FBI takes over investigation of Peabody’s ex-clerk
Staff writer
State officials have concluded their investigation of now-deceased Peabody city clerk Jonathan Clayton and turned the case over to the FBI.
“Our KBI case is closed,” Kansas Bureau of Investigation public affairs specialist Natalie Turner said. “The Federal Bureau of Investigation adopted the case from us.”
An FBI public affairs specialist in Kansas City declined to provide information on status of the case.
“It’s FBI policy to neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations,” spokesman Dixon Land of FBI’s Kansas City office said.
Kansas Department of Commerce spokesman Pat Lowry said his agency also had finished its investigation of how grants awarded to Peabody Main St. and Mullinville, administered by Clayton was handled.
“The Kansas Department of Commerce and the third-party consultant, Witt O’Briens, have closed the BASE grant investigation and found no evidence of impropriety or fraud at the Department of Commerce,” Lowry said. “In August, 2024, we voluntarily provided records pertaining to Mullinville and Peabody to the FBI Wichita office, KBI, and the Treasury Department office of inspector general.”
Lowry said Commerce has received no questions from any of those agencies.
When questions originally arose, Commerce said required reports had not been provided.
“We did all that double checking, and the audit,” Lowry said.
Clayton’s handling of state grants to his hometown of Mullinville and Peabody came into question amid investigation of alleged theft of money from Mullinville’s Main Street organization and a cemetery district account there.
Allegedly, he had transferred money into a personal bank account in Dodge City.
Besides overseeing grants at a local level, Clayton worked for Commerce, where he was in charge of American Rescue Plan Act grants when the investigation began.
He lived in Mullinville before moving to Peabody in 2023 and become involved with getting the Peabody grant.
He and his husband, Christopher King, opened a craft store in Peabody with a portion of Peabody’s grant money.
At Peabody, Clayton oversaw what organizations received Commerce grants.
Clayton was fired from Commerce and went to work as Peabody dogcatcher. He was promoted to interim city clerk before disappearing Aug. 3, 2024. He later was found dead in a pickup crash amid reports of irregularities in handling of grant money.
An email from Clayton’s account was sent to numerous email addresses five days after his disappearance. It claimed Commerce’s allegations that he had mishandled grant money were “unilaterally unfounded,” that he thought the allegations were revenge, and that if anything happened to him, people should suspect Lieutenant Governor Dave Toland, who also serves as Commerce secretary.
Before being hired by Commerce, Clayton was convicted in 2016 of three felony financial crimes in Philadelphia. He still owed $195,712.50 restitution for forgery, theft, and conspiracy to commit theft.
Lowry said state law did not permit Commerce to do national investigations of new employees. That law was changed during the 2025 legislative session.