SAN ANGELO, Texas — A San Angelo man is going to prison for 50 years in connection with the 2022 murder of Shawn Clark.
San Angelo Police Department officers responded to a call of a shooting victim early May 25, 2022, at Shannon South. They found out 30-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his torso.
The victim told police the shooting took place at a home in the 1900 block of Dena Drive. Officers secured the home and the department’s Criminal Investigations and Crime Scene divisions arrived on scene to investigate.
The suspect, Paul Zipper, 51, was identified in the investigation and was found at his home after leading officers on a high speed chase near the Irion-Tom Green County line and interviewed that morning by a detective. He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Zipper denied evading law enforcement and driving his vehicle in Irion County, claiming instead that Shawn Clark borrowed his vehicle and left it on Driftwood Drive and he was going to pick it up. Clark’s wife reported him missing May 25 after not being able to get a hold of him for several hours.
Once the gunshot victim was out of surgery and able to speak with detectives the next day, he said Zipper was the one who shot him and that Clark was also shot by the Zipper. The victim’s girlfriend also told law enforcement Zipper pointed the gun at her. After the shooting, Zipper told the gunshot victim and his girlfriend if he did not get the cameras from the house, he would not leave any witnesses alive.
In the search warrant that was executed at the crime scene, there was a large amount of blood, a live round and two shell casings found, but Clark’s body was not there. "Drag marks” of blood leading out of the garage, where the shootings took place, were found instead.
Zipper was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on the surviving gunshot victim May 26, 2022. Law enforcement started searching for Clark's body, following up on leads, and gathering surveillance video.
On June 8, 2022, two ranch hands found Clark's remains with a gun about two feet from him. The body was badly decomposed by the elements and weather. A shirt was also found near the area that the defendant was first seen by the Irion County deputy.
On April 4, 2024, Zipper pleaded guilty to murder, aggravated assault against Otis Bryan, tampering with Clark's corpse and evading arrest or detention in a vehicle in exchange for the State abandoning enhancements in the indictments. The other charges were dismissed.
A contested sentencing hearing was held June 24-25. After hearing the evidence, the judge sentenced Zipper to the maximum allowed under the agreement, 50 years confinement on the murder charge, 20 years on the aggravated assault and tampering with a corpse and 10 years for evading in a vehicle charge, all to run concurrent.
