Amber Richardson

Case record: Amber Richardson

Background

Amber Richardson was an Alderson woman convicted of conspiring to kill her husband. She was described as a mother of three young children and was 26 at the time of the trial. The case involved her reported lover, Joshua Hubbard, and her husband, Danny Ray Richardson.

Amber Richardson lived with her husband and their three children at the Flat Mountain house. Her father, James Larry Nichols Jr., lived only two houses away from the Flat Mountain house.

The offence

Prosecutors alleged Amber Richardson and Joshua Hubbard conspired to kill Danny Ray Richardson in June 2013. Danny Ray Richardson was murdered and his body was later found in a shallow grave. The body revealed two gunshot wounds.

According to Amber Richardson’s testimony, she wanted a divorce from her husband, but was pushed further by Hubbard. She testified that she ultimately did what Hubbard told her to do, providing clothes and a sleeping bag for him to use in hiding the body. Under cross-examination, she asserted, “I didn’t want him (Ray) dead.”

The defense and prosecution presented different characterizations of Amber Richardson’s role during closing arguments. The defense portrayed her as being in thrall to Hubbard, and the prosecution argued she assisted of her own free will and was part of both planning and carrying out.

Investigation

A former West Virginia State Police forensic analyst, Christopher Vance, retrieved texts and instant messages from cell phones belonging to Hubbard and Amber and Danny Ray Richardson. Vance showed jurors excerpts from an 18-page report he generated from that retrieval, representing 610 records, primarily text messages, forming a time line from May 28, 2013, through the immediate aftermath of Danny Ray Richardson’s violent death.

A text message exchange was presented as evidence. Hubbard allegedly sent Amber the message: “Wish me happy hunting,” and she responded, “Happy huntin(g) babe.”

Another message was highlighted as standing out to the prosecution: “Time to hunt.”

After the killing, crime scene photographs were taken in and around the Richardson home. The photographs included grisly images of the victim’s body. The body had been wrapped in a blue sleeping bag.

The state medical examiner confirmed bullet wounds to the head and left arm, along with facial bruising and scalp lacerations.

The assistant state medical examiner, Dr. Nabila Haikal, showed jurors autopsy photos revealing massive blunt force injuries criss-crossing the top and back of Danny Ray Richardson’s head, along with gunshot wounds, including a fatal “through-and-through” shot entering the victim’s upper left eyelid.

Arrest and custody

On June 4, 2013, Joshua Hubbard was arrested without incident in Monroe County, according to First Sgt. Michael Baylous of the West Virginia State Police. Baylous said Hubbard had been on the run since Monday when he was last spotted on Flat Mountain Road in Monroe County.

Earlier on Monday, troopers received a report of a possible missing person, identified as Danny Ray Richardson, Jr., from the Flat Mountain Road area of Alderson, Monroe County. Sgt. C.K. McKenzie of the Union detachment of the West Virginia State Police received the report. The complainant told police that Richardson had been missing for several days. McKenzie went to Richardson’s home on Flat Mountain Road and spoke with his wife, Amber Richardson, who then accompanied McKenzie back to the detachment to give further information.

Upon returning to the residence later, McKenzie and other troopers encountered a male identified as 37-year-old Joshua Neal Hubbard of Peterstown outside the home. Hubbard fled on foot when he saw police. Troopers then discovered the body of the missing person, Danny Richardson, buried in a pile of leaves near where Hubbard had been spotted. Hubbard had been living in the Tad Jones Trailer Park in Peterstown and was described as having ties in Virginia.

Amber Richardson was brought to the State Police detachment to gather further information and was arrested and charged with first degree murder on Monday. She was held in Southern Regional Jail awaiting arraignment.

Sgt. Michael Baylous told WVVA News that Hubbard was an apparent boyfriend of Amber Richardson. Police said Danny Richardson had suffered an apparent gunshot wound and that the body was sent to the state medical examiner’s officer for an official cause of death.

Trial

Amber Richardson’s trial was described as a two-day trial. A Monroe County jury deliberated briefly—first described as only a half-hour and also described as 18 minutes—before returning guilty verdicts on both charges.

The jury found Amber Richardson guilty of both accessory to murder and conspiracy. She was convicted of conspiring with her lover, Joshua Neal Hubbard, to murder her husband and of providing Hubbard with transportation and supplies, including the gun he allegedly used to commit the crime.

The judge immediately imposed a life sentence on the accessory to murder conviction and a concurrent one- to five-year term on the conspiracy count.

Christopher Vance’s evidence provided a timeline based on retrieved text messages.

In the final stanza of the trial, jurors heard grim testimony from her father, James Larry Nichols Jr. He described hearing shots on the evening of June 1 and described a sequence of “four or five quick shots, a pause, then a final report.” He said, “Four or five quick ones and then one to finish them off.” Nichols testified about investigating the area and finding a locked house and a “wet spot” in the driveway. He said, “I guess I knew what it was; I didn’t want to look too hard,” referring to the spot presumably marking where Danny Ray Richardson was shot to death.

Nichols also told the court he doubted Amber Richardson’s story that Danny Ray had simply left. He asked his other daughter to file a missing person report, sensing something was amiss. Nichols said he knew his son-in-law would never leave the three children Amber and Danny Ray had together.

During closing arguments, defense attorney Jeffrey S. Rodgers painted his client as being in thrall to Hubbard. Rodgers said, “She did exactly what she was told.” Rodgers also said, “The question is, how accountable Amber is going to be held.”

Monroe County Prosecutor Justin St. Clair argued that Amber assisted her husband’s murderer of her own free will, not as Hubbard’s puppet. St. Clair said, “One down; one to go.” St. Clair argued in closing, “Josh Hubbard could not have done what he did without her,” and pointed out that Hubbard not only didn’t own a gun, he had no transportation except what his lover provided. St. Clair added, “Josh needed Amber to kill Danny.” The prosecutor also said, “She was part of the planning and part of the carrying out.”

After the jury delivered the guilty verdicts, Rodgers said, “We are disappointed. Obviously, my client will fully pursue her rights to an appeal.”

Amber Richardson took the stand and testified about her first encounter with Hubbard via a telephone call at a friend’s house on March 17, 2013. Two days later, she said, she drove to Roanoke, Va., to pick him up and bring him back to Flat Mountain to serve as a personal tattoo artist for her and several friends and family members, including her husband. She testified that Hubbard was supposed to stay with Anna Fink, the friend from whose home the initial phone call had been made, but she said, “He ended up staying at my house.”

Amber Richardson testified that she soon embarked on a sexual relationship with her house guest and agreed with her attorney’s characterization of the situation as “a love-at-first-sight thing.”

She testified that after her father forced Hubbard out of the house, she was determined to divorce her husband in order to be with her lover. She said, “I was adamant that I was going to get a divorce,” and described telling Hubbard she wanted the divorce. She testified, “He (Hubbard) pushed for the murder... said it would be the best way,” and that “I was going to get a divorce” was met with Hubbard’s plan.

In a nutshell, she testified, “He was going to use my pistol and shoot (Ray).”

Sentencing

On June 10, 2014, Amber Richardson was sentenced to life in prison.

Accessory to murder carried a mandatory life sentence. The judge immediately imposed life in prison on the accessory to murder conviction and also imposed a concurrent one- to five-year term for the conspiracy count. The judge offered no recommendation of mercy.

Outcome and aftermath

Hubbard had not yet stood trial on the murder and conspiracy charges on which he was indicted. He was described as being confined to Southern Regional Jail awaiting trial for the June 1, 2013, murder of Danny Ray Richardson. Prosecutors indicated Hubbard was scheduled to go on trial for murder later in the year.

After the verdict, Amber Richardson was described as weeping briefly during a conversation after the verdict.

Amber Richardson was sentenced to life in prison with an additional one to five years on the conspiracy conviction.