Brazen Winters Murderer Still On Loose; Reward Increased

WINTERS, Railroad Avenue — On November 18th at 9:30 a.m., Linda Pinkston, 32, sat in the driver’s seat of her SUV as she’d just arrived to work. 30-year-old William Carl Gardner III — her ex-boyfriend — walked up and allegedly shot her to death.

William Carl Gardner III

Gardner had been released on bail only three days earlier after having been scheduled to be tried in December for allegedly stalking and threatening Pinkston.

Pinkston had obtained a restraining order against Gardner after he threatened her during a violent stalking episode back on January 13 outside her Winters home. Gardner threw a lawn chair through her front window and shouted threats he would kill her.

Leslie Pinkston

On November 20, the U.S. Marshals Service joined the nationwide hunt for Gardner and offered a $2,000 reward for his capture. The Winters Volunteer Firefighters Association added money to the reward. Winters Police issued a warrant for Gardner’s arrest on murder charges.

Gardner was once arrested outside Pinkston’s home — in January — and discovered he already faced felony domestic-violence charges in Sacramento County for “inflicting corporal injury on a cohabitant” in connection with an earlier assault on another woman. He was released numerous times on bail while the case dragged through the courts.

Lynnette Irlmeier, executive director of Yolo County’s Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Center stated, “This tragedy reminds us of how far we still need to go to keep victims of domestic violence safe.”

Read more:

The Davis Enterprise: Woman shot to death in Winters; manhunt on

The Reporter: Ex-boyfriend sought after fatal shooting in Winters