By Brandon Ortiz
bortiz@herald-leader.com
A man who was the subject of a manhunt in 2007 because of allegations he killed his wife and later confronted his brother at a Richmond newspaper pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter charges.
John William Todd Jr., 64, pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting his wife, Charlene Lynn Todd, on March 8, 2007, at their 1813 Darien Drive home.
John William Todd Jr., 64, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting his wife, Charlene Lynn Todd, on March 8, 2007, at their 1813 Darien Drive home.
He accepted a plea deal for a 10-year sentence, with one caveat: his attorneys will argue to a judge that John Todd was a victim of domestic violence.
If a judge agrees, Todd could become eligible for parole after serving 20 percent of his sentence, two years.
Violent offenders normally must serve 85 percent of their sentence before they can get a parole hearing.
One of Todd’s attorneys, Jerry Wright, declined to elaborate on why Todd says the shooting was related to domestic violence.
Wright said he will file a motion outlining his arguments by Oct. 24.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jason Moore declined to comment on why Todd was offered a plea deal because the case is still pending.
The day of the shooting, Lexington police were called to the home about 12:45 p.m. for reports of a shooting. Police roped off the street at Traveller Road, and a SWAT team entered the home later that afternoon to find Lynn Todd dead with gunshot wounds. Family frantically called John Todd’s cellphone trying to persuade him to turn himself in.
At 11 a.m., John Todd went to his brother’s office at the Richmond Register.
John told his brother, Jim, that he was having marital problems and had shot his wife to death after a fight. John then pulled out a .38-caliber revolver and told Jim that he had come to kill him, the Register reported.
But John Todd changed his mind, and told Jim that he wanted him to tell John Todd’s children that he had come there to kill Jim but didn’t, according to the Register.
He later turned himself in at 10:40 p.m.
It’s fair and I am a woman, we got woman provoking men into all of this in this day and time because poor pitiful manipulative women can get away with almost anything and they can also be power mongers and abusive and other things, and we got laws for woman now that help them get out of that kind of behavior and not be held responsible for it, this is I think finally fair for what is good for the gooses in our world to be good for the ganders too, we got woman using domestic violence as an excuse, now men, it is fair I suppose? Whether it is good or bad, I won’t expound on my feelings about at this point.
As someone who knew the victim, Lynn Todd, I find this plea agreement despicable. I can almost understand if it were an accident getting a slap on the wrist with 10 years in prison, but he shot her 3 times. It was no accident. No matter what she may have said to him to make him think that she was going to hurt him, she is the one who died, not him. I don’t know what kind of moron would think that this decision is fair. She lost her life, she left behind kids and grandkids. He has the possibility of getting out of jail after 2 years and still having some kind of life. It is not fair. I’m not sure why people always want to paint a poor picture of the person who died. Granted, everyone has their faults, but because we have a problem with someone does that mean that we all can go out and shoot them? Divorce is always an option.
The discrepancy is in that a man should have the same and exact chance and trial and punishment as any woman would get that is what it is about. Many woman get away with stuff for years and then the men end up in trouble, many women jump at the first chance they can to get a man in trouble and that isn’t fair. What is reasonable, and if you knew here for years and she was absolutely in an abusive relationship where she was getting beaten and things of this nature why in the world didn’t you get her away from him then? You know you say for years, I have only read the story for a minute and I think I would have advised both of them to get away from one another or to figure out some way to actually work it out between themselves, but I wouldn’t have reported her or him, and that is fair! Isn’t it?
They even threaten them that they will take their children and never let them see them again, they use the kids like pawns and they use the system like it is a pawn too when they do it. That isn’t fair either. If we are going to have laws then the thing of it is that it all has to be as fair as possible, not because we are playing favoritism. NO, he shouldn’t have shot her, that is not the point, but if it is fair or self defense for a woman to do it then so be it then it is also fair for any man. As adults they both have a right to walk away at any point when it is getting out of hand for them. As a single mother, I have been a victim of discrimination before too many times, I also like men, and fair is important to me. If you can’t tell that is what this is about. I have watched married woman take everything and a man’s dignity and or use these things in manipulatory ways to handle their husbands. It is time for a change!