By: Joe Strupp A former carrier for the Tulsa (Okla.) World, who is set to go to trial next week for allegedly killing two women along his newspaper route, is now being sued by the family of one of the victims.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday by Jeffrey Stauffer, a son of Donna Jo Stauffer, Paul Williford is named as a defendant, along with the Tulsa World?s parent company, World Publishing Co., the World reported.
Williford is accused of killing Stauffer, 73, and another woman, Geraldine Lawhorn, 75, in 2005. He faces two counts of first degree murder. Both women died of strangulation and were customers of Williford.
?Prosecutors allege that Williford choked Lawhorn and drowned her in her bathtub in September 2005 and that he strangled Stauffer at her home in October 2005,? the World reported.
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Charles L. Richardson and the Richardson Law Firm, ?seeks an unspecified amount of actual and punitive damages exceeding $10,000 on behalf of the estate and heirs,? the paper reported
The lawsuit alleges that the World "negligently retained Williford as a newspaper carrier despite his violent criminal history."
The suit refers to a 20-year-old news brief covering Williford's plea bargain and sentencing for an assault and battery and robbery of an acquaintance, the World reported. Williford began working as an independent carrier for the World in November 2003.
The World terminated Williford's contract after his arrest ?based on an October 2005 nonfatal attack on another woman.?
World Publisher Robert E. Lorton III said in Thursday?s paper: "In the hundred-year history of our newspaper, nothing like this has occurred before, and we could have never imagined that a news carrier would commit such a terrible intentional act."
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