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Murder of David Ford

On February 10th, 2009, 40-year-old Lebanon Police Officer David Ford sat at a computer to do some work at his Campbellsville, Kentucky home. Moments later, he was shot in the back of the head.

Hours later, his estranged wife, 36-year-old Tonya Ford, walked into the gruesome scene.

She called 911 to report finding her husband shot while also stating she didn’t go close to the body.

After an investigation, David’s death was ruled a homicide.

Based on his last computer activity, police believed he was killed at around 11:17 am.

Tonya was questioned about her whereabouts at that time, and she told detectives she was getting a cup of coffee 15 minutes away at a Sonic restaurant.

She had two witnesses who said they saw her at the Sonic restaurant between 10:55 am and 111:10 a.m. that day.

Police pulled her cell phone records, and they put her near the crime scene around the time David was killed, so those two witnesses were not considered credible.

Investigators spent nearly two years investigating the case, and much of the evidence pointed towards Tonya.

They learned that before his death, David was receiving threatening notes. He had one of those notes next to him at the time of his death, and forensic testing revealed one of Tonya’s fingerprints on it.

Detectives also learned that Tonya told her mother she killed him.

After talking to witnesses, investigators discovered that David had several extramarital affairs, and Tonya told others she would kill him if she caught him cheating again.

Three weeks before the murder, David had moved out of their home and moved in with his lover. According to witnesses, he was about to file for divorce from Tonya.

Police arrested Tonya for first-degree murder on October 20th, 2010.

Legal Proceedings

At her trial in 2012, the prosecution didn’t have a smoking gun, but they had a lot of circumstantial evidence that pointed to Tonya.

Her defense lawyer called the witnesses, who said they had seen her at Sonic just before prosecutors believed David was murdered.

After two hours, he rested their case.

During deliberations, the jury was conflicted, but after 12 hours, they sided with the prosecution and found Tonya guilty of first-degree murder.

They recommended she serve 20 years. The judge could have sentenced her to life in prison, but went along with the jury’s sentence recommendation and gave her 20 years in prison.

She will be eligible for parole on August 1st, 2029.