Karen Clarke papers

The collection is arranged into nine series which include correspondence, legal documents, transcripts, press files, publications, photographs, film and video, a sound recording, and notes.

Series 1. Correspondence, 1986-2000, undated, consists of letters Michael Ross wrote to Karen Clarke from prison. He also enclosed pamphlets, reports, articles, and newspaper clippings, as well as correspondence he received from others.

Series 2. Legal Documents, 1982-1994, undated, includes various briefs, mittimus warrants, motions, and transcripts of testimony concerning the State of Connecticut v. Michael B. Ross trials.

Series 3. Transcripts, 1987, consists of 34 books of transcripts from the proceedings of the State of Connecticut v. Michael B. Ross trial held in the Superior Court of Judicial District of Fairfield at Bridgeport from May 4-July 6, 1987.

Series 4. Press Files, 1962-1998, contains clippings and photocopies of newspaper articles written by Karen Clarke and others pertaining to Michael Ross, including his court trials, his imprisonment, his victims, the insanity defense, and the death penalty; newspaper articles about G. Sarsfield Ford, the judge who presided over Michael Ross's 1987 trial; and published and unpublished editorials and commentaries written by Michael Ross.

Series 5. Publications, 1988-1995, contains The Weekly Scene newsletters (February-March 1988), Connecticut Magazine issues profiling Michael Ross (March 1990), the Journal of Prisoners on Prisons (Autumn 1993, 1995), and The Other Side magazine with an article written by Michael Ross (January/February 1995).

Series 6. Photographs, 1984-1991, undated, includes media photographs of Michael Ross being transported by police and at a river, various formal and candid photographs of one of his victims, and a photo sent to him in prison by a male correspondent.

Series 7. Notes, 1985-1988, undated, includes Karen Clarke's handwritten notes taken during the 1987 trial; a transcript and written permission for her to publish excerpts from 60 Minutes CBS's airing of "The Deadliest D.A." on December 22, 1985; case materials Michael Ross collected for an appeal to Amnesty International, and their response; and copies of anti-capital punishment quotations compiled by Michael Ross.

Series 8. Film and Video, 1989, contains a videocassette recording of death row interviews, including an interview with Michael Ross, by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Inc.

Series 9. Sound Recording, undated, contains a cassette tape recording titled, "As it Happens CBC Radio Serial Killer."