Lincoln woman charged with murder after allegedly shooting husband in head

WAYNESBURG — A Waynesburg woman with family ties to a former Lincoln County judge-executive has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting her husband in the head while he slept.

Tamara Richie, 50, was arrested the morning of Oct. 25 by Lincoln County Sheriff Curt Folger and charged with first-degree murder.

Richie is accused of shooting her husband, David Richie, in the head with semiautomatic handgun while he slept.

Folger said the shooting allegedly occurred Oct. 22, the Monday before Tamara Richie’s arrest. A family member called the sheriff Oct. 25 to report that Tamara Richie had shot her husband and the body was at the couple’s home.

Folger and a deputy responded to 792 New Road, where they found David Richie's body.

"He had been shot in the head while in his bed," he said. "I believe he was asleep."

Lincoln County Coroner Farris Marcum said he pronounced David Richie dead at the scene at about 8:45 a.m.

The sheriff and deputy then located Tamara Richie at a family member's house and arrested her without incident.

"The investigation is still going on, but she (Tamara Richie) refused to answer any questions at this time," Folger said last week.

Folger said he hasn't yet determined exactly what Tamara Richie was doing or where she was staying between David Richie's death on Oct. 22 and her arrest on Oct. 25.

Folger said he has receipts for purchases of gas and cigarettes allegedly made by Tamara Richie during that time period.

"I think she was staying at the house there (792 New Road) but I don't have any 100-percent proof on that," he said.

David Richie's body was taken to Frankfort for an autopsy, which was conducted Oct. 26, Marcum said.

"The autopsy's not going to change anything as far as cause of death, it's just going to confirm what we already know," he said.

Folger the bullet that killed David Richie and the gun allegedly used to fire it will be taken to state police for ballistics testing.

Results from those tests could take about two weeks and will tell authorities whether or not the bullet was fired from the gun recovered by investigators.

Tamara Richie is the sister of Jeree Gilbert, the wife of former Lincoln County Judge-Executive Buckwheat Gilbert.

PVA and local historian David Gambrel said the Richies had been married since Feb. 9, 1985. He described them as a "handsome couple" from "two well-respected families."

"It's kind of unbelievable," Gambrel said.

Marcum said Richie had been an employee of R.R. Donnelly in Danville for many years.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Spurlin Funeral Home in Stanford. Visitation for David Richie was Monday night.

"We don't know a cause, why she would have done this," Marcum said. "It's just a tragedy, a real nice family on both sides. It's real hard to deal with."

Tamara Richie was being held in the Lincoln County Regional Jail without bond as of Tuesday evening.