The victim had been his sister's boyfriend, whom Richie had burned to death because, in his words, "I don't know. The guy was an asshole. What more do you want?" He thought of what he'd said and retracted it, saying, "Rather, I found him to be untrustworthy. How's that?" In an effort to impress his latest parole officer, Richie was trying to improve his vocabulary. "I can't promise I'll never kill anyone again," he once said, strapping a refrigerator to his back. "It's unrealistic to live your life within such strict parameters."