A Montbello High School student accused of murdering classmate Contrell Townsend admitted today that he told people he had “messed up,” that he acted “excessively” and knew the incident was his fault.
Marcus Richardson, now 18, is accused of stabbing Townsend, 17, three times on Jan. 4, 2005, in the Montbello cafeteria.
Richardson, accused of second-degree murder, took the stand in his own defense. He said that from April 2004 until the stabbing, he carried the steak knife – which belonged to his mother – to school on a daily basis.
He said that his mother had found the knife once and made him promise not to take it to school. But he said he carried the weapon despite the promise and a ban against weapons at Denver schools.
Under cross-examination by prosecutor Tom Clinton, Richardson said he had received extensive boxing training lasting seven months from former Denver-based heavyweight contender Ron Lyle. Lyle fought both Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, scoring repeatedly against both men only to lose to both in late rounds.
Richardson said he’d been encouraged by his father to take the boxing lessons for self defense after he had been beaten by a gang of teenagers.
Under Clinton’s cross-examination, Richardson admitted during the fight with Townsend he had been able to free both hands – the hands he used to reach the knife in his pocket and take off the sheath that covered it. He said he stabbed Townsend three times.
Clinton suggested that instead of stabbing Townsend, he should have used his boxing training to end the fight.
Clinton: “He (Lyle) taught you good skills?”
Richardson: “Yes.”
Clinton: “Punches to the head and stomach?”
Richardson: “Yes.”
Clinton: “Both hands were free, so you could have punched him?”
Richardson: “Yes.”
The prosecutor showed Richardson photographs of Townsend’s wounds and described them as “deep holes,” a description Richardson agreed with.
Prior to the cross-examination, Richardson insisted that Townsend was the instigator of a series of incidents that day. He said Townsend first bumped into him in a hallway, then challenged him in the cafeteria to a fight outside. He then challenged him a second time in the cafeteria after the school principal’s presence outside aborted the first fight.
Richardson insisted that he never wanted to fight Townsend and had only followed him toward the school tennis courts the first time to see why Townsend was upset.
“I wanted to talk to him, solve the problem,” Richardson said.
He said on the second occasion in the cafeteria, Townsend, without provocation, jumped on him, body-slammed him three times and then placed him in choke-hold which made it impossible to breathe.
He said it was at that point that he pulled out his knife.
“I thought I had no choice – either get killed or be severely hurt,” Richardson said.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
