(CNS) - A Poway business owner arrested on
suspicion of having a sexual relationship with his underage niece, and also a person of
interest in the deaths of his wife and mother-in-law, was in the medical ward of the Central Jail Saturday.
Michael Eugene Richardson, 57, of Eastlake, was booked Thursday on four counts of statutory rape, three counts of oral copulation with a minor and one
count eachof raping a minor with a foreign object and making violent threats,
according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Sheriff's Lt. Mike Munsey said he did not know why Richardson was in
the downtown jail's medical ward.
Richardson's first court appearance is set for Tuesday afternoon in
El Cajon, said Deputy District Attorney Katherine Flaherty.
Richardson, owner of a Poway auto repair business, is accused of having a sexual relationship with his
17-year- old niece earlier this year. He was previously arrested in March, but
the District Attorney's Office did not file charges.
The girl's mother then applied for a restraining order against Richardson, which was denied when the teen refused to cooperate,
authorities said.
Richardson's wife, Thao Richardson, 39, and 72-year-old
mother-in-law, Than Lyi, were found dead Tuesday in a car off the side of state Route
67 north of Lakeside.
Investigators quickly determined the women's injuries weren't
consistent
with a car wreck and opened a homicide investigation that centered on
Richardson.
Authorities have not said how the women died or speculated on a
motive.
Richardson, who spent time in a North Carolina prison for a 1976 robbery, escaped in 1982 and spent 18 years as a fugitive before being
re- arrested. He was paroled in 2004.
Chula Vista police Lt. Scott Arsenault said new information involving the niece came to light this week, prompting Richardson's arrest while
they investigate the two deaths.
