Friday, Oct. 07, 2011
Raymore man charged with felony assault, arson following blaze
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By Allen Edmonds, The Democrat Missourian
A Raymore man is being held in the Cass County Jail on $250,000 bond following an incident that began as an argument with his wife and within moments turned potentially lethal.
David L. Walden, 55, is charged with felony counts of domestic assault and arson.
According to court documents, he admitted to beating his wife with cast iron skillet and setting ablaze the home they shared in the 700 block of Heron. He said his wife had told him she intended to divorce him.
The probable cause statement, written by a Raymore Police detective following an interview just more than an hour after the 3 p.m. incident, detailed the events of the afternoon. Walden allegedly told officers the situation between he and his wife deteriorated quickly that afternoon. He told officers that the two arrived home together, and during a conversation in the living room, his wife “started yelling at him and told him she was going to divorce him,” the statement read.
Walden told officers that he became extremely upset with her, grabbed her around the throat with his hands and pushed her out the kitchen door into the screened-in porch area at the rear of the home, the statement continued.
The detective said Walden “told me that she fell to the ground and that he held her down.”
He told officers that he grabbed a broken cast iron skillet and struck her seven or eight times on the arms, legs and back area.
He also allegedly told officers that he struck her about the face with a closed fist.
When the woman was able to get up and begin running from him, Walden told officers that he threw the skillet at her and hit her somewhere in the middle of the back.
He also admitted to officers that he threatened to find and kill her if she got away, the statement said.
Documents also said Walden admitted to thinking about killing his wife the evening prior to the attack.
After the wife ran from the house, he told investigators, he went to the garage and found a two-gallon gasoline can, according to the probable cause statement.
He said he poured gasoline all over the main floor living area, on the floor, chairs and up the drapes in the living room.
He said that he picked up a lighter and lit a chair on fire. The blaze quickly spread throughout the house, and he told officers he left the house just before his own clothing caught on fire and surrendered to police in the front yard, the statement said.
He allegedly told officers that he “wanted to show her that their possessions did not mean a thing after 30 years of marriage.”
Walden’s wife was transported to a Kansas City hospital with injuries she suffered in the assault.
During an interview with officers later that evening, the detective said that she seemed to be “in extreme pain.”
The blaze destroyed the two-story home, leaving only the exterior walls and garage area standing.
Walden was scheduled to appear for arraignment on Thursday morning before Associate Circuit Judge Mike Rumley in Cass County Circuit Court.
