Accident, suicide, homicide?
Death probe
Accident, suicide, homicide?
By JOHN PEPIN, Journal Munising Bureau
MUNISING — Law enforcement officials in Alger County say inconsistent statements from the husband of a woman who died falling from the Pictured Rocks cliffs last month are the reason the investigation into the incident is continuing.
Juanita Louise Richardson, 43, of downstate McBain, died on June 22 after plummeting from a cliff ledge about a quarter-mile southwest of Miners Castle.
Her husband, Thomas Richardson, 44, ran to a visitor center at the park to report the incident. Since that time, police have been probing the events surrounding the school secretary’s death.
“The investigation into the manner of death, meaning whether the fall from the cliff was the result of an accident, suicide or homicide, is continuing due to inconsistent accounts of the incident by Mrs. Richardson’s companion, her husband of twenty-three years,” said Alger County Prosecutor Karen Bahrman.
Juanita Richardson was found face down and barefoot at the base of a cliff almost 200 feet high. Police eventually found both of Richardson’s shoes along the face of the cliff wall.
The death certificate says she died of “multiple severe traumatic injuries” in a “fall from height.” The manner of death is listed as “pending.”
Thomas Richardson was questioned by sheriff’s deputies at Munising Memorial Hospital and the Alger County Sheriff’s Department offices before returning downstate, shortly after the incident.
He has since retained an attorney and has been referring law enforcement inquiries to that Cadillac-area lawyer’s office.
Earlier this month, police said the FBI had joined the case and was included in a task force working the investigation from both the Upper and Lower peninsulas.
That task force also included the National Park Service, Michigan State Police, and county sheriff’s deputies from Alger, Missaukee and neighboring Wexford counties.
Over the past several days, federal and county authorities have been researching jurisdictional issues regarding the case.
Initially, the National Park Service sent its rangers to the scene of the death, located along the Lakeshore Trail. Ambulance personnel from Alger County were called to the area and were at the top of the cliff.
Park rangers were gathering information while Alger County deputies, state police and state conservation officers worked to recover Richardson’s body.
Rangers said despite the park’s first recorded death from a cliff fall in 40 years occurring on federal property, county deputies would be the primary investigators on the case.
Deputies later said that decision was made because — if the incident turned out to be a crime — park police can only investigate misdemeanors.
Bahrman said today the FBI had actually been directing the case investigation for several weeks, but now jurisdiction has been returned to Alger County deputies after a meeting Wednesday in Munising between federal and local officials.
“The investigation had, for the past several weeks, been directed by the FBI, due to the assertion of federal jurisdiction,” Barhman said. “The U.S. Attorney’s office in Grand Rapids, however, has determined that jurisdiction lies in Alger County.”
The FBI may still be assisting Alger County, but no longer has a prominent role and the information the agency gathered is expected in Alger County next week.
“They did do a lot of work while they were investigating it,” Bahrman said. “We expect to have other agencies helping us. But I don’t think we can consider them (the FBI) part of a task force any longer.”
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