The 2006 Richmond Spree Murders - A Brief Look

Described by MSNBC contributor and former FBI profiler, Clint Van Zandt as ‘In Cold Blood II”, The Richmond Spree Killings rocked the east coast in late 2005 and early 2006. Ricky Gray and Ray Dandridge, nephew and uncle, though only 8 months apart in age, went on a 7 day killing binge and left an entire state frightened in their wake. 

November 5^th 2005:

The badly beaten body of Treva Terrell Gray was found in a shallow grave in Washington, Pennsylvania. Treva had married Ricky Gray just six months prior and the newlyweds lived in a home owned by Treva’s parents. Ray Dandridge also lived with the couple after his release from prison in the month before after serving 10 years for armed robbery.

According to Treva’s parents, the couple fought constantly, both verbally and physically. Gray had claw marks on his arm, presumably from Treva on the day her body was found ad he was questioned by police. It is common practice for investigators to questioned those closest to the victim in the event of a murder. Washington police did question both Gray and Dandridge in Treva’s death but did not considered them suspects. Treva’s mother and stepfather believed that the police were lax on investigating Treva’s death, going so far as to suggest that she had died due to a drug –overdose. In fact, Treva’s death had not been considered a murder, just suspicious, until after a confession by Gray in early 2006.

A week after Treva’s body was found Treva’s parents evicted the wayward men from their property forcing them to move back to Arlington, Virginia on Christmas Day 2005. The men had been traveling to Virginia beforehand however…

December 18^th 2005:

            Sheryl Warner, a 37 – year old legal secretary and mother of three, was found shot and hung by electrical cord in the basement of her burning home in Reva, Virginia. Earlier that same day she had been speaking to her father on the phone and while speaking to him there was a knock at the door and two-distressed motorist who asked to use the phone. When his daughter failed to call him back, the father immediately called police. Her body was found later that day.

December 31^st 2005:

            26 year – old Ryan Carey was assaulted but survived by two men that were in in front of his parent’s house in Arlington, Virginia. He sustained extensive beatings and stab wounds to the chest, neck, and arms, causing him to permanently loose use of his right arm. Carey spent two weeks in a coma but thankfully recovered. 

January 1^st 2006:

            Kathryn and Bryan Harvey and their two young daughters were found beaten, stabbed, and bound with electrical cord and tape in the basement of their burning home in Virginia’s capital city, Richmond. Kathryn, the owner of a local sociality toy - shop, and Bryan an indie member of the college band, House of Freaks. Both Bryan and Kathryn died of extensive blunt force trauma, their 9 year – old daughter Stella of blunt force trauma and smoke inhalation, and their 4 year old daughter Ruby died of multiple stab wounds one piercing her small lung.

            The Harvey’s death received a large amount of media attention because of the somewhat local notoriety the couple had in the Richmond area, as well as the killers’ brutality toward the couple’s small daughters.

January 3^rd 2006:

            A couple in Chesterfield County Virginia were robbed by two men and a woman who had gained entry into the couple’s home by using the need of directions as a ruse. The robbers would make away with an 800 dollar check and some electronics. The husband persuaded the home invaders to spare their lives because of the wife’s disability and the need for the husband to help her.

January 6^th 2006:

            Another Chesterfield County resident called police, expressing concern about a friend’s daughter Ashley Baskerville, the caller also was apprehensive about Gray and Dandridge who had been living with Ashley and her parents. The caller stated that Ashley had been dating one. Or possibly both of the men, and that they suspected them in the Harvey murder that had taken place just a few days prior.

            The police had already linked items from the Chesterfield home invasion to the Harvey home and immediately after the call had assembled a team to storm Ashley’s home.

January 7^th 2006:

            Gray and Dandridge are arrested in Philadelphia and about an hour after their arrest Dandridge confessed to killing Ashley Baskerville and her parents. Gray was a bit harder to convince and after12 hours he asked to speak to detectives, when he confessed to using a hammer and a kitchen knife to kill the Harvey’s. He went on to say that:

“I don’t believe that sorry is strong enough. None of this was necessary.”

He also admitted to beating his wife Treva to death, as well as the murders of the Tucker – Baskervilles and the attack on Ryan Carey.

January 8^th 2006:

            Investigators formally identified Ashley Baskerville as an accomplish in the robberies in Chesterfield County and in her own home. She was also implemented as a look –out in the Harvey home, she was found wearing Bryan Harvey’s wedding band on the day of her death.

            During the robbery in her home Ashley allowed herself to be bound and posed as a victim in front of her parents. But by then Gray and Dandridge had grown tired of her and decided amongst themselves that she too was to be killed.

February 9 2006:

            Ricky Gray is charged with five counts of capital murder and a slew of other charges, he pleaded not guilty on the grounds that he suffered extensive physical and sexual abuse during childhood and his PCP use while he carried out his crimes.  Dandridge was charged in Pennsylvania with three counts of murder for the Tucker – Baskerville’s. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life without parole.

October 23^rd 2006:

            Gray is sentenced to death, his execution was set for June 16^th 2011, he execution was stayed however due to appeals and the like and he has yet to be executed by the state of Virginia.

On a personal note, Gray attended Massanutten Military Academy for his 10^th grade year, a school that I also attended for a brief time. It is eerie to think I walked the same halls after him… 

Lorenzo Gilyard - A brief look into the Kansas City Strangler

In the summer of 2004 Kansas City wasn’t in pursuit of just one serial killer. Lorenzo Gilyard was being tried for the murder of 7 women, spanning both decades and racial lines. Though he was tried for 7 murders he was suspected for at least 14. He eventually would be convicted and sentenced to 6 consecutive life terms, one of the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. But, unlike the Prospect Corridor Killer, Lorenzo had started years before in 1977, when he was just 27 years old.

Born in 1950, Lorenzo did not grow up in an idyllic 50’s household. His father was convicted of rape in 1970, a brother convicted of a drug related murder in 1989, and a sister spent 10 years in prison for the murder of one of her johns. He himself was a convicted child –molester having taken liberties with a 13 - year old daughter of a friend. He seems to have stated his depravity as most serial killers due by pursuing victims with the intention of unconsentual sex; he was also known for bullying and assaulting women. Between the ages of 19 and 24 he was suspected of 5 rapes in the area, but never convicted.

Gilyard was in an on –again –off –again relationship with a woman for years, spending time with her in Missouri and Los Angeles, eventually marrying her in 1991 when he seems to have put his life straight and stopped killing. This is unusual for serial killers who often do not stop killing until they are dead or incarcerated. Before the time he was married he murdered at least 14 women, all prostitutes or living lives fueled by drugs. All except one, who was a mentally ill woman who frequented the streets and accepted rides from strangers. This is apparently how she met her demise as it is thought that Gilyard drove his vehicle and picked up the woman before killing them. All of the woman were strangled, many with things obstructing their airways, such as paper towels and articles of clothing. The 10 grade educated trash collection supervisor left the bodies in secluded and unobstructed places in Kansas City, much like the Prospect Corridor Killer, which begs the question that if these men had grown up in an area that wasn’t overrun with financial plight, thus producting many abandonded homes and places to hide they may not have had the opportunity or inclination to carry out their crimes.

It is ironic that the Prospect Corridor Killer referred to his victims as ‘scum’, as clearly his actions and motives behind them make his the literal scum of the earth. Gilyard’s story is rich with irony as well. As he collected trash for nearly 30 years, he never made the connection between himself and the garbage that paid his bills. These men are monsters, and black, white, or other their victims cannot be ignored or forgotten.

Most think if serial killing as a ‘white –thing’, something that middle aged men with decent jobs like Dennis Rader or Gary Ridgeway. But the truth is that there are many black serial killers who feed on the unwise and the vulnerable and often their stories get ignored. Names like Ted Bundy and Jeffery Dahmer, and of course Charles Manson have taken on celebrity status in the minds of most Americans. I can’t help but think they are ‘famous’, or maybe more aptly put ‘interesting’ because they ARE white and they were killing predominantly white victims. Though the Prospect Corridor Killer and Lorenzo Gilyard aren’t any less guilty, any less sick, their stories go unnoticed because their victims were not white. But again, black, white, or purple they were people. Mothers, daughters, aunts, and friends. Someone cared about these women and now they are gone forever