Richey nervous about going before cameras

But the reasons to be nervous have nothing to do with facing the death penalty again. He's more worried about the way he looks and how he will appear in front of an expected crush of cameras broadcasting the brief bond hearing around the world.

"I'm a little overweight," he said adding, "I'm a little vain."

Richey, 43, is back in Putnam County to be retried for the 1986 fire death of 2-year-old Cynthia Collins in a Columbus Grove apartment complex. He was convicted at a 1987 trial and sentenced to death but a federal appellate court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial.

Richey has maintained his innocence and said he plans to be free someday.

If he does get out he said he would like to go on an extreme makeover show to improve his appearance.

"I want liposuction as soon as I get out to at least get rid of some of the fat," he said. "I want to erase what the years in prison have put on. I look a hell of a lot older than I should."

He also said he plans on walking a lot and exercising to lose weight and firm up.

During his early years on death row he used to work out. A photo from the early 1990s showed a fit Richey flexing his muscles.

Since that time he has given up working out. He lost motivation after the friends he exercised with were no long around, he said.

"They ended up executing them," he said.

Death row has taken its toll in other ways, he said. Richey has developed a heart problem and has diabetes.

Before he gets out, though, he has to prove his innocence, or at least stop prosecutors from proving he's guilty. His fight begins Tuesday as his attorneys seek bond to try to get him out of jail.

Richey said he may wear his Scottish glengarry cap into the courtroom and has even thought about wearing a kilt but feared some may look badly at him for it. Additionally, he would have to obtain a kilt, somehow, he said.

Richey has been accused of using his Scottish heritage to advance his appeals and his fight to get off death row. He denies that, saying he's just showing pride in his heritage.

"Never in my entire life did I call America home. This is just a country I was living in. Scotland has always been my home and always will be," he said.

He's also been accused of developing a thick Scottish accent during the process, something he vehemently denies.

"I've always talked the same way I've talked my whole life," he said. "I'm from Scotland. I was raised over there. This is the only way I know how to talk."

Richey's stay in the Putnam County jail has been an experience for him so far. During his first few days, a man who could see him through his cell door from another housing dorm would look at Richey and slash his hand across his neck implying Richey is going to die.

That angered Richey, who wants to know the man's name in hopes of paying him a visit if he is released someday.

"I have no idea who this idiot is," he said. "It [angers] me ... because I can't get to him. It's fools like that who think they are tough."

Besides the inmates, Richey said the guards at the Putnam County jail have been better to him than those on Ohio's death row, where he said guards often treated him poorly.

"Most of the guards are pretty good. I really don't have any problem. There are a couple who you can tell loathe me with a passion. The way they look at me. The way they talk to me. They don't disrespect me, it's just the tone of voice," he said.

Richey's days are spent by himself in a small housing dorm. He has access to a pay phone and spends a lot of time on it. It's been an adjustment for him because he at least got to be outside his cell around his friends on death row for a few hours a day, he said.

"It's nice to be treated better but I miss my friends," he said. "I got along great with the guys on death row. I got a lot of friends on death row. Some of the most decent guys I ever met are right on death row."

Being alone can make Richey numb at times but it hasn't made him nuts, yet, he said.

"I'm sitting here getting bored to tears," he said.

Richey has a strong sense of humor, often cracking jokes. When asked how he can stay so cheerful after 20 years on death row, he said his sense of humor is one of the few things he's been able to maintain through the years.

Besides the pay phone, he has a television just like he did on death row. He loves watching movies, television shows and an occasional sporting event. He also has a window to the outside that overlooks the first home he lived in when he moved to Putnam County from Scotland when he was 18.

Richey also gets The Lima News and it upsets him to read letters to the editor seeing people he does not know say bad things about him without knowing anything about his case other than rumors others have told.

He criticizes those people calling them "idiots" who listen to rumors instead of thinking for themselves and looking into his case. He also said it's why his trial should be moved from Putnam County so he can get a fair trial.

"It just shows you the type of hypocrisy that is going on. The type of ignorance," he said.

During his years on death row, Richey has been supported by Karen Torley, who once was his fiancée. The two remain good friends. Richey said he will always love her but he has since fallen back in love with his ex-wife, Wendy Richey, who lives in Minnesota.

Richey fell back in love with Wendy Richey a few years ago when Richey called her home wanting to speak to his son, Sean. Sean was not there but Wendy Richey answered and they struck up a conversation that spurred romantic feelings again, he said.

Although other women write him with hopes of romance, Richey said he is a one-woman man focusing on his ex-wife.