A nearly 40-year old mystery came to an end Monday when Donald Feldhoff pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 1978 killing of 26-year old Michael Traynor.
Feldhoff, who was originally charged with first-degree murder, also pleaded guilty to interfering with a dead body.
In an agreed statement of facts read out in court, Feldhoff, 59, admitted he shot Traynor on Sept. 13, 1978 after Traynor broke into the Feldhoff's rooming house on Worsley Street.
"What the hell are you doing," Feldhoff said he asked Traynor.
"I used to live here," Traynor allegedly replied.
"Not anymore. Get out while you can," Feldhoff said he warned Traynor.
The court heard that Feldhoff ran to his bedroom, grabbed a hunting rifle his father William had given him and loaded it.
Feldhoff said he shot Traynor twice after Traynor came towards him.
Traynor had played baseball that evening and later went drinking at a few bars downtown.
Feldhoff, who was 20 at the time, had been tasked with looking after the rooming house by his father who offered some explicit advice about possible intruders.
"My instructions to my son were if he threatens you, you shoot the son of a bitch," court heard William said.
After shooting Traynor, Feldhoff called his father who told Feldhoff not to call the police.
William decided the best course of action was to tie up the body with copper wire to make it look like an organized crime hit - a "drug thing gone wrong or a mafia hit."
Court heard father and son put Traynor's body in the trunk of their car and dumped it in a ditch off St. Vincent Street.
The Feldhoff's sold the Worsley Street house shortly after the shooting.
Traynor's death baffled police for 34 years until July 11, 2012, when out of the blue Donald Feldhoff walked into a Barrie Police station after an argument with his father and confessed to the crime.
Feldhoff’s father pleaded guilty to improperly interfering with a dead body last fall for his role in Traynor’s death.
A duck hunter found Traynor's remains several weeks after his wife reported him missing.
Traynor grew up in Barrie and was survived by seven brothers and his mother, who passed away never knowing what happened to her son.
Feldhoff's lawyer believes the killing was in self-defence.
"He's always been extremely remorseful," Greg Leslie said outside court. "That's why this is resolved. This is what he wants."
Traynor's relatives don't believe it and hope Feldhoff gets serious jail time to reflect what they believe was murder.
"I'm still kind of in shock that he got to plead to manslaughter," Traynor's sister-in-law, Gail Traynor, said outside of court.
Feldhoff also pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.
Court heard that police found more than 9,000 images on Feldhoff's computer of children between the ages of 4 and 12 being sexually assaulted.
A sentencing hearing for Feldhoff will be held Aug.15.
