Richard Lyle Timmons

Overview

Richard Lyle Timmons was convicted of murdering his wife and two sons in New York City. He decapitated his wife and their 7-year-old son with an ax and later murdered his 13-year-old stepson by stabbing him to death. He pleaded guilty to prior assault-related charges against his wife and was released ten days before the killings.

Timeline

• May 29, 1997 — Richard Lyle Timmons pleaded guilty to nine counts of assault, unlawful imprisonment, menacing and criminal possession of a knife; he was freed after the plea agreement in State Supreme Court in Queens.
• June 8, 1997 — Timmons killed his wife, their son, and his stepson at an apartment in Long Island City, Queens; police found decapitated bodies.
• March 2004 — While serving three life sentences, Timmons sued the city of New York in federal court for $80 million.
• June 10, 1997 — A report described his plea, release, the charges he faced, and the killings.

Background

Richard Lyle Timmons was 33 at the time of the June 8, 1997 killings. He was a subway station cleaner. He had been jailed in September while awaiting trial for previous assaults against his wife.

Timmons had a criminal history that included being jailed in 1982 for robbery and in 1986 for petty larceny.

The offence

On June 8, 1997, Timmons killed:

• his wife, Anita Stewart Timmons, 33
• their son, Aaron, 7
• his stepson, Sharron, 13

Police arrived at the family's apartment and found the decapitated bodies of Anita and Aaron, and Sharron was also killed but not decapitated. Timmons was accused of using a hatchet and a knife. Aaron’s “final screams for help were captured on a 911 call.” After the attack, police said Timmons slit one of his wrists in an apparent suicide attempt and was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center for surgery, after which he was later released.

In the earlier narrative of the attack, Timmons consumed a large amount of alcohol, crack, PCP, heroin and other substances before beginning the killings. He first attacked his wife Annita Stewart in the bedroom, slashing her head off and leaving it propped on a pillow. He then proceeded to his son Aaron, whose plight was caught on a 911 tape. Aaron was heard crying “Daddy please” before he met his end at the hand of Timmons’ ax. Finally, Timmons attacked his stepson Sharonne and stabbed him to death. After the attack, he also wrote “The Lost Boys is your man” on the wall with his blood.

A police officer described the scene as follows:

“It was the worst thing I've ever seen,” Deputy Inspector Robert Cividanes said.

Inspector Robert K. Cividanes of Queens Detectives said he had been visiting “grisly crime scenes” for 34 years and that it was the worst he had ever seen.

The police removed a hatchet and a knife from the apartment.

Prior events leading to release

Timmons was jailed while awaiting trial for previous assaults against his wife. His wife refused to testify against him.

During the prior proceedings in State Supreme Court in Queens, Timmons was described as standing accused of abusing his wife in three incidents on:

• June 29
• Aug. 9
• Sept. 7

At trial, officials said Mrs. Timmons refused to testify. At a special hearing, she denied that her husband had threatened her to keep her from testifying.

David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the Office of Court Administration, stated:

''Because the victim in this case refused to testify, the judge felt that the likelihood of a conviction was slim,'' David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the Office of Court Administration, said.

Timmons was freed by Acting Justice Robert J. McDonald on May 29 after he entered a plea agreement “over the objection of prosecutors” in State Supreme Court in Queens.

Timmons pleaded guilty to nine counts of assault, unlawful imprisonment, menacing and criminal possession of a knife, described as carrying a maximum sentence of seven to nine years in prison. In exchange for his plea, a judge sentenced him to a year in prison, which paved the way for release because he had already served nine months in jail awaiting trial. His wife was given a limited order of protection allowing him to see her and the children but not to threaten, harass or intimidate them.

Mary de Bourbon, a spokeswoman for the Queens District Attorney, said:

''We opposed the plea. We opposed his release. We opposed the limited order of protection,'' said Mary de Bourbon, a spokeswoman for the Queens District Attorney, Richard A. Brown.

It was also described that Timmons had been jailed since September while awaiting trial, and that he returned home when he was released.

Neighbors described seeing that he moved back:

• Ray Mason, who lived on Mrs. Timmons’s floor, said he saw the woman with her children on Saturday at a block party.
• Ray Mason said he knew that her husband had beaten her and moved back in.
• Ray Mason said: “I asked her a few times if she needed help,” and “She said she was O.K. I told her, 'I'm there for you if you need me.' ''
• Another neighbor, Raymond Johnson, said: “I'm surprised she let him back in the house,” and also recalled that he would “see her with her eyes black.”

The apartment location was described as the Ravenswood Houses in Long Island City, Queens, at 35-12 35th Avenue.

Investigation and arrest details on June 8, 1997

Shortly after 11 P.M. on Sunday, police said someone dialed 911 from the apartment but did not speak. Police broke down the door and found Mrs. Timmons and Aaron with their heads cut off, and Sharron stabbed to death.

A 911 call captured Aaron’s final screams for help. Police removed a hatchet and a knife from the apartment.

After the attack, Timmons slit one of his wrists in an apparent suicide attempt. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center for surgery and was later released.

Trial-related information and related proceedings

Richard Lyle Timmons pleaded guilty on May 29 to nine counts of assault, unlawful imprisonment, menacing and criminal possession of a knife.

At the trial referenced in the prior proceedings, prosecutors planned to use Mrs. Timmons’s past statements to the police, other witnesses, medical records and photographs to make their case. It was described that the victim refused to testify, which was treated as affecting the likelihood of a conviction.

Witness testimony regarding reluctance to testify

Karla Digirolamo, who ran Families in Crisis, a domestic violence program in Troy, N.Y., was asked to testify for the prosecution about reluctance of some women to testify against abusers. She said:

''There are three main reasons,'' she said in an interview. ''Fear, love -- and all the confusion that comes when fear and love come from the same place -- and the practical barriers of housing, money and that kind of thing.''

She added:

''The victim's testimony ought to be incidental.''

Sentencing and imprisonment

Timmons was convicted of murdering his wife (beheaded with an ax), seven-year-old son (also beheaded with the ax), and thirteen-year-old stepson (stabbed to death) on June 8, 1997, in New York City. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

It was also described that, by March 2004, he was serving three life sentences in jail.

Appeals

No appeal or appeal outcome information was stated.

Outcome

The case resulted in a conviction for murdering his wife, his son, and his stepson, with his wife and son being decapitated using an ax.

Aftermath

Timmons sued the city of New York in federal court for $80 million in March 2004, claiming that he was battered by police officers the night they interrogated him about the murders. Serving as his own attorney, he lost the case. The loss was described as being due in part to evidence against his claim, including an admission that his memory of that night was “hazy,” attributed to substances in his system that night. It was also described that no one at the hospital where one of the beatings purportedly took place had heard anything sounding like someone being beaten, and that evidence pointed to Timmons not being beaten by the police. It was also described that when he complained of being hungry the night they arrested him for murder, they took him to Burger King.

Timmons was also described as being named number 93 on Bernard Goldberg’s list of 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America.

Other details

Timmons was described as:

• an American murderer
• 33 at the time of the June 8, 1997 killings
• born in 1965

He initially claimed that a rapper, Mr. Cheeks (of The Lost Boyz), was to blame for the murders. After the attack, he slit his wrists and wrote “The Lost Boys is your man” on the wall with his blood.

The prior plea was described in connection with violations of a court order of protection, and it was described as “the latest of several recent New York cases” involving a husband accused of beating his wife violating a court order of protection and murdering her.

A report titled “Man, Freed in Plea, Is Accused of Killing Wife and Sons” by Michael Cooper appeared on June 10, 1997.