The Death of Juanita Richardson: Accident, Suicide, or Murder?
On June 22, 2006, Juanita Richardson fell to her death. The investigation of her death, and the subsequent trial and conviction of her husband, Thomas Richardson, was not ordinary.
Juanita Richardson died in a national park so beautiful it is called Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. She is the only person known to have suffered a fatal fall at Pictured Rocks since it opened in 1972. As the scene was on federal property there was a question of jurisdiction. Normally, in a federal park, the FBI along with park personnel would investigate, but due to the law enforcement jurisdiction that existed in the park when this incident occurred — the federal murder statute did not apply. The county and the state had the primary burden of conducting the investigation and handling the prosecution, but the FBI was initially contacted and continued to assist along with the National Park Service.
In the initial stages of the investigation, the National Park Service, the Alger County Sheriff’s Department, and the Michigan State Police were skeptical that Juanita’s death was accidental or that she committed suicide due to the conflicting accounts Tom Richardson gave concerning the death of his wife. “He initially told police he didn’t see his wife fall, but later said he did, first describing it as a suicide and later as an…
