Testimony focuses on man who confessed to killing Sheila Box

HILLSBORO, Mo. — Testimony on Thursday centered around Romanze Mosby, the man who confessed to the 2000 murder of Sheila Box, during the second day of David Robinson’s case review.

Robinson was convicted in 2001 of killing Box in Sikeston, Missouri.

He continues to serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole but is hoping a series of hearings going on now will lead to his exoneration.

Four witnesses testified during the first day, but this time, only two were called before Judge Darrell Missey of Jefferson County, whom the Missouri Supreme Court named special master and tasked with studying the case evidence.

Both witnesses were men formerly incarcerated with Mosby, also of Sikeston, who confessed on tape in 2004 to killing Box.

Because no physical evidence ever has linked Robinson to the crime, Mosby’s confession lent a significant boost to Robinson’s continued efforts to prove his innocence.

The taped confession, however, thus far has been insufficient in that regard, because Mosby refused to authorize it formally and killed himself in 2009 after reading about a new Robinson appeal in a newspaper article.

Mosby’s suicide came just two months before he was due to be released from prison.

Vincent Hines is escorted out of the Jefferson County Courthouse by sheriff's deputies after testifying during the second of six days of testimony before a special master appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday in Hillsboro, Missouri.Laura Simon ~ Southeast Missourian

Michael Richardson and Vincent Hines were called to bolster that confession’s credibility by recalling times Mosby discussed the Box shooting with them while in prison.

Richardson recalled being incarcerated with Mosby from about 2002 to 2005 in South Central Correctional Center in Licking, Missouri.

Richardson, who grew up in Sikeston, said he was familiar with the Mosby and Robinson families — including Romanze and David — and had heard talk Robinson was doing time for a murder Mosby committed.

“Rumor was that detectives had come from Sikeston to speak with him (Mosby),” Richardson said. “And actually got him to confess to [the Box murder].”

But Richardson said Mosby approached him on the prison yard and told him the detectives were actually mad because he refused to tell them anything.

Mosby approached Richardson again, this time to talk about manslaughter.

Richardson was serving time for manslaughter, and Mosby probed him about the legal difference between manslaughter and murder.

Justin Robinson speaks with his brother, David Robinson's attorneys Jonathan Potts, Jim Wyrsch, Charles Weiss and Stephen Snodgrass after the second of six days of testimony Thursday at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Hillsboro, Missouri.Laura Simon ~ Southeast Missourian

Richardson said Mosby then told him about shooting “the white lady that David Robinson is locked up for ... [Mosby] didn’t actually say Sheila Box.”

“[He] came out with it as if it was eating him up on the inside, and he needed to tell someone he could trust,” Richardson said.

Richardson recalled directing Mosby to look up for himself the legal parameters for manslaughter in the prison’s law library and urging Mosby to rectify the situation.

Richardson said he told Mosby to “get it on out the way, because this man (Robinson) is locked up for something he didn’t do.”

But Richardson also cautioned Mosby against speaking too freely about the shooting.

“I told him it wouldn’t be wise to have these conversations with anybody else,” Richardson said. “[It’s] important to tell the truth to the necessary people; not inmates.”

The next witness, however, testified Mosby failed to heed Richardson’s advice.

In 2005, Vincent Hines was Mosby’s cellmate in the Licking prison, Hines testified.

He said he and Mosby had been talking about self-defense situations while eating in their cell when Mosby told him about shooting a woman in a botched drug deal.

Hines told the court he could not recall whether Mosby mentioned the race of the woman he shot, nor whether Mosby was buying or selling drugs when the shooting happened, but Hines said the thrust of the conversation was clear.

“He (Mosby) pulled first and shot her before she could shoot him,” Hines said. “Basically beat her to the drop.”

Hines also said Mosby told him “he felt bad that someone else had got the case.”

Near the end of Hines’ testimony, questions posed by assistant attorney general Katharine Dolin appeared to draw skepticism from the judge.

Dolin’s questions highlighted an inconsistency between Hines’ account and Mosby’s taped confession by asking Hines several times whether it was Mosby or Box who allegedly sought to sell drugs to the other. Before she could finish, Missey interjected to ask what exactly she hoped to establish.

“I’m having trouble understanding why this is hugely salient,” Missey said. “Does this make a difference? ... I really don’t care who had the drugs and who had the money.”

Dolin told the judge it was important to scrutinize Hines’ statements because the other party to the conversation, Romanze Mosby, is dead.

He allowed her to continue her line of questioning but again said he didn’t see it as a “massively salient issue.”

Robinson’s next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in the Jefferson County Courthouse.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

Pertinent address:

Hillsboro, Mo.