Fallon woman charged in 21-year-old Arizona murder case

Fallon police officers assisted Yuma, Ariz., authorities last week in the arrest of a local woman accused in the murder of her husband 21 years ago.

Delma Troy, 53, was taken into custody at Wal-Mart on Wednesday afternoon on a first-degree murder warrant issued the day before in Yuma. She is charged with murder in the first degree and conspiracy to commit murder, linked to the death of her then-husband, James Ferrara, in 1985. Troy was being held in the Churchill County Jail without bail pending extradition to Arizona.

Ferrara, 65, was found shot to death in his home after Troy asked a neighbor to check on him, according to news reports in the Yuma Sun.

Assistant Police Chief Ray Dolan of the Fallon Police Department said Thursday it appears Troy has lived in Fallon since at least 1987, based on records of contact with her.

He said he was contacted by an Arizona detective who said Yuma police developed information that Troy was living in Fallon and wanted for the murder. Dolan said Troy was living at 511 N. Taylor St., where she has lived since at least 2004, when Troy called to report a fire.

"The detective was flying out (Wednesday) and wanted us to try to locate her and maintain her whereabouts until his arrival," Dolan said. "We set up a surveillance on her house early (Wednesday) morning."

He said officers in unmarked vehicles followed Troy and her stepfather to various locations in Fallon after the couple left the Taylor Street home at 11:30 a.m.

"They drove around town like they were paying bills or running errands. Eventually, she was escorted out of Wal-Mart and placed under arrest," said Dolan.

Two men are also in custody in the case. Clint Norred, public information officer for the Yuma Police Department said Donald White, 41, of Brighton, Colo. was arrested in Lawton, Okla., May 11. He was arraigned this week on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and is being held in lieu of $3.5 million bail in Arizona

Richfield, Wash., resident Rick Kosterow, 47, is being held in Clark County, Wash., pending extradition. He was arrested May 24, Norred said, on the same homicide charges.

"The scoop is that on Sept. 30, 1985, James Ferrara was found shot to death in his house. In November of 2005, we received new information indicating Delma Lee Troy, who was the victim's wife at the time, conspired with Mr. White and Mr. Kosterow to murder him," Norred said. "That's the gist of it right now."

Norred would not detail what new information led to the arrests, simply saying information was provided by a person last year.