State rests case in Elizabeth Fox-Doerr murder trial after week-long presentation to jurors

EVANSVILLE — The prosecution on Monday afternoon rested its case against Elizabeth Fox-Doerr, who is standing trial for the 2019 killing of her husband, veteran Evansville firefighter Robert F. Doerr II.

Prosecutor Stan Levco, who is trying the case alongside Vanderburgh County's elected prosecutor, Diana Moers, rested after presenting jurors with hours of Fox-Doerr's taped police interrogation and portions of her testimony to a grand jury.

Now, Fox-Doerr's legal counsel is preparing to present its own evidence and witness testimony to jurors beginning Tuesday as they seek to refute allegations that Fox-Doerr, 52, conspired with her alleged lover, convicted murderer Larry Richmond Sr., to ambush and kill her husband.

According to court records, Fox-Doerr has pleaded not guilty to charges of aiding, inducing, or causing murder and conspiracy to commit murder, both of which are Level 1 felonies, for that alleged murder-conspiracy plot.

Richmond, 46, is scheduled to stand trial in August. He did not testify as a state witness at Fox-Doerr's trial.

Prosecutors contend that Richmond shot and killed Doerr, 51, outside the home he shared with his wife on Feb. 26, 2019, with a powerful Taurus Judge revolver that fired a mix of standard pistol ammunition and shotgun-like projectiles.

The Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office pronounced Doerr dead at the scene. Doerr served with the Evansville Fire Department for 28 years, and has been described by his colleagues and the Evansville Police Department as a consummate professional and "hero."

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.

Levco and Moers held off on presenting footage of the interrogation to jurors until Monday morning. In that footage, jurors heard Fox-Doerr repeatedly tell detectives that she could not think of any phone calls that she had failed to mention to police in the immediate aftermath of Doerr's killing.

But when confronted with official records from her cell phone provider that showed Richmond had called her the night of the shooting, Fox-Doerr ultimately admitted that Richmond had, in fact, called her and that they spoke for about five minutes.

"(You said) nothing about any calling until we pulled it out of you," a detective told Fox-Doerr.

"I didn't tell anybody to hurt my husband!" Fox-Doerr shouted in reply. She went on to claim that Richmond had called to ask what she and Doerr planned to do that weekend. Fox-Doerr repeatedly denied ever having discussed a murder plot with Richmond.

"It makes it look like I did it when I didn't," Fox-Doerr later told detectives.

Former FBI Task Force Officer Jeff Hands conducted portions of the interrogation that jurors reviewed Monday. Under cross examination from Fox-Doerr's lead attorney, Mark Phillips, Hands admitted that he had not reviewed any evidence or witness testimony that could show Fox-Doerr had spoken with Richmond about committing a murder.

"You're not aware of 'Becky' (Fox-Doerr) talking to anyone about killing anybody, correct?" Phillips asked Hands.

"Yes," Hands replied.

Hands' answer to Phillips' question points to the circumstantial nature of the state's case against Fox-Doerr.

Prosecutors and Fox-Doerr are in agreement that she deleted the phone call from Richmond. But investigators have not been able to obtain a conclusive account of what the two spoke about.

Vanderburgh County Superior Court Judge Robert Pigman adjourned Monday's proceedings just before 4:30 p.m., with Levco informing the judge immediately thereafter that the state would rest its case.

Phillips told the Courier & Press Fox-Doerr would present a defense to jurors beginning Tuesday. When the defense rests its case, both sides will present their closing arguments before jurors begin deliberations.

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