Richard Strong

Case overview

Richard Strong was a defendant in the State of Missouri, Respondent, v. Richard Strong case.

He was sentenced to death following a jury verdict convicting him of two counts of first-degree murder.

Timeline

• October 23, 2000 (3:30 p.m.) — Officers were dispatched to the home of Eva Washington after a 911 call at 3:30 p.m.; the call was immediately disconnected, and a dispatcher replayed the call and heard a scream.
• October 23, 2000 (approximately two minutes later) — Officers arrived at the source of the call at the apartment where Eva lived with her two daughters.
• Post-trial (date not stated) — A jury returned guilty verdicts for both murders.
• Penalty phase trial (date not stated) — The jury found the existence of two statutory aggravators for each murder and recommended a death sentence.
• Sentenced (date not stated) — The trial court sentenced Strong accordingly.
• May 9, 2003 (date referenced in status) — Strong was sentenced to death.
• 07/31/2008 — The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed the denial of postconviction relief in SC88311.
• 2004 — The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed the convictions and sentences in State v. Strong, 142 S.W.3d 702 (Mo. banc 2004).
• Direct appeal (date not stated) — Strong’s direct appeal resulted in affirmance of convictions and sentences, and subsequent postconviction proceedings followed.

Background

Eva Washington lived in the apartment with her two daughters and Strong was the father of the other girl (the three-month-old baby). Zandrea Thomas was the older daughter and was two years old. Strong was the father of the other girl, who was three months old.

The offence

A 911 call at 3:30 p.m. on October 23, 2000 was placed from the apartment where Eva lived with her two daughters. The call was immediately disconnected. A dispatcher replayed the call and heard a scream.

When officers arrived at the apartment, they initially received no answer at the front or back door. Officers continued to knock and shout, and Strong eventually came to the back door.

When asked if “wife” and kids were all right, Strong told officers that Eva Washington and the two children were sleeping. Strong then stepped out and closed the door behind him. When officers asked about Eva again, Strong told them she had gone to work. Because this response conflicted with his prior statement, officers asked about the children. Strong told them the children were inside. When officers asked if they could check on the children, Strong told them he had locked himself out. Strong knocked on the door and called for someone to open it.

Officers noted that Strong was sweating profusely, had dark stains on the knees of his jeans, and had blood on his left hand. Officers ordered Strong to step aside and kicked in the door. Strong ran.

When officers chased him, Strong told them, “Just shoot me; just shoot me.” After he was handcuffed, he told officers, “I killed them.”

Inside the apartment, police found the dead bodies of Eva Washington and Zandrea Thomas in a back bedroom. They had been stabbed repeatedly with a knife. On the bed, one of the officers found a large butcher knife and a three-month-old baby sitting next to a pool of blood. The three-month-old baby was unharmed.

An autopsy revealed that Eva Washington had been stabbed twenty-one times, with five slash wounds, and the tip of the knife used to stab her was embedded in her skull. The autopsy of two-year-old Zandrea Thomas showed she had been stabbed nine times and had twelve slash wounds. The wounds were described as deliberate, calculated, and intended to kill, and could be characterized as “gutting,” with intestines protruding from the wounds. Zandrea had a neck wound indicating an attempt to saw off her head. There were no defensive wounds on either body.

Strong was charged with both murders and was convicted of both murders.

Investigation

The incident began with a 911 call that disconnected immediately. The dispatcher replayed the call and heard a scream.

Officers attempted to contact the occupants by knocking on the front and back doors. After Strong came to the back door, officers asked about Eva and the children, and Strong provided inconsistent statements before telling officers he had locked himself out.

When officers observed Strong’s condition and blood on his left hand, they kicked in the door after ordering Strong to step aside. After Strong was chased and handcuffed, he told officers, “Just shoot me; just shoot me” and later, “I killed them.”

Police discovered the bodies and the butcher knife in the back bedroom.

Arrest

Strong ran when officers kicked in the door and later was chased. After the chase, officers caught Strong and handcuffed him.

Trial

Strong was charged with two counts of first degree murder for the deaths of Eva Washington and Zandrea Thomas.

Guilty verdict

Following the trial in St. Louis County, a jury returned a guilty verdict for both murders. The court adopted the jury’s recommendation.

The Supreme Court of Missouri later affirmed the convictions and sentences in State v. Strong, 142 S.W.3d 702 (Mo. banc 2004).

Penalty phase

At the penalty phase trial, the jury found the existence of two statutory aggravators for each murder and recommended a death sentence for Strong. The trial court sentenced Strong accordingly.

Sentencing

Strong was sentenced to death for each murder.

The status was recorded as: “Sentenced to death on May 9, 2003”.

Appeals and postconviction relief

Direct appeal

Strong appealed his convictions and sentences. The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed in State v. Strong, 142 S.W.3d 702 (Mo. banc 2004).

Postconviction relief (Rule 29.15)

After his direct appeal, Strong filed a motion for postconviction relief under Rule 29.15. The circuit court overruled the motion following an evidentiary hearing.

Strong appealed the denial of postconviction relief. The Supreme Court of Missouri issued its decision in SC88311 with Handdown Date: 07/31/2008. The Supreme Court affirmed the motion court’s judgment in a 4-3 decision.

Court’s holdings on the issues raised

The Supreme Court held that:

• The circuit court did not err in denying Strong’s request to interview jurors after trial to investigate and prove claims of ineffective assistance and juror misconduct. The court held Strong had no inherent right to contact and interview jurors, and Missouri courts exclude juror testimony on post-judgment matters.
• Strong failed to show counsel was prejudicial from failing to raise religion-based Batson challenges to the state’s peremptory strikes of two potential jurors; the court held that the claim did not amount to a structural defect entitling Strong to presumptive prejudice.
• The circuit court did not err in denying Strong’s claim of ineffective assistance based on trial counsel’s strategic choices. The court found counsel’s decisions were professional and strategic, including the nature of the defense and counsel’s response to evidence and Strong’s lack of cooperation.
• The circuit court did not clearly err in denying Strong relief on the claim that counsel failed to object to the reading during the penalty phase of excited utterances Washington made to police at the scene of an assault on her by Strong about a year before her murder; the court held the trial occurred before Crawford was decided and counsel could not be ineffective for failing to anticipate Crawford.
• The circuit court did not clearly err in denying Strong relief regarding counsel’s failure to preserve an objection to the state’s use of a computerized slide show during the penalty-phase closing argument; the court noted the direct appeal had already addressed the issue.
• The circuit court did not clearly err in denying Strong relief on counsel’s mitigation investigation and presentation; the court found a thorough investigation, mitigation witness testimony, and strategic decisions supported by the record.
• The circuit court did not err in denying Strong relief on the claim that counsel failed to seek admission of Strong’s videotaped statement to police because counsel’s decision was strategic and consistent with guilt-phase strategy.
• Strong presented no evidence supporting the claim that Missouri’s lethal injection method and protocol constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, and the claim was not ripe.

Dissent (Judge Wolff)

Judge Michael A. Wolff dissented and would have reversed the circuit court’s judgment and remanded for a new trial. The dissent argued that a prospective juror was barred from sitting on the jury based on his religious beliefs in violation of the Missouri Constitution and that Strong was tried by a jury seated in a constitutionally impermissible manner. The dissent viewed the issue as structural error affecting the legitimacy of the trial process.

The dissent also included discussion of venireperson Luke Bobo’s voir dire statements and the prosecutor’s explanation given during the Batson conference, including the prosecutor’s statement that “I don’t want religious people, very religious,” along with the trial court’s remarks about religiousness as a race-neutral reason.

Other details

Case caption and procedural identifiers

• Supreme Court of Missouri case style: Richard Strong, Appellant v. State of Missouri, Respondent.
• Case number: SC88311.
• Appeal from: Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Hon. Gary M. Gaertner, Jr.
• Opinion author: Patricia Breckenridge, Judge.
• Opinion vote: AFFIRMED.
• Judges’ positions: Price, Limbaugh and Russell, JJ., concur; Wolff, J., dissents in separate opinion filed; Stith, C.J., and Teitelman, J., concur in opinion of Wolff.

Quoted statements

Strong told officers, “Just shoot me; just shoot me.” Strong told officers after he was handcuffed, “I killed them.”

Victim count

There were two victims found dead in the apartment: Eva Washington and Zandrea Thomas. A three-month-old baby was found next to a pool of blood but was unharmed.

Autopsy findings summary (as stated in the case record)

• Eva Washington: stabbed twenty-one times; five slash wounds; knife tip embedded in her skull.
• Zandrea Thomas: stabbed nine times; twelve slash wounds; neck wound indicating attempt to saw off her head.
• Both victims had wounds described as deliberate, calculated, intended to kill; “gutting” with intestines protruding; no defensive wounds.

Lethal injection claim (procedural handling)

The court held Strong presented no evidence to support his assertions about lethal injection and that the claim was not ripe because it was unknown what method of lethal injection, if any, Missouri would use at the time of execution, and when execution date and method would be set.