matter what," Johnson said. "I can't believe it's him. Why?"

That question also reigned at the Colliers post office, inside the barbershop and on the porches of Smith's neighbors.

If the answer was known, it wasn't revealed yesterday.

U.S. Postal Inspector Andrew Richards declined to discuss what investigators have turned up so far or whether anything was amiss in the mail carrier's personal life, saying: "We're keeping all options open and looking at any possible avenue."

Smith was shot once in the back around 2 p.m. as he stood next to the driver's side door of his postal van. He died at 4:24 p.m. at Allegheny General Hospital.

When he was shot, Smith had already finished delivering the mail on one of his two routes, Richards said. He was on the way to his second route, in the Ingram area. His van, clearly marked as a U.S. Postal Service vehicle, was parked next to a strip of trees on the Ingram side of the shopping center.

"He just simply went into the shade apparently to sort through a little bit of the mail," Richards said.

After the shooting, a police dog was used to sniff the wooded area near where Smith was taking his respite to search for any of the mailman's possessions that might have been dropped. A search by investigators followed. Richards would not say if anything was found.

In addition to postal inspectors, Allegheny County homicide detectives are investigating, with assistance from Ingram and Crafton police.

John Race, president of Branch 84 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said Smith had worked for the postal service since 1994, out of the Crafton branch.

"Nobody had a bad thing to say about him," Race said.

Siblings Justin Welch, 18, and Ashlee Welch, 17, who lived on the other side of Smith's home, said Smith was quiet but likable.

"He was really nice," Justin said. "He was quiet and he worked a lot."

Johnson said that as often as possible, Smith worked long hours for the postal service, sometimes 14-hour days, to earn overtime pay. But she said overtime had become scarce and, despite his love for the tranquillity of the rural area, Smith told her that financial concerns had forced him to put his home up for sale for $99,000, with the intent to move back to the Pittsburgh area.

Johnson said Smith told her the other day he had found a buyer and wanted to close the deal, but his estranged wife wouldn't sign off on the deal. A sign in the front yard indicated "sale pending."

A spokeswoman for Clayton Smith's family declined comment yesterday. Efforts to reach Jeannette Smith were unsuccessful.

In addition to his estranged wife and his son, Smith is survived by his mother, Jean P. Smith of McKees Rocks, and two sisters, Sue Allison White and Lori Meredith.

Friends will be received Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Hershberger-Stover Inc. Funeral Home, 170 Noble Ave., Crafton. A private memorial service will be held at a later time.

The U.S. Postal Service has offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Staff writer Jonathan D. Silver contributed to this report.

Michael A. Fuoco can be reached at mfuoco@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1968.