Mom plans Richey's return to Scotland

But once he's finished with the meal of stuffed sheep stomach, turnips, and potatoes - a meal he requested - his mother, Eileen, has another treat for him. A diet.

"He's going to have to lose weight," she said. "That's my plan."

Tomorrow, Richey is expected to leave the Putnam County jail for the nearby courthouse, where he intends to enter pleas of no contest to charges of attempted involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment, and breaking and entering, none of which would involve an admission that he set the June 30, 1986, apartment fire that killed 2-year-old Cynthia K. Collins of Columbus Grove, Ohio.

In a case that has made it to the U.S. Supreme Court and back again, Richey's aggravated murder conviction was ultimately overturned a second time by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati in August.

The court determined his defense lawyer was inadequate at trial when it came to challenging questionable arson evidence.

Richey should have been home just before Christmas, but a trip to the emergency room with chest pains delayed his plea hearing until tomorrow.

Tests showed 60 percent blockage in one of his arteries, but he's opted to wait until his return to Scotland before having surgery.

"He's still having chest pains, but he seems to be OK,'' said his father, Jim Richey. "Or at least he's pretending that until he gets to Scotland. He wants to get back to his home."

As a dual U.S.-British citizen, Richey is eligible for free national health care in the United Kingdom.

"The fact that he's had two to three heart attacks is a sign it's been very difficult for him," said Marc Callcutt of Reprieve UK, who plans to greet Mr. Richey during a Wednesday morning layover at London's Heathrow Airport.

"He genuinely thought he was coming home [by Christmas]," he said. "In January, 2005, he thought he had 90 days, and that was taken away from him. He's endured a lot of stress and strain."

While Richey maintained his innocence over the years, he insisted he would never accept a plea bargain.

His Boston attorney, Ken Parsigian, said the plea is the best way to end his client's ordeal without admitting guilt for setting the fire that killed the little girl.

"Really what it came down to for us was when they were willing to give up the only two things this was ever about, murder and arson, basically saying they can't prove murder and they can't prove arson," he said.

The attempted involuntary manslaughter charge, Mr. Parsigian said, merely has Richey admitting he was supposed to baby-sit the child but did not fulfill that duty.

Together, the maximum prison sentence for the three felonies he plans to plead no contest to totals 21 years - 15 years for attempted involuntary manslaughter, five years for child endangerment, and one year for breaking and entering. Richey will have served about 190 days more than that.

As part of the agreement, Mr. Parsigian said Richey agreed to leave the country within 24 hours, although, as a U.S. citizen, he's free to return at any time. He said Prosecutor Gary Lammers was concerned "about people who might want to take revenge against Kenny."

Mr. Lammers could not be reached for comment.

Richey also will agree not to sue the state for wrongful imprisonment or seek any other damages, Mr. Parsigian said.

Richey is expected to spend his first evening of freedom at the Cloverdale home of his brother, Steve. But he may not be able to meet with his 22-year-old son, Sean, as he'd originally hoped.

Sean Richey traveled from Minnesota to visit his father before Christmas, but he was arrested when he arrived at the county sheriff's office on warrants from home for failing to appear at a pretrial hearing on misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct charges. Minnesota authorities picked him up on Thursday.

Richey's ex-wife, Wendy, said she was trying to come up with $3,200 to bail Sean Richey out of jail in Minnesota so the two of them could drive to Ohio for tomorrow's hearing.

"We're not sure it's going to work," she said.

On Tuesday, his first full day of freedom, Richey is expected to fly overnight to Edinburgh where he grew up, the son of Eileen, a Scottish woman who briefly lived in the United States, and Jim, a former American serviceman now living in the state of Washington.

Richey will move into his mother's flat in the residential neighborhood of Dalry near the Scottish capital's center.

Mrs. Richey told The Blade that she plans to meet her son at the airport and drive him to her flat, but she expressed concern about what could be heavy media attention in her quiet neighborhood.

"I'm worried sick," she said. "I hope they don't bother my neighbors in any way."

Richey's ex-fiancee, Karen Torley of Glasgow, about 50 miles away, plans to steer clear of the airport after staying in frequent phone contact with Richey over the years and visiting him when he was on Ohio's former death row at the Mansfield Correctional Institution.

"It will be very, very difficult for him to adjust because he's been almost alone for a long time and not used to crowds," she said.

Contact Jim Provance at: "This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it!" or 614-221-0496.

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