The state Supreme Court has denied the appeals of a man sentenced to death for the videotaped May, 2006 murder of an Independence woman.
Richard Davis (photo courtesy; Missouri Department of Corrections)
Richard Davis was convicted of the first-degree murder of Marsha Spicer of Independence, as well as multiple counts of assault, rape, and sodomy. Davis argued that his attorneys were ineffective in the witnesses they called to testify to his mental state, and in preparing him to testify in his trial.
The Supreme Court found that the lower courts were right to deny his appeals, and has denied his request for a new trial or penalty phase.
Davis and his then-girlfriend, Dena Riley, both pleaded guilty to a similar series of crimes in the murder of Michelle Huff-Ricci of Kansas City. Attacks on both women were videotaped, including the murder of Spicer.
Riley is serving life without parole at a state prison in Chillicothe.