Case #16: The Death of Richard Alfredo - Part 1

The victim, Richard Alfredo

Introduction: 

When 61-year-old Richard Alfredo died in his home, it was assumed that he had died of natural causes. After all, he had a history of heart problems. But, a new possibility seemed to have been brought to light after his death when rumors began to around, suggesting that Richard had actually been murdered. 

Richard Alfredo's Death: 

Richard had died in January of 1990. On the night he had died, his girlfriend called the police to tell them Richard was unresponsive. As I already stated, when authorities arrived on the scene, Richard's girlfriend had informed them  that he had a history of heart trouble. One of the technicians, Allen Manley had noted a scar from a past heart surgery. Authorities had attempted CPR, but it did not work. Richard was pronounced dead an hour later at a nearby hospital. 

Something I found interesting was that the medical examiner decided not to perform an autopsy because of Richard's history with heart problems. 

Four days after Richard died, he was buried. He had about $25,000 in assets. All of those assets went to Richard's estranged wife and children. Richard's girlfriend, Christina, continued to live in the house she shared with Richard. Christina also had two children from a previous marriage. 

Richard and his girlfriend, Christina Martin

The Rumors: 

Now, we'll be circling back to the rumors I had previously mentioned. This is where Mike Roussel comes in to the picture. Roussel was a homicide detective in Westport, Massachusetts. Roussel said that the rumors were something they had look into because they could have been pieces information the police just did not have yet. Before I go any further, the rumors that started circling suggested that Richard Alfredo had actually been poisoned. 

The rumors started at Westport High School. Richard's girlfriend, Christina, had a teenage daughter named Teasha. Teasha allegedly told some of her classmates that Richard had made several sexual advances towards her, something that allegedly angered both Christina and Teasha. 

Teasha would also go on to say that her mother put LSD in Richard's jell-o to try and kill him. 

As the story would go on, a drug dealer admitted to selling 30 doses of LSD to a group of people, which he said included Christina and Teasha. 

Christina denied all of these allegations when the police interrogated her. 

Richard's body was eventually exhumed in an effort to test the theory that LSD was what killed him. 

Side Note: 

As a side note, I would also like to mention that my main source for this case had an investigator mention the idea that Christina was just looking for any possible way to kill Richard. 

The Autopsy: 

Something that was mentioned is the idea that LSD stays in a living person's body for about 36 hours. However, it appears that it can stay in a dead person's body indefinitely. Now, something that can make this tricky is the embalming process. The reason for this is because when a dead body goes through the embalming process, all of the blood is drained from the body and replaced with embalming fluid. They were able to find intestinal and stomach contents that were still in Richard's body, as well as urine. At this point, I should mention that Richard's body was exhumed six weeks after his funeral just to give some sort of a time frame. 

The Testing: 

So, the medical examiners extracted the necessary samples and sent them out for testing. These samples were sent to two different labs: the state crime lab and a private lab. The man who performed the testing at the private lab was Dr. Louis Amoruso. He used something called a radioimmunoassay test (RIA test). It's similar to what they use to test athletes for drugs at sporting events. Amoruso took samples of LSD, mixed them with a radioactive compound. After this, he added samples from Richard's body. 

After the testing was complete, both tests found two separate drugs in Richard's sample. One of them was Diphenhydramine, a cold medicine. The other drug was LSD. 

Side Note: 

Okay, time for another side note. One of the things LSD can do is cause your heart to beat more rapidly, which is obviously going to be fatal for someone who already has heart problems. 

Back to the Case: 

So, Richard's death is now officially considered a murder. Investigators went to arrest Christina and Teasha only to find the two had fled the country. The two were apprehended in Montreal. Interestingly, Christina was charged with first degree murder, while Teasha was not charged at all. Christina was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

But, seven years later, Christina's lawyer found something in the case file when it came time for Christina's appeal. 

This is where I am ending part 1.  

Sources:

“Forensic Files - Dessert Served Cold.” Season 8, episode 1.