January 30, 2002
Trenton, NJ — A Trenton
man who allegedly beat his girlfriend to death in December 1981 was indicted
today for murder, Mercer County Prosecutor Daniel G. Giaquinto announced.
If convicted, Townsend
could be sentenced to 30 years in prison and required to serve at least 15
years without parole, Giaquinto said.
Walter Townsend (DOB
3/7/44), of the first block of Hurley Street in Trenton, was charged with a
single count of first-degree murder in the 1981 death of his girlfriend, Norma
Williams. During the early
evening hours of December 11, 1981, Townsend allegedly beat Williams inside
their Bond Street home and then transported her to a hospital, where she
succumbed to her injuries on December 12, 1981.
Williams’ death remained
unsolved until last year. During
the summer of 2001, new leads in the case prompted a re-opened investigation
by Detective Al DiNatale of the Trenton Police Department and Detective Veldon
Harris of the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office.
Townsend was arrested for the murder on August 10, 2001.
He remains in the Mercer County Correction Center in lieu of $1,000,000
bail.
Assistant Prosecutor Kimberly Lacken presented the
case to the grand jury.
Despite having been indicted, every defendant is presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.