Richardson Facts

8/13/2019 Richardson Facts

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STATE OF MARYLAND IN THE CIRCUIT OURT

VS.

FOR HARFORD OUNTY

ROBERT RICHARDSON III CASE NO. 12-K-12-291

* * * * * * * * * * *GREED ST TEMENT OF F CTS

The State and Defense stipulate to the following statement of facts:On January 9 2012, at approximately 10:30 p.m., deputies from the Harford County

Sheriffs Office responded to a call to check on the welfare of a Robert Richardson, Jr., whoresided at 831 Moore s Mill Road in Bel Air, Maryland, in Harford County. The call was inresponse to a call made to the 911 center by family members ofMr. Richardson who wereconcerned about a telephone call that had been received by Abigail Richardson from thedefendant, who is her brother. The defendant told her that he had shot their father, who would beidentitied as Robert Richardson Jr. Deputy Christopher Jordan arrived at the house, located at831 Moores Mill Road, Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland, at approximately I 0:45p.m.Deputy Jordan was familiar with the location, and noticed that the main vehicle that was used bythe resident was not parked in the driveway. He also noticed that there were lights on in thehouse. He observed what he determined were fresh tire tracks in the front yard leading to thefront stoop, and saw what he believed to be fresh blood on the main stoop. He knocked on thedoor and there was no response. He shone his tlashlight through the front window of the house,later determined to be the bedroom of the victim, Robert Richardson, Jr., and saw what appearedto be blood on the bed. He looked through another window to the living room, and also sawwhat appeared to be blood and drag marks. When other officers arrived, they forced entry intothe house and conducted a quick search of the house, looking for Mr. Richardson. They wereunable to locate anyone in the house, but did see what appeared to be blood in the front bedroom,and drag marks and a blood trail leading from the bedroom to the front door of the house. Thepolice exited the house and secured it pending a search warrant.


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A check of the records of the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration determined thatthe victim, Robert Richardson, Jr., owned an older model Chevy S 10 Blazer, with tag no.53464M5. Deputies also checked local hospitals for Mr. Richardson, with negative results. Alookout was placed for the Chevy Blazer. A search and seizure warrant was also obtained for theChevy Blazer.

Deputy Wil Adams of the Harford County Sheriffs Office went to interview thedefendant 's sister, Abigail Richardson. Ms. Richardson advised that the initial call had comefrom her brother, who she would identify as the defendant, Robert Richardson III. At hisrequest, Abigail called her brother on the cell phone from which he had placed the call to her.He answered but would not divulge his location. Dep. Adams then took the phone but thedefendant hung up the phone and would not answer further attempts to contact him. Abigailfurther told the Deputy that the defendant had told her that he shot his father in the bedroom atthe Moores Mill Road address and was going to get rid of the body. Detectives began attemptsto locate the phone by sending pinging or sending locating signals to the phone, and laterrecovered it on the ground in the area of the 1300 block ofThomas Run Road in Churchville,Maryland.

In the early morning hours of January 10 2012, at approximately 6:00a.m. TrooperJustin Gross of the Maryland State Police was on his way to work, at the Bel Air Barracks in BelAir. He heard the radio chatter with the lookout for the Chevy Blazer, and heard the dispatcherdirect all available units to the area of Jarrettsville Road and Baldwin Mill Road in Jarrettsville,Maryland, where the vehicle had been spotted. Since he was already in the area, he beganlooking for the vehicle. He spotted it travelling on Jarrettsville Road and began following it, butdid not initially make an attempt to stop it, because he was waiting for back up to arrive. Whenthe vehicle was stopped for a light at the intersection of Rt. 24 and Jarrettsville Road, hedetermined that it was occupied and being operated by one white male. They proceededeastbound on Jarrettsville Road. The Blazer then turned right onto Conowingo Road, headedtowards Bel Air. Other marked MSP cruisers began to set up around the Blazer, and the suspectimmediately accelerated the Blazer. Troopers activated their lights and sirens and began thepursuit. The Blazer drove at a high rate of speed, passed through several red lights, continued


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onto Hickory A venue, through the town of Bel Air, continued toward Churchville Road, ontoFulford Avenue towards Linwood Avenue. As he was turning into the parking lot of the Bel AirUnited Methodist Church, he lost control of the vehicle and crashed it into a metal pipe stickingout of the ground, and into a cinder block structure. The vehicle came to a stop, and the driverran a short distance and stopped. He was apprehended and would be identified as the defendant,Robert Richardson III.

The defendant was placed under arrest and was transported by Det. Nick Petrozzino ofthe Harford County Sheriff s Office to the Criminal Investigations Division of the Sheriff sOffice. Prior to transport, he was advised of his Miranda Rights by Det. Petrozzino. Thedefendant waived his rights. He was asked where he put his father s body, and he told theDetective that he had put it at 828 Gilbert Road, Aberdeen, Maryland, and gave directions towhere he put the body, directing the officers to a pond on that property. Deputies responded tothe Gilbert Road address and located the body of the victim, Robert Richardson, Jr., on the edgeof the pond. He had been wrapped in a bed spread but was lying in the water. The body wasrecovered and was taken to the Office of the hiefMedical Examiner in Baltimore. An autopsywas performed by Dr. Ali, who is an Assistant Medical Examiner, and an expert in forensicpathology. His report and his testimony would be that the victim died as a result of a singlegunshot wound to the head. The entry point of the bullet was the back of the head. The bullettravelled through the head and exited through the vict im s forehead. His opinion, to a reasonabledegree of medical certainty, is that the cause of death was the gunshot wound to the head, and themanner of death was homicide. t was not a close range shot. (See autopsy report, attached asExhibit 1 .

The defendant was taken to the Criminal Investigations Division of the Harford CountySheriffs Office located in Forest Hill, Maryland. He was advised of his Miranda rights by Det.Andrew Lane of the Harford County Sheriff s Office. He waived his rights and agreed to give astatement. The defendant advised the detectives that he was tired of the way that his fathertreated him. He was done with it, and he shot his father in the back of the head with a .38revolver. He said that his father was lying in bed with his back to him, watching television. Thedefendant stated that after he shot his father, he left the residence and drove around in the truck,then came back and wrapped the body in a blanket, put him in the back of the Blazer, and

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dumped the body into the pond at Gilbert Road. He drove around, drove into Pennsylvania thendrove back into Maryland where he was later involved in the pursuit and was apprehended. Headvised that the gun was located in the console of the Blazer. He advised that he had decided afew weeks before that he had had enough of his father. t took him awhile to actually do theshooting. He stated that his father was verbally abusive, over temperamental, and threatened himverbally and physically. He stated that his father used to beat him but he started fighting back ashe got older. He stated that his father still hit him occasionally. He stated that his father treatedhim like he was his slave. He advised that he armed himself with the .38 revolver and waslooking for an opportunity to do it He stated that that day, he had gone to school, came home,and he and his father drove around the area for a while. They arrived back home at about 8:30p.m. and the defendant got on the computer which was in his father s bedroom while his fatherwatched TV. The defendant had the gun in his possession, was messaging with his friend, lateridentified as J.K. and decided to do the shooting then. He went into his bedroom, took a drinkfrom a bottle of rum that was in his room, and went back into his father s room and shot him. Heleft, went for a drive, smoked some marijuana, came back, removed the body, changed hisclothes, called his sister, and drove around until the police caught him. He also admitted that hereceived the call from his sister and the police officer on the cell phone, so he threw the phoneout of the window ofthe vehicle so it could not be traced.

A search warrant was conducted on the residence at 83 1 Moores Mill Road. Thedetectives took samples of the carpeting throughout the residence that contained suspected blood.They also recovered blood stained blankets and sheets from the master bedroom. They alsorecovered a lead projectile from the tloor of the master bedroom, and recovered a white hoodedsweatshirt and blue jeans from the defendant s bedroom.

A search warrant was conducted of the Chevy Blazer. Detectives took blood swabsamples from the interior and exterior of the vehicle. They also recovered a Rossi .38 caliberrevolver that was fully loaded, two boxes of ammunition for the revolver from the centerconsole. They also recovered a receipt for the purchase of gasoline at a Wa Wa store from theearly hours of January 10,2012, and a receipt from a Rite Aid store for the purchase of isineeye drops from the early hours of January 10, 2012. Detective Lane obtained a copy ofsurveillance tapes from both places. The Rite Aid surveillance tape showed the defendant


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entering the store accompanied by another young white male. Detectives were able to determinehis identity as J. K. who attended school with the defendant and was his friend. J.K. was locatedand was interviewed about his knowledge o the events o January 9-10, 2012. K. was 14 yearsold. He told the detectives that he received a phone call from the defendant and another friend,D.B. in the evening o January 9, 2012. He then was picked up by the defendant and D.B. in thedefendant s father s Blazer. The defendant told them that he had shot his father. They went tothe defendant s house. J.K. would state that he saw blood everywhere. He also saw the victim sbody in the house. He helped the defendant by gathering clothing and other personal items as thedefendant was going to run away. D.B. and the defendant removed the vict im s body bywrapping it in a blanket, dragging it through the house, and putting it in the back o the Blazer.They then drove to the pond in Aberdeen. He stayed in the car while D.B. and the defendantremoved the body and pushed it into the pond. They then went to a location in Aberdeen wherethey sat and smoked marijuana. They took D.B. home, and he and the defendant went to RiteAid to purchase some Visine so that J.K. could hide his marijuana use from his father. Thedefendant then took him home. A search warrant was obtained for his residence and the policerecovered the clothing and shoes that he was wearing that night.

The detectives then contacted D.B., who was 16 years old. He told the detectives thesame events as did J.K., and admitted that he helped remove the victim s body and put it in thepond. He would also testify that he was a close friend o the defendant and was aware that thedefendant s father was verbally and physically abusive towards him. A search warrant wasobtained for his residence and the police recovered the clothing and shoes that he was wearingthat night.

The revolver that was recovered from the vehicle was sent to the Maryland State PoliceBallistics Unit along with the projectile that was recovered from the bedroom o the house. Theitems were examined by Mr. Tarin Zuber, who is employed as a firearms examiner. Heconducted testing on the revolver and determined and would testify that the revolver was anoperational tirearm. He would further testify that the projectile that was recovered from the flooro the bedroom was shot using the Rossi revolver.

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Detectives obtained search warrants for the DNA samples of the defendant, and of D.B.and J.K. These were sent to the DNA unit of the Maryland State Police Crime Lab along withthe samples of the victim s blood and the swabs recovered from the Blazer and the residence,and the clothing worn by the defendant that was recovered from his room, and the clothingrecovered from D.B. The evidence was analyzed by Tiffany Keener, who is employed as a DNAanalyst by the Maryland State Police. She would testify as an expert witness in the area offorensic serology and DNA analysis. Her examination of the evidence determined that thevictim s blood was found on the white sweatshirt that was recovered from the Defendant sbedroom, the plaid shorts recovered from the defendant, the swab from the front door mat to theresidence, the swabs taken from the living room carpet of the residence, the swab taken trom themaster bedroom of the residence, and the swab taken from the front porch to the residence, andthe swab taken from the carpet in the rear of the Blazer.

The defendant would call Dr. Joanna Brandt, who is a forensic psychiatrist employed inprivate practice and licensed to practice psychiatry in the State of Maryland. She conductedevaluations ofthe defendant at the request ofthe defense on the following dates: 1/10112,1120112 12112112, and 2114/13. She would testify and would give the opinion, to a reasonabledegree of medical certainty that the defendant was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorderand major depressive disorder, as well as cannabis use and alcohol use disorder. Her opinion isthat he suffered this as a result of the pervasive physical and emotional abuse perpetrated by hisfather, who repeatedly threatened and attempted to kill him.

The defendant would also call Dr. Wade C. Myers, who is the director of ForensicPsychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital. He would testify as an expert in the battered childsyndrome and would testify to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the defendant wassuffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as a result of repeated threats of death and seriousinjury from physical and emotional abuse from his father. He would also testify that theDefendant s actions were consistent with someone who was suffering from Battered ChildSyndrome. He would also testify that the defendant suffered from depressive disorder as a resultof the abuse from his father. He would also testify that the defendant suffered from substanceabuse disorder. He would testify that, in his opinion, based on his examination of the evidenceand the testimony that the defendant was responding to a reasonable, honestly perceived,

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imminent threat of death when he shot his father. This is based on the evidence of the pattern ofrepeated physical and verbal abuse of the defendant by his father. This is further based on theevidence of neglect from the father by failing to provide adequate food, clothing, and heat for thedefendant. The defendant lived in a nearly constant state of fear that his father would harm orkill him. This escalated into the father u ~ earms to terrorize the defendant. He wouldV c )t 7) [rtestify that the way that the defeJtt t w not is common in instances where the homicide is

t t/irr... f:r-perpetrated by child ren who are Sttltering fr om battered child syndrome.

Respectfully Submitted,

Diane Adkins Tobin, Esq.Deputy State s Attorney

for Harford County20 West Courtland StreetBel Air, MD 21014410-638-3500

1 2 . ~ \ ~ ~- { . . R o b e - + r t ~ R b i c h ~ a ~ r ~ d s ' i i o ' : l i l n ' I ' r ~ I , = D = - e f i - e - n d _ a _ n _ t - - - ~ - y ehlef; E s q ~Counsel for Defe dant

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