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12-27-2005, 12:03 AM
Posted on Fri, Dec. 23, 2005
MANATEE - Richard E. Henderson Jr.'s estranged wife visited him for the first time at the Manatee County jail Thursday, unleashing a one-hour roller coaster of mixed emotions.
As she walked toward the jail, shaking in fear, Brittany Wilde admitted, "I'm so scared. Being here, knowing what he did and not knowing what he's going to say."
Henderson, 20, confessed to investigators that he killed four family members with a 2½-foot metal pipe in their Myakka City home on Thanksgiving.
The last time Wilde talked to Henderson was in May, when he was released from jail on other charges.
As Wilde reached the bottom of the stairwell at D Pod, just feet from the door that would lead her into the 5-by-5-foot area where she would spend the next hour, accompanied by a Herald reporter, she broke down in tears.
Composing herself, she opened the door to the visitation area and saw a shackled Henderson smirking from behind the Plexiglas window that separated the two.
"How can you smile?" Wilde asked, wiping tears from her eyes.
"It was the cough medicine, the Xanax," Henderson said, referring to the killings.
In a previous interview with The Herald, Henderson disclosed his recreational usage of Coricidin, a cough medicine.
Wilde spoke of the Henderson family's daily routine and asked how he could say he didn't plan the killings.
"They were all in separate rooms, Richard," Wilde said.
"It's the anti-social, bipolar," Henderson said of his mental problems. "Every year it got worse, and the drugs made it worse. Not getting help made it worse."
As Henderson and Wilde talked, they both said they had nightmares about the slain family - Henderson's father, Richard Sr.; his mother, Jeaneane; his 11-year-old brother, Jacob; and his grandmother, June.
Henderson referred to a recent story in The Herald in which Wilde said she feared for her life, and her daughter's.
"How could you say that? I would never harm you or her," Henderson said.
Wilde laughed sarcastically and reminded Henderson of times he threatened her in the past.
Wilde then blurted, "You killed your 11-year-old-brother, your mother, the person who you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."
Henderson replied, "You think it doesn't bother me? I didn't know what I was doing. I felt sorry while I did it. Britt, I'm sorry. You know I loved my family. They didn't see or feel anything. It was spontaneous. At least they didn't feel any pain."
Henderson talked of the state's recent decision to seek the death penalty if he's convicted of four counts of first-degree murder.
"I'm not afraid to die, but I want to live to help other people like me," Henderson said. "I'm not trying to plead insanity."
Wilde replied, "Because you're not."
Henderson questioned her response.
"I can't believe you've been with me for eight years and you think I'm normal. You can't say you didn't know I had problems."
Henderson said that if he received help, the killings may have never happened.
"I was trying. I was going to anger management," Henderson said. "I couldn't find a job because of my record. I had no money. I just wanted a place of my own, but I was only making $128 a week, $80 of which went to you and the rest for probation."
Wilde explained how the money will help their daughter.
"That money helped with Christmas this year. At least you know she'll have a good Christmas," Wilde said.
One of the first questions Henderson asked Wilde was how their daughter was doing.
"I guess you'll never know," Wilde said.
Later in the visit, Henderson pleaded, "Please don't tell her I was a bad person," as the two began crying.
Prior to the visit, Wilde said she plans on telling her daughter about her father when she's older.
"I'm going to tell her, 'Dad did something really bad and he's being punished for it and we can't change it,' " Wilde said.
Halfway into the visit, Henderson questioned why she had come to see him.
"Are you going to visit me in prison or just this one time to yell at me?" Henderson asked.
The couple, who split last year, met on the school bus in August 1998 at Haile Middle School. Wilde was in sixth grade, Henderson in eighth grade.
Wilde had just moved to the area, and Henderson was the first person she met.
Immediately after the jailhouse visit Wilde was left, once again, with mixed emotions.
"I'm confused. Something in my heart told me to come, so I did," Wilde said.
When asked if she would visit Henderson again - which was also thelast question he asked before he was led back to his cell - Wilde simply shrugged.
The Herald was unable to contact Henderson's attorneys Thursday night for comment.
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/new...al/13469938.htm (http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/13469938.htm)
MANATEE - Richard E. Henderson Jr.'s estranged wife visited him for the first time at the Manatee County jail Thursday, unleashing a one-hour roller coaster of mixed emotions.
As she walked toward the jail, shaking in fear, Brittany Wilde admitted, "I'm so scared. Being here, knowing what he did and not knowing what he's going to say."
Henderson, 20, confessed to investigators that he killed four family members with a 2½-foot metal pipe in their Myakka City home on Thanksgiving.
The last time Wilde talked to Henderson was in May, when he was released from jail on other charges.
As Wilde reached the bottom of the stairwell at D Pod, just feet from the door that would lead her into the 5-by-5-foot area where she would spend the next hour, accompanied by a Herald reporter, she broke down in tears.
Composing herself, she opened the door to the visitation area and saw a shackled Henderson smirking from behind the Plexiglas window that separated the two.
"How can you smile?" Wilde asked, wiping tears from her eyes.
"It was the cough medicine, the Xanax," Henderson said, referring to the killings.
In a previous interview with The Herald, Henderson disclosed his recreational usage of Coricidin, a cough medicine.
Wilde spoke of the Henderson family's daily routine and asked how he could say he didn't plan the killings.
"They were all in separate rooms, Richard," Wilde said.
"It's the anti-social, bipolar," Henderson said of his mental problems. "Every year it got worse, and the drugs made it worse. Not getting help made it worse."
As Henderson and Wilde talked, they both said they had nightmares about the slain family - Henderson's father, Richard Sr.; his mother, Jeaneane; his 11-year-old brother, Jacob; and his grandmother, June.
Henderson referred to a recent story in The Herald in which Wilde said she feared for her life, and her daughter's.
"How could you say that? I would never harm you or her," Henderson said.
Wilde laughed sarcastically and reminded Henderson of times he threatened her in the past.
Wilde then blurted, "You killed your 11-year-old-brother, your mother, the person who you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."
Henderson replied, "You think it doesn't bother me? I didn't know what I was doing. I felt sorry while I did it. Britt, I'm sorry. You know I loved my family. They didn't see or feel anything. It was spontaneous. At least they didn't feel any pain."
Henderson talked of the state's recent decision to seek the death penalty if he's convicted of four counts of first-degree murder.
"I'm not afraid to die, but I want to live to help other people like me," Henderson said. "I'm not trying to plead insanity."
Wilde replied, "Because you're not."
Henderson questioned her response.
"I can't believe you've been with me for eight years and you think I'm normal. You can't say you didn't know I had problems."
Henderson said that if he received help, the killings may have never happened.
"I was trying. I was going to anger management," Henderson said. "I couldn't find a job because of my record. I had no money. I just wanted a place of my own, but I was only making $128 a week, $80 of which went to you and the rest for probation."
Wilde explained how the money will help their daughter.
"That money helped with Christmas this year. At least you know she'll have a good Christmas," Wilde said.
One of the first questions Henderson asked Wilde was how their daughter was doing.
"I guess you'll never know," Wilde said.
Later in the visit, Henderson pleaded, "Please don't tell her I was a bad person," as the two began crying.
Prior to the visit, Wilde said she plans on telling her daughter about her father when she's older.
"I'm going to tell her, 'Dad did something really bad and he's being punished for it and we can't change it,' " Wilde said.
Halfway into the visit, Henderson questioned why she had come to see him.
"Are you going to visit me in prison or just this one time to yell at me?" Henderson asked.
The couple, who split last year, met on the school bus in August 1998 at Haile Middle School. Wilde was in sixth grade, Henderson in eighth grade.
Wilde had just moved to the area, and Henderson was the first person she met.
Immediately after the jailhouse visit Wilde was left, once again, with mixed emotions.
"I'm confused. Something in my heart told me to come, so I did," Wilde said.
When asked if she would visit Henderson again - which was also thelast question he asked before he was led back to his cell - Wilde simply shrugged.
The Herald was unable to contact Henderson's attorneys Thursday night for comment.
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/new...al/13469938.htm (http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/13469938.htm)