When a beloved wife and mother of three falls to her death inside a Michigan national park in 2006, authorities immediately begin looking at her husband. His changing stories and scandalous secrets seal his fate, but the couple’s children remain convinced their father is an innocent man.
Juanita Richardson (Photo Source) NBC News Dateline
Thomas Richardson minutes before his wife’s death (Photo Source) NBC News Dateline
Jeanie Culver and Jeannette Ellens, Juanita’s mother and sister (Photo Source) The Associated Press via The Times Herald
Search crews locating Juanita Richardson’s body in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore 2006 (Photo Source) The Associated Press via Lansing State Journal
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Image (Source) National Park Service
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Map (Source) Google Maps
Episode Source Material
- NBC News: Dateline, The Mystery at Pictured Rocks. By Josh Mankiewicz.
- National Park Service: Visitor Fatality Along Pictured Rocks Cliffs. By staff.
- The Associated Press via The Herald-Palladium: U.P. fall fatal for picknicker. By staff via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via Battle Creek Enquirer: Fall victim identified. By staff via newspapers.com.
- Livingston County Daily Press and Argus: Authorities name victim of fatal fall via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via The Herald-Palladium: Police probe fatal fall via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via Lansing State Journal: Man charged with murder in wife’s fall via newspaper.com.
- The Times Herald: Man accused of shoving wife over cliff via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via Lansing State Journal: Husband charged in wife’s fatal fall at Lake Superior park. By John Flesher via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via The Times Herald: Hearing to begin in cliff plummet. By John Flesher via newspapers.com. (1)
- The Associated Press via The Times Herald: Hearing to begin in cliff plummet. By John Flesher via newspapers.com. (2)
- Livingston County Daily Press and Argus: Hearing begins in woman’s fatal fall via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via Battle Creek Enquirer: Husband in court over wife’s death via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via Lansing State Journal: Man accused in wife’s fatal fall was verbally abusive, witnesses testify via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via The Herald-Palladium: Husband to stand trial on charges of pushing wife over cliff in U.P. via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via The Herald-Palladium: U.P. Prosecutor seeks defense attorney’s removal in murder case via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via The Times Herald: Lawyers clash over sealing records in cliff plunge via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via Lansing State Journal: Man accused in fatal fall needs new lawyer via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via Lansing State Journal: Man testifies he passed out after wife’s fatal fall at Pictured Rocks via newspapers.com.
- Detroit Free Press: Man testifies on wife’s fatal plunge via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via Lansing State Journal: Judge orders trial moved in U.P. cliff plunge death via newspapers.com.
- Lansing State Journal: Defense lawyer in fatal fall to return via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via The Herald-Palladium: Court puts lawyer back in U.P. murder case via newspapers.com.
- Lansing State Journal: Trial date set for man accused in death of wife via newspapers.com.
- Lansing State Journal: Pictured Rocks murder trial begins via newspapers.com.
- The Times Herald: Jury deliberates in fatal fall trial via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via The Times Herald: Jury convicts man in wife’s fatal fall via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via The Oakland Press: Schoolcraft County jury convicts man in wife’s fatal fall. By staff.
- National Park Service: NPS Expresses Appreciation for Outstanding Work of Other Agencies. By staff.
- The Associated Press via The Herald-Palladium: Man gets life sentence in wife’s fatal fall via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via Michigan Live: Wife’s plunge sends Thomas Richardson to prison for life.
- The Associated Press via The Times Herald: Man says he didn’t kill his wife via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via The Times Herald: Man to appeal conviction after jury’s verdict in wife’s death via newspapers.com.
- Detroit Free Press: Appeal of murder conviction denied via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via Lansing State Journal: Court says prosecutor’s remarks ‘unprofessional via newspapers.com.
- Detroit Free Press: Prosecutor criticized for dissing witnesses at trial via newspapers.com.
- The Associated Press via Traverse City Record Eagle: Court scolds lawyer in U.P. death case.
- U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan Southern Division: Thomas Richardson v. Carmen Palmer.
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids: Thomas David Richardson v. Carmen Denie Palmer.
- The Cinemaholic: Juanita Richardson Murder: Where is Thomas Richardson Now. By Shraman Mitra.
- Thomas Richardson Michigan Department of Corrections Profile