Shocking Revelation: Building Maintenance Worker’s Dark Secret Exposed
Unveiling the Dark Past of Mark Clemens AKA Christian Robert Basham
Residents of a Los Angeles building were planning to celebrate the life of their longtime maintenance worker after his death last month. Then, they learned that the man they knew as Mark Clemens was Christian Robert Basham, a man charged with second-degree child rape in 2008 and presumed dead as of 2009 when an eyewitness claimed to have seen him jumping off the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington, according to the Bremerton Police Department (BPD).
The Double Life of Mark Clemens
A body was never found, but his car and a suicide note were discovered near the bridge, according to the police. Basham had entered a plea of not guilty and been released on $350,000 bail at the time, says Capt. Aaron Elton of the BPD.
A Shocking Discovery
Now, many residents are grappling with the notion that a suspected criminal had been living in their building for over a decade and even had keys to their apartments.
Unraveling the Mystery
“I didn’t get to know him on a deep level, just mostly on a professional level, especially at first,” resident Tommy Cuellar tells Inside Edition Digital. “All I really knew about him was that he liked 80’s music, had a black cat named Ra (after the sun god), and he liked cats in general.”
An Unexpected Turn of Events
Basham stopped working as the building maintenance worker in 2022 when the building was sold and a new management team took over, but the handyman continued to live in his apartment.
A Startling Revelation
“I still think about how he had keys to all of our apartments, and when the new owners bought the building, they didn’t take them from him,” says Cuellar. “I found this out last year when my mom passed away and I paid him to feed my cats while I was out of town for her funeral. He mentioned that I didn’t need to lend him a copy of my key because he still had the master key.”
The Disturbing Truth
Inside Edition Digital made multiple attempts to reach out to the Ace Hotel but they did not respond to a request for comment.
An Unsettling Encounter
There were other behaviors that Cuellar now looks back on and sees as possible clues that Basham was attempting to hide his identity.
Leaving Many Questions Unanswered
“I wonder how he was hired, and why there was no background check, especially for someone who was given a master key. As terrible as his accused crime is, he could’ve just as easily been a serial killer, and his possession of a master key would have been the same,” says Cuellar. “It also makes me question how he was paid if he used a fake Social Security number, or what arrangements were made for him to have this occupation for so many years. I also wonder about the supposed witness to his jumping from the bridge. Hopefully, everything will come to light soon.”
The Mysterious Life of Christian Robert Basham
Inside Edition Digital obtained the judgment from Basham’s divorce in 2004, which reveals he owned a home in the California city of Costa Mesa.
The Unresolved Mystery
How Basham died remains unclear, with the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner still determining the cause of death.
The Continuing Investigation
Those authorities say that while the criminal case against Basham is closed, they will be investigating his movements since that day in 2009 when he faked his death. When asked if they would be looking into the individual who claimed to have seen Basham jump off the bridge, Capt. Elton said: “We intend to attempt to determine whether or not anyone assisted Basham in evading prosecution.”