Police Say Marine Left Wife in Apartment for 1-2 Days after Slaying

Cpl. Cody Richardson makes his first appearance in an Onslow County courtroom Tuesday morning.

By: Philip Jones | WNCT
Published: September 22, 2009

A Camp Lejeune Marine was in jail Tuesday night after police say he strangled his wife.

Jacksonville officers say 22-year-old Cpl. Cody Richardson admitted to killing his 21-year-old wife, Jessy Lauer Richardson, in their apartment.

Police arrested him Monday after he called 911. But as Nine On Your Side’s Philip Jones reports, she might have been dead for days:

Cpl. Cody Richardson kept quiet as he entered an Onslow County courtroom for his first appearance Tuesday morning.

But Jacksonville police say he told officers all about how he killed his wife, 21-year-old Jessy Lauer Richardson.

“According to his statement, he strangled her,” Police Chief Mike Yaniero said during a Tuesday morning press conference.

Yaniero isn't releasing much information, but is calling this a case of domestic violence.

The couple is all smiles in a picture from Jessy Richardson's Facebook page.

But Yaniero says they got in to some sort of argument before things took a turn for the worse.

Police detectives spent Monday evening removing evidence from the couple's home at the Reserve Apartments. Yaniero estimates Jessy Richardson's body had been there for one or two days before Cody Richardson ever called the cops.

Folks who live nearby say the Richardsons kept to themselves -- but neighbors are still stunned.

“[It’s] kinda scary, actually,” neighbor Sara Cisneros said. “I mean, it's a couple doors down. And to know that's what happened is very shocking.”
Cisneros is a Marine wife, too.

She knows that Richardson is now the third Camp Lejeune Marine charged with a domestic violence-related murder within the last two years -- and she hopes he'll be the last.

“I hope it doesn't continue,” Cisneros said. “This is kind of scary.”

Cody Richardson deployed to Iraq from November 2007 to May 2008, but there's no word on whether any sort of post-traumatic stress may have played a role.

He is an anti-tank missile man assigned to the 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune. He entered the Marine Corps in august 2006, and was promoted to corporal on May 1, 2008.

Cody Richardson’s awards include the Iraqi Campaign Medal and National Defense Service and Global War on Terrorism Service Medals.

The Onslow County Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy on Jessy Richardson’s body Tuesday, but won't yet release the findings.

Cody Richardson remained in jail Tuesday evening under a $1 million dollar bond.

He's due back in court on October 13th.