From Divorce to Death – “He Almost Got Away with It” | The Murder of Tricia Todd

Love and Heartbreak investigates relationships that ended in violence and tragedy

Now part of the Darkcast Network. Welcome to Indie Podcasts with a Dark side. I’ve been trying to reach my sister all day. She didn’t pick up her daughter from the babysitter. This is not like, huh, her. That was a 911 call that started it all. One that would uncover journals, surveillance footage, and a murder so brutal, even detectives called it one of the most disturbing they’d ever seen. Today I bring you the case of Tricia Todd. Right on. Love and murder. Love should never come with fear. But sometimes it does. Welcome, LaMs Welcome to Love and Heartbreak, the homicide where we uncover the true stories of relationships that ended in violence and tragedy. Each episode brings you a case built on passion and shattered by murder. Hi, my name is Ky and I want to ask that after you’ve listened to this episode, if you like my retelling of the case, then subscribe so you don’t miss out on any other cases. You can also subscribe, uh, on my patreon for free. Patreon.com loveandmurder or you can also choose a bonus tier if you want extra episodes, deeper dives, or just to support the victim. Stories being told. Patreon.com loveandmurder now grab your butts, grab your glass of apple juice and let’s get into this sad case of Tricia Todd.

Police worried Tricia Todd hadn’t picked up her daughter from babysitter

It was April 27, 2016, and John Todd, brother of 30 year old Tricia Todd, had just called. Police worried Tricia, a dedicated mother, hadn’t picked up her daughter, 2 year old Faith, from the babysitter. Her family immediately knew that something was horribly wrong. When detectives arrived at her home in Hobe Sound, Florida, things looked normal. Until they didn’t. Her groceries were still on the counter. Lights were on throughout the house, but her wallet and cell phone were gone. She hadn’t shown up to work and most importantly, she hadn’t picked up Faith. Growing up in the quiet, tight knit town with seven brothers, Tricia was known for her adventurous spirit, always keeping up with the boys. Her mother, Rebecca Hasselbach, remembered her excitement about having a baby girl and Trisha’s dream of becoming a nurse. Tricia pursued that dream, becoming a hospice nurse and even serving in the Air Force where she made medical mission trips to Haiti. More than anything, uh, she cherished her daughter Faith, who she named the moment she received the exciting news of her pregnancy. Her friend Marnie Ellis said, quote, that was the most important thing to her along with becoming a nurse was being a mom. Tricia had been married more than a decade to her High school sweetheart Steven Williams. They had met at Hobestown Christian Academy. Friends described Steven as, quote, super funny, with, quote, a big personality. Both had served in the Air Force. However, their marriage began to go downhill after Faith’s birth, with friends reporting repeated infidelity. The couple separated in 2015, and Tricia moved back to Hobe Sound with Faith. Their divorce was finalized a year later. Tricia was building a new life, living with one of her brothers. Steven, meanwhile, lived in North Carolina, paid child and visited Faith regularly. So back to the day at hand. During their investigation, police found that Steven had been in town visiting their daughter. He’d been staying at an Airbnb just a few blocks away. When detectives questioned him about, you know, have you seen Trisha? When was the last time you saw her? He seemed calm, helpful and polite. He told them that Faith was fussy that night, so he had text Tricia to come over. She did, and according to him, she helped calm their daughter and left around 12am but another time he talked to police. He changed that time to 2am When Tricia failed to pick up her baby from the babysitter. Jonathan and Trisha’s father, David, tried to call her repeatedly, but her phone was turned off. Their concern quickly turned to fear as hours passed with no communication, which was completely unlike Tricia By that evening, with no word from Tricia that’s when her family members called the police. So police had spoken with Steven, who, as far as they knew, is the last person to have seen Tricia alive. So now they’re just going. Based on interviewing the family and now doing physical searches, they did find her car a short distance from her house. Now, some reports said it was right across the street from her house. Some reports said it was a short distance, but it wasn’t that far from her house. And inside the car, her purse was on the passenger seat and the keys were in the ignition. Uh, being that Steven was the last one to see her, police went again to question Steven. He told them that she’d run out of gas shortly after leaving his bnb. So he went to get some for her, filled up her car, said goodnight, and planned to contact her the next day. When he couldn’t reach her, he claimed that he left Faith with the babysitter and headed back to North Carolina. Investigators and Ky found it strange that he left without confirming where Tricia was. Why would you just leave your baby without knowing where the mother is? Like, I know you could be like, well, that’s my ex. That’s her business. But, yeah, this Is your child’s welfare, and you just dropped her off at the babysitter, not knowing if somebody was even going to come pick her up. Steven then suggested that she might have gone for one of her late night walks on the beach and gotten into trouble. According to him, uh, this wasn’t out of character for Tricia She had a habit of taking solitary late night walks on the beach, quote, without her phone or any way to protect herself, like pepper spray. So investigators put this in their pile of consideration because, you know, that’s all they could do. Maybe she’d actually been hurt on one of her walks or she’d been kidnapped. Another lead they focused on was based on the people in Trish’s life. They looked into a potential new romantic interest who was a local performer and ventriloquist named Brent vernon, who friends told investigators Tricia was, quote, infatuated with. They even went so far as to stake out, uh, one of his performances. But Tricia never showed up. Brent was ultimately cleared. They also spoke to a local pastor, Wesley holden. Tricia had spoken with him on the beach the night she went missing. But he was cleared by surveillance footage showing that he was watching a nesting sea turtle. As the investigation continued, quote, troubling facts about Steven’s past emerge. Although he had no criminal record, and while not charged, he had been arrested for domestic violence against Tricia He had punched her in the stomach while she was pregnant with faith, hoping for a miscarriage. What the frick? And he had killed her puppies. Uh, this guy is demented. Then there were Tricia’s private journals. She’d written in them about the abuse and how scared she was of Steven. Her journal entries detailed escalating patterns of control, Physical violence and psychological manipulation. Page after page after page described incidents where Steven would fly into unpredictable rages, Alternating between threatening behavior and periods of apparent normalcy. The entry showed Trisha’s growing fear as steven’s behavior became erratic and dangerous over time. I’m afraid of what he might do. This is what one entry said. And another entry said, quote, sometimes I think he could actually kill me. This showed that Tricia basically lived in constant fear, but tried to keep up a brave face for her family, for the outside world, and for her daughter. The journal mentioned that Steven’s own mother had suspicions about her son. According to tricia, her former mother in law had talked about her concerns about Steven’s capacity for violence. And actually, after Trisha’s disappearance, Steven’s mother contacted investigations to share her suspicions that her son might be Responsible, while Steven’s mother said, I’m not protecting him. Even with all this going on, the custody agreement between Steven and Tricia allowed Steven to visit his daughter. So, so you knew he was arrested for doing all of this and the court still allowed him to visit his daughter instead. I mean, at least supervised visitations, but like really, for weeks, hundreds of people searched for Tricia Detectives continued their investigation. They had their suspicions, but they had no evidence. Then they found grainy surveillance footage from businesses along Federal Highway. This showed Trish’s car driving home at like 1am, not 2am and footage, a three second clip captured a man walking back from her home to Steven’s Airbnb down US one the night of Trisha’s murder. This was at the same time Steven had claimed to be somewhere else. And looking at the man walking, detectives were sure that that man was Steven Bobby Ballinger with the, uh, Barlett Brothers Security, which is one of the security cameras that captured the footage, said, quote, it makes me happy. That is why I do what I do. Basically that he was able to help provide this surveillance evidence in, you know, trying to capture where Tricia was or capture a murderer.

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Stephen Williams changed his stories multiple times about Trisha Todd’s death

And now back to the show. A neighbor also reported seeing Steven, uh, driving Trisha’s car. Steven was brought in for questioning again. This time, detectives confronted him with evidence of inconsistency in his story. Under pressure, Steven tried to give a story. But his story kept changing. First he started reiterating that Tricia was alive when she left his Airbnb. But then when police showed him evidence that they had, he said he found her body already dead in her house and moved her body somewhere he couldn’t recall. Pause What? No, no, no. But for real, what. Does that make any sense to anyone? I mean, if I walked into someone’s house and found them dead, I don’t think my first thought would be, oh, shit, I need to move the body. Just. What? Anyway, when that didn’t work, because, I mean, obviously he said that he pushed Tricia during an argument about money, which made her hit her head. Williams changed his stories multiple times before admitting to investigators he pushed Tricia Todd for the final time during an argument over money. Investigators also noted that each new version of Steven’s story attempted to minimize his culpability, or while trying to portray the death as accidental rather than intentional. Like, he thinks police are stupid, but it’s like, we see what you’re doing. Not saying, I’m a cop, you know what I’m saying? But me, the podcaster, the lambs and the cops, we see what you’re doing. He said that he panicked and left her on the side of the road with a granola bar and water. Again, what? Investigators felt like there was, quote, more to uncover of the story. Uh, yeah, but without enough evidence for a murder charge based on this story, police charged Steven with child neglect for leaving Faith home alone. This way, they could have Steven in custody while they continued their investigation. Then, uh, during another interrogation, Steven uh, said that when he pushed Tricia she hit her head. And when he put her in the car to leave her on the side of the road, he thinks she had, quote, passed away in his car on the way. When asked where exactly did he leave her, he said he couldn’t remember. So now his child was updated from child neglect to second degree murder. Still, though, without knowing the location of Trisha’s body, investigators offered a plea deal. Lead us to Trisha’s body, and we’ll take the death penalty off the table and a reduced sentence of 35 years in prison. Now, side note, I had to look this up because I had, because I had to look this up. Before offering the plea deal, State Attorney Tom Bacdow consulted with Trisha’s family, who told them that their priority was finding Tricia So now Steven agreed to the plea deal because obviously a, uh, death sentence or only 35 years in prison. Of course, if he’s guilty, he’s going to agree to that, and clearly he’s guilty. And with that agreement, he suddenly remembered exactly what happened and gave the entire story, quote, when he said we were going to need a Hazmat team, our hearts just sank. This was A quote from Lt. Jesinier Card. Steven confessed that he didn’t have the nerve to kill Tricia the first time she was at his Airbnb. He’d been trying to build up the nerve all day to do it, but only got the nerve after she left. That’s when he text her, asking her to come back under the guise of. The baby was crying and fussy when Tricia knocked on the door because, you know, she’s a good mom and she doesn’t realize this dude is a complete and utter bag of used douche water. He opened the door and then put his hands around her throat until she passed out. He then, uh, zip, uh, tied her hands and feet. His initial plan was to make it look like she went on a mission trip to Haiti and just, like, what, abandoned her daughter, which is not her personality at all. So already, I mean, thinking about murder already, your thought process is just freaking gone. But then you’re like, okay, well, I’m gonna make it look like she just abandoned a girl, which she’s never done in her life before, and nobody can attest to her being this kind of mother, but I’m gonna make it look like she just abandoned her child and went on a mission trip to Haiti. Quick thinking, Steven. You got this. To facilitate this, he waited for her to wake up so he could get her credit card numbers and email password to impersonate her and tell her friends and family she was leaving. So you thought she was just going to calmly wake up and be like, oh, I feel refreshed. Oh, wait, why am I in these zip ties? Oh, you want my credit card number? Okay, that’s 433856. What did you think was going to happen? She did exactly what I would have thought she was going to do. When she woke up, all she did was scream her head off. Uh, duh. Uh, Steven said that he then took a club and beat her over the head to silence her, and then he choked her until, quote, her heart stopped beating. Y’ all heard what I called him, right? A bag of dirty douche water. I mean, are y’ all gonna fault me for calling him this now? Side note, another report said that he punched her with enough force to kill her after she screamed. And I wanted to add this because, you know, due to reports, I don’t know exactly which one happened, but either one is horrific. Right? And I just want to also point out to you, LaMs, he did all of this while their daughter is asleep in the next room. He admitted that he’d bought saws from Amazon, a chainsaw, and Acid beforehand. So premeditated murder. He also dug a hole that morning at the site he’d planned to dispose of her. So pre, Pre, pre meditated murder. I’m, um, gonna let you know right now, as an investigator, when I did that plea deal, I would have worded it in such a way I know myself, I know myself. I would have worded it in such a way that there was a loophole to get out of it. You know what I’m saying? I know I would have done it. I know I would have asked for legal representation so that they could. And it wouldn’t be that I lied. This is exactly what I said. But there was a loophole and you couldn’t say I lied and you wouldn’t be able to get out of it. His lawyer would have read it and hopefully they wouldn’t have seen where I was going with it. I don’t know, but this is how I would have done it. After killing her, he loaded her body into the car and started driving out to his location. But then he realized that the car was low on gas. So he turned back around, drove back, got gas, and then, uh, he drove out to the Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area. There he dismembered Tricia with the chainsaw, removed her teeth and fingertips, and placed the pieces in a tub filled with acid he had bought months before in North Carolina. Who does crap like this? Who even thinks, thinks to do stuff like this? And I gotta say, if it was one of my siblings. You know what? Shut up, Ky Shut up. Just saying, this is the confession of the person who did this to my sibling. And I’m the sibling. I’m, uh, just gonna say, shut up, Ky Now also remember, the baby is at the BNB by herself while he’s dismembering her mother and throwing her in acid.

Stephen confessed to murdering Trisha at a nature preserve in Florida

Steven then led investigators to the site at the Hungryland Preserve through dense wilderness. The Hungryland Wildlife Management area is a 16,600acre nature preserve spanning between Martin and Palm beach counties. This location is really remote with swamps and thick vegetation. Now, if you know anything about, like, Florida, Louisiana. I used to live in Louisiana. There are swamps and bogs and. Look, unless. Well, uh, I know about Louisiana. I don’t really know about Florida, but unless you’re Cajun, you ain’t getting through that swamp and finding your way out. And you know what I’m saying, it’s like, it’s like wilderness, like a version of the Amazon forest. You go there, you can’t find your way out unless you know People from there. You know what I’m saying? So this is what he did. And I’m pretty sure he went and surveyed the area first. He didn’t just. Well, I guess he did because he said he, um. He dug the hole there. So he did go and survey the area first. Like, he didn’t just say, hey, you know, I think I’m gonna go in here. He had to know his way around. Throughout the journey into the preserve, Steven stayed composed, calmly directing officers through the unmarked paths as if leading a routine nature walk. See, didn’t I tell you he had to go in there and figure out his way first. Here they uncovered a plastic tub with acid and part of Trisha’s remains, along with teeth and the saw. Nearby, Sheriff William Snyder described the scene as one of the most gruesome crime scenes he had ever witnessed in his entire career. In all my years of law enforcement, we’ve never had to deploy a hazmat team to recover human remains. When asked why Steven gave multiple motives. Tricia continuously disrespected him when he tried to Skype with their daughter. Disrespect you, bitch. Next m thing he said was he was upset about the amount of child support. And, uh, finally, he wanted full custody of Faith. Based on fricking what, sir? He also confessed he wanted revenge for the divorce and was looking for financial benefits. Revenge for a divorce that basically you are the cause of. If you didn’t want her to divorce you, literally all you had to do was not be a dick. Bare minimum, don’t be a dick. Captain John Cummins said after the full confession, quote, pretty much every theory we had is something that probably bounced through his head also. But ultimately, it comes down to basic greed and anger. And Ky wants to add, being a complete asshole. The confession validated what investigators had suspected all along. A premeditated murder driven by control and resentment. And he thought he planned a perfect crime. And for a while, he almost got away with it. However, with the plea deal, personally, I feel like he basically still got away with it. And side note, shortly before the murder, Steven had told Tricia’s mother that Tricia could, quote, poof, disappear, and admitted that he, quote, hated Tricia Now, I’m sure Trisha’s mom told police this, but again, this is circumstantial evidence. Lots of people say they hate their ex, but, you know, they’re not complete in other bags of douche, and they don’t murder them. Forensic specialists were able to confirm Trisha’s identity through dental records and Surviving tissue, uh, samples. Steven pled no contest to second degree murder and child neglect. This legal maneuver allowed him to accept punishment without formally admitting guilt. Actually, in the plea documents, Steven selected an option acknowledging the plea was in his best interest while maintaining his innocence. Frickin bagadoosh with a side of a gaping butthole.

Stephen Williams was sentenced to 35 years for murder and five years for child neglect

I’m sorry for my colorful language, but I really try not to curse on here so I gotta come up with something, I gotta say something. Because other than that it’s gonna be F this and F that and mfer and B and uh, I’m trying. Bear with me. On October 7, 2016, he was sentenced to 35 years for the murder and five years for the child neglect charge, served concurrently. I wonder if the five years was the maximum because I would have given the maximum in the child neglect just to kind of offset the plea deal, you know what I’m saying? He was also ordered to pay over 67,000 to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office to cover the cost of the investigation. But I mean, he’s in prison, so how’s he going to pay that off? He received credit for 130 days already served. A mental health evaluation was requested by the defense during the summer due to Steven being on suicide watch, but they found him competent to proceed with sentencing. Like, basically shut the bleep up. Steven like Chief Assistant State Attorney Tom Beckendall, was frustrated that Steven refused to admit guilt. He said that throughout proceedings, Steven treated the entire situation like a, uh, major inconvenience. Judge Lawrence Merman called the sentence, quote, clearly less than full justice, but said it was the, quote, best choice to help answer questions and reveal the true horrific nature of the crime. Basically meaning without the plea deal, Tricia might have never been found. Sheriff William Snyder stated that he was satisfied because they were able to provide, quote, unquote, some measure of justice for the family. Trish’s father, David Todd, uh, told the court that he had forgiven Steven, which personally in this sense, he’s better than me because no, I’m not judging him. Everybody’s different and I am not built from that cloth. In prison, Detective Michael Oliver observed that Steven who was normally stoic, was, uh, laughing and smiling as he talked about the details and saying that he almost got away with it. Steven reportedly told other inmates that he turned himself in because he was, quote, tired of lying. To which Detective Oliver said that Steven’s still lying because the sheriff’s office caught him. He didn’t turn himself in. Steven apparently believed it would have been easier to evade Capture in North Carolina. So, first, uh, of all, no remorse, none whatsoever. And he thinks this is a fricking game and he only got 35 years. Second, my question is, why did you think it was going to be easier to evade capture in North Carolina? Like, why did you say that? Their daughter Faith, who’s now 10, 11 years old, was adopted by Trisha’s brother Jonathan and his family. And they make sure that she knows exactly who her mother was. Kind, brave and selfless. She was just authentic, so willing to give of herself for others. Steven Williams is serving his sentence in Florida. Now, another interesting note is that the Air Force declined to federally prosecute Steven as the crime happened off base and civil authorities had jurisdiction. As they said, this angered a lot of people who thought that Steven should face additional consequences under the Uniform Code of Military justice for crimes committed while actively serving. Military officials explained that pursuing court martial proceedings would be redundant given his existing 35 year sentence in Florida’s prison system. Throughout the investigation, Steven was technically on active duty at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, though he was immediately placed on administrative leave following his arrest. Now, my question is, how would this have been redundant? It could have been in addition to not redundant. Later, State Attorney Beckendall expressed profound regret about the plea deal agreement that he put into effect. He said, uh, and I quote, this is what he said. Quote, I just made a deal with the devil and there’s nothing I can do about it. This is a premeditated murder. It’s an unfortunate reality of this business that on occasion, you must make a deal with the devil, end quote. This is what he said. Now, technically, Steven had violated the terms of his plea agreement. Okay, so there was a technicality. He had violated the terms of his plea agreement since he only led investigators to partial remains. And I would have jumped on that. I would have leapt on that as a lawyer. But at the time, the defense attorney, Richard Meerman, defended the agreement’s importance, calling it a, quote, uh, bold action that allowed officials to obtain crucial facts about the case. But they already had the facts. They already had her body. They already proved that it was her body. And he already confessed. So as the prosecution, I would have given the defense two of these fingers and really slid into that loophole. He violated the terms of his plea agreement. And the reason we made the plea agreement was, yes, a, uh, bold action in order to find Tricia But he didn’t give us Tricia He gave us her partial remains. We asked for Tricia I’m circling it here in Red, we asked for Tricia This is what you signed. You didn’t give us Tricia So no death penalty. But you know, I can’t say that. It’s up to the parents. It’s up to the family. And her family wanted the plea agreement. So who am I? And while the plea agreement spared him the death penalty, it actually didn’t spare the world from the horror of knowing exactly what he did. And that is the horrific and sad murder of Tricia Todd by her absolute of an ex husband, Steven Williams. What did you think about that case?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I want to hear from you. Love and Murder is supported through Patreon

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. As usual, you heard my thoughts throughout this case. I really don’t like how it ended, but it is not up to me. I want to hear from you. And that is all I have for you today. If you want to go deeper into the case, get case files, case extras, or, or just be able to help me be able to retell more cases like this and get their stories out. Because it needs to be told and people need to understand that you’re not going to get away with murder. You need to understand that there are other options, like moving on with life. If something happens that you didn’t like, like a divorce, it is what the frick it is. Be a grown man, be a grown woman and move on. Murder is not the answer. And for the most part, you will not get away with it. Even if you’re sitting there for 10 years thinking you got away with it. Trust me, there’s somebody there trying to piece together this murder and figure out what happened. Even some podcasters. I’m not that podcaster. I retell the cases because it needs to be shown. I do not have the skills to solve a murder. I’m not even going to pretend, and I’m not going to get in the investigator’s way and try and pretend that I can solve a murder. But I will be telling the case. And maybe there’s people out there who can solve the murder. You never know. Maybe they hear something I said and they’re like, you know what? I didn’t even think about that. Let me. You know, so if you want to be someone who helps me in the retelling of these cases to help spread the word, to help keep the victim story alive, to help knock sense into somebody’s head that might be thinking about doing something similar, then head on over to our Patreon. Patreon.com forward/loveandmurder. You could choose one of the bonus tiers that will make you a sponsor of Love and Murder, a sponsor of the Victim stories. Um, you also get bonus episodes, case extras, and so much more. Patreon.com forward/loveandmurder and for those of you who are already in the lam fam, I want to say thank you so much for your support. It does help keep this podcast going. And for those of, uh, you who listen to this podcast, thank you so much. If you want to do even more, then join the LaM Patreon Fam. Otherwise, go ahead and just share this episode. That’s a free and easy way that you can help the stories continue to be heard. And as we end each full episodes, I want to remind you that it’s say it with me now. All, uh, Love and no murder. Y’ all stay tuned for my commercial guests. Thanks for listening. Bye.

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