Stephen Dee Richards

Serial Killer

Stephen Dee Richards: The Nebraska Fiend

Early Life and Journey West

Stephen Dee Richards, whose full name was Stephen Decatur Richards, was one of the earliest documented serial killers of the American frontier. Also identified in historical records as Stephen D. Richards, he was born on March 18, 1856, in Wheeling, which was then part of Virginia and later became part of West Virginia. His family subsequently moved to Ohio, eventually settling near the Quaker community of Mount Pleasant. Richards was described as intelligent, personable and outwardly respectable, qualities that allowed him to travel among strangers without immediately attracting suspicion. In February 1876, Richards left Ohio and traveled west. He moved through Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska, using several aliases, including William Hudson, F. A. Hoge, Dick Richardson and D. J. Roberts. He worked briefly as an attendant at the Iowa Hospital for the Insane in Mount Pleasant. Richards later claimed that handling the bodies of deceased patients at the institution had hardened him and diminished his emotional response to death. Whether this explanation was truthful or merely an attempt to account for his behavior, his violent crimes began soon afterward.

The First Confessed Murders

Richards claimed that his first murder occurred in late 1876, approximately two weeks after he arrived in Kearney, Nebraska. While traveling on horseback, he met an unidentified man and camped with him between Dobytown and a wagon bridge near the Platte River. The men played cards, and Richards won much of the stranger's money. The following morning, an argument developed when the man demanded the return of his losses. Richards shot him above the left eye, dragged his body to the river and threw it into the water. He then stole the victim's horse and traded it in Kearney. Several days later, near an area known as Walker's Ranch in Nebraska, Richards encountered a second man. The stranger was reportedly a friend of the first victim and questioned Richards about the missing traveler, whom he identified only by the first name John. Richards became concerned that the man suspected him of murder. He invited the stranger to ride an extra horse and then shot him in the back of the head when he was not looking. Richards left the body in the countryside and sold the stolen horse the following morning. Neither victim was conclusively identified, and exact dates for the two killings were never established. ...

Confirmed Victims: (0)

Stephen D. Richards - Wikipedia