Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

WARWICK -- The defense rested today in the retrial of James Richardson, accused of murdering Margaret Duffy-Stephenson of Warwick in 2005.

Closing arguments are scheduled for tomorrow, with jury deliberation expected to begin around 1 p.m.

This morning, jurors heard testimony from Richardson's mother, Edythe Richardson.

Edythe Richardson testified, as she did last year during the first trial that ended in a hung jury, that her son was in the family home, at 45 Clearview Driive, Cranston, the night of the murder.

Richardson is charged with burglary and first-degree murder of Margaret Duffy-Stephenson, 37, a teacher's aide for special-needs students in East Greenwich.

Duffy-Stephenson was found stabbed to death on Nov. 18, 2005, after she returned home early from a family wedding in Florida. Her husband and the couple's 3-year-old son, Robert, had stayed in Florida to visit with relatives.

Her body was found dead at the bottom of stairs with neck and body stab wounds. The police said her attacker ransacked a downstairs office and $11,000 from a locked safe.

James Richardson worked for the landscaping business owned by Duffy-Stephenson's husband, James Stephenson III, and he routinely house-sat for the family when they went on vacation.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Talia Buford.

 Tags  Cranston East Greenwich James Richardson Margaret Duffy-Stephenson murder trial Warwick

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