Crime & Safety

70-Year-Old To 911: I Shot Man 'Fornicating' With 42-Year-Old Wife

The 70-year-old suspect allegedly went into the kitchen for a drink and saw his 42-year-old wife having sex with the victim in the living room.

A 70-year-old Brandon man faces a second-degree murder charge, after deputies say he confessed to fatally shooting a man having sexual intercourse with his wife in the couple's home.

Ralph Lewis Wald, 70, was arrested after he called 911 and told a dispatcher with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office that he just shot the victim for "fornicating" with his 42-year-old wife.

Wald faces a second-degree murder charge. According to a written statement from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, he confessed to the shooting after being read his Miranda rights.

Wald told authorities he had gotten up shortly before midnight Sunday to get a drink in the kitchen, when he saw the two in the living room having sex.

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Wald told investigators that he returned to his bedroom and grabbed his firearm, shooting the victim several times. The couple's home is on Clara Drive, North of Brandon Boulevard, in Brandon.

Walter Lee Conley, 32, who lived on Lovers Lane in Riverview, died at the scene, according to deputies. Wald's wife was not injured in the shooting.

The suspect waited at the scene for deputies to arrive and was taken into
custody without incident.

Find out what's happening in Brandonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

(Editor's note: Hillsborourgh County Sheriff's updated its news release to correct the spelling of the victim's last name. It is "Conley." The original release incorrectly stated the last name as "Copley.")


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