Tenant’s Story of Shooting Elicits Disbelief

Friends and relatives of a slain Woodland Hills stockbroker Friday refused to believe the story told by his 18-year-old tenant, who said she killed him to halt a sexual assault, insisting that would be entirely out of character for the former candidate for the priesthood.

But police freed the woman, saying evidence at the scene corroborated her version.

James Galido, 31, was shot to death Thursday in the garage apartment of the Woodland Hills home he shares with his wife, Yolanda. Karen Walkden, who rented the apartment from the couple, told police she shot Galido in the chest because he surprised her in the apartment and was threatening to rape her.

“It’s just not possible. This guy was so upstanding and above-board and moral,” said Marian Burman, who knew Galido through Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Northridge, where Galido’s father is deacon. “There’s something seriously wrong here.”

Dale Leshaw, a co-worker of Galido’s at Imperial Capital in Beverly Hills, also found the accusation impossible to believe. “It just doesn’t sound plausible,” Leshaw said. “It’s just not James. He’s the most unassuming, unaggressive guy.”

Friends said Galido and his wife were happily married and trying to have a baby. They said before he became a stockbroker, Galido attended a seminary, leaving just six months shy of becoming a Catholic priest.

“It’s the most preposterous idea,” Sarah Martinez, a lifelong friend, said of the accusation against Galido.

Martinez said Galido left the seminary about five years ago when he began to question his calling. Still, she said, he was a religious man.

He met Yolanda, whom he married last year, while they were both volunteering in a program for abused children, Martinez said.

On Friday, Yolanda was with the friends and relatives gathered at Galido’s parents’ home in Chatsworth.

Anna Loynes, Martinez’s sister, said the couple’s faith is helping them cope with the loss of their eldest son. “They just believe that this is his time and that he’s with his maker,” she said.

Walkden was released Thursday evening after several hours of questioning at the LAPD’s West Valley station, said Homicide Det. Rick Swanston. The investigation is continuing.

Walkden told police she killed Galido with a shotgun she bought about two weeks earlier because she had been hearing noises outside the apartment in the 22400 block of Dolorosa Street.

She told police that as she returned from taking out the garbage shortly before 2:30 p.m., she turned to find that Galido had followed her into the apartment. He began making threats to rape her, she said.

When she went into the bedroom to get her gun, he “was right on her,” Walkden said, and she turned around and shot him.

Walkden, who police said is unemployed, had lived in the one-bedroom apartment for about three months. On the day of the shooting, she left a note for the Galidos saying she intended to move out next week. Police said there was no indication that Walkden and the Galidos had argued about her moving.

Swanston said Walkden’s account of the shooting was consistent with the physical evidence at the scene.

Martinez said she was convinced of Galido’s innocence.

“I don’t know the evidence,” she said. “I just know James.”