Autopsy: Marine's wife strangled with belt

Jacksonville, N.C. — The wife of a Camp Lejeune Marine who was found dead six weeks ago was strangled with a belt, according to an autopsy report released Monday.

The naked body of Jessy Richardson, 21, was found in the bedroom of her Jacksonville home on Sept. 21. Her husband, Cpl. Cody Daniel Richardson, 22, has been charged with first-degree murder in her death.

The autopsy report says Jessy Richardson was dead for two days before her body was found.

Cody Richardson, who has since been discharged from the Marine Corps, called 911 to tell a dispatcher that he wrote a suicide note explaining the reason for his wife's death. He told the dispatcher that he couldn't follow through with killing himself, however.

The 911 call doesn't indicate why he might have killed her and doesn't include any direct admission of guilt.

A man who said he used to be in the military with Cody Richardson also called 911 to report that Richardson has stopped by his house and confessed to killing his wife.

Richardson, who is in jail in Jacksonville under a $1 million bond, was an anti-tank missile man assigned to Camp Lejeune's 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division.