Details of police investigation and how ex-Autograph drummer Keni Richards’ dead body was discovered

Details of police investigation and how ex-Autograph drummer Keni Richards’ dead body was discovered

Back on April 11, 2017, Sleaze Roxx was the first online news publication to announce that former Autograph drummer Keni Richards had unfortunately passed away. At that time, Sleaze Roxx was asked to keep under wraps that Richards had been murdered given that a police investigation was underway to find his killer. In an interview with Shockwave Magazine later that month at the M3 Rock Festival, Autograph guitarist Steve Lynch revealed that there was a homicide investigation pending with respect to Richards‘ death.

Sleaze Roxx is now able to share more details about Richards‘ death. One of Richards‘ friends Matt Wilkinson spoke to Sleaze Roxx about how he discovered that Richards had passed away and how he was the subject of the police investigation afterwards.

Wilkinson stated: “My daughter, my friend, and I were helping Keni clean his yard for a few weeks before the murder happened. We started helping him out with food too, because we just genuinely loved the dude and would have helped him, anyway. Keni always told us that people were listening to him and what we were saying to him constantly. He also mentioned that “they” wanted his truck. Keni had been feeling down for a while and he immediately loved being around us because we loved being around him. He always mentioned that he felt irrelevant and that he didn’t have many fans anymore. We had decided to throw a surprise party for him on Saturday, April 8, 2017. The day of the party, my daughter, my friend, and I went over to his house and gave him and his dog, Beatrice, a couple of sandwiches we had bought them for breakfast. That was around 9:30 in the morning. We left them at his house and went back into town to take care of some other things such as my daughter needed to change clothes and we wanted to make sure we had everything ready for later that night.

At around 7:50 that night, my friend and I went to Keni‘s house to get him ready. When I went into his house, it was hard to see anything because he wasn’t a fan of direct lighting unless we was painting. I could see him laying on his bed but he wasn’t moving. Keni‘s dog Beatrice was laying next to his body. We tried to call her over, but she wouldn’t move. I went over to Keni‘s bed, shook his leg, and it was as cold as ice. I checked his pulse and he was dead. I went outside to tell my friend to call 911 even though I knew that he was dead already. I went back in and tried to give him CPR. I checked his pulse again and realized there was no helping him. I was upset and thought that he had overdosed, so I slapped his stomach. That’s when I realized there was blood all over his stomach, and enough of it to get all over my left hand. I went back outside. My friends were still in shock, so I grabbed the phone and called 911.

The 911 operator told me to search the house for a weapon. The first deputy to arrive made it to the scene in record time. Without ever separating me and my two friends, the deputy questioned us slightly, did gun residue tests, and let us leave without ever talking to a detective. The police then began to search the very dark yard with flashlights. The deputy kept accusing me of picking up meth from Keni until the other officers said they knew me and I didn’t use meth. I don’t use anything but pot. I don’t even drink. That is when the deputy’s focus turned. He let us go. I know they haven’t found Keni‘s killer yet. Every time I ask our local radio station KCDZ 107.7 FM in Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley [in California, USA], they keep telling me it was suicide. It can’t be a suicide if there is no weapon. Keni is better than that. He was a great friend and would give you the shirt off his back. I hope that my speaking out will help to catch his killer.”