Woman, 21, sentenced to die

FORT WORTH - Even the judge appeared stunned reading the verdict -- lethal injection for a young woman.

Chelsea Lea Richardson, 21, of Fort Worth, was sentenced to death Wednesday for her role in the fatal shooting and stabbing death of her boyfriend's parents, Rick and Suzanna Wamsley, in their Mansfield home Dec. 11, 2003.

Standing while 297th District Judge Everett Young read the verdict, Richardson collapsed in a chair and dropped her head facedown on the defense table and wept.

Relatives and friends of the Wamsleys smiled and cried and clenched each other's hands. Richardson's mother quivered and sobbed with her son's arm around her shoulder.

Richardson is the first woman to receive a death sentence in Tarrant County. Nine out of 443 inmates currently awaiting execution in Texas are women.

Prosecutors depicted Richardson as a manipulative personality who organized a group of her friends to kill the Wamsleys so her boyfriend, Andrew Wamsley, could inherit his parents' $1.65 million estate. While in jail awaiting trial, Richardson told two inmates that she was in the Wamsley house on the night of the murders and took part in the slaying of Rick Wamsley, according to trial testimony.

"They believed the death penalty was justified in this case, but they were concerned about the outcome because of Chelsea's age and gender," Prosecutor Mike Parrish said. "But they are very relieved by what the jury decided."

Richardson's attorneys -- Warren St. John and Terry Barlow -- pleaded with jurors to spare her life.

"If she's a master manipulator, she's done a mighty poor job," Barlow said in closing arguments, asking for a life sentence. "She may not deserve that chance, but we're begging you for that chance for her to reflect and reform herself."

The jury deliberated for two hours and 20 minutes before reaching a unanimous verdict.

Several of the jurors cried earlier Wednesday when Sarah Wamsley described making a phone call in early December 2003 to her grandparents in Oklahoma to tell them the news of the slayings.

A Mansfield police detective had to take the phone and tell them their son and daughter-in-law were murdered.

"It's really hard seeing Grandma and Grandpa crying," Sarah Wamsley testified Wednesday. "It's hard on everybody."

Sarah Wamsley said she kept an answering machine that still has her parents' voices recorded. In her closet, she stores two presents that were under her parents' Christmas tree at the time of their deaths -- one, from 'Suzanna to Rick,' the other, from 'Mom & Dad to Sarah.'

"Any time I needed them, they were there for support and guidance," Sarah Wamsley told jurors. "They were loving parents, and they were best friends to me."

Sarah Wamsley described how her parents would pick up her preschool-aged daughter every Wednesday from day care. The Wamsleys would take their granddaughter to ride the family's horse, Toby.

After her parents were slain, Sarah Wamsley said she moved four times within a year because she was afraid her brother, Andrew, would find her.

"I was always watching my back," she testified. "I had nightmares that I was next. I had to have a bodyguard during my parents' estate sale."

Andrew Wamsley had planned to kill his sister, leaving him the sole heir of his parents' estate, according to testimony in Richardson's trial.

Andrew Wamsley, 20, is charged with capital murder in his parents' deaths. His trial is scheduled in September.

Last fall, he and Richardson rejected plea offers by prosecutors in which they would plead guilty to capital murder for life sentences.

In January, Susana Toledano, 20, pleaded guilty to a murder charge in the Wamsleys' deaths in exchange for her testimony in Richardson's trial.

She testified that Richardson, who was her best friend, told her to kill the Wamsleys so they could share the family's money.

A fourth friend, Hilario Cardenas, 25, is charged with conspiracy to commit capital murder and is accused of supplying the others with the gun used in the slayings.

The four friends met several times at a south Arlington restaurant, where Cardenas was a night manager, to plan the Wamsleys' deaths, witnesses said in Richardson's trial. The group tried several times to kill the Wamsleys before succeeding, Toledano testified.

Medical examiners testified in Richardson's trial that Rick Wamsley was shot in the head and back and stabbed 21 times. The gunshot wound in his back and a cluster of stab wounds in the chest were fatal, according to medical experts.

Suzanna Wamsley died of a fatal gunshot to the head. She was stabbed 18 times postmortem.

The jury in Richardson's case had the option of sentencing her to death if they believed that she participated in the capital murder or assisted in the crime or knew the actions would result in a capital murder.

"I want you to think about this type of capital murder case," Parrish said in closing arguments Wednesday. "This wasn't a drug case, a drive-by shooting, and the carnage done in that house wasn't even done in anger.

"It was worse because it was premeditated," he said. "It is planned and talked about for two months. All normal, rational people talking about ways to kill."

"Got link?"

Sorry I missed your post, I was out yesterday afternoon.

The Possum Murder was Possum's Convience Store on West Division street in Arlington, Texas. The crime is forgotten and lost due to changes in personnel in the Arlington PD. Those on staff there just say that it was before their time.

The perp brought a pick ax to the store, robbed the store and killed the owner with a pick ax to the back of the head, leaving the weapon at the scene in the guy' head. What she was convicted of was the EXACT type of robbery about six months later. She was documented to be in the area during this time period.

I used to buy gasoline and beer at Possum's on a weekly basis.

Last fall, he and Richardson rejected plea offers by prosecutors in which they would plead guilty to capital murder for life sentences.

You pays your money, you takes your chances.

Judging from the pictures of the two girls, it appears they spent a little too much time at I-HOP. You can see the bacon definitly settled in on them. :)

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