Richard Davis and Dena Riley were drug-crazed serial killers willing to do the unthinkable. They were the classic killer couple, feeding off each other's depravity and, in the case of Dena, willing to do anything to please her partner. There were few lines this duo did not cross, even though their killing spree was relatively short and included comparatively few victims.
Richard "Ricky" Davis was a repeat sex offender and general lawbreaker who was raised in Kansas City. He was institutionalized as a teenager. Later, he was imprisoned for stealing. Within months of his release, he was back in prison for raping a woman at knifepoint. He was sentenced to 25 years but was released in May of 2005 after roughly 18 years.
For nine months after his release, Ricky Davis catered to a bondage, strangulation and sexual murder fetish with pornography. At the same time, he attended sex counseling, drug counseling and kept in touch with his parole officer religiously. His compliance with his parole was probably an attempt to stay out of jail. What he really wanted to do was make snuff films. In other words, he wanted to film himself raping and killing women. It was just a fantasy until Ricky met the perfect accomplice–Dena Riley.
Dena Riley was 38-years-old when she met 40-year-old Richard Davis. She was also a Missourian who lived in and around Kansas City. Her methamphetamine addiction gave her a working knowledge of the seedy underbelly of meth circles in the area. Ricky had been away for a while and needed help finding his victims. Dena, apart from short stints in jail, had been active in the scene for a long time. She had lost her four children, allegedly sold her body for drugs and had nothing left to lose, apart from her humanity.
The couple met in a metal factory in Kansas City just a few months after Ricky's release from prison. They began dating each other and living together in Independence, MO shortly thereafter. Authorities believe that Dena helped find willing participants for Ricky's violent sex fantasies by seeking meth addicts who needed money or drugs. He allegedly asked one of these women to kill with him, but she refused and distanced herself from Ricky and Dena. Dena, on the other hand, was not repulsed by Ricky's fantasies.
On May 15, 2006, police found the body of Marsha Spicer, a meth addict who was choked to death and violently raped. On May 16, one of the women whom Dena had lured in for Ricky tipped off the police about his violent behavior and use of meth addicts as victims. The next day, the police showed up at Dena Riley and Ricky Davis' apartment. Because they did not have a warrant, they were unable to search the premises. They asked Ricky and Dena to leave until they could obtain one and conduct the search. The couple complied, knowing that they were now on the run. They knew what police would find in the apartment, but they had a head start.
After obtaining the warrant, police found video of Dena and Ricky raping and killing Marsha in the apartment. They also found video of them doing the same to another woman who was later identified as 38-year-old Michelle Ricci–another meth addict. Dena and Ricky were long gone before police even had an idea of where to look for them. They went and picked up Ricky's niece with the pretense that they would return the five-year-old girl to her parents after taking her out. Ricky's sister called police when they child was not returned. It was only then that she learned the danger her daughter was in. By the time she was found, the little girl needed surgery to fix the damage done by Ricky and Dena when they sexually assaulted her.
Dena accidentally turned herself in when she called 911 and asked for directions. Police went to the location Dena had given and found Ricky unconscious in their vehicle, which Dena was trying to push out of a ditch. A helpful passerby had the little girl in his car. It is unclear whether the injuries inflicted on her were obvious or if the man thought she was hurt in the apparent car accident. The two were arrested on the spot and are still incarcerated today.
Update: Davis is on death row. Riley is serving a lifesentence.
Sources
Krajicek, David, Ricky and Dena, retrieved 11/12/11, trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/partners/richard_dean
Richard "Ricky" Davis was a repeat sex offender and general lawbreaker who was raised in Kansas City. He was institutionalized as a teenager. Later, he was imprisoned for stealing. Within months of his release, he was back in prison for raping a woman at knifepoint. He was sentenced to 25 years but was released in May of 2005 after roughly 18 years.
For nine months after his release, Ricky Davis catered to a bondage, strangulation and sexual murder fetish with pornography. At the same time, he attended sex counseling, drug counseling and kept in touch with his parole officer religiously. His compliance with his parole was probably an attempt to stay out of jail. What he really wanted to do was make snuff films. In other words, he wanted to film himself raping and killing women. It was just a fantasy until Ricky met the perfect accomplice–Dena Riley.
Dena Riley was 38-years-old when she met 40-year-old Richard Davis. She was also a Missourian who lived in and around Kansas City. Her methamphetamine addiction gave her a working knowledge of the seedy underbelly of meth circles in the area. Ricky had been away for a while and needed help finding his victims. Dena, apart from short stints in jail, had been active in the scene for a long time. She had lost her four children, allegedly sold her body for drugs and had nothing left to lose, apart from her humanity.
The couple met in a metal factory in Kansas City just a few months after Ricky's release from prison. They began dating each other and living together in Independence, MO shortly thereafter. Authorities believe that Dena helped find willing participants for Ricky's violent sex fantasies by seeking meth addicts who needed money or drugs. He allegedly asked one of these women to kill with him, but she refused and distanced herself from Ricky and Dena. Dena, on the other hand, was not repulsed by Ricky's fantasies.
On May 15, 2006, police found the body of Marsha Spicer, a meth addict who was choked to death and violently raped. On May 16, one of the women whom Dena had lured in for Ricky tipped off the police about his violent behavior and use of meth addicts as victims. The next day, the police showed up at Dena Riley and Ricky Davis' apartment. Because they did not have a warrant, they were unable to search the premises. They asked Ricky and Dena to leave until they could obtain one and conduct the search. The couple complied, knowing that they were now on the run. They knew what police would find in the apartment, but they had a head start.
After obtaining the warrant, police found video of Dena and Ricky raping and killing Marsha in the apartment. They also found video of them doing the same to another woman who was later identified as 38-year-old Michelle Ricci–another meth addict. Dena and Ricky were long gone before police even had an idea of where to look for them. They went and picked up Ricky's niece with the pretense that they would return the five-year-old girl to her parents after taking her out. Ricky's sister called police when they child was not returned. It was only then that she learned the danger her daughter was in. By the time she was found, the little girl needed surgery to fix the damage done by Ricky and Dena when they sexually assaulted her.
Dena accidentally turned herself in when she called 911 and asked for directions. Police went to the location Dena had given and found Ricky unconscious in their vehicle, which Dena was trying to push out of a ditch. A helpful passerby had the little girl in his car. It is unclear whether the injuries inflicted on her were obvious or if the man thought she was hurt in the apparent car accident. The two were arrested on the spot and are still incarcerated today.
Update: Davis is on death row. Riley is serving a lifesentence.
Sources
Krajicek, David, Ricky and Dena, retrieved 11/12/11, trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/partners/richard_dean
Davis may have used drugs prior to his incarceration but he became distainful of them during that time. He understood the power that they could hold over people. After his parole, he used the promise of payment in drugs to get addicts to do things that the average person would refuse
ReplyDeleteAfter the body of Marsha Spicer was identified local detectives learned of her life style and sought information from others who were in that similar situation. They learned that a couple (Davis and Riley) were asking women on the street if they would have sex on camera in exchange for drugs. From what I was told, the women were also informed that Ricky liked having "rough sex". It was the women who turned down the offer that were able to lead the police to the couple.
It was potential victim(s) that led police to Davis' home. The police had no warrant. They didn't force themselves inside. They knocked on the door. Davis and Riley allowed them in. The cops noted an open bedroom door with a video camera pointed at the bed and many VHS laying about. What they saw along with what they had heard from women stating that Riley was offering drugs in exchange for having rough sex on film made the police leave the residence and start the process of obtaining a search warrant.
A search warrant was granted and the police returned to find that Davis and Riley had already fled. But, they left all the VHS tapes behind. The police took those tapes which were soon reviewed. I was told it was it was a dispatcher who was tasked with viewing the tapes. She didn't know what she was supposed to be looking for until it became quite apparent that she had just watched a "snuff" video.
Their kidnapping of the child is sensitive issue. What little I know is something that I'll keep to myself except to say that Ricky's family was just as vile in words as he was in his actions.