Richard Delage

Case name

Richard Delage

Timeline

• two weeks before his 15th birthday (1960) — Delage committed his first murder, which occurred two weeks shy of his fifteenth birthday.
• July 29, 1960 — Carole Segretta, a 23-year-old schoolteacher from Poughkeepsie, New York, was found shot to death in her car in Westchester County.
• November 15, 1969 — Paget Weatherley was found shot three times in the chest in a wooded culvert near Bolton.
• November 1970 — A likely “possible” case involved two student nurses dumped beside a lonely road in Fulton County, Pennsylvania, but no charges were filed.
• October 3, 1975 — Delage selected a female hitchhiker near Mansfield, Connecticut.
• October 3, 1975 (later that day) — The young woman talked her way out of the trap and was set free, unharmed.
• October 3, 1975 (after being set free) — Delage drove to Norwich and signed himself into a mental hospital.
• October 3, 1975 (at admission desk) — Officers arrived and took him into custody on kidnapping charges.
• December 10, 1975 — He was formally charged with the murders of Carole Segretta and Paget Weatherly.
• September 9, 1976 — Delage changed his plea and entered a negotiated guilty plea to manslaughter.
• September 9, 1976 (sentencing) — He received a sentence of 14 to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter plea.
• September 9, 1976 (second plea and sentencing) — A second guilty plea to kidnapping the hitchhiker earned him a concurrent term of 10 to 20 years.
• September 9, 1976 (disposition term noted) — Plea bargained for 20-year maximum.

The offence

Richard Delage committed his first murder two weeks before his fifteenth birthday. His first victim was Carole Segretta, a 23-year-old schoolteacher from Poughkeepsie, New York, found shot to death in her car in Westchester County. She was shot at close range with a .32 caliber pistol while she sat in her car. The spent cartridges casing came from unusual Swedish ammunition, and police did not have suspects or strong evidence; the case remained open.

Nine years later, Delage was connected to the shooting death of Paget Weatherley. On November 15, 1969, the corpse of Paget Weatherley, a 23-year-old recent graduate from the University of Connecticut, was found in a wooded culvert near Bolton. She had been shot three times in the chest with the same pistol and rare ammunition used to kill Carole Segretta in 1960. Even though the cases were connected, police still had no suspects and no solid evidence.

Delage allegedly waited six years for his next victim, selecting a female hitchhiker near Mansfield, Connecticut on October 3, 1975. In that case, the young woman talked her way out of the trap and was set free, unharmed.

He then drove to Norwich and signed himself into a mental hospital, where officers took him into custody on kidnapping charges.

There was also mention of an additional “possible” case: two student nurses dumped beside a lonely road in Fulton County, Pennsylvania in November 1970. No charges were filed in that case.

Investigation

Police compared Delage’s technique to unsolved cases in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania while his case was under development. The case of Carole Segretta remained open initially, and the Carole Segretta case was still open when Delage claimed his second victim nine years later. After Paget Weatherley was killed, police again had no suspects or strong evidence, despite recognizing that the cases were obviously connected.

Arrest and custody

On October 3, 1975, Delage drove to Norwich and signed himself into a mental hospital. Officers arrived while he was at the admission desk and took him into custody on kidnapping charges.

Charges

Delage was formally charged on December 10 with the murders of Carole Segretta and Paget Weatherly.

He was also taken into custody initially on kidnapping charges relating to the hitchhiker.

A “possible” case involving two student nurses dumped beside a lonely road in Fulton County, Pennsylvania in November 1970 was noted, but no charges were filed in that case.

Trial

Delage initially pled innocent to killing Paget Weatherley, but he later changed his plea.

Sentencing and pleas

On September 9, 1976, Delage changed his plea and entered a negotiated guilty plea to manslaughter. He received a sentence of 14 to 15 years in prison.

A second guilty plea, on charges of kidnapping the hitchhiker, earned him a concurrent term of 10 to 20 years.

The disposition was described as: “Plea bargained for 20-year maximum, Sept. 1976.”

Other details

Delage was described by defense attorneys as a man at war with himself.

Michael Newton, in an encyclopedia entry, described Richard Delage as follows:

• “SEX: M RACE: W TYPE: N MOTIVE: PC-nonspecific MO: Shot women in random, motiveless attacks. DISPOSITION: Plea bargained for 20-year maximum, Sept. 1976.”