Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
ABC 20/20‘s upcoming episode “The Hungryland Homicide” explores the case against Tricia Todd’s killer, Steven Williams. Todd was an Air Force veteran who worked as a hospice nurse at the time of her murder. She went missing on April 26, 2016. Williams, her ex-husband, then confessed to murdering the mother-of-one. He initially claimed her death was an accident, but a later confession revealed a gruesome premeditated crime.
The Hungryland Homicide will air on ABC this Friday, May 3, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET. An official synopsis, according to the network, states, “A mysterious true crime, a young mother murdered, and the stunning details of what happened next.”
Detectives were yet to find Tricia Todd’s remains when her killer, Steven Williams, confessed to the crime, per the Office of Special Investigations. Williams revealed the whereabouts of her remains in exchange for a plea deal. He led detectives to the Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area, where they dug up her partial remains. That same year, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and got a 35-year prison sentence.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Steven Williams is serving his sentence in the Jefferson Correctional Institution.
What did Tricia Todd’s killer, Steven Williams, confess about her murder?
WPBF reported that Tricia Todd’s killer ex-husband, Steven Williams, initially told detectives her death was an accident. He alleged that they were fighting when he pushed the mother-of-one, and she fell to her death. Williams claimed he disposed of her body to avoid facing the blame for her death. The confession came on May 25, nearly a month after Todd went missing, per the Office of Special Investigations.
Authorities arrested Williams, who worked in the U.S. Air Force at the time, on May 26, 2016, reported The Palm Beach Post. He then led detectives to the remote location where he had buried Todd’s remains in exchange for a plea deal. They dug up an isolated area in the Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area, finding the 30-year-old’s remains in a plastic tub filled with acid. That same year, the killer received his prison sentence.
Per WPBF, Tricia Todd’s convicted killer, Steven Williams, was in an Orlando prison later that year when he made a shocking confession. In his confession, he admitted that Todd’s murder was premeditated because he wanted to avoid paying child support. Moreover, he wanted to take his daughter back to North Carolina, where he lived at the time of the murder.
Williams claimed he murdered Todd in an Airbnb he was staying in with their daughter being present close by. In his confession, he said he first strangled his ex-wife, rendering her unconscious. He wanted to get the hospice nurse to reveal her email password and other information and later send misleading emails to her family. However, after Todd revived, she began screaming. Williams eventually hit her with a club and choked her to death.
After murdering Tricia Todd, the killer took her body to the Hungryland Wildlife Preserve. Steven Williams confessed that he had already dug a hole and placed a plastic tub with acid in the hole. He then admitted to using a chainsaw to dismember Todd’s body before dumping the remains in the tub. Williams’ detailed confession came after his conviction.
Tricia Todd’s murder case will feature in ABC 20/20’s “The Hungryland Homicide” this Friday, May 3, 2024.
