MANSFIELD — Although he received a life sentence, Todd Allen Walker is eligible for parole next month.
In 1977, Walker was convicted of aggravated murder in the death of 33-year-old Mansfield resident Linda Trine.
Trine was the mother of two young boys at the time, Mike, 9, and Jimmy, 11.
Returning home from school on the last day before Christmas break, Dec. 20, 1976, it was Trine’s two children that found her shot and stabbed on the dining room floor.
(Author’s note: if you are squeamish or don’t want these horrific details, please stop reading. I am being very specific so everyone understands the nature of this crime and may actually be compelled to take action.)
Older brother Jimmy shielded Mike from the gruesome picture that lay before them, and sent Mike to the neighbors, while Jimmy called his father.
That neighbor’s house was where Walker lived.
A lot of the motive behind the senseless killing remains unanswered.
“He was probably looking for drug money,” Mike said. “Ten $2 bills was all my mom’s life was worth to him.”
Mike relocated to Ashland County after the incident and graduated from Hillsdale High School in 1986. He has remained a part of the Ashland community to this day.
According to authorities, Walker went next door to the Trine residence on Sherman Place in Mansfield. He knocked on the back door and asked Trine if he could borrow some rags to clean his gun. Then, Walker pulled out his shotgun and shot Trine in the arm. He shot her again in the kitchen, this time hitting her neck and head. As she was bleeding out on the floor, he grabbed a knife and stabbed her multiple times, so violently, that the knife broke off, leaving the steel still in the victim’s back.
Walker then dragged the body into the dining room and proceeded upstairs where he stole $20 and a .22 pistol from the bedroom.
Returning to his next-door home, Walker attempted to hide the stolen articles, along with the recovered shotgun shells, behind a ceiling tile. But what to do about the bloody socks?
Showing his premeditation, Walker wore socks on his hands during the crime to eliminate any fingerprints. Afterwards, they were covered in blood, so Walker attempted to burn them, but he was unsuccessful. The burnt and bloody sock-gloves were then added to the evidence pile in his ceiling.
When the police arrived, they naturally went to talk to the neighbors about what, if anything, they had seen.
According to reports, the officers noticed a ceiling tile that was misaligned. Upon further inspection, the police found the money, pistol and bloody socks in the ceiling and Walker was subsequently charged with the murder.
Initially, Walker pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The Lima State Mental Hospital disagreed, however, and found him of sound mind and able to comprehend the situation.
Instead of facing a jury, Walker opted to be tried by a three-judge panel. With his confession, the blood on the socks matching Trine’s blood, and all the evidence collected from the ceiling, along with ballistic confirmation that his shotgun was the murder weapon, Walker was found guilty.
Two judges voted for the death penalty, but one did not. Since it had to be unanimous, Walker was sentenced to life in prison. But with the possibility of parole.
Hence, Walker could get paroled next month from Allen Correctional Institution in Lima, Ohio.
“Tuesday, we’re going to meet with one of the parole board members in Columbus. The more signatures (from the petition) we have to give them, the better,” Mike said.
You can sign the petition right here.
“The prosecuting attorney or a victim advocate will also be going to Columbus. The advocate actually went to high school with him (Walker),” Mike said.
The family is asking those who want to stop Walker from being released to fill out the petition and contact the Ohio parole board right away: http://www.drc.ohio.gov/parole-board/contact There is a form you can fill out at the bottom of that web address.
You can also call the board at 888-344- 1441, fax to 614-752- 0600, or you can write a letter or go in person to 770 West Broad St., Columbus, Ohio 43222.
“If they let him (Walker) out, he will do it again, and the blood will be on their hands,” Mike said.
