Thao Richardson

CAB DRIVER ATTACKED BY MURDER SUSPECT MICHAEL EUGENE RICHARDSON TELLS HIS STORY

By Jeremy Los

 

June 6, 2011 – James Johnson, a cab driver who survived a violent assault by Michael Eugene Richardson,  has shared details of his harrowing ordeal with East County Magazine. Richardson, a Poway auto shop owner, will soon face trial for the murders of his wife, Thao Richardson, his mother-in-law, Phan Lai, and a former girlfriend, Jovita Collaza.

 

Johnson had his fateful run-in with Mr. Richardson in 1975 while as a cab driver in North Carolina. Richardson shot Johnson multiple times, including once in the face. Johnson’s tale reveals the ruthless nature of Richardson, then 22, who had been discharged from Pope Air Force Base three months before the attack.


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MAN WHOSE WIFE, MOTHER-IN LAW WERE FOUND DEAD IN STAGED ACCIDENT HAD LONG CRIMINAL PAST

 

 By Miriam Raftery

July 3, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Michael Eugene Richardson, whose wife and mother-in-law have been identified as homicide victims in a staged car crash in Lakeside, has an extensive criminal past, investigations reveal.  Court records in North Carolina indicate Richardson was convicted of robbing and shooting a cab driver in 1976. He served six years of a 30 year sentence before escaping while out with a roadside work crew.


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HOMICIDE VICTIMS IN 67 CRASH IDENTIFIED; HUSBAND ARRESTED

 

By Miriam Raftery
July 1, 2010 (Lakeside) -- Two women found dead at the scene of a car crash off Highway 67 Tuesday in Lakeside have been identified as Thao Richardson, 57, and her mother, Than Lyi, 72. Today, Sheriff’s officers arrested Michael Eugene Richardson, 57, for statutory rape of his 17-year-old niece.

 

An investigation into the crash has concluded that it was staged.  Authorities on the scene told ECM that “suspicious evidence” was found. Richardson has not yet been charged with the double murder, but he is considered “the only person of interest” in those deaths by Sheriff’s officials, according to other media reports today.


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