Left to right: Samantha Neiber, Mason Clarke (Douglas County Sheriff’s Office).
A Nebraska woman, alongside her boyfriend, has been accused of murdering her mother by restraining her while he suffocated the victim with a sock, following a heated dispute over a grandchild, authorities report.
The incident occurred during a Saturday barbecue hosted by the couple, Samantha Neiber, 25, and Mason Clarke, 30, at their residence in Elkhorn, Nebraska. The altercation, according to a Douglas County Sheriff’s Office announcement, escalated when Samantha’s mother, Jennifer Neiber, clashed with Clarke about Samantha’s child. This account was also detailed in a statement to Law&Crime.
“What began as a verbal disagreement quickly turned physical, ending with Clarke inserting a sock into Jennifer’s mouth as Samantha restrained her wrists,” the report states. “Jennifer was declared dead at the scene by Omaha Fire Department medical responders.”
Investigators assert that the conflict arose because 57-year-old Jennifer Neiber was troubled by matters concerning Samantha’s 3-year-old child, who is not related to Clarke.
“Following the child’s bedtime, Jennifer engaged in a dispute with Clarke concerning the young one,” the sheriff’s office reported.
Deputies responded to the home where the family was at around 10 p.m. after receiving a call about a “suspicious death.” They arrived at the scene and located two individuals, Clarke and Samantha Neiber, “sitting on a bed,” with Jennifer Neiber dead on the floor in front of them.
Clarke was interviewed by police and then arrested on suspicion of child abuse by neglect without injury and second-degree murder. Samantha Neiber was arrested and charged with accessory to a Class I felony and child abuse by neglect without injury.
The child in question was transported and temporarily placed with a local domestic abuse and child advocacy center known as Project Harmony. It’s unclear what happened to spark the alleged argument between Clarke and Jennifer Neiber. He and Samantha Neiber are being held at the Douglas County Correctional Center in Omaha.