Richard Davis trial in taped sex killing begins

July 26, 2008

Associated Press

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - A man on trial for capital murder in the videotaped slaying and sexual torture of a 41-year-old woman will not dispute most of the charges against him, his lawyer said Friday.

But defense attorney Tom Jacquinot said in his opening statement that there will be questions about whether Richard Davis, 43, deliberated before killing Marsha Spicer.

"A confession is a confession," Jacquinot said. "A videotape is a videotape. Nobody is going to come here today and say these things didn't happen."

Davis faces 40 felony counts, including capital murder, kidnapping and rape in the May 2006 death of Spicer, of Independence. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Jackson County prosecutor Ted Hunt said during his opening statement that Davis and his girlfriend, Dena Riley, lured Spicer to his Independence apartment and "did not intend to let her leave alive."

The trial for Riley, 42, is scheduled for next year.

Davis and Riley also are charged in neighboring Clay County with capital murder in the April 2006 suffocation of Michelle Huff-Ricci, 36. Her charred, skeletal remains were found in May 2006 in rural Clay County, just north of Independence.

Ricci's death came to light after Davis and Riley were captured in southwest Missouri and brought back to the Kansas City area to be charged in Spicer's death. Police have said both defendants led investigators to Ricci's remains.
Riley and Davis also have been indicted in Kansas on a federal charge of kidnapping a 5-year-old southeast Kansas girl related to Davis after fleeing the Kansas City area.