Says He Did Not Commit The Crime
FLASHBACK: US Missionary Lucas Richards when he was first arrest and taken to court
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
TEMPLE OF JUSTICE, Monrovia- The American Missionary Lucas Richards, who is on trial for attempting to murder his Liberian wife, Jessica Lloyd has told the Criminal Court that he was wrongly charged.
In his testimony in the Criminal Court “B” on Monday, March 25, 2024, Mr. Lucas said he had nothing to do with the incident that led to Jessica’s injury.
Defendant Richards was charged with attempted murder by the Liberia National Police in Monrovia.
Defendant Richards informed court that on September 14, 2023, in the Dixville Community, while he and his Librarian wife was riding in his car, he noticed that the tire of the vehicle was experiencing some mechanical problem.
Base on the problem the facing the tire of his vehicle, he decided to park his vehicle to repair the issue with his car tire. According to him, when he and Jessica disembarked from the vehicle and she went at the back of the car while he was lying under repairing the vehicle.
According to him, Jessica was standing at the back of the car, defendant Richards claimed he heard heavy and loud sound of a motorcyclist attempting to hold the brake of his motorbike.
Afterwards, defendant Richards claimed he immediately left from under the car and saw his fiancee in the dish with the bike lying on her, “while the motorcyclist was trying to remove the bike from over his wife,he the motorcyclist began to shout, “the motorbike guy took the bike from over her and he started shouting for people to believe that I was the one who had attempted to kill my wife,” Richards narrated.
While shouting, he (Lucas) saw angry rushing towards him and Jessica so he pulled off from the scene leaving Jessica in the mist of the angry crowd and immediately reported himself to the police station.
Meanwhile, Defendant Richards has denied that he destroyed the pregnancy of Jessica Lloyd. According to him, because of his medical condition he cannot produce a child and so he explained his medical situation to Jessica of which she was aware of.
He further testified that,Jessica had earlier proposed to him that she wanted to be a surrogate mother for any future child he will born. Based on Jessica’s proposal to him, he informed her that he was going to have his wife informed about Jessica’s proposal. While waiting for his American wife to respond, Jessica’s family requested that he should dowry their daughter and while in the process the incident occurred. At no time has he ever used any object or substance to terminate her pregnancy.