Former Police Officer Sentenced to Life plus 50 Years
LA PLATA, MD—Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County announced that on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, visiting Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge Erik H. Nyce sentenced Richard Travess Conway, 28 of Waldorf, to an overall sentence of Life plus 50 years in prison for the murder of Robert Mange, conspiring and attempting to murder Krystal Mange, and the reckless endangerment of 4 others. Conway, a Prince George’s County police officer at the time of the crimes, conspired with and assisted his mother, Caroline Conway.
At 5:45 PM on May 20, 2015, officers responded to the McDonalds at Mall Circle in Waldorf for a shooting. Once on the scene, officers found two adult victims, Robert Mange, 25 of Smithfield, VA, and his pregnant wife Krystal Mange, now 26, of Smithfield, VA, with gunshot wounds. Robert Mange was pronounced dead at the scene. Krystal Mange — who was 7 months pregnant at the time –was critically injured but survived. Her unborn child also survived. During her medical treatment on the scene, Krystal Mange told police that Caroline Conway, the mother of Richard Conway, Krystal’s ex-boyfriend and father of her 2 children, shot her and her husband.
An investigation into the shooting revealed that the victims were involved in an ongoing heated child custody battle with Richard Conway. On the day of the shooting, Richard Conway dropped his mother off near the McDonalds so she could execute the plan to kill Krystal Mange. Robert and Krystal Mange were sitting in their vehicle in the McDonalds parking lot, which was the Court ordered location for the visitation exchange of the children, when Caroline Conway jumped into the back seat. She had a gun in her hand and demanded that Robert and Krystal hand over their cellphones so that they were not able to call for help. Caroline Conway then forced Krystal Mange to call Richard Conway and tell him that the meeting time and location for the children’s exchange would be changed to 7:30 PM in La Plata. Fearing for himself, his wife and his unborn child, Robert Mange tried to disarm Caroline Conway at which point Caroline opened fire. Both Robert and Krystal fled the car. Robert fell to the ground by the driver side door. Caroline followed Robert out of the vehicle, stood over him and shot him three more times. Caroline Conway then circled around the car looking for Krystal. Caroline Conway found Krystal hiding on the other side of the car, shot her twice, then fled the scene.
As she was leaving the scene, Caroline called Richard and told him where to pick her up. Richard picked her up on Old Washington Road and drove her directly to the home of family acquaintances. While at that residence, Caroline admitted to the shooting. She changed her clothing and cleaned up in the bathroom. Witnesses at the residence reported that Richard placed the murder weapon, which was issued to him by the PGPD, in a plastic trash bag along with the clothing Caroline took off. Conway’s service weapon nor Caroline’s clothes have ever been recovered. The witness accounts were corroborated by home video surveillance.
At approximately 7:30 PM, in an attempt to create an alibi, Richard Conway called and texted Krystal Mange’s phone. He left messages each time asking where she was. This was done at 7:30 PM because Krystal Mange, at Carolyn’s orders, had called Richard and told him that they were changing the location and time to 7:30 PM. At the time of these phone calls Richard knew that Krystal had been shot and there would be no exchange.
The Conways then returned to their home where police had already set up a perimeter and both were detained.
State’s Attorney Tony Covington in commenting on an appropriate sentence, said, “The State is asking for a life sentence. During this custody case, Richard Conway repeatedly threatened to kill Krystal Mange. His mother also threatened to kill her if she tried to gain custody of the children. After the many lies they told to wrest custody from Krystal didn’t work, they conspired, planned and carried out this heinous crime. They killed Robert and almost killed Krystal– not to even mention her unborn child. That deserves a life sentence.”
Assistant State’s Attorney Francis J. Granados told the Court at sentencing that, “This crime could not have happened without the defendant. That was his gun, his children, and him driving around that afternoon. Despite his lies, he knew exactly what his mother was going to do. He exploited the trust the community placed in him to use his weapon responsibly. He used it to commit a murder. Richard Conway represents a continued threat, not to the public, but to Krystal Mange and her family. We ask that you never let that happen again.”
The judge, agreeing with Granados, stated, “I’m satisfied that a sentence above guidelines is appropriate. There was, in my view, significant evidence of planning of which the jury could determine its verdict. The plan to murder the mother of your children and her husband, and the amount of effort that went into the plan, makes the nature of this conduct especially vicious and heinous.”
CONVICTED
- Second degree Murder of Robert Mange
- Use of a Firearm in Murder of Robert Mange
- Attempted First Degree Murder of Krystal Mange
- Use of Firearm in the Attempted Murder of Krystal Mange
- Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder of Krystal Mange
- First Degree Assault of Krystal Mange
- Use of Firearm in the First Degree Assault of Krystal Mange
- Reckless Endangerment of Michael Hinchy, Joseph Rice, Niy’Airee Brown, and Nisere Brown
SENTENCE
Life plus 50 years