Bio

Miguel A. Richardson was born on July 7, 1954, in Oklahoma. By 1973, he was involved in criminal activity, which led to his first conviction for possession of stolen mail. This marked the beginning of a pattern of behavior that would continue throughout his life.

Richardson served three years of a six-year sentence in a federal reformatory for this crime, and he was paroled in March 1976. After his release, he struggled to build a stable life. During this time, he became involved with a group of young women who were known to engage in prostitution.

In the months leading up to his criminal actions that would lead to his downfall, Richardson's life took a darker turn. By March 31, 1979, he was living in a San Antonio, Texas, Holiday Inn with three young women, all of whom were involved in illegal activities. This environment, along with his prior criminal record, set the stage for the serious crimes he would eventually commit.

Over the years, Richardson showed signs of violent behavior. In Denver, while awaiting extradition to Texas, he attacked a jail officer in April 1980 and tried to escape custody. He also faced multiple legal challenges related to his mental health, which would later play a significant role in his court proceedings.

Murder Story

On March 31, 1979, Miguel A. Richardson shot and killed two security guards, John Ebbert and Howard Powers, at a Holiday Inn in San Antonio, Texas. The guards responded to a complaint from a motel guest who believed someone was trying to break into her room. When the guards encountered Richardson, he was attempting to break into the guest's room. As they were escorting him down to the front desk, Richardson's concealed .38 caliber pistol fell from his waistband. He quickly grabbed the gun, handcuffed one of the guards, demanded their money, and shot both guards at close range.

After the murders, Richardson returned to his room, where he was accompanied by three young women. The following days, he fled Texas with two of these women and was later captured in Denver, Colorado, in June 1980. During his trial, testimony revealed that one of the women helped destroy evidence by wiping the crime scene and flushing spent cartridges down the toilet. Richardson reportedly bragged about how the guards begged for their lives before he killed them.

In September 1981, Richardson was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. His conviction was affirmed multiple times by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and faced several reviews by the U.S. Supreme Court. Throughout the years, he filed multiple appeals focusing on his mental competency, claiming he suffered from bipolar disorder and that the state forced him to take medications to ensure he was competent for execution.

After a long legal battle, he was executed by lethal injection on June 26, 2001. At his execution, Richardson spoke about love and claimed to be a "minister of love." He was pronounced dead at 6:28 p.m. Following his execution, the wife of one of his victims stated that Richardson did not apologize or seek forgiveness for his actions.