Accused murderer faces a possible death sentence
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KY-TV,
local Springfield, Missouri NBC-TV affiliate station web site:
Accused murderer faces a possible death sentence
Court documents say Richard Delong admitted killing Erin Vanderhoef and
her
children.
SPRINGFIELD – The Greene County prosecutor will seek the death penalty
against
the first of three people to be charged with killing five members of a
family
in Springfield.
Prosecutor Darrell Moore says he will ask for the death penalty for
Richard
Delong of Joplin.
Delong is charged with first-degree murder for the deaths of Erin
Vanderhoef,
her unborn child and her three children. The family was found strangled
in
their home on the evening of Jan. 20. The unborn girl died from lack of
oxygen
after Vanderhoef died. Detectives and the medical examiner think they
were
killed early in the morning of Jan. 19. Investigators believe Delong was
the
father of the unborn child but that the two no longer were dating.
Two other people from Joplin, Stacie Leffingwell and Bobby Lingle,
also
are charged with first-degree murder for the deaths. Leffingwell lived
with
Delong. Lingle was a neighbor of Delong and Leffingwell. Police believe
the
three drove from Joplin to Springfield together and talked about the
murders on
the way.
Investigators haven’t outlined what they think Delong’s motive was
for
murdering the Vanderhoef family. However, for four other children that
he had
with different women, he was $19,000 behind on court-ordered child
support
payments before his arrest. He also had a baby with Leffingwell that
lived with
them in Joplin.
Vanderhoef’s neighbors and Lingle’s wife Joyce also have said there
was
some animosity between Vanderhoef and Leffingwell. Friends and family
members
say Leffingwell is dying of cancer. Joyce Lingle said Vanderhoef
couldn’t wait
for Leffingwell to die so that she could get Delong back for herself.
In his notice of intent to seek the death penalty, Moore outlined
several
aggravating circumstances that he intends to prove in a trial that
justify the
death penalty. They include:
· Five murders were committed at once;
· Delong murdered or directed someone else to murder the five “as an
agent
or employee of another person.”
· The murders were “outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or
inhuman in
that it involved torture, or depravity of mind.”
· The murders were committed “for the purpose of avoiding or
preventing the
lawful arrest of the defendant or others.”
· The murders of the three children were committed because each
would have
been able to testify about the murders of the others or of their mother
if they
remained alive.
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The following appears courtesy of the 2/12/99 Associated Press news
wire:
Prosectors give clue to possible motive in murder of family
02/12/99
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- A Springfield woman who was murdered along with
her
children was a potential witness in a pending investigation or
prosecution,
according to court documents.
The statement was included in papers that listed aggravating
circumstances
supporting prosecutors' intent to seek the death penalty against Richard
DeLong
in the deaths of Erin Vanderhoef, her full-term fetus and her three
children.
Police have said they know of no Springfield homicide involving more
deaths.
Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore has not disclosed a motive in the
strangling of Vanderhoef and her children. He would not comment on the
four-page notice filed Thursday morning with Green County Circuit Judge
Henry
Westbrooke, who was assigned the case earlier this week.
The court papers do not specify the nature of the investigation or
prosecution.
Police Lt. Steve Hamilton would not comment on the motive, saying only,
``We're
really going to try to keep quiet on this case.''
DeLong was on probation for convictions on two drug charges and
previously had
been cited for violations, though his probation had not been revoked.
Delong and two other Joplin residents are charged with five counts of
first-degree murder.
Authorities say DeLong enlisted the help of his girlfriend, Stacie
Leffingwell,
and a neighbor, Harold ``Bobby'' Lingle, to strangle Vanderhoef and her
children in the Springfield woman's home on Jan. 19.
Moore said Thursday he has not decided whether to seek the death penalty
against Lingle and Leffingwell, and he will not decide on that until
sometime
after a probable-cause hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
Police say Lingle told them the three worked out the plans for the
murder as
they drove from their homes in Joplin to Springfield, 75 miles away. The
victims' bodies were found the next day.
DeLong's attorney asked earlier this week that his case be moved out of
Greene
County because of the amount of publicity it has drawn. No ruling has
been made
on that request.
Moore has said the case likely won't go to trial for at least a year.
Moore's decision to seek the death penalty came as no surprise to
DeLong's
mother, Mary DeLong of Springfield.
``Like any mother, I kind of prepared myself the best you can for
this,'' she
said.
AP-CS-02-12-99