Case Details

Woman doused in gasoline, set on fire - dog burned
Twain Harte, CA (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, Jan 9, 2003
County: Tuolumne
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Steven Richards, Jr.

Case ID: 4268
Classification: Burning - Fire or Fireworks
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
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Opening arguments and testimony were to begin the morning of April 7, 2005 in the trial of a Twain Harte-area man accused of killing his sister more than two years ago by dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire.

Although diagnosed with several mental illnesses, Steven Richards has been declared competent to stand trial on charges that he murdered his 46-year-old sister Jan. 9, 2003, at the Confidence Road house they shared with their parents.

For the past 19 months, Richards, 50, has been treated at Napa State Hospital for paranoid schizophrenia, depression and a host of other mental disorders.

In January, after an all-day mental competency hearing in which two psychologists testified, Richards was declared competent to stand trial despite his mental illnesses.

Richards, a slight man with curly, graying hair, was in court yesterday during jury selection, which concluded about 5 p.m.

While attorneys and Tuolumne County Superior Court Judge Eleanor Provost questioned prospective jurors, Richards sat at the defense table with his head down, as if asleep.

He rarely spoke or looked at anyone in the packed courtroom.

Richards is represented by Deputy Public Defender Carolyn Woodall. Tuolumne County Assistant District Attorney Michael Knowles is prosecuting the case.

Richards is charged with murder, arson, and animal cruelty, because a dog burned in the fire that also consumed the family house.

According to testimony at last year's preliminary hearing, Richards took gasoline from the garage, walked upstairs to where his sister, Nadine, was reading a newspaper, threw gas on her and then a lit match. Their mother, Dolores, was in the house and witnessed the act.

Steven Richards Sr., the father, was at work when the fire took place.

When firefighters arrived, the younger Steven Richards was outside on the street watching the fire he had set. His mother was also outside in her nightgown.

Prior to the fire, deputies had been called to the Richards house on a report of a dispute between the brother and sister. The Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office dispatch log had noted at the time that Nadine Richards was on psychiatric medication.

The trial is expected to last a week and is divided into two phases.

Jurors will first be asked if Richards is guilty of the crimes of which he is accused. If jurors convict Richards, they must then decide if he was sane at the time he committed them.

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References

Union Democrat - April 7, 2005
Union Democrat - April 14, 2005

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