Richard Tobias Delagewas born on August 13, 1944, in the Cos Cob neighborhood of Greenwich, Connecticut. He was the eighth of nine children, six boys and three girls, in a family that owned a radio and television store. When he was six months old, Delage was diagnosed with scarlet fever, but he recovered without obvious long-term effects. Despite being ill as an infant, he showed no visible issues as he grew older. Delage was a bright and studious student who took a strong interest in astronomy and oceanography. He even served as vice president of the Thespian Society at Greenwich High School, a sign of his active participation and academic success. There are no reports of neglect, abuse, or behavioral problems in his early years. He appeared to live a stable, middle-class childhood with no troubling incidents before his first arrest at age 16.
Carole Sgritta, a 24-year-old schoolteacher, was found shot four times in the head inside her car at the New Croton Reservoir. She had stopped to pick up her boyfriend. A passerby reported seeing a tall, slender man dragging her body from the vehicle. No robbery occurred and the weapon was recovered at the scene.
Paget Weatherley, 23 and a University of Connecticut student, disappeared on campus. Days later, her body was found in Bolton. An autopsy revealed she had been shot three times in the chest. Investigators used her dental records to identify her.
Delage is suspected in the shootings of two 19-year-old women, June Eberlin and Mary Lenihan, found shot to death in Pennsylvania on the same day. These killings are not confirmed but match his known method.
There may be additional victims between 1960 and 1969, possibly totaling four or more. Investigators believe Delage acted in multiple states, including Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut.
On October 3, 1975, Delage was arrested for allegedly kidnapping a hitchhiker in Mansfield, Connecticut. While in custody, he was sent to Norwich State Hospital. There, Delage told a psychiatrist that he had “done something wrong.” After learning of his own statements, authorities arrested him again and linked him to the murder of Carole Sgritta.
Ballistics experts confirmed that the .32 revolver held by Delage was the same weapon used in the murders of Carole Sgritta and Paget Weatherley. It also possibly matched bullets from the 1970 double murder of two women in Pennsylvania, whom Delage is suspected to have killed.
Delage was charged in New York for the murder of Carole Sgritta. He initially asked to be tried as a juvenile because he was only 15 at the time of the killing. The court denied this request. He then agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of 20‑years‑to‑lifein prison.
To avoid a trial in Connecticut, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Paget Weatherley. For this, he received a separate sentence of 14 to 20 yearsin prison.
Delage is currently incarcerated at Franklin Correctional Facilityin Malone, New York. He remains in prison for his life sentence in New York, and he has never been formally charged in connection with the Pennsylvania murders of June Eberlin and Mary Lenihan.