The death sentence of a man who killed two women was upheld by the Missouri Supreme Court. Despite the assailant's claim that he did not receive sufficient assistance from his counsel, the court was still firm in its decision.
According to Fox 2 Now, the state high court unanimously rejected 51-year-old Richard Davis' claim that his attorney during the trial in 2008 was ineffective. Davis was convicted for the death from suffocation of Marsha Spicer which happened at his suburban Kansas apartment.
ABC News also reported that Davis and his girlfriend Dena Riley killed Michelle Huff-Ricci. Ricci's charred remains were found by the investigators in the wooded area of Clay County. Both suspects pleaded guilty during their trial last 2012.
According to prosecutors, both Davis and Riley videotaped the whole crime where it showed how they assaulted the two women in order to fulfill their violent sexual fantasies. Davis also has a criminal history in 1987 for rape where he spent 18 years in jail. Per investigation, both suspects raped and tortured Huff-Ricci to her death, fearing that the victim might call the police as she already knew their location, Seattle Times reports.
The case records show that Davis strangled Huff-Ricci with a rope but was unsuccessful with it. He then tried to cover her mouth and nose, suffocating her before he dumped her nude body at the Clay County woods. The next day, both Riley and Davis returned to the crime scene, poured lighter fluid over Ricci's remains and ignited it.
Despite Davis' appeal, the high court pushed through with the conviction citing that Davis did not cooperate with his defense team or the mental health experts. He also reportedly failed demonstrating that he is incompetent to stand trial with his claims of being bipolar.
Riley, on the other hand, is serving a federal life sentence in Kansas for a separate case of kidnapping a 5-year-old Kansas girl during their run from the authorities with Davis in southwestern Missouri. The child sustained injuries similar to sexual abuse.
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