Andrew Lester’s ex-wife describes his fits of rage, violence

The ex-wife of the octogenarian charged with shooting Ralph Yarl said he was prone to violence during their troubled 14-year marriage – and that it “doesn’t surprise” her that he pulled a gun on the teenage boy when the child mistakenly showed up at his address.

Mary Clayton, 81, who was married to Andrew Lester when she was young, has not spoken to him in decades and didn’t even recognize him when he appeared in the news for allegedly shooting Yarl, who had shown up at his address instead of one a block over to pick up his siblings, The New York Times reported.

Clayton, who had three children with Lester, said one of her daughters called her in California on Tuesday in shock at the shooting.

“I was always scared of him. It doesn’t surprise me what happened,” Clayton told the newspaper.

She said her ex-husband had a tendency to erupt in anger and would smash items in their home during his fits of fury – adding that cops told her he could do whatever he wanted in his own home.

On Wednesday, the Kansas City, Missouri, man pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action, felonies that carry 10 to 30 years or life in prison.

Lester allegedly shot Yarl twice – once in the head and once in the arm – after the boy mistakenly knocked on his door to pick up his younger twin brothers, who were actually at a nearby home.

Klint Ludwig, 28, a grandson of the suspect, has expressed his support for Yarl and his family.

“I was horrified. I thought it was terrible. It was inexcusable. It was wrong,” Klint Ludwig told the Kansas City Star about the shooting.  

“I stand with Ralph, and really want his family to achieve justice for what happened to them,” he said. “Their child or grandchild or nephew’s life was fundamentally changed forever, over a mistake and someone being scared and fearful.”

The grandson, who lives in the Kansas City area, said he felt “terribly” for Yarl and was relieved that he survived and is recovering from his injuries.

“I know his life is changed forever. And I’m really sorry,” he told The Star.

Ludwig also criticized police and Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson for the way they handled the initial investigation and not charging his grandfather immediately.

“The only reason why he is now receiving charges and an investigation is being held was because of community outreach to bring attention to this,” he told the outlet. “The response has been great. It’s been amazing to see this solidarity and coming together as a community.”

Thompson has said the shooting had a “racial component,” without elaborating.

When asked if he considers Lester to be racist, Ludwig said: “I believe that there have been some positions that he’s held that have been bigoted or sort of disparaging.”

He attributed Lester’s views to his staunch conservative views.

“It’s ‘anybody who gets an abortion is a murderer” and ‘fatherless Black families are the reason why crime exists in this country.’ It’s stuff everybody’s heard at the Thanksgiving table every year,” Ludwig said.

Two other relatives told The Star they didn’t believe Lester was a racist and thought he likely fired at Yarl out of fear.

Ludwig said his grandfather’s paranoia escalated in the last two years.

“I hesitate to say he got more extreme, because all this stuff has been extreme,” he told The Star, “and it’s been the same story for decades and decades, and generation to generation of people believing the same things. It’s just nowadays people are acting on it a little bit more.”

He said Lester, a military veteran, was an avid hunter and longtime gun owner.

 “Back in his younger days, he would be involved in shooting sports, and I don’t necessarily have a problem with using guns and having guns,” Ludwig said.

“It’s the paranoia that I think is a real issue,” he told the paper.

“Ralph Yarl did nothing wrong by showing up at the wrong house, which is an honest, easy mistake. And the fact that it was almost a death sentence is disgusting,” Ludwig added.

Meanwhile, a nephew of Lester’s called his uncle a “decent man.

 “I really didn’t know what to think when I heard about this,” Dean Smith, of Jewell Ridge, Virginia, told The Star. “It just kind of shocked me. You don’t expect something like that.”

He said Lester was home alone because his wife has been living at a rehab facility.

“Eighty-four years old, living by himself,” Lester said, adding that it would “be hard for me to believe” that he is racist.

“He’s worked with so many people. He’s been a supervisor and all over different races. He’s just a really straightforward, everyday person. He was just retired military, trying to get on with life,” he said.