GUILTY CA - Jovita Collazo, 38, National City, 30 April 1992

http://www.10news.com/news/24110880...nd_break&ts=T&tmi=sand_break_1_12520107012010

Interesting to see how this develops...

SAN DIEGO -- Michael Richardson has been named a “person of interest” after his wife and mother-in-law were found dead in a single-car accident scene investigators believe was staged, Lt. Dennis Brugos of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said.

Richardson, who owns a Poway auto body shop, was questioned by the Sheriff's Department after the bodies of Thao Richardson, 39, and her mother Than Lyi, 72, were discovered off of State Route 67. Both women died as a result of homicide, Brugos told 10News.

snip

10News tried to talk with Richardson at his home in Chula Vista Wednesday after he met with Domenic Lombardo, a high-profile attorney.

On Tuesday, authorities discovered the two women found dead alongside SR-67 near San Vicente Reservoir, apparently days after the car they were in plunged off the winding, hilly roadway and tumbled about 100 feet down a brushy embankment.

From SDkid's link above. Just getting the pertinent information in the thread. Links stop working after a while.

Thank you, Belinda, for expanding upon that. There was another case similar to this awhile back. I can't remember names or anything, but the husband called 911 saying he was falling down a cliff after he was ejected from the truck that flew over the side of a mountain with his wife in it. They surmised that her injuries were not consistent with a car accident. I believe he was convicted for her murder.

Here is a link to a site that has a NUMBER of articles referencing the initial accident and the NOW suspect who's awaiting trial. Michael Richardson is awaiting trial in the deaths of his wife and mil. Today they announced they're adding ANOTHER murder charge from the PAST!

Records are sealed.

Wonder who else he allegedly offed?!

fran

PS>....oh yeah, he's accused of molesting his niece as well.


http://www.10news.com/news/24110880...nd_break&ts=T&tmi=sand_break_1_12520107012010
Man Probed In SR-67 Crash Case Faces Molestation Charges



http://www.10news.com/news/26540018/detail.html
3rd Murder Suspected For Man In Deaths Of Wife, Mom-In-Law



http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/19/third-murder-charge-filed-against-chula-vista-man/#
Third murder charge filed against Chula Vista man

I wonder why the victim is a secret.

ETA: Gah! We have to wait till May 24th to find out???

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/19/third-murder-charge-filed-against-chula-vista-man/#

(snip)
Michael Eugene Richardson, 57, appeared in El Cajon Superior Court Wednesday morning, but his preliminary hearing and arraignment on the new charge was continued to May 24.
Details were not released on the new murder charge. The amended complaint has been sealed until the arraignment, said District Attorney spokesman Steve Walker.

Could be an ex-wife.

http://www.10news.com/news/26540018/detail.html

(snip)
However, a source close to the investigation told 10News the latest murder charge against Richardson stems from a 1992 case and could possibly involve the death of his ex-wife

OH, wow! I guess this guy has the buck$!

Hope he doesn't buy his way out of jail. Nahhhh.................. no way, the DA is still contemplating the DP! {Multiple murders}

fran



http://www.sandiego6.com/mostpopula...ystery-Gets-Third/M2Lwc_1ldUezy9xT3fhn-g.cspx

At Richardson's arraignment in July, Deputy District Attorney Chantal de Mauregne told a judge that Richardson escaped from a North Carolina prison in 1982 -- where he served time for robbery -- and remained on the lam for 18 years.

The prosecutor said Richardson had assets of $10 million and had recently shuffled $500,000 between various bank accounts.

The defendant's niece and her mother moved from Vietnam to Richardson's home in December, and the defendant quickly initiated a relationship with the girl that started with hugs and kisses and progressed to sexual activity in the first three months of 2010, the prosecutor alleged.

De Mauregne said the defendant's wife discovered what was happening when she read text messages between the two.

Richardson was arrested in March, but released without charges when the girl initially refused to cooperate.

The teen told authorities "she was in love with the defendant, who said he would take care of her," the prosecutor said. "According to the victim, the defendant promised her he would leave his wife, be with the victim, and basically run off with her."

<<<<<<<<<<<full article at link>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Husband accused of double murder also charged in 1992 missing-person case

A judge unsealed a court document Friday revealing the name of a third alleged victim in the case of a man already charged in the slayings of his wife and mother-in-law last year.

Michael Eugene Richardson now faces a murder charge in connection with the April 1992 disappearance of his then-girlfriend Jovita Collazo, 38, of National City. The two had been living together with Collazo’s 13-year-old daughter when the woman went missing.

Richardson, 57, also faces murder charges stemming from the deaths of Thao Richardson, 39, and her mother, Than Lyi, 72, whose bodies were found June 29 outside the wreckage of a car that had tumbled down an embankment near Lakeside.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<full article at link>>>>>>>>>>>>>


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/04/husband-accused-double-murder-also-charged-1992-mi/#

I guess this is his first victim. What bothers me is she had a 13 yo daughter. I'll look around and see if she was alright.

fran

charleyproject:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/collazo_jovita.html
Jovita Dizon Collazo


doenetwork:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2933dfca.html
Jovita Dizon Collazo
Missing since April 30, 1992 from National City, California
Classification: Endangered Missing


http://dojapp.doj.ca.gov/missing/detail.asp?FCN=4591018800323
Report Type: Suspicious Circumstances
Jovita was last seen on April 30, 1992

Phew! It appears her daughter is ok.

fran


3rd Murder Charge Revealed

When detectives with the National City Police Department heard Richardson had been charged with two other murders, it prompted them to reopen the case.

Detective re-interviewed witnesses and found enough evidence to charge Richardson with Collazo's murder.

Collazo's daughter now lives with her father, Michael Collazo, in another state. Michael and Jovita were estranged, but still married to each other at the time of her disappearance.

Legal analysts say this added charge makes prosecutors more likely to seek the death penalty against 57-year-old Michael Eugene Richardson.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<full article at link>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41428784

OMG! Talk about ironic!

In the last next to the last parapgraph quoted below, look at the location the bodies were located!

Did he do that on purpose!?

Diabolical!
fran


Testimony begins against man accused of killing wife, in-law


EL CAJON &#8212; A veteran California Highway Patrol officer testified Tuesday that he quickly became suspicious that a traffic accident that killed two people in June was not what it appeared to be.

The testimony of Officer Christopher Bille came on the first day of a preliminary hearing for Michael Eugene Richardson in Superior Court in El Cajon. The 57-year-old owner of a Poway mechanic shop is facing 15 charges, including three counts of murder, two of which stem from the crash scene off state Route 67 on June 29

Richardson is charged with killing his wife, Thao Richardson, 39, and her mother, Phan Lai, 72. Their decomposed bodies were discovered near an overturned Honda that was found down a steep embankment off the busy highway between Scripps Poway Parkway and Slaughterhouse Canyon Road.

He is also facing a murder charge from a 1992 case involving his then-girlfriend, Jovita Collazo, 38, of National City, whose body has not been found. He also has been charged with having sex with a minor, his niece, who was 17 at the time.



<<<<<<<<<<<<<full article at link>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/24/testimony-begins-against-man-accused-of-killing/

That reminds me of a road in Southern California called Killen Trail. Murderers have dumped bodies off the road for years. One victim who was found off that road was Samantha Runnion. The original name of the road was South Main Divide and it was changed back to that name a few years ago.

eileenhawkeye said:

That reminds me of a road in Southern California called Killen Trail. Murderers have dumped bodies off the road for years. One victim who was found off that road was Samantha Runnion. The original name of the road was South Main Divide and it was changed back to that name a few years ago.

Click to expand...

Oh, yes! I remember that tidbit from Samantha's case. Eery, isn't it?!

JMHO
fran

Interesting that in the murder in '92 and the more recent ones, the suspect was accused of molesting young daughter's of the victims, just as they were contacting LE to report the crime. More than just a coincidence, but a pattern!

Did you all catch that he was already on the lamb from a prison in another state in '82 I believe? It was for another crime, I think robbery.

Gee, he thought he was so smart and his lawyer says there is no dna evidence on his most recent vicitms. Guess he never heard of 'circumstantial evidence?' Like, the car that went over the embankment that was staged to have killed the two latest victims. He left the car in park and there were NO keys to be found.

Yeah, the guy's a genius. NOT!

Just sayin'
fran


Auto shop owner to stand trial for three killings
updated 5:19 p.m., May 26, 2011


On Thursday, the daughter, who is now 32, testified that she last saw her mother around 8 p.m. on April 30, 1992, when she left the apartment they were at and said she was going to get some beer.

The woman testified that during the years she and her mother lived with Richardson, he repeatedly molested her from age 9 on. She said she did not tell her mother until she was 12.

The woman testified that her mother, who often worked nights, installed a chain lock on her bedroom door. But the allegations were not reported to police until the day after Collazo disappeared, the woman said.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<full article at link>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/26/auto-shop-owner-to-stand-trial-for-three-killings/

The remains of Jovita Collazo, missing since 1992, have been found in Apple Valley, San Bernardino. Her boyfriend at that time, Michael Richardson, is already serving life without parole for the murder of his wife Thao Richardson and her mother in 1992.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/29496403/body-of-woman-missing-since-1992-found

"Then in 2006, the unit started exhuming all the “John Doe and Jane Doe” bodies to take DNA samples. They got around to the Apple Valley skeleton in 2008. But there was no DNA in the computer system to match with it until Bavencoff submitted the family samples in 2010.

It took five more years for the match to be confirmed.

San Bernardino sheriff’s investigators contacted Bavencoff at the end of June with the news. Bavencoff tracked down Michael Collazo to tell him."

- See more at: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...-dna-collazo-richardson/#sthash.VYqa0A4r.dpuf