Repeatedly Re-Paroled Cop Killer Finally Gets Life Sentence After Threatening To Murder Judge’s Family

Chicago, IL – A convicted cop killer who murdered a Chicago police detective was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday because he committed an armed robbery a few weeks after he was released on parole.

David Walsh was initially sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison for the murder of Chicago Police Detective Young Hobson in 1968, according to WFLD.

Det. Hobson was off-duty when he noticed a man with a handgun in his waistband in a tavern on South Halstead on May 3, 1968, the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) reported.

The detective approached Walsh to question whether he was carrying legally and the suspect pulled his weapon and began shooting at Det. Hobson.

The 40-year-old officer, who had also served in the U.S. Army, was shot five times in the chest and died, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Walsh was convicted and sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison for the murder of Det. Hobson.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kerwin said Walsh was paroled in 1983 but the cop killer couldn’t stay out of trouble, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

He was repeatedly arrested and used multiple aliases.

Then in July of 1984, less than a month after he was paroled again, he got caught crawling out of his car after a wreck holding a .38-caliber revolver in his hand, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Kerwin said officers also found a loaded, sawed-off 12-guage shotgun and a loaded Uzi submachinegun in Walsh’s vehicle.

Walsh was arrested for the armed robbery of a restaurant in 1987, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Court records showed the Cook County prosecutor for that case told the judge that Walsh should be “locked up forever.”

The prosecutor said in April of 1987 that Walsh “celebrated his 10th day out of prison by walking into a restaurant on 63rd Street and sticking the place up using a replica of an antique gun,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

“An examination of his prison record will convince you that you have your hands full,” the prosecutor wrote. “He has stabbed an inmate, possessed numerous shanks, thrown scalding water, been caught with escape plans and maps, pills, and has threatened guards and even parole officers and counselors.”

Walsh was sentenced to 60 years for that robbery but paroled again in October of 2017 despite his bad behavior in prison and pending charges for obstruction of justice, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

“Each time this thug was released, his acts became more sinister and sophisticated,” the prosecutor said.

Less than a year later, on July 14, 2018, Walsh committed an armed robbery at a U.S. Bank branch while wearing a mask.

Prosecutors said he ordered the bank tellers to give him cash and threatened them with a .357-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun until they handed over $3,700, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Court records showed federal authorities arrested Walsh 10 days later, on July 24, 2018, because investigators believed he was about to rob another bank.

Walsh pleaded guilty in February of 2020, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman sentenced the now-74-year-old Walsh to life in prison for bank robbery and other crimes on Jan. 20.

The sentencing followed a profane outburst by Walsh in Feinerman’s courtroom in fall of 2020, court records showed.

Walsh threatened to kill the judge and his family after Feinerman said he would sentence the convicted cop killer to 13 years in prison, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

“Because you’re a filthy stinking pig, you motherf–ker, and I’d blow your f—king brains out,” Walsh told the judge, according to a court transcript. “I not only would blow your f–king brains out, you pig, but I would kill your entire f–king family and torture and murder each and every f–king one of them, you filthy, motherf–king lying pig motherf–ker, you.”

He told the judge the murder of Det. Hobston had “happened over 50 years ago, man. That was another century.”

Court records showed that Feinerman ended that hearing after Walsh exploded, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Instead of the 13 years that was initially on the table, the judge sentenced Walsh to life in prison when he resumed the hearing on Jan. 20.