BRANDON — Seven years ago, a Tampa jury found Ralph Wald not guilty of murder in the shooting of his wife’s lover.
The story was that Wald, a retired lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Army, awoke one night to find Johnna Flores having sex on their living room floor with 32-year-old Walter Conley. Believing an intruder was attacking his wife, Wald pulled a revolver and shot Conley three times.
The bizarre tale seemed to end outside the Orient Road Jail, where the couple embraced amid talk of a Waffle House dinner and promises to work on their marriage.
But it wasn’t the end. Wald, 75, is accused in another death. This time, Flores is the victim.
In response to a public records request, Hillsborough prosecutors have released hundreds of pages of documents in the case against Wald, who is charged with manslaughter. The documents, which include a 200-page Hillsborough sheriff’s report, leave much unanswered about the crime and what led to it. But they do illuminate some of the story.
“I think there are still a lot of questions,” said Wald’s defense attorney, Jonathan Hackworth. “I just don’t have all the answers yet.”
Wald called 911 just after 10 a.m. Sept. 16, reporting that Flores was unresponsive on their couch.
Hillsborough sheriff’s deputies found Flores, 48, slumped on a couch, her body cold, with blood pooling near her feet and ankles. Two vodka bottles, one empty, the other a quarter full, were on the floor nearby.
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The house was cluttered, smelled of cigarettes, and was full of dust and cobwebs. Roaches crawled. Animal feces covered the floor.
Wald said he’d gone to bed about 11 p.m. the previous night and his wife was still watching TV. He got up about 10 a.m. and found her unresponsive, he said.
Deputies asked Wald if his wife had been having medical problems. He said she’d had trouble sleeping and experienced neuropathy — numbness in her feet. She used a walker to get around. He said she was a heavy smoker and drinker, as was he. She used to work as a nurse, but most recently, they’d been living off Wald’s retirement checks.
When investigators moved Flores’ body, they found a bullet hole in her chest.
Wald was asked if he had any guns in the house. He said he didn’t. But when investigators searched, they found a rifle and two handguns. The last weapon, a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver, was found in a nightstand in what deputies said was Wald’s bedroom. It held five live rounds and one spent bullet. The gun had handwritten marks on it indicating it had undergone testing with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It was the same gun Wald had used to shoot Conley, according to the sheriff’s report.
Wald sat in the kitchen while investigators began to work the scene. He kept asking what was going on, saying he wanted to go lie down. A deputy asked Wald to step out of the house. He was put in the back of a patrol car, and later allowed to smoke a cigarette.
When detectives asked if he had any mental health conditions, Wald first said no, but later mentioned he’d been diagnosed with the Alzheimer’s disease. He also said he had problems with his back, his heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. He was hard of hearing, he said, and had seen a counselor for treatment of post traumatic stress disorder.
His last assignment with the Army had been as a lieutenant colonel in charge of personnel at NATO headquarters. He also had a law degree and was a licensed attorney in Florida.
Shortly after the detectives began questioning Wald, he invoked his right to an attorney.
Detectives questioned Flores’ son, who said that Wald phoned that morning to tell him that his mother had died. The son, whose name is redacted in a sheriff’s report, said he was not close with his mother.
Both she and Wald drank excessively, he said. Flores preferred vodka, while Wald drank scotch.
The son’s wife, whose name was also redacted from the report, told detectives she’d stayed with Wald and Flores a few years ago. She recalled one time when she saw Flores looking for something in the house. When asked what she was doing, Flores said she was looking for “his gun” and said “he’s going to kill me.”
In the summer of 2013, Flores was investigated after a report that she might be involved in a sexual relationship with a juvenile. No charges were filed, but when interviewed by a detective, she said she felt her husband did not trust her.
“He keeps coming in my room at night and shining lights in my room and keeps checking on me,” she said, according to the sheriff’s report. She also reported that her husband was glad the trial was over, but that he didn’t regret killing Conway.
In May 2014, Wald filed for divorce from Flores, but dropped the case a few months later.
About eight months before she died, Flores was arrested at the home, where deputies were called for a report that she’d hit Wald with a picture frame. The state declined to file formal charges.
Detectives seized a pair of cell phones from the home. On them they found video of the couple. In the recordings, both sounded as though they were intoxicated, detectives wrote.
There were text messages that indicated Flores had previously had extramarital affairs, but not recently, the report stated.
Detectives noted a text message exchange from early January 2019. It appeared to be a conversation between Flores and her son. She complained about her husband’s drinking.
“I have a surprise for you,” the text read. “When I finish my last bottle which will be by tomorrow I will not buy any more. Tried to ask Ralph to do the same. No luck. Just get in to fight. I am done.”
Wald was charged in December. By then, he had moved to an assisted living facility, records show. He was later permitted to return to his home with the condition that he wear an electronic monitor. He also had to give up his guns.
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