In the quiet evening of February 26, 2019, Evansville firefighter Robert F. Doerr II, a 51-year-old male, returned to his home on Oakley Street after a 12-hour shift. As he got out of his truck, he was shot at least three times and died in his driveway. For years, the case remained a painful mystery for his family and a source of concern for the community that the 28-year veteran of the Evansville Fire Department had served.
The initial investigation led to early suspicions, but the path to justice would be a long and winding one.
Shortly after the murder, investigators began to focus on Robert Doerr's wife, Elizabeth Fox-Doerr, and a convicted murderer named Larry Richmond, Sr. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Elizabeth was arrested on charges of obstruction of justice and false informing, with police alleging she had deleted a phone call record from her cell phone before contacting 911. Those initial charges were later dropped in October 2019, a move prosecutors would later explain was to avoid interfering with the broader murder investigation. However, the shadow of suspicion remained, and the case was far from closed.
Years of meticulous police work, involving multiple agencies including the FBI and the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office, finally led to a breakthrough. In August 2022, both Elizabeth Fox-Doerr and Larry Richmond, Sr. were formally charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Investigators alleged that Elizabeth had been having an affair with Richmond and had informed him of her husband's work schedule, enabling him to lay in wait and ambush the unsuspecting firefighter. Richmond, who was already incarcerated on federal gun charges, had a history of violent crime, having previously served 22 years for murder.
The case against Elizabeth Fox-Doerr culminated in a trial where her own son's testimony proved to be a pivotal moment. In May 2024, a jury found the 52-year-old guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder for her role in plotting her husband's death. The conviction brought a sense of relief and long-awaited justice for Robert Doerr's loved ones. Larry Richmond, Sr., the man accused of pulling the trigger, is still awaiting his trial for the murder of the dedicated firefighter. The tragic story of Robert Doerr's murder serves as a somber reminder of a life of public service cut short by a cold and calculated betrayal.
