On November 3, 2013, Cleveland firefighter lieutenant Will Walker returned home with dinner for his wife. He had no idea that someone was waiting for him outside his house.
Just minutes earlier, Will had been packing boxes because he and his wife, Yuloma Curry Walker, were preparing to move to a quieter home in the suburbs. Yuloma was supposedly suffering from terminal cancer, and Will wanted her final days to be more comfortable.
But the story police eventually uncovered was very different.
Will was ambushed in his own driveway and shot four times. At first, investigators suspected people who had conflicts with him. One suspect disappeared. Another turned out to have been in jail. Then detectives discovered a life insurance policy that raised new questions.
Months later, a recording finally revealed the truth.
The woman everyone believed was dying of cancer had allegedly helped arrange her husband’s murder.
Will Walker Is Shot Outside His Cleveland Home
Around 8:00 p.m. on November 3, Will Walker was packing his belongings into moving boxes at his home in Cleveland, Ohio.
The 45-year-old was a lieutenant firefighter and had lived in the neighborhood for decades. He had raised children there and had built much of his life around the community.
Still, he believed it was time to leave.
His wife, Yuloma Curry Walker, had recently been diagnosed with cancer. According to the story she had told Will and others, she did not have much time left to live. Will wanted her to spend that remaining time in a quieter neighborhood.
While packing, Will became hungry.
He went into the living room and found Yuloma lying on the couch under a blanket. She was speaking to her 17-year-old daughter, Jackie, on the phone.
Yuloma briefly coughed, which immediately worried Will because of her supposed illness. But the coughing stopped.
Will asked if she wanted dinner.
She said she wanted McDonald’s.
Will kissed her on the head, grabbed his keys, and left.
About 30 minutes later, he returned.
A Shooter Was Waiting Behind the Garage
At around 8:30 p.m., Will pulled into his driveway with the McDonald’s bag on the passenger seat.
Before getting out, he looked toward the street. He had recently had a serious confrontation with a man in the neighborhood and was worried that the conflict could come back to haunt him.
He saw nothing unusual.
Will grabbed the food and walked toward the back door.
As he put his key into the lock, he heard footsteps behind him.
Then came a deafening series of gunshots.
Inside the house, Yuloma heard what sounded like four shots. She rushed to the window but couldn’t see anyone outside.
Then she heard someone moaning.
She immediately suspected it was Will.
Yuloma ran to the back door and found her husband bleeding on the ground. She called 911.
Will was rushed to the hospital, but his injuries were fatal.
Police Discover Evidence of an Ambush
Detective Tom Lynch arrived at the house shortly afterward.
The scene suggested that Will had been attacked deliberately.
His fast-food bag was lying near the driveway. His keys were still hanging from the lock. A pool of blood marked the area where he had fallen.
Then investigators found something else.
Several 9mm shell casings formed a line toward the back corner of the garage. Behind the garage was a dark, sheltered space between the building and the fence.
It was an ideal place for someone to hide.
The evidence suggested that the shooter had been waiting for Will.
This did not look like a random robbery. The attacker appeared to know that Will would soon return home.
Investigators began treating the shooting as a planned attack.
Will’s Wife Names Two Possible Enemies
While Will was still in surgery, Detective Lynch spoke with Yuloma at the hospital.
He asked whether Will had any enemies.
Before she could answer, doctors arrived and told her that Will had died.
The next morning, Lynch returned to the investigation.
Will’s coworkers described him as a popular and respected firefighter. They knew of no major conflicts that could explain his murder.
But when Lynch later questioned Yuloma again, her answer changed the direction of the investigation.
She said Will did have enemies.
Yuloma’s Ex-Husband
The first person she mentioned was her ex-husband, Mlin Hines.
According to Yuloma, Hines had an explosive temper and had remained possessive toward her after their divorce.
She also said his behavior had become worse after she married Will.
However, investigators soon discovered that Hines had been in jail on the night of Will’s murder. He could not have carried out the shooting himself.
Eugene Cray
The second man was Eugene Cray, a neighbor who had previously clashed with Will.
Yuloma said Eugene often parked outside their home, played loud music, smoked marijuana, and blocked their driveway.
One day, Will reportedly became angry and confronted Eugene while holding a handgun.
Eugene drove away.
To Lynch, this sounded like a possible motive.
Eugene also disappeared after the murder, making him an even more interesting suspect.
Eugene Cray’s DNA Does Not Match
Police spent weeks trying to find Eugene.
Eventually, he appeared at the police station after seeing flyers about the case around his neighborhood.
Eugene denied involvement.
He claimed that he had been at home in bed listening to music through headphones when the shooting occurred.
Lynch considered this a weak alibi because nobody could confirm it.
The detective wanted Eugene’s DNA.
To Lynch’s surprise, Eugene agreed to provide a sample.
But the test produced an important result.
His DNA did not match the DNA recovered from the shell casings.
Eugene was no longer the answer.
The investigation stalled.
A Life Insurance Policy Changes the Case
By February 2014, Lynch had investigated Will’s neighbors, coworkers, children, stepchildren, and other people connected to him.
Investigators also reviewed hours of nearby security footage.
Still, they had not found the killer.
Then Lynch began examining Will’s financial records.
Among the documents was an addendum to a $100,000 life insurance policy.
The beneficiary was not Yuloma.
It was Will’s ex-wife, Rita Walker.
Rita and Will had been divorced for nine years.
This discovery gave investigators a possible motive and raised new questions.
Could Rita have killed Will because she knew she was going to receive the money?
Rita Walker Becomes a Suspect
Lynch brought Rita in for another interview.
She explained that she had visited Will and Yuloma’s home around 1:00 p.m. on the day of the murder to pick up her son, who had been helping them pack.
She also knew about the life insurance policy.
Rita said Will had created the policy as a safety net for his children. He had named her as the beneficiary because he trusted her to divide the money among their children.
Lynch wasn’t convinced.
He wondered whether Will had simply forgotten to change the beneficiary after marrying Yuloma.
If Rita knew that Will planned to change the policy, Lynch considered whether she could have had a reason to kill him.
But investigators had no evidence strong enough to charge her.
Then Lynch remembered something.
He recognized Rita’s car.
Security Footage Reveals Rita Had Returned
Lynch searched through neighborhood security footage.
He found Rita’s car near Will’s house shortly before the murder.
This was not the afternoon visit she had already described.
Rita had returned to the neighborhood later that night.
When Lynch confronted her with the footage, she changed her story.
She admitted returning to the house but claimed she had only gone back to collect a pair of shoes her son had left behind.
She insisted she had left before Will was killed.
But Lynch had an obvious question.
Why hadn’t she mentioned the second visit during her first interview?
Rita continued to deny involvement.
Despite the suspicious circumstances, investigators still lacked enough evidence to charge her.
Eventually, she was allowed to leave.
A $24,000 Reward Produces a Crucial Lead
Nine months after Will’s murder, investigators were still searching for answers.
The Cleveland Firefighters Union had announced a $24,000 reward for information leading to the killer.
The reward produced a flood of tips, but many were false.
Then, in December 2014, a man from Will’s neighborhood walked into the police station.
He claimed to have important information.
Detective Lynch was skeptical.
Still, he agreed to hear what the man had to say.
When the man entered the interview room, Lynch asked him what he knew about Will Walker’s murder.
The man did not answer immediately.
Instead, he placed his phone on the table.
Then he pressed play.
Lynch listened.
And according to the investigation described in the transcript, the recording changed the entire case.
The Murder Plot Is Finally Revealed
Police reconstructed the murder based on the evidence and witness testimony.
The shooter had allegedly been hiding behind Will’s garage.
When Will returned home, the shooter waited until he reached the back door.
Then the attacker rushed out and fired at him.
After the shooting, the killer escaped over the fence and entered an alley where a getaway car was waiting.
The shooter got into the back seat.
Someone in the front reportedly asked whether Will was dead.
The shooter said yes.
A text message was then sent to the person who had organized the killing.
That person was allegedly Yuloma.
Yuloma Was Allegedly the Mastermind
The investigation revealed a shocking claim.
According to police, Yuloma had not been suffering from terminal cancer.
Her cancer diagnosis had allegedly been fabricated.
Investigators believed she had created the story to convince Will to marry her.
The marriage could potentially give her access to his health insurance. It could also put her in a position to benefit from his death.
But there was a problem.
Will’s life insurance policy still listed Rita as the beneficiary.
That did not stop the alleged murder plan.
Jackie Was Involved
The phone call between Yuloma and her daughter Jackie on the night of the murder became especially important.
When Will asked Yuloma what she wanted for dinner, she told him she wanted McDonald’s.
After Will left, Yuloma allegedly told Jackie that he had gone.
Jackie then passed the message to her boyfriend, Chad Padet.
Chad was reportedly waiting nearby with the people involved in the plan.
The Shooter Was Hired
According to the reconstruction, Chad had arranged for Ryan Dhy, a young man from the neighborhood, to carry out the shooting.
The transcript states that Dhy agreed to kill Will in exchange for $800 and marijuana.
Another man was reportedly involved as the getaway driver, although he believed he was there for a drug transaction.
The alleged plan was eventually exposed because Chad had been careless about who he approached.
One person he offered the job to was later caught on tape discussing the murder.
That recording helped investigators connect Yuloma, Jackie, and Chad to the plot.
Yuloma Walker Is Arrested
Yuloma Curry Walker was arrested on September 8, 2015.
She was eventually sentenced to life in prison for her role in the murder plot.
The other people involved received different sentences, ranging from two years to life in prison.
The investigation also cleared Rita Walker.
Despite becoming a major suspect because of the life insurance policy and the security footage, Rita was not involved in Will’s murder.
She eventually received the life insurance payout, just as Will had originally intended.
What Happened to Will Walker?
Will Walker left his house on the night of November 3, 2013, believing he was simply going to pick up dinner for himself and his wife.
He returned to a planned ambush.
For months, investigators considered several possible suspects. They examined old conflicts, DNA evidence, financial records, and security footage.
The case eventually turned on a recording that exposed the alleged murder plot.
What initially looked like an attack by an angry neighbor became something much more complicated.
According to investigators, the person closest to Will had allegedly helped arrange his death while maintaining the appearance of a grieving, seriously ill wife.
The case shows how a murder investigation can change direction when seemingly unrelated evidence finally connects: a life insurance document, security footage, a phone call, and an audio recording.
And in the end, the woman who appeared to need Will’s protection was accused of helping plan his killing.