Viswa Vanapalli
In November 1997, a passerby noticed a dead body beside a parked car in Jasper, Alabama, and immediately alerted the authorities. Randy McCullar was found dead, and the police were led to his wife, Shonda Johnson. What they uncovered next left everyone shocked. Shonda had been married to three men simultaneously, with Timothy Richards being one of them. The second case on Investigation Discovery’s ‘Deadly Women: Two to Tangle’ focuses on how Shonda pushed Timothy to kill Randy.
Who Are Shonda Johnson and Timothy Richards?
Shonda was a high school dropout who had been in a string of relationships. By the time she turned 28, she had been divorced twice and had been married to not one but three more men at the same time. Randy and Shonda married in June 1995. However, they separated months later, and Shonda began dating another man, Bill McIntyre, whom she married while still legally married to Randy.
After another brief relationship, Shonda married Timothy in May 1997. Eventually, Randy found out about her multiple marriages and brought charges of bigamy against her. Not just that, he wanted custody of their young son. The authorities believed that Shonda wanted Randy dead so he wouldn’t testify against her in court. So, she asked Timothy to kill Randy, and the two planned it for months.
A few days before the murder, Shonda and Timothy were having dinner at his sister’s home. At the time, they talked about having a gun and going “headhunting.” Furthermore, the sister heard the couple talk about how Randy had raped Shonda. Investigation revealed that on November 29, 1997, Shonda and Timothy went to a local lounge where Randy was also present.
Outside, Timothy slashed one of Randy’s car tires, and they later found him pulling into a church parking lot. Shonda and Randy exchanged words during a brief confrontation before the latter turned around. Timothy later testified that Shonda handed him a hunting rifle and yelled at him to shoot Randy. Timothy obeyed, shooting Randy in the back of the head. Then, the couple disposed of the gun by throwing it off a bridge into a river.
Shonda Johnson and Timothy Richards Remain Imprisoned
One of Shonda’s former boyfriends also told the police that she had talked to him about killing Randy. Timothy cooperated with the police and testified against Shonda to avoid the death penalty. He pleaded guilty to murder, and in February 2000, he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. In October 1999, Shonda was convicted of capital murder and was later handed down the death penalty.
In April 2012, when Timothy was just over a year away from his parole eligibility, he escaped from a minimum security prison in Alabama. However, he was captured just days later at an apartment in Canton, Ohio. Prison records indicate that he remains incarcerated at the Hamilton Aged and Infirmed Center in Marion County, Alabama. Timothy will be considered for parole in 2027. On the other hand, Shonda remains on death row at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, Alabama.
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