Wife Questioned in Murder Trial

BARTOW | Prosecutors pressed Kathy Ballard on Monday about why she had told police that her 67-year-old husband was "obsessed" with a 14-year-old female relative.

"He was obsessed about her education," she said. "That's what I meant to say ... We didn't want her to struggle like we were doing. He wanted her to have a better life than what we had."

But prosecutors accuse her husband, Roy, of being obsessed with continuing a sexual relationship with the girl. They contend that drove him to kill his 33-year-old stepdaughter, Autumn Marie Traub, because she opposed his regaining custody of the girl.

The Ledger is not naming the girl because she is an alleged victim of a sex crime.

Assistant State Attorney Cass Castillo asked Kathy Ballard about why she used the word "obsessed'' when speaking with Lakeland detectives.

The 52-year-old Zephyrhills woman said she and her husband were worried that if the girl wasn't in their care, she wouldn't get a proper education. Castillo questioned her about why she didn't mention such concern about the girl's education in her statement to detectives.

"You're just saying that today, is that right?" Castillo asked.

Kathy Ballard said she did not specify what her husband was concerned about when speaking with detectives.

Roy Ballard faces a charge of first-degree murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Traub was 33 years old and living in Lakeland when she disappeared Sept. 13, 2006, after meeting with Ballard. Her body has not been found.

Kathy Ballard was with her husband when detectives searched the trunk of his 2004 Saturn in the days after Traub disappeared. Inside, they recovered a shovel with dirt on it, plastic bags, a roll of duct tape and a sex toy.

Prosecutors have said test results showed Traub's blood was on some plastic Wal-Mart bags found in the trunk. DNA material matching the female relative was also found on the sex toy.

Investigative reports state that when detectives pointed out the sex toy in the trunk that Roy Ballard replied, "You weren't supposed to find that."

The reports also state that when Kathy Ballard inquired about the sex toy that her husband answered, "That's none of your business."

Kathy Ballard told jurors that her husband later told her that he found the sex toy in the female relative's dresser after the girl moved away.

Kathy Ballard testified she found photographs on a home computer of the girl alone in her bedroom using the sex toy and another of the girl posing topless.

She said the girl frequently used the computer and would communicate with older men. Kathy Ballard said the girl would also speak to older men on her cell phone.

She said the girl confided to her that she had been sexually abused by four adult male relatives, but not Roy Ballard.

Castillo said in his opening statement that the girl told authorities that Roy Ballard had also molested her.

Kathy Ballard said that after learning about the sexual abuse accusation against her husband, she confronted him and he denied it.

She said she didn't suspect anything because "if he can't have sex with me, how can he have sex with a 14-year-old kid?"

Kathy Ballard testified that her husband's testosterone level is low and they hadn't had sex in about 12 years, despite trying Viagra and another treatment.

Kathy Ballard also spoke about some of her husband's other health problems, including strokes, seizures and diabetes.

During opening statements, Roy Ballard's lawyer, Byron Hileman, said his client's poor health made it impossible for him to kill a woman half his age weighing more than 200 pounds and then dispose of her body without a trace.

[ Jason Geary can be reached at jason.geary@theledger.com or 863-802-7536. ]