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Ex-roofer faces jail for dealing Medford killing leads to meth conviction By CHRIS BRISTOL Technically speaking, Ted Walton's not going to prison for committing a hate crime. But in a way, he is. The 39-year-old Medford man was sentenced to 18 months in the slammer Monday for dealing methamphetamine -- a depressingly run-of-the-mill offense in a county where authorities estimate up to 70 percent of all crimes have something to do with drug or alcohol abuse. What makes Walton's case interesting is why he got busted in the first place -- not for dealing crank but as a suspect in his gay landlord's murder. Authorities eventually ruled him out as a suspect in the death of Russell Slack. The drug charges stuck. "We get cases in all kinds of weird ways," prosecutor Matt McCauley said, "and this is definitely one of them." Walton unwittingly became a prime suspect in the Slack case in August, months before the murder even occurred. In a rage over being evicted, the unemployed roofer trashed a rental owned by Slack. According to his own admissions in court, Walton spray-painted homophobic graffiti on the exterior of the Freeman Road home and vandalized the interior. He punched holes in the walls, broke doors and even urinated on the carpet. Months later, early in the morning of Jan. 3, somebody shot the 50-year-old Slack in his home. He died two weeks later from his injuries. Police initially said the crime looked like a burglary, but soon came to the conclusion it was not a random act. At the time they had an obvious suspect: Ted Walton. He passed a lie detector test in Slack's murder. But while he was at the police station for the test, officers found drugs in his pocket. That led to a raid at his new rental in west Medford. In court Monday, McCauley told Jackson County Judge Ray White how Walton matter-of-factly admitted he was a drug dealer when detectives came knocking. "They asked him, `What is your occupation?"' McCauley said. "His answer to that question was, `I'm a dope dealer."' Walton later got 60 days in jail, with credit for time served, after he pleaded guilty to second-degree intimidation for painting graffiti on Slack's rental. As part of a plea-bargain agreement, he also pleaded guilty to delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school. McCauley argued for a 22-month prison sentence, largely on the grounds that Walton once spent 16 months in a California prison on a drug conviction and violated parole when he moved to Oregon. "He is in fact a recidivist," McCauley said. "This is not an optional probation case." In a rambling statement to the court, Walton blamed his downfall on a roofing injury that left him unable to work. He said he sold drugs only to "stay alive." "I knew what I was doing was wrong," he said, adding later, "I didn't have anything to do with the shooting." His attorney, Angie LaNier, asked for probation. She argued that Walton was amenable to treatment, and said her client was not dealing large quantities and had no weapons at the time of his arrest. Judge White said no. "We see this just day after day after day, lives destroyed from meth," White said. "There are consequences for selling drugs." Still, the judge decided on a slightly lighter penalty of 18 months, citing Walton's cooperative attitude with police and support from friends who spoke on his behalf in court Monday. They said his drug activity was so low-key they never knew about it. As he was led from the courtroom, Walton smiled and waved to them. The Slack murder remains unsolved. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA