Las Vegas NowFamily of Slain Woman Questions Investigation

Family of Slain Woman Questions Investigation

There are still many unanswered questions in the murder of 24-year-old Allaina McClain, a local woman who was killed almost two months ago. Her ex-husband was eventually arrested for the crime, but her family thinks there are too many holes in the story.

McClain was found strangled to death in the garage of her ex-mother-in-law's home back on February 17, 2008. Her ex-husband, Clifford McClain wasn't arrested for more than a month. The family wants to know why the arrest took so long and also why he's walking the streets today.

Read the Clark County Homicide Report

"Deep in your heart, you just never believe that it would go that far and she did nothing to deserve this," said Allaina's aunt Cheryl Terry.

Terry says they still don't know exactly what happened the night of her niece's murder, but she does believe her life was on track. She says she was working to be a nurse and had recently filed to gain full custody of her two kids.

"We know he was angry about that," she said.

On the night of February 17, 2008, a police report says Clifford McClain told his ex-wife to pick up the kids at his mother's house. When Allaina arrived, the kids weren't there. Reports say she was beaten with a wooden cane and strangled.

Clifford McClain's mother claims she found Allaina's body in the garage and found Clifford in a catatonic state on the sofa. He also wouldn't answer to detectives. His mother feared he may be suicidal, so he was taken to Sunrise Hospital for psychological evaluation.

No one is saying how long he was there or where he went after getting out. More than a month after the murder, McClain was taken to jail.

"He got a $100,000 bail and bailed out the very next day, so he literally spent a day in jail for murder. How does that happen? I don't understand that," said Terry.

The family also wants to know what took so long for his arrest and where he's been for the last month. Calls to McClain's attorney were not returned. Metro also denied a request for an interview.

"There are a lot of holes. There are a lot of questions we have and so that's been part of our frustration too. We want some answers," said Terry.

Metro detectives have told the family they can set up an appointment with them to get information but the family has not done that.

Clifford McClain is scheduled for a preliminary hearing this Thursday morning. For now, the children, ages 3 and 1, are with their maternal grandmother.

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