Richard Riffe was remembered by friends Thursday as a good lawyer, who fought a long battle with alcoholism.
The 57-year-old Riffe died Monday night while incarcerated at South Central Regional Jail. Evidence suggests he hanged himself, according to Lawrence Messina, spokesman for the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety. Riffe had been in jail for five days Monday on charges of daytime burglary, battery on an officer and obstructing.
“He was a brilliant guy who had some issues,” said Charleston Mayor Danny Jones, who knew Riffe for more than 20 years.
As a former Boone County assistant prosecutor, Riffe was used to being on the other side of the law.
“He was a really good prosecutor,” said Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Keith Randolph. Riffe was a prosecutor in the 1990s when Randolph was working in Boone County as a State Police trooper. “He was really good to work with.
“I liked Rich. And I think a lot of people would agree — even if they didn’t like Rich — he had a brilliant mind,” Randolph said.
Riffe, a retired Marine, also worked as general counsel for the state Department of Environmental Protection, special prosecutor for the state Workers Compensation Commission, and as a public defender in Boone and Lincoln counties.
Riffe wasn’t afraid “to do a little trash talking,” Jones said. “That probably made for a good prosecutor.”
He leaves behind his wife, Brenda, and their two children, one who is in high school and the other just started classes at West Virginia University, according to Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ash.
Ash and Riffe have been friends ever since they attended law school at WVU together, where they were best friends. Ash talked to Riffe on Facebook about a week before his death.
“He never mentioned the difficulty he was having with the looming charges and that’s something I would have expected him to talk to me about,” said Ash. After finding out about his death, Ash said he re-read the conversation he had with Riffe.
“There’s nothing that would give me any clue any of this stuff was coming,” the prosecutor said.
Riffe was also arrested in July and charged with malicious wounding. According to a criminal complaint on file in Kanawha Magistrate Court, Riffe and Angela Bunting, 43, were involved in an altercation in Charleston.
Police say Bunting allegedly hit Riffe in the mouth after an argument and then he hit her, breaking her jaw. Bunting then allegedly stabbed Riffe with kitchen knives in his stomach. Bunting was also charged with malicious wounding. Riffe was taken to South Central Regional Jail, but released on $25,000 bond.
Riffe was open about being an alcoholic and regularly helped others who struggled with substance abuse, Ash said.
“He had probably 20 of the best things you could ever expect from a person and that was the flaw — he was born with a propensity to become an alcoholic and it happened,” Ash said.
Riffe had a hard time staying sober, Jones said Thursday.
“Rich relapsed more than anybody I knew. He was in a constant state of relapse, but he was kind and decent and always made you feel good about yourself — he was very considerate,” said the mayor. “I always knew this was going to happen. I don’t know why I knew that.”
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazette.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.