Chula Vista, CA: Mysterious Car Crash Murders; Husband Arrested

Michael Eugene Richardson, arrested after mysterious deaths of his wife and mother-in-law whose bodies were found in a car crash off SR-67.
CHULA VISTA - The owner of a Poway auto repair shop was arrested at his Chula Vista home on Thursday. He had been named as a person of interest in a bizarre double murder that was believed to have been disguised as a car crash, but he's facing charges in a separate case.

Reporters swarmed 57-year-old Richardson as he was taken in handcuffs out of his home by Chula Vista Police. He is the focus of a murder investigation involving his 39-year-old wife, Thao Richardson, and his 72-year-old mother-in-law, Than Lyi.

Thao's uncle, Chris Hollands, can't believe Thao and her mother are gone. "I wish it never happened. I'm shocked. I feel a very tragic sense of loss."

On Tuesday, deputies say mother and daughter were found dead outside wreckage of a suspicious car crash. Investigators now say the scene, where a Honda Accord went off a steep embankment, was staged.

A restraining order filed on March 17th accused Michael Richardson of having sex with his 17-year-old niece. The document claims Thao Richardson walked in on her husband. The District Attorney's office dropped the charges when Thao Richardson refused to testify against her husband.

The 17-year-old's mother filed for an emergency restraining order against Michael Richardson after the incident to protect her daughter. The restraining order was denied because the teen would not cooperate.

The teen and her mother lived in the house with Michael Richardson, his wife and her mother.

"We are hoping for justice. We'd like who ever did this come clean," Hollands said. "If he's the perpetrator, I will feel much more sure of my feeling for him."

For now, Chris Hollands worries about the couple's 7-year-old daughter. Child Protective Services took the girl away from her home in Chula Vista's Eastlake Greens neighborhood. Hollands hopes to get custody of the child while he deals with the loss of his family members.