Suspect in golfer’s slaying has history of violence

AMES, Iowa (AP) – A homeless man charged in Iowa with killing a top amateur golfer from Spain has a history of violence and drug use dating to his teenage years.

Court records show that since 2014, 22-year-old Collin Daniel Richards has been charged with abusing a former girlfriend, using a baseball bat to smash a vehicle window and burglarizing a gas station.

He’s now charged with first-degree murder in the death of Celia Barquin Arozamena. He was ordered jailed Tuesday on a $5 million, cash-only bond.

In one case, Richards allegedly threatened to shoot clerks at a convenience store after they caught him shoplifting. In another, Richards admitted he stole a man’s pickup truck while high on drugs. In a third, the Iowa State Patrol seized a long knife from him during a traffic stop.

The records also show Richards left prison earlier this year, once lived in a halfway house in Ames, and was arrested in June after being found passed out near a liquor store.