Accused offered man wife’s jewelry

The same day Howard Richmond stabbed his wife to death, he told police officers that his marriage was the best it had ever been.

“To be honest, this was one of the best weeks we ever had,” the soldier told OPP Det. Const Michael Redmond during an interview played in court Friday from July 25, 2013, the same night he reported Melissa Richmond missing.

Richmond’s lawyers have already admitted in an opening address to the jury on Tuesday that he killed his wife just after midnight on July 25, 2013, but said he was in the throes of post traumatic stress disorder at the time and should be found not criminally responsible for his actions. Prosecutors have alleged that Melissa Richmond was having an affair and planning to leave her husband shortly before he killed her.

Richmond was in an interview room at the Winchester OPP detachment with Redmond explaining how his 28-year-old wife had failed to come home the night before. The interview was played for a jury in Richmond’s first-degree murder trial.

Redmond assured Richmond their discussion was “not an interrogation” but an interview designed to help the veteran officer from the OPP’s crime unit determine where Melissa may have gone and why.

In the interview, Richmond said he last saw Melissa the night before when the two sat on the stairs of their Winchester home and chatted about his PTSD and his oneman march around downtown Ottawa to bring awareness to his illness.

The previous Friday, Richmond had donned his military uniform and marched in Ottawa with a mask over his face and a sign drawing attention to his PTSD. Richmond was disappointed the march didn’t get as much attention as he’d hoped, but planned on doing another that week. Melissa was worried it may be too upsetting for him, Richmond said.

Richmond’s PTSD came up numerous times during the interview. Richmond told the officer he had served in Cyprus, Croatia and Afghanistan.

“I’ve got PTSD. My brain’s a little scrambled,” Richmond told the officer as the interview began.

On a scale of one to 10, with one being the best, Richmond rated his marriage as being at a “three or a four.”

It was a far cry from a year earlier, when their relationship would be better described as an eight or a nine, Richmond said.

Richmond said the final conversation on the stairs ended with his wife wanting to go for a drive, as she liked to do. She was going to stop for gas along the way, and suggested Richmond fill up his truck as well.

Richmond said he left after his wife, filled up his tank and then headed home to go to bed.

Cameras from the gas station that have already been played for the jury showed the two filling up about eight minutes apart, although they also revealed Richmond hadn’t headed for home as he’d said, but instead cracked a U-turn and drove toward Ottawa. Melissa Richmond’s body was found at the South Keys Shopping Centre on July 28, 2013.

Denny’s restaurant waiter Bruce Sass, who found Melissa Richmond’s gold Chrysler Sebring in the lot at the mall on July 26, testified Friday that Richmond sent him a message to thank him. Richmond also offered him some of Melissa’s jewelry, Sass said.

“I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am. Without you she might still not be found,” Richmond wrote in an Aug. 6 message.

“One day I would like to thank you properly. I would like to give you a piece of Melissa’s jewelry for your daughter, so she knows how you have touched the hearts of my family.”

The trial continues Monday.