Hellish nightmare unfolded when strangers knocked on door of family’s remote home in dead of night

It started with a knock on the door in the middle of the night, and then the voice of a stranger begging for help.

And in the remote Arizona community where father-of-two Paul Clifford, 53, lived, such late callers were so unusual that his family immediately became frightened.

But Clifford was a kind man, so when the man at the door said he was broken and needed a jump start, the Good Samaritan didn’t hesitate to take action.

“I said, ‘No, don’t go, we can call someone,’ he said, ‘no, no one is coming to help them, I have to help them’ and went out the door,” his wife of 30 years Christina recalled in an interview . of KVOA.

It was the last time she would ever see her husband alive. Just hours later, Clifford’s lifeless body was discovered next to a burned-out truck in the desert.

Police say the perpetrator is the person Clifford wanted to help, in a gruesome twist far scarier than any horror movie.

‘I feel so empty. We planned to grow old together, live into our 90s and die of old age,” Christina said.

The couple was getting ready for bed on December 23 when a flashlight shone through their window.

They then heard a call at the door and Clifford went to investigate. Christina couldn’t see who was there, but heard a man talking.

‘He just sounded sincere: ‘Please, I broke down, I can’t get help. I just need a jump, can you please help me,’” she said.

Clifford immediately left in his daughter Sabrina Vining’s truck, but as the hours passed, his family became concerned.

It wasn’t until I checked the vehicle’s GPS tracker that the alarm bells really started sounding. The location revealed that the truck was in an unknown location that Clifford would normally never travel to.

Christina called 911, but it took Pima County deputies more than two hours to respond.

By the time they arrived on Christmas Eve, Clifford was dead. His body was found next to another burning vehicle just a mile from his home in Benson.

Sabrina’s car was eventually traced to an apartment complex in Tucson.

Within days, law enforcement had identified three suspects who were ultimately apprehended after a tense SWAT standoff.

Jack Daryl Upchurch, 40, Elmer Glenn Smith, 19, and 16-year-old Wendy Scott were taken into custody Monday.

The suspects barricaded themselves inside the home, resulting in a standoff, but eventually called 911 to negotiate a surrender. Police say they were arrested without incident.

“That was the first happiness any of us ever felt,” Sabrina said.

“The first breath,” Christina added.

All three suspects were charged with first-degree murder in connection with Clifford’s death, as well as a slew of other charges, including armed robbery and arson of an occupied building.

Upchurch and Smith are each being held on $1 million bond, while Scott’s bond was set at $500,000.

‘I want these people to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I don’t care what their age is, they were all adults and made the decision to do this to my husband,” Christina said.

Meanwhile, Sabrina wants more to be done to address response times in the area.

“We would like to be contacted by Sheriff Nanos and come up with a plan,” she said.

As the family struggles to come to terms with their nightmare, they have the heartbreaking task of explaining to Clifford’s grandson William, 3, where his ‘Popsy’ has gone.

“Every night when he goes to sleep, she [Christina] gives him two kisses, one from her and one from ‘Popsy,'” Sabrina said.

“And then we tell him that ‘poppy’ is in our hearts, and then he looks at us and says ‘poppy’ in your heart, ‘poppy’ in my heart.”

The senseless cruelty is difficult to understand for almost anyone except Upchurch’s sister and Smith’s aunt, Amanda Williams.

“I am so sorry for this man’s family,” she said. ‘I could never imagine my own brother doing this, but it’s not surprising. Words are not enough to apologize to this family.”

The suspects must appear in court again on January 10.