ROCKINGHAM — Three and a half years after deputies say he shot his parents to death, an Ellerbe man has pleaded guilty.
Clad in an orange jumpsuit with his hands cuffed in front of him, 47-year-old Edwin Anthony Richardson entered an Alford plea to two counts of second-degree murder in Richmond County Superior Court on Wednesday.
In an Alford plea — named for a 1970 U.S. Supreme Court case stemming from North Carolina — a defendant does not admit to committing the crime or crimes in question, but does admit that evidence from the prosecution has a high probability of persuading a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Several members of the Richardson family were also in court.
PARENTS FOUND DEAD
The Richmond County 911 center received a call from a man just before 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, who said, “There was two dead bodies and getting ready to be a third,” before hanging up, according to court documents.
Deputies responded to 140 Richardson Road in Ellerbe, and saw Richardson on the floor of the kitchen with slit wrists.
When deputies searched the home, they found the body of his father, Edwin Arthur Richardson, lying in the hallway with a single gunshot wound to the neck. His mother, Margaret White Richardson, was also found dead in the master bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head.
Richardson was taken to Richmond Memorial Hospital and treated for his wounds. It was there he told a hospital worker that an intruder had come into the home, shot his parents and cut his wrists, according to Assistant District Attorney Dawn Layton.
Deputies found a shotgun and spent shells in the home, which Layton said had Richardson’s DNA. A green T-shirt also found at the scene tested positive for gunshot residue, she said.
Sheriff James E. Clemmons Jr. told the Daily Journal at the time that there had been previous domestic problems between Richardson and his parents, including his father taking out a warrant for assault by pointing a gun. The case was later dropped.
Richardson was arrested that night on two open counts of murder. On Feb. 13, he was indicted on first-degree murder by a grand jury.
According to Layton, Richardson had a history of mental illness and alcohol abuse. The night of the murders, she said his blood alcohol level was 0.229.
FAMILY SEEKS HEALING
Lumberton attorney Carlton Mansfield — who represented Richardson along with Pittsboro lawyer Robert Trenkle — said records from several hospitals in the area showed the defendant had a history of mental illness — including hallucinations, paranoia and psychotic symptoms — dating back more than a decade prior to the murders.
He said he had noticed a change in Richardson’s behavior since first taking the case, which he believed was due to psychiatric care.
As part of the plea arrangement, Richardson will serve two consecutive terms of 18-23 years each, pay attorney fees and court costs and $21,388 in restitution.
“When we were little, we thought we had the perfect family, until we didn’t,” said Kristi King, sister of the defendant.
She said there were “not enough words” for what her family has been through the past three and half years, adding that she and her sister pray for their brother every day, because that’s what they were brought up to do.
“I pray that this is the day the healing starts,” she said. “And I pray that happens when they take him out of here today.”
Reach reporter William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_Toler.
