Tripler Army Medical Center medic Sgt. Michael Walker and the woman he allegedly conspired with to kill his wife first met online, and within a month of his wife’s death, he was visiting adult websites, a federal prosecutor said Monday.
Describing Walker as someone who is extremely manipulative and who has used computer applications to conceal his electronic communications, U.S. Attorney Jill Otake told federal Magistrate Kevin S.C. Chang that Walker “has absolutely nothing to lose by fleeing or hurting himself or others.”
Based on Otake’s representations and the report of the court’s Pretrial Services, Chang ordered Walker, 36, held without bail.
Otake said Walker’s life insurance claim for his wife’s death has been suspended because he is a suspect in the stabbing fatality. Also, since his indictment and arrest Wednesday, the Army has cut off his pay.
Walker’s co-defendant, Ailsa Jackson, 25, has been in custody without the opportunity for pretrial release since her indictment and arrest in April.
Walker’s trial is scheduled for Dec. 9, the date Jackson was previously scheduled to stand trial. The date, however, is likely to change.
After Walker’s arraignment Thursday, the court scheduled a hearing for next week at which Jackson is expected to plead guilty as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
The latest indictment charges Jackson with murder and charges Walker with planning the murder and assisting Jackson.
Army officials said Catherine Walker’s body was found in her family quarters on Aliamanu Military Reservation on Nov. 15.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner said Walker, 38, died from stab wounds to her neck and torso.
Because the killing happened on federal property, Jackson and Michael Walker could have faced the death penalty if found guilty. The U.S. attorney, however, informed the court in June that the government is not seeking the death penalty for Jackson. Otake’s statements to Chang also indicated that the government is not seeking the death penalty for Walker.
Otake said that after Walker met Jackson, they continued communicating online and that Jackson went to Walker’s home. At the time of the killing, Jackson lived with her parents in the same Aliamanu Crater military housing complex as the Walkers.
According to last week’s indictment, Walker asked Jackson to kill his wife to get her out of the way so that he and Jackson could be together. The indictment says he also arranged to have Jackson commit the slaying while he was at work.