You could feel the angst of family members on March 31 before the wife of a retired Special Forces soldier would stand in front of a Cumberland County District Court judge on charges of taking her husband’s life at the couple’s rural home in the Gray’s Creek community.
Stefanie Firkins, sister of the deceased Clinton “Clint” Bonnell, appeared apprehensive, occasionally fidgeting with the necklace around her neck as she awaited the appearance of Shana Lea Cloud, 50, who is accused of murdering her 50-year-old husband and concealing his death, since the former Green Beret first was reported missing on Jan. 28. 
Seated behind Firkins was Razzie Cloud, daughter of Shana Cloud. She appeared stoic and somber, her lips often tightly clinched.
“You are charged with first-degree murder,” Judge Frances McDuffie Britt told the defendant.
Shana Cloud appeared calm and revealed little emotion.
She acknowledged to the judge that longtime Fayetteville lawyer James MacRae Jr. would be her defense attorney.
Otherwise, Shana Cloud appeared subdued throughout the first appearance proceeding.
District attorney details evidence
“I’m going to listen now to the district attorney,” the judge said, “about your bond.”
No bond, Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West Jr. argued.
Evidence, per the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office homicide unit detectives, points to Shana Cloud in the shooting death of her husband on the morning of Jan. 28, West said, when Clint Bonnell was scheduled for class in the physician assistant program at Methodist University in north Fayetteville.
Clinton Bonnell, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, last was seen on Jan. 27 at the Fit4Life health business along Owen Drive.
“They were together at the same time,” West said about Bonnell and his wife. “Mr. Bonnell then went to Methodist University.”
He told the judge that Bonnell never left his home on Jan. 28.
The defendant, West said, did not “file a missing person,” report about her husband. The prosecutor, as well as Assistant District Attorney Rob Thompson, told the judge Clint Bonnell’s book bag, as well as his laptop computer, revealed evidence of bullet holes consistent with his fatal injuries.
The soldier’s remains were discovered Feb. 25 at a home along Gainey Road, according to the CCSO, after a 911 call was made about a partial body floating in a pond behind the home. Gainey Road is about three miles from Clinton Bonnell’s home.
“It did not have legs or arms or a head,” West told the judge.
West said there is digital evidence of Shana Cloud near Gainey Road on Jan. 29, and not far from the pond.
DNA was obtained from the unidentified remains and sent to the North Carolina State Crime Lab to obtain a DNA profile, according to a news release from the CCSO. The DNA profile was then sent to the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System for comparison with his military service profile. The AFMES, according to the release, confirmed on March 28 that the DNA was a match for the missing military veteran.
Shana Lea Cloud was arrested and charged on March 28, according to the CCSO, without incident at her Butler Nursery Road home.
‘She very much loves her husband’
James MacRae argued his client is “a model citizen” with no prior criminal record, and she has cooperated “in every respect” with law enforcement throughout the investigation.
“She very much loves her husband,” MacRae said. “She is charged with first-degree murder, and we will defend her.”
Razzie Cloud, MacRae said, believes her mother is innocent.
“She does not believe her mother is involved in her father’s death,” he told the judge.
Shana Cloud, the defense lawyer said, is not a flight risk.
“She never tried to evade law enforcement,” MacRae said.
He argued that Shana Cloud should be granted bail and be monitored electronically by law enforcement, aka house arrest.
“We would ask that rather than [for her] to sit in a Cumberland County jail ‘for years,’” MacRae pleaded with the judge. “She is not a danger to the community. I have spoken to neighbors who are behind her.”
He said, too, that Cloud was terminated from her job as a traveling nurse at a Virginia Correctional Center in Troy, Virginia, as a result of her arrest.
‘A heinous case’
Judge Britt looked at Shana Cloud.
“Mr. MacRae has done an excellent job on your behalf,” she said. “You are considered innocent” unless proven otherwise.
But …
“This is a heinous case,” the judge said, and because it is a capital murder case, no bond. Britt scheduled Shana Lea Cloud’s next court appearance for April 17.
West, 50, later told media outside the detention center that the motivation behind Bonnell’s death may have been a pending divorce initiated by Bonnell the day before Bonnell went missing. CCSO detectives, he said, learned that Bonnell told his wife of his plans for divorce. His girlfriend, who reported Bonnell missing on Jan. 29, sat beside Bonnell’s sister during Monday’s hearing.
Defense attorney MacRae also met with the media.
“I want you to know that Mrs. Cloud is innocent,” he said, “and looks forward to her day in court.”
The day was traumatic for Stefanie Firkins, 47, who has believed all along that Shana Cloud is responsible for her brother’s death and disappearance. She sat about 10 feet, separated by a pane of glass, from the woman accused of taking her brother’s life. Shana Cloud did not appear to look Firkins’ way.
A traumatic day for a daughter who has written on her Facebook account about her love for her surrogate father, whom she says taught her to dance and sing and prepare for beauty pageants as a teenager and achieve her dreams.
A heart-wrenching day for a daughter who believes in her mother’s innocence. Heart-wrenching for a sister who had to learn not only details of a brother’s murder, but the dismemberment of a brother’s body after his death.
“Clint was an incredible human who sacrificed so much for others and dedicated his life to the betterment of this world,” Firkins wrote on her Facebook page on March 28. “To be taken from us prematurely at the hands of evil will never be understood … Our family will continue to fight for justice in Clint’s name.”
UCW Editor's Note: The Let's Walk it Out Ruck - 222 Mile Ruck March, written about for the March 19 edition of Up & Coming Weekly, dedicated the second leg of their march to Camp LeJeune on April 4 to the life and legacy of Special Forces Sgt. Clint Bonnell.
"A warrior, a leader, and a beloved brother, Clint dedicated his life to serving others—both on and off the battlefield," their Facebook post said.