FIREFIGHTER’S MURDERER FOUND GUILTY AS CHARGED; JURY RECOMMENDS LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE

VANDERBURGH COUNTY, Ind. — Prosecutor Diana Moers announces that on Wednesday, December 17, a jury found Larry Ali Richmond Sr. guilty of murdering Evansville Firefighter Robert Doerr after conspiring to do so with Doerr’s wife, Rebecca Fox-Doerr.

Richmond Sr.’s trial began on Monday, with jury deliberations beginning around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The Honorable Magistrate Judge Celia M. Pauli of the Vanderburgh Circuit Court presided. Prosecutor Diana Moers and Senior Prosecuting Attorney Stan Levco tried the case.

On February 26, 2019, Firefighter Robert Doerr was shot and killed in cold blood in front of his Oakley Street home after just returning home from a shift.

Upon examining Doerr’s body at the coroner’s office, it was found he was shot multiple times. No shell casings were recovered from the scene of the crime, and a mixture of ammunition was recovered from Doerr’s body, indicating he was shot with a Taurus Judge revolver.

Richmond Sr.’s son, Larry Richmond Jr., later admitted to investigators that he had stolen a Taurus Judge from a local pawn shop where he was employed, and gave the firearm to his father.

Investigators determined that Robert Doerr’s wife, Elizabeth Fox-Doerr, had called Richmond Sr. minutes before her husband was fatally shot — But deleted the record of that call from her phone and withheld that information from detectives until confronted with the evidence. It was also confirmed that Richmond Sr. had deleted the call from Elizabeth as well. During an interview, Fox-Doerr told investigators she withheld the information because she knew Richmond Sr. had been in trouble before and didn’t want investigators to think she was having an affair with him. Richmond Sr. had previously been convicted of murder but had been released from custody in 2018 and was on probation.

An extraction of Richmond Sr.’s phone showed he had powered his phone off at the time of Robert Doerr’s murder, preventing location data from being collected, though additional location data was able to be collected and used as evidence. The extraction records also showed that Richmond powered his phone back on shortly after the murder and immediately accessed a police radio application that he had on the device.

Minutes after Doerr was gunned down, Richmond Sr. was seen on surveillance video at a nearby gas station wearing a tank top despite the cold February temperatures. Prosecutors asserted this was likely because he had changed clothes following the killing.

In addition, Fox-Doerr’s son later turned over a piece of evidence to detectives that was found inside a sympathy card from Robert Doerr’s funeral. The card contained a small piece of paper that said, “We need to talk,” along with Richmond Sr.’s phone number signed “Larry.”

During the investigation, Richmond Jr. was also able to provide two letters written by his father. One letter read, “if the gun he stole ever pops up they will be trying to charge him with murder or accessory to murder.”

While the murder weapon was never recovered, efforts to find it were just as extensive as the rest of the effort put into this investigation. Divers searched lakes, and crews helped look for the gun in the sewers and drains. Tree trunks used for target practice were also collected and analyzed by an Indiana State Police lab forensic scientist, who talked about the Taurus Judge.

After hearing the evidence against Richmond Sr. from the Prosecution, the jury deliberated for around 11 hours on Wednesday and ultimately found Richmond guilty of Murder and Conspiracy to Commit Murder in Doerr’s death.

Prosecutor Moers called the murder of Firefighter Robert Doerr a plan that was impossible without teamwork, establishing Elizabeth Fox-Doerr as the link between Richmond Sr. and Robert. Fox-Doerr was also found guilty of Murder and Conspiracy to Commit Murder at trial in 2024. She was sentenced to serve a total sentence of 90 years at the Indiana Department of Correction.

The investigation and criminal proceedings in this case have now been ongoing for years, and Prosecutor Moers said justice for Robert Doerr and his family had finally been served.

“My first notes on this case are from a meeting in April of 2023 with Det. Jeff Hands—Det. Hands made an initial breakthrough with the Taurus Judge (finding a report of a stolen Judge which linked us to the Defendant’s son) and also getting cell phone records which revealed a famous deleted call between the co-defendant and Richmond. I have lived with this case for years and my office has been working tirelessly to prepare the evidence, exhibits, caselaw, etc. for a perfect trial presentation for both Defendants.  Detective McCormick and Blake Keen did amazing in court this week and in helping us prepare. Det. Leucke remains a king of the courtroom. Kasey Ross responded right away to the scene that night and got our trial rolling this week. Teresa Roy came back to school the Defense on handwriting. I’m not able to mention everyone who worked this case because it is so many of you.  No one left anything undone and, most importantly, no one gave up and we got to fight for justice this week for Robby and his family,” Prosecutor Moers said.

After finding Richmond Sr. guilty as charged on Wednesday, the jury heard several hours of testimony on Thursday from several defense witnesses and a psychologist. After hearing that testimony and deliberating for about two hours, the jury recommended a sentence of Life Without Parole for Richmond, as requested by the State. The State alleged multiple aggravating factors, including Richmond’s prior Murder conviction. The judge will enter the conviction on January 7 and is required by statute to adopt the jury’s recommendation.