Uloma Curry-Walker needed to find a way to get out of debt. After getting into deep credit card debt and taking out loans that she couldn’t repay, she began to plot quick ways to get more money. She eventually decided to marry a man with the sole purpose of killing him to collect his insurance money.
Four months after Curry-Walker, 45, married firefighter William Walker, she came up with a plan to collect on his life insurance policy, which would be worth $100k, according to Cleveland.com. Curry-Walker eventually met with her daughter and her boyfriend to see if they could find a hitman to kill Walker. She promised a share of the $100K if the plan was carried out successfully. Curry-Walker gave her 17-year-old daughter’s boyfriend a $1k down payment and he reached out to his cousin, Chris Hein. Hein initially attempted to kill Walker, but he was unsuccessful. Hein would later reach out to Ryan Dorty to commit the crime.
On the night of Nov. 3, 2013, Curry-Walker sent her husband to buy dinner from a fast-food restaurant. When Walker attempted to leave, he was ambushed by Dorty, who shot him four times. Curry-Walker called 911 to report the murder.
However, Curry-Walker’s plan was doomed from the beginning. Because she and Walker were newlyweds, Walker had yet to put the life insurance policy in her name. As a result, the entire $100K policy went to his first wife.
Curry-Walker soon found herself in more debt without a husband. She had to sell most of her belongings and moved in with a relative in North Carolina. When her car was repossessed, police found a box containing Walker’s ashes in the back seat.
At the same time, authorities began to piece together their case. They arrested Dorty for the murder and he revealed that he was hired to kill Walker. Curry-Walker’s daughter was arrested and she agreed to testify against her mother.
Curry-Walker was arrested and confessed to killing Walker because he was abusive. But Walker had no history of domestic violence. Curry-Walker would later claim that her daughter set up the murder because she was mad about missing a trip to Ireland.
But Curry-Walker remained the prime suspect and mastermind behind Walker’s murder. Chris Hein received 18 years in prison, Curry-Walker’s daughter’s boyfriend Chad Padgett received 28 years in prison, and the killer, Dorty, received 23 years to life in prison. Curry-Walker’s daughter only received one month in juvenile detainment.
Curry-Walker now faces up to life in prison for the murder plot against her late husband. She was convicted of the murder on July 7, 2017.
