Richard Daniel Starrett

Trigger warning, this episode we talk about Richard Starrett, a serial rapist who committed a murder. This episode includes, rape, pedophilia and confinement. This case takes us on a crazy ride. Included but not limited to a bunch of wierd fetish books. 

RESOURCES

S7 episode 5 "EVIL LIVES HERE"

A stranger in the family by Steven naifeh and Gregory white Smith. 

https://dotcomstories.com/where-are-richard-daniel-starrett-and-michele-ward-now/

Transcript

June 24th 1988, Susie Hansen, 12 years old, went missing. Julia, her mother, went to pick up her daughter and honked the horn at about 4pm. She waited a bit and honked again but to no avail. Julia had left the house an hour earlier to run some errands, so she figured her daughter would still be home. 

When she tried using her keys to get inside, she realized the door was all ready unlocked. The TV was on in the living room and the radio in Susie's room was playing, which gave Julia an eerie feeling. She brushed it off and decided to fold some laundry until her daughter came back. To alleviate anxiety and anger. As she was folding clothes, she noticed Susie's white kids laying there, untouched. Which was odd because they were her favorite shoes. 

She ran upstairs to see if maybe she had taken a different pair of shoes with her but they were all there, lined up in her closet. Julia began to really panic now. Shortly after her husband had come home from work. Julia asked where Susie's was, bur he said she wasn't with him because he just left work. He checked every room in the house but to no avail. Susie was gone. 

Jean McCrea, 15 years old, went missing on December 21st 1988 after her parents saw a note that said " mom and dad, I'm going away for a few days. Jean". The maid had found the note and had given it to the mcCrea's. The maid also came across the back door, wide open, but nothing in the house looked disturbed so she didn't think much of it. 

Jean and her father had fought about menial teenage stuff and had threatened to take away her car for a bit. So the police dismissed it as a runaway situation. Her parents provided a photo of thier daughter but found it odd she left her permit behind, if in fact, she was a runaway. The only things missing were a coat, a scarf and whatever she was wearing that day. 

Her parents put up posters and offered a 1000 dollar reward for information about her daughter. The only calls that came in were bogus sightings and there were no leads. Days turned into weeks and still no info. 

Christy Blake, 17 years old, went missing on Feb 6th 1989. Her parents came home approximately 630 pm, to Christy's car being parked in its usual spot in the driveway. When they entered the home her keys were in the usual spot and all the lights in the trailer were on. They looked for Christy but couldn't find her. They figured maybe she would leave a note if she was going out, but no note was found.

Her mother hadn't seen Christy since she left for school thsg morning, but taking off with friends was something she did often. So her mother went into the bedroom and made chrissys bed. Weird thing was that her father spoke to Christy earlier that day about a man wanting to come by to check out her water bed. She had it up for sale. Her father told her to tell the man to come by when he was home for safety reasons. 

When her mother called around five no one answered the phone. They decided to call chissys friends and no one had seen her. They checked the car and found chrissys pocketbook and wallet in the front seat. 

Chrissys mother went back to her bedroom to see if she missed anything. She was startled when she saw the covers pulled back on the bed, which ment that chrissy had shown the bed to the man answering the classified ad. She made the bed again hoping she was wrong. While doing so, she noticed a man's boot print next to the bed, that definately wasn't there that morning. 

That's when they decided to call authorities. It sank in, when police shown up with a dive team to drag the pond out back for chrissys body. 

In Martinez, Georgia a girl had shown up in a panic to a nearby house and claimed she had been kidnapped. She told officers that the man had kidnapped her from her trailer, after he posed as an insurance salesman. She thought he looked harmless and let him in. When she tried to run away he pulled a gun on her and threatened to kill her. She said he held her captive in the house across the street from the neighbor, about 100 yards away. She said he had her there since Monday and whenever he left the house he put a chain on her leg so she couldn't escape. He kept her in the closet and locked her inside. This girl was chrissy Blake. 

While recounting the events leading upto the kidnapping, she told police that he asked about the water bed for sale. Chrissy tried to call her dad to come talk with the man, but when she picked up the phone the man grabbed it out of her hand. Then said "if u try to get away I'll kill you". She told officers  that the man made her perform sex acts on him and videotaped them. While the man was passed out drunk, chrissy escaped and ran to the neighbors. Police asked if he had any weapons and chrissy told them that he had a revolver in his bedroom. 

The Thorntons were the neighbors and they said they talked to him 3 weeks ago when they found his wife's driver's license in thier yard. Which they found odd. Also they told police the man had a one year old daughter. The house belonged to Richard Daniel starrett. 

As police approached the house it was completely dark with the garage locked up. Chrissy left the front door unlocked but when police tried the door it was locked. Officers decided to kick the door in when they could hear no sounds coming from inside. It was messy in the living room with some board games on the table, some empty coors light cans and a bottle of bicardi rum. The nursery gave police a pause, because it had signs a child had been in there, living in the house. The back bedroom was where things took a turn. There was a big bed in the middle of the room with a tripod set up in front of it. An officer turned on the vcr and a grainy image of chrissy came up on the screen, being forced to perform fellacio on the man. The officer flicked off the vcr and decided to get a warrant to seize the items found in the home. 

The items seized were bottles of prescription drugs, several rolls of cash, and a wallet. The wallet belonged to Richard starrett. 

Detectives called Richard's parents to maybe find out where he had gotten to or where he might have gone. Gerry and Richard starrett arrived around 3 am to the police station. They were in utter disbelief and his mother gerry, absolutely believed thier son was innocent. His parents were presented with what detectives found and instantly they thought the escaped victim was trying to get money out of thier son. While this accusation really angered me, I also understood after learning about Richard's background. 

First off, his parents corrected detectives and told them that richard went by daniel starrett, which was his middle name. But because hes a piece of shit, im going to call him by his birth name... Richard starrett was described as a very caring and loving child. He always helped his siblings and was polite. Richard was an avid reader. So much so that he would lock himself in his bedroom for days, just losing himself in books. Only coming out to eat and go to the bathroom. He had a hunger for knowledge and always wanted to know more. 

As a child, Richard was left with a baby sitter constantly. His mother had to pick up the slack for her husband while he was going to Georgia tech. The neighbors started complaining that Richard was crying all day. Gerry told them he was with a sitter during the day and that she wasn't home during that time. She noticed diaper rash on him and that he was being neglected. It turned out that the babysitter wasn't changing him all day, which explained the incessant crying. She suspected he had been sexually abused but never could prove it. 

Out of all the children, Richard kept his room clean, organized and he never had to be disciplined. He was very into control. His drawers were neat, with all his pencils sharpened to the same length and all pointed in the same direction. Everything in his room was organized, folded and put away. If anyone touched his things he would become very upset. 

Richard was a hyper child, although he never had to be disciplined, he couldn't sit still. He was always running, jumping, climbing, falling, and not sleeping. He never could stay quiet during the day and he would hum nervously to himself whilst covered in sweat. 

He had problems in school, it bored him. His teacher bored him and his brain moved a lot faster than his classmates. He was very smart but I think it's safe to say that he might have suffered from ADD. He taunted his siblings because of his hyperactivity. He wasn't mean to his sibling but he would poke fun at them. Irritate them on purpose just for his own amusement. 

Richard wouldn't play in the dirt, he had to take 4 to 5 showers a day. When Richard went off to Georgia tech, she always knew when he was coming home to visit. There would be no hot water. 

As a teenager, Richard loved taking risks. He needed thrills otherwise he couldn't function. Partly because of his hyperactivity. He would climb all over the car while it was driving at high speed, he liked tree climbing with the risk of falling to his death, he enjoyed rock and cliff climbing without safety protection. It was safe to say that his risky behavior definately leaked into his adulthood. 

But Richard would always show up for dinner, with his siblings, at his parents home, even after he was married because of the love and tradition he had with his kin. Richard was always the peace maker of the family. He always reminded his mother to take better care of herself and was very gentle in telling her when she was getting a little overweight or eating poorly. In fact, Richard was so giving and loving, that if you wanted something of his, he would give you the whole thing and leave none for himself. He was also a nuclear engineer, so he even had a respectable job.  no wonder why his family thought this whole thing was one big mistake or lie. 

Richard's wife and child were in California, when investigators tried to find her. She was visiting with her parents, at the time. 

After Richard's parents were interviewed, the detectives launched a full length search party onto the property and surrounding area to see if maybe he was hiding more than just chrissy Blake. Detectives sent out the blood hounds and helicopters to scour the area around west Lynn drive, and surrounding countryside. 

Back at the station, police watched chrissys video over and over trying to find more clues. 

A full fledged manhunt ensued and Richard's parents weren't much help, because they had no idea where he had gone unless it was to his grandmothers house. His mother wouldn't cooperate when police asked for a photo of her son but did say they would do anything they could to help.

On February 11th, the fbi put out a nation wide alert. They were looking for his car which was a 1988 Chevy camero with georgia plates. 

The media had gotten a hold of the story and ran away with it. Claiming that Richard was involved in a satanic network that dealt in drugs and violence. Someone even said he was linked to a little girl who had pictures taken up her skirt at a local school. In one paper they said that authorities found satanic occult evidence in his home. There was even one paper who claimed that Richard kept chrissy alive so that she could be sold in snuff films. It was wild, and during that time, it was the beginning stages of what was referred to as the satanic panic. Especially down south in a place like Georgia. Where that Bible belt is strong. 

Richard was with the republican party and helped with campaigns in the local area. Much like Ted bundy, which I found interesting. The republican party caught wind that they were now linked to this kidnapper/rapist and decided to release a statement that pretty much said "we don't know thus guy". They figured it was going to ruin thier reputation and didn't want the bad press. 

On February 14th, 30 miles east of Houston Texas, on u.s. 10 west bound, patrolman Kennedy saw a car drive by him at approximately 11 pm. The car was speeding and pulled it over at a rest area up the road. He gave the driver a ticket and sent him on his way. While he was there, he decided to check out the rest of the rest area, because transient people were causing problems at the rest stop lately. 

The only car there though, was a red camero with georgia tags. He write down the tags in case the car was stolen and waited on the dispatcher to check the tag number for him. He left because the dispatcher took too long to give him the info on the plate. 

While he was driving, the dispatcher radioed back to tell him the driver was Richard starrett, that he was wanted in Georgia for aggravated sodomy and imprisonment, that he was armed and dangerous, and to put a hold on the subject. Patrolman Kennedy, radioed for back up and rushed back to the rest stop. When the officers approached the car, Richard was sleeping like a little baby. They pounded onto the window and startled him awake. Got him out of the vehicle and into handcuffs. When presented with the charges, he denied being involved with the kidnapping. 

The governor of South Carolina lent her personal jet to officers to fly Richard back to Georgia for questioning. He was helicopters to South Carolina first, then put aboard the jet to go back to Georgia. None of thus was standard protocol but they wanted him back as soon as possible. 

After a full search of the starrett property, detective Adam's was building a case against Richard. The official list of items seized from the home were: an rca video camera, a blue canvas bag filled with videotapes, stained sheets and towels, newspapers with classified ads circled, pair of Smith and weslin handcuffs, a starter pistol, a revolver, notebooks and maps, receipts for hotels, gas stops and rentals, and a recipt for a local storage unit. 

Detective Adam's interviewed Heather a second time and she revealed that her husband wasn't interested in sex anymore after the baby came. When they tried working on it he asked her to let him videotape them having sex and wanted her to perform fellacio on him which wasn't something she was into. But tried to make him happy. I only mention this because it's pertinent to how the evidence unfolds in this case. When presented with the storage unit, his wife was shocked, she never even knew he had a storage unit. 

It was located at van guard self storage in Martinez, Georgia, close to the starrett house. What was found inside was shocking... a canvas bag stuffed into another bag, inside of a pail, had a pair of handcuffs inside; a tavern gun; a wooden handled whip; a dog leash with a metal chain; leather chord; rolls of duct tape; an orange rubber ball; a police badge; a starter pistol; a box of ammo; a police call radio; a blue light used by police in unmarked cars; wigs, mustaches, glasses and a box with letters to Rick stanet and Rick stonet addressed to two different po boxes. Inside the letters were photos of women, gagged and bound, at gunpoint. 

Inside boxes they found stacks of books with wild titles like " slave girl", slave market, raped daughters, degraded raped daughters, captive princess, bandage wife, kingdom of pain, women kn cages, kidnapped for sex, captured women, rope tricks-bondage annual, women in tit torchure, fetish bizzare, bound to tease, bound and spanked... it only gets worse from here, ready? 

Encyclopedia of modern torture, torture interrigation and execution, autopsy, how to build your own underground prison, science against crime, burglary made simple, the illustrated art of lock picking, methods of disguise, criminal investigations and  crime stoppers. 

In a poster sheaf they found: die master die, night of the blood monster, new york ripper, sadismo and world of horror. They found some video tapes: the Texas chainsaw massacre abd slumber party massacre. 

More books were found during the search titled: the art of the nude, how to say no to a rapist and survive, diary of a rapist and the wanted ad killer. They found he had a fascination with Ted bundy also. They found the stranger beside me by Anne rule and the killer next door as well as newspaper clippings on bundy execution

Not only did they find some eyebrow raising books but also magazines: submissive prostitutes, blood root, blood bath, sex crimes, mass murder, missing persons, and over 100 copies of inside detective magazine. They also found a stack of maps. 

Two unsolved cases had taken place at two of the places Richard had maps to: colombia, south carolina and charlston. Both girls were assaulted by a man answering a want-ad. 

Detective Adam's brought in Tiffany hart for a photo line-up, with a picture of Richard mixed in there. Immediately she identified Richard Daniel starrett as picture #3. In 1988, 7 months before, she met him when he responded to a want-ad for a dining set. She was 21 at the time and he only looked a few years older than her. He walked in with a camera bag, claiming it had a lot of expensive equipment in it and didn't want to leave it in the parkinglot. 

Tiffany tried to call her husband when Richard asked for help bringing it to his car but instead he stuck a gun in her face and told her it was a stick up. He ordered her to the bedroom and handcuffed her hands behind her back. He diddle her chest and ordered her to give him a blow job. She refused of course. Richard decided to set up the camera equipment to videotape the assault. While this was happening, Tiffany lunged for the gun, that he set onto the corner of the bed a moment before. 

This is what I love about Tiffany, after he got ahold of the gun he said if she tried it again he would kill her. So when she described what happened she said "he forced her head between his legs and pulled out his flaccid circumcised penis". She described it as small.. Richard said he 

wanted a quick blow job and he would go. So she turned around and barked back " why don't you go herk off in your car? " lmao now while I love that she was tough, she did what anyone would do and begged him not to rape her. He insisted on what he wanted and I'll leave out the details of the actual assault. After it was done, he hogtied her and left her in the closet for her husband to find her. 

Richard's picture being all over the newspapers drew in other victims like crazy. Tammy Cranford, December of 1987, at just 14 years old, let a man in who answered a want-ad to look at a sofa. She told him to go to the garage when he asked to let him in. She met him around the side of the house and let him into the garage. He asked her if he could use her phone. Tammy was a little weary, but he told her if she didn't let him into use the phone he would hurt her. He went in, took the phone off the hook, and ordered her upstairs. He sexually assaulted Tammy and when he was finished, orderedher to stay in her bedroom. That if she told anyone he would hurt her or her family. 

When Tammy's parents returned home, she told them and they rushed her to the emergency room. Police dusted for fingerprints in her room and the case went cold. That is, until she saw the newspaper a year later.

Susie Hansen came into view a photo lineup and instantly recognized richard daniel starrett. She was the 12 year old who went missing in the beginning of the story. She said that he came to the door asking about a freezer for sale. Susie showed him where it was and then he asked if he could go to the bathroom. When he finished he said "well let me just give you my card". He reached in his pocket and pulled out a gun. He grabbed Susie by the wrist and forced her outside with him. He made her lay inside his vehicle, on the floor board, and put a blanket over her. He drive her about two hours or so to his home and locked her in the closet. 

He set up his camera equipment above a mattress and forced her onto the bed. She kept screaming so he put a ball in her mouth to stop the noise. Hekept trying to assault her but she fought with all her might. She screamed uncontrollably and eventually he had gotten fed up with her. He decided to take her back and release her, but not before assaulting her in his car on the way back. He dropped her close to her house and the case went cold until now.  

There were near misses also, where girls were home alone and Richard tried to charm his way in, answering want-ads, but these girls wouldn't open the door. When they saw his picture in the news, however, they came forward to tell the police what they knew. 

With all these calls and similar details, detectives kept thinking about Jeannie McCrea. She was the girl who went missing after leaving the note that said she was going away for a few days. The police thought she ran away, but this didn't sit well with detective Adam's. Jeannie had been missing for two months already andin detective adams decided to question him about all of the 5 cases linked to Richard. 

Richard decided to sing like a canary about all the girls, except Jeannie. He claimed he didn't know her. He admitted to abducting 3 girls abd sexually assaulting two in thier 

Homes. When pressed harder he finally admitted that Jeannie was "with god". When they asked where her body was, Richard told them he would take them to her....

MICHELLE, RICHARDS WIFE

I'm going to go back in time a little bit here because as far as the story goes his family and wife didn't know anything because Richard was really private about what was going on in his dark world. Michelle, was questioned about Daniel right before he was picked up, by the fbi. So I want to talk about the experience that Michelle had with her husband, Richard. 

Michelle ward was richards wife. She lived in Southern california until age 14 and then moved to Georgia. She worked at village inn Pizza, which was where she met Richard. He sat down with his friend Gary. She described him as good looking, in college and that he had his own car. He was the whole package. He started flirting with Michelle as he and Gary drank beer and ate pizza. 

As soon as Michelle met Richard, she knew she wanted to marry him. He gave him her phone number and she decided to give him a call. After that the rest was history. Michelle never knew that she was living with a demon of a man. She, just like everyone else, saw him as he wanted everyone to see. 

This wildly charming, sweet, caring, family man with a budding career and a child. 

Michelle kept a journal from 1979 to 1990. During the time they were dating, he was dating other women and having sex with them. Michelle was a Virgin and decided to take thier relationship to the next level. She imagined it being special but it never was. He made her turn around so she couldn't look at him. He made her lay on her side and not touch him. If she tried to touch him he would stop her. He wouldn't even kiss her which she found very strange. 

He was a selfish lover and didn't have any compassion for how she felt. In hindsight she thought that was a major sign that she just didn't see. Which I don't blame her. She was a Virginia, that was her only experience with sex, she didn't know any better, and she was raised LDS. If you know anything about LDS it's that women are ment to please thier husband's. No matter what. It's thier duty. 

She said the biggest mistake was thinking that if they had gotten married that he would change for her. As many young impressionable girls think. She unfortunately, had to learn the hard way that it doesn't work like that. 

He asked her to marry him on christmas eve when she was 20 years old. After they were married, things changed. Michelle started beauty school and her parents were moving back to California. It was Michelle's first job at the beauty salon and she loved it there. Richard didn't like the fact that Michelle's manager was a man. It threatened him. So one night he had shown up at Michelle's job unannounced. Michelle told him she couldn't come home because the boss asked her to work late abd Richard lost his shit. He started arguing with the manager and then the two of them ended up in a fist fight. Michelle jumped into the middle of the fight to separate the two. Michelle was confused as to why he was acting like this but he manipulated the situation so Michel had to quit her job and become isolated. (As many narcissists do... control) 

Richard started introducing Michelle into his fantasies. Richard had a ton of pornaography, including bondage stuff. There was a particular magazine she recalled where there were women tied up in different positions. Richard suggested that they do that. He took out 4 neckties and tied her to the bed posts. She thought it was odd that it looked like he had done this before. He forced her to give oral sex with her arms and legs tied. She cried afterwards and told him she wouldn't do that ever again. It wasn't just because of what he did, it was how he did it. She said he was forceful and abrupt. 

Michelle said he would be gone a lot. He would leave in the morning, come home and eat dinner, then leave again. When she would ask where he was going he would just calmly reply "it's none of your business". Which left her lonely a lot. Whenever he would come home he would lie to her about where he was and she knew. But, she didn't want to rock the boat and accuse him of cheating or anything. So she accepted it. 

Another red flag that she noticed in hindsight was that Richard would shower 3 times a day. In the morning, after dinner and when he got home at night. Michelle of course, thought he was cheating with another woman but she didn't want to know who he was sleeping with. 

When Michelle found out she was pregnant, she was ecstatic. She was so happy to be a momma. When Richard found out, he wasn't so thrilled. He was nervous and complacent about the whole ordeal. While she was pregnant he wasn't around much. Something he did do for her was bring home a matching ruby earring, ring and necklace set. She was worried about how much it cost but he didn't seem to care. Michelle kept wondering where it came from because it was I'm a plain white box with no recipt or anything. That was the only gift he ever gave her. 

She visited her parents often 3 weeks or so every 6 months. Mainly because they moved into the the house on West Lynn Ave that was large and spooky. Michelle didn't like it so she would go visit back in California when she could. Richard just did whatever he did while she was gone. 

One trip, as soon as she had gotten home, he told her they were moving. She Said they moved 6 times in the six years they were together but again she never questioned it. She thought he was just trying to take care of her and give thier family what they needed. 

Michelle took a trip back to Cali, and on this trip he only called her once. That was unlike Richard. He usually talked with her often when she was gone. When she came back from the trip she noticed some odd things. The first thing she noticed, was that the pictures of her and her child were face down on the book shelf. When Michelle asked what happened to the pictures, Richard told her he was moving some things and they had gotten knocked over. She thought that was a logical explaination so she left it alone. 

Later that night, In the back bedroom, Richard had a computer desk and the room was plain and open but it was off limits to everyone except Richard. There was a closet in there and thier daughter wanted to get some slippers out of the closet. Richard caught his daughter in there and yelled at her for going into the closet. Michelle ran in and diffused the situation. He lost his shit and was screaming about how that was his space that she should have more control over thier toddler. That everyone was to keep out of there. She didn't think he had anything in there to hide so she said she was sorry. Thinking back she thought that was just his man cave, his sanctuary, his private space to hang out. She thought his reaction was over the top but didn't question it. 

Michelle noticed he was distant and quiet as time went on. He was drinking a lot and just isolating her. He stopped acknowledging her and if she tried to talk to him he would get up and start pacing back and forth. She tried to confront his behavior but he would brush her off and say that he just had a lot on his mind. This went on for a series of months. 

Michelle went back to California for about 3 weeks and came home to greet her husband. He was in the back bedroom and when she looked around the room the windows were boarded up and the video camera was on a tripod. When she asked about the window he told her that he was mowing the yard when a rock cracked the window. So he boarded it up. 

Even more startling was that Michelle noticed a lock on the outside of the spare bedroom. When she questioned the new lock, Richard said he put that there so thier daughter wouldn't get into his private room. Michelle questioned the CAMERA also. He had an excuse for that too... he said that he bought it to take videos of thier daughter growing up. Of course she couldn't have known because every answer he gave was so logical. 

They went to a Mexican restaurant and the two of them were drawing on the placemats. Richard started drawing a devil, demon looking, face. When Michelle asked him what that was he gave a startling answer. He Said " he thought he was going crazy, if he was going crazy would she come and visit with him". She told him of course I'll come see you. In turn, he told her to go back to California. Thst he needed time alone and wanted to collect his thoughts. She had just gotten back 4 days ago. He bought her tickets two days later and she was back on a plane to California. 

Her mother in law called Michelle and told her that the police think Daniel kidnapped a girl and several others. Michelle was in disbelief because while he was distant and cold, he wasn't a kidnapper. 

The next day the fbi was knocking on her parents door. They wanted to look around to see if Richard was there because he was still on the run. They told Michelle that he had taken a 15 year old girl and that he had taken video of her and that she had escaped through the front door to the neighbors house. 

The fbi told her that there were 4 other girls he kidnapped and raped. They also told her that he murdered one of the girls...

It finally all made sense when she went back to the house after police had been there. The window was still boarded up, the video camera was on, there was rope left in the room, a mattress and the closet door was open. When she looked inside, she saw chains hanging from the rod in the closet. That's when she realized everything she was seeing were the puzzle pieces fitting together. That the police were right. That her husband was the man responsible for hurting little girls and young women.she was devastated. Not just for thier marriage but for the victims also. 

During the investigation she tried to distance herself from all of this. It was too shocking and aweful to her. Michelle told investigators to burn all of the stuff in his storage locker. They did. When Michelle went to visit him he wouldn't talk about any of his crimes with her. After that she asked for a divorce and he signed the papers. 

I'm going to get back into Jeannie now because Richard had some interesting things to Say to detectives before he took them to her body. He told detectives that he and Jeannie fell in love after her abduction. Richard said after he took her captive for a few days she told him she wanted to stay with him. He said that the two partied and smoked and that they went to the beach together. He said that Jeannie and him were chilling around a fire when she told him she had always known they would meet someday. He said he never ment to hurt Jeannie and that he tried to replace her with other girls, like chrissy, but none of them would ever be Jeannie. 

Richard took investigators to a break in the woods beside Mayer road, just off of hwy 176. Which was very close to Irmo, where the mccreas lived. Richard told them she was near rhe creek below. That he tried to bury her but some cars drove by and he didn't want to be spotted. But he did admit to driving by after she was dead, several time, to visit her body. 

Detectives found a shiny black trash bag near the creek. Inside, he found a green blanket which was what Richard said she would be found in. The autopsy had shown she had been shot twice in the chest. Smears from her vaginal area and mouth both were positive for semen. Ballistics confirmed that the two bullets recovered from Jeannies chest were a match for the gun found on the front seat in Texas when Richard was arrested. 

On February 17th 1989, colombia county sheriff Otis Hensley announced that Richard daniel starrett would be charged with murder.  After his arrest he was transferred to colombia correctional institute. He was kept on the death row cell block for his own protection and protection against himself. He was thought to be a suicide risk after he was arrested in Texas. His plan was to shoot himself for his crimes but when the cops snuck up on him when he was sleeping that plan went to shit. 

After seeing the prison psychiatrist, Richard admitted to having obsessive compulsive disorder tendencies and talked about how order and control was how he dealt with the chaos inside of himself. 

Richard recounted the first time he encountered probography... he said he was looking through an abandoned house and found a box filled with pornographic magazines. Some of those magazines featured fetish porn, like bondage and bdsm. He had taken the box and hid it in his closet so his mother wouldn't find it. During a sleepover at a friend's house he noticed a book under his friends bed, titled " the midnight rapist". Richard read the book but didn't know what a rapist even was, at the time, but this book really turned him on. 

When Richard was 7 or 8, he recounted drawing devices for trapping girls, who would be killed, dismembered, packaged and sold as meat. He thought this sadistic of himself but he described himself as distorted or possessed. In his psychiatrists notes he asked two disturbing questions... was I perhaps born this way? was I doomed from the very beginning? 

Richard suffered from headaches most of his childhood and recalled sex and violence to be the trigger for some of 

them. At one point he was hearing whispering voices and of course kept all of this from his parents. He started collecting true detective magazines because of the sexual depictions of rape and torture on the covers. His headaches had gotten so bad that he was stealing Valium and pain pills from his mother's cabinet. but again, his mother never found out he was using pills to deal with his migraines. 

As he sexually matured he dated girls by the handful. Always a new exploit, always thinking he was in love up until he started going to tech school. During that time he started following women all the way to thier dorms and just walking away. As if they were prey and he was a predator. Richard followed so many girls that he thought that being alone in a car was the worst place he could be. 

The last thing I'm going to mention in the psychiatrist notes that Richard had recounted was Jeannie McCrea. Earlier I said that he thought they were in love. The way he tells the story, makes it seem like Jeannie was trying to get him to trust her. He took her out in public a few times, she got a little loud making off kilter jokes about patrons which drew attention to them. He claimed the sex was consensual and that she enjoyed it but it seemed to me that she was playcating him in order to have her chance to get away. They did party together and play games but the ending is what makes me think she was smart enough to play him. 

He claims that she went into the bathroom to get a shower and that he had a fun in the drawer, which was open. He saw it and threw a towel over it as Jeannie was getting out of the shower so rhat she didn't see it. Jeannie rushes for the fun in this moment only for him to black out and not know what happen... the gun just went off, he said. That there was no blood because it all went down the drain. That he didn't know what happened... I feel like she saw her opportunity and it went very very badly. I don't believe she had Stockholm syndrome and fell in love with him. I don't believe that for one second. 

The courts rejected Richard's insanity claims for the murder of Jeannie mccrea and the other girls. And as if he had some sort of feelings for his victims, he said he didn't want to go to trial to put the girls through having to testify at trial. I call bullshit... I say, you sir, don't want to be put through the humiliation of having to face your family and the families of the victims testifying that you are, in face, a fucking child rapist.

RICHARD pleaded guilty but mentally ill and the judge accepted the plea without argument. The judge sentenced Richard to two life sentences to be ran concurrently. He was transferred to a facility to be under the care of a forensic psychiatrist but it turned out to be torture. They took away Richard's pencils and only allowed him two books to his cell. There were six televisions in a circle outside of the cells turned up to full blast, with each TV on a different channel. These tvs went 24 hours a day. So it would drive any criminal crazy. I got some sort of sick pleasure out of hearing thar bit of information. 

Richard refused to talk to the psychiatrist because she had a guard with her for her own protection and threw a fit like a little baby. He even called his mommy and had her call the institution to scold them. Richard refused to eat or go outside. He did speak to the staff psychologist instead. Mainly because she would see him without a guard present. Richard was discharged to the prison after the psychologist determined he had a disassociate disorder and childhood trauma. She was convinced he was raped but he denied it. They determined he was fit to be in a normal environment and there was no need for him to remain under psychiatric care. 

He was transferred to cci and more charges were filed in south carolina counties. He was deemed mentally fit to stand trial and his defenses insanity plea was not only refuted by the psychiatrist but also by Richard himself. He didn't want to plead insanity because he didn't believe he was insane. Richard's mother fought the ruling that Richard was sane and he was sent back to be reevaluated. It came back that the psychiatrist labeled him as having an atypical paraphilia. Which concluded that he knew right from wrong but because of his strong sexual mental disease, he lacked capacity to conform to the requirements of the law. 

Richard had shown up to court in a wheel chair, Underweight and disheveled. He stared strait ahead and didn't say a word. The whole time he was silent until the prosecution said that he let some girls go and that he killed Jeannie mccrea which ment that he was capable of knowing right and wrong. That he could stop himself. Out of no where he just yells out "don't say her name!"... he slid our of his chair and onto the floor of the court room. He started rocking back and forth in the fetal position crying out between his sobbing. His mother stood up and had an outburst in the court room, scolding the court for saying jeannies name. So it's easy to say that this whole trial was a spectacle... 

Because I don't want to give Richard anymore attention then he has already gotten I'm going to give you a quick summary of his crimes. Richard was found guilty and charged with 9 life sentences. He was linked to two other girls so he was convicted of 3 kidnappings and 4 molestation and one murder. He is currently at the perry corrections department in Greenville County, south carolina. 

The book I read is a good read. It was called a stranger in the family by Steven naifeh and Gregory Smith. But what I am going to say about this book is that it is extremely one sided. While it talks about the victims, it is very basic and traverses them very lightly. This book is more of a biography of the starrett family and focuses less on the victims. Rhe way its written it seems like this book shows too much empathy towards the killer. 

It goes on and on about his life and talks about every feeling his mother had about her son, her struggle with her sons incarceration, his struggle with psychiatrists, etc. But there is little information about the lives of the victims. I had to try to pull from other sources for that info but unfortunately there isn't much info out there. 

I'm not putting the book down because it's interesting and was worth a read. But I definately felt like there should have been more focus on the victims and less focus on the serial rapist. Maybe that's just me. Idk. 

RESOURCES

S7 episode 5 "EVIL LIVES HERE"

A stranger in the family by Steven naifeh and Gregory white Smith. 

https://dotcomstories.com/where-are-richard-daniel-starrett-and-michele-ward-now/