La Plata, MD – Anger and fear are the two most destructive forces in life. Consider Richard Travis Conway, 28, the former Prince George’s County police officer found guilty Jan. 11 of attempted first-degree murder of Krystal Mange, who didn’t say a word during his sentencing Tuesday, May 9 before Charles County Circuit Court Judge Erik Nyce.
His mother, Caroline Marie Conway, 53 of Waldorf, was sentenced to life in prison without parole the day before in the so-called “McDonald’s shooting” at Mall Circle in Waldorf.
Nyce sentenced the defendant to 30 years for second-degree murder in the death of Mange’s husband Robert, another 20 years to be served consecutively for the use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime, and on Count 4, attempted first-degree murder of his former girlfriend, Krystal Mange, the judge sentenced Conway to life in prison.
“In my view, Robert Mange did save Krystal,” Nyce said. “He was a hero. The level of harm was excessive. Her last moments with her husband was watching him bleed out under the Jeep. And then there was the defendant’s own statement when he was being interviewed by the investigators, ‘I hate her. I hate him even more.’ To have children with someone whose hatred has no bounds, those are extraordinary circumstances.”
“Because of the actions of Richard Conway, Robert will never be able to meet his daughter,” Krystal Mange told the court. “Every major milestone in her life, Rob will miss. My children visit their father in the cemetery. They talk to a headstone.”
“Make no mistake,” Charles County States Attorney Tony Covington said. “This crime does not take place without his actions.”
Assistant States Attorney Fran Granados told Nyce that the other victims in the shooting who happened to be in the McDonalds drive-through when the incident occurred May 20, 2015, decided not to attend the sentencing or make statements to the court.
“They are good, decent people,” he said. “They told me, ‘Our losses can’t compare to the loss of the Mange family.”
Granados outlined the long, sad story of a custody battle between Conway, his mother, and Krystal Mange. The prosecutor alleged that the defendant used his status as a police officer to abduct the children from their mother in Virginia, obtaining custody where they had the two young children 22 days out of the month.
“That wasn’t good enough,” he said, citing allegations that Krystal and Robert Mange were sexually assaulting the children, something an investigation failed to find “a shred of evidence” to support.
Granados also played an audio of a conversation between Conway and his girlfriend, who told him, “you’ve been lying to me for two f——-g years.” In the recording, the defendant maintained that he did not know what his mother intended to do.
“You lied to me since day one,” she can be heard saying.
Defense Attorney C.T. Wilson said that while the state was asking for life, he was “asking for something lower.” He said the state had offered a 30-year sentence and that’s what he felt was appropriate.
Covington said that offer was contingent on Conway telling them where the gun was and to testify against his mother, both of which he refused to do.
The state also alleged that while in jail, Conway attempted to bribe a fellow inmate in a “murder-for-hire” hit against local attorney Rudy Carrico, who had defended Krystal Mange in her child custody battles with him.
In addition to the major offenses, the judge also gave him five five-year sentences on the reckless endangerment charges and gave him credit for 715 days of time served.
“During the trial and sentencing, the defendant had the theory that he was under the influence of the mother, that she acted alone,” the judge said. “In my view, he acted in concert with her and accepted her influence.”
Originally posted on The BayNet:
http://www.thebaynet.com/articles/0517/formerpgcopsentencedformurder.html