Fox-Doerr found guilty of murder for husband's 2019 killing

EVANSVILLE — A jury found Elizabeth Fox-Doerr guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder on Tuesday for the 2019 killing of her husband, longtime city firefighter Robert F. Doerr II, a decision her attorney said could be subject to an appeal.

Vanderburgh County Superior Court Judge Robert F. Pigman announced the jury’s findings at 6:50 p.m., about four hours after the 12 jurors retired to deliberate. Fox-Doerr, 52, was charged with two counts: aiding, inducing or causing murder and conspiracy to commit murder, both of which are Level 1 felonies.

After Pigman read the jury’s decision − guilty as charged − he stamped the verdict forms and scheduled Fox-Doerr’s sentencing to be held in mid-June. According to prosecutors, Fox-Doerr enlisted the help of her lover, Larry Richmond Sr., to kill her husband, Doerr, just as Doerr returned home from a shift at an Evansville firehouse on Feb. 26, 2019.

Richmond Sr., 46, is scheduled to stand trial in August.

“It’s been five long years, and finally, justice has been served,” said Nathanial Guthrie, Fox-Doerr’s oldest son, who told jurors this week that Doerr was like a father to him. “Dad can finally, finally rest … He can finally sleep; he can finally be put to rest.”

Doerr, 51, served with the Evansville Fire Department for 28 years, and his colleagues have lauded him as a hero. Doerr’s killing in 2019 left his family and friends stunned and heartbroken.

Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers, who prosecuted the case alongside Stan Levco, said she was relieved by the verdict and proud of the Evansville Police Department’s yearslong investigation.

“It’s been a long time coming for (Doerr’s) family, and the firefighters who were friends with him,” Moers said. “I’m just really honored to be able to represent the victim in this case and to get justice for all involved.”

Fox-Doerr’s lead attorney, Mark Phillips, presented an impassioned defense of his client during the trial, which began May 6. Phillips told reporters Tuesday evening that he was “stunned” by the verdict.

“Now, we’re faced with the prospect of another uphill battle,” Phillips said. “We’re going to request the court after sentencing appoint us to handle the appeal and to address what we think are very serious issues.”

Fox-Doerr pleaded not guilty to both counts she faced after her arrest in 2022 and has maintained her innocence. Phillips said Fox-Doerr was “devastated” after being found guilty.

Verdict comes after lengthy, contentious proceedings

Moers would not comment on Richmond Sr.’s pending trial. When asked, she said the decision to prosecute Fox-Doerr’s case first came down to the court’s schedule.

“In a conspiracy case, you have to show that they work together,” Moers said. “In this case, the defendant had someone else do the shooting for her, so we had to prove the ‘meeting of the minds.’”

Richmond Sr. loomed over Fox-Doerr's week-long trial, with prosecutors acknowledging during their opening argument that while he was not present in the courtroom, he was − in a sense − also on trial. That’s because jurors needed to find that Richmond Sr. was in fact Doerr’s killer to find Fox-Doerr guilty of aiding in the murder and engaging in a conspiracy to commit murder.

Tuesday morning, while presenting the state’s closing argument, Moers told jurors that Richmond Sr.’s guilt was of little doubt: Cell phone location data placed him at the crime scene, she said, and Richmond Sr.’s son – who testified as a state witness – had already pleaded guilty to stealing the same make and model of handgun that investigators concluded was used to kill Doerr.

According to records entered into evidence last week, Richmond called Fox-Doerr about 15 minutes prior to the shooting — a call Fox-Doerr deleted from her cellphone's hard drive and hid from investigators until she was confronted during a heated, hours-long police interrogation.

Moers pointed to this fact repeatedly during her closing, and she zeroed in on Fox-Doerr’s statements to the police about that deleted phone call. According to footage of the interrogation presented at trial, Fox-Doerr said she told Richmond Sr. that Doerr would soon return home from work just as Richmond Sr.’s cell phone was logged near the crime scene at 2728 Oakley St.

“She’s feeding Richmond (Sr.) information,” Moers said.

At trial, prosecutors told jurors that Fox-Doerr had a financial motive to want her husband dead. As a widow, she would receive 75% of Doerr’s EFD pension for life along with a $12,000 death benefit. According to Moers, Fox-Doerr inquired about that pension after Doerr’s death.

“Without the defendant in this case, Larry Richmond (Sr.) would have no reason to murder Doerr,” Moers concluded during her closing.

Phillips presented an emotional closing argument on behalf of Fox-Doerr. The state had not, Phillips said, produced any evidence that could show Fox-Doerr had spoken to Richmond Sr. about committing a murder.

“It felt like I just listened to a screenplay for a crime novel that was based in fiction,” Phillips said of Moers’ closing argument. “The State of Indiana, through its prosecutor, wants you to speculate.”

Phillips pointed to testimony from the case’s former lead investigator, Evansville Police Department Officer Blake Keen. Under cross examination last week, Keen admitted that he previously had “doubts” about the case – including “reasonable” doubts.

Phillips also pointed to testimony from EPD Detective Aaron McCormick, who served as a lead investigator in Doerr’s killing. In response to questions from Phillips, McCormick said that he had not reviewed phone calls, text messages or other evidence that would directly show Fox-Doerr entered into an agreement with Richmond Sr. to carry out a killing.

During the state’s rebuttal, Levco brushed away Phillips’ arguments and reiterated that the state, in his mind, had met its burden.

“Simply (telling Richmond) that Doerr is coming home is sufficient,” Levco said. “How else would he know to be there?”

Fox-Doerr's decision to delete the phone call from Richmond Sr. and her decision to hide that call from investigators after her husband's killing constituted an overt act in furtherance of a conspiracy whether that evidence was circumstantial or not, Levco argued.

“If that’s all we had, that would be more than enough," Levco said. "And that's not all we have."

This story was updated Tuesday evening.

Houston can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Elizabeth Fox-Doerr murder trial in Evansville Tuesday