Police: Suicidal driver also killed 72-year-old man in I-64 crash

CHESAPEAKE

Richard Williamson spent the last days of his life helping his oldest son move into a new house. He finished the job Monday night and headed home to Suffolk.

That route took the 72-year-old Williamson over the High-Rise Bridge and into the path of a man police say was on a suicide mission.

State police identified the driver who deliberately crossed the interstate median as Robert Michael O'Brien, 44, of Kill Devil Hills, N.C. In the car with him was his wife, Chona Mae Cuestas O'Brien of Chesapeake.

Robert Michael O'Brien called an acquaintance with a message moments before he and Williamson collided, Sgt. Michelle Cotten said.

There's a letter at home, O'Brien said. Read it and watch the news.

He told his wife he was going to kill them both. She undid her seat belt and climbed over the seat and onto the floor.

The acquaintance called police - but it was already too late.

Around 9 p.m., O'Brien drove a Toyota Camry west over the High-Rise Bridge into oncoming eastbound traffic, sideswiped a minivan, struck Williamson's pickup head-on and crashed into a restraining wall.

Williamson - and the driver of the Camry - were killed instantly. Both were wearing seat belts.

Chona Mae Cuestas O'Brien is expected to recover, as is the driver of the minivan.

Cotten said O'Brien's wife did not appear to be a willing participant but was an intended victim in his plan.

State police retrieved an 11-page suicide note from O'Brien's home, Cotten said, but she declined to discuss its contents, saying the incident is under investigation.

"It's hard for me to fathom someone wanting to take their own life," said Williamson's daughter-in-law, Kristy Williamson. "But doing it that way and taking someone with them intentionally... it makes you mad, and it makes you sad."

Williamson leaves behind four children, seven grandchildren and his wife, Margaret, of nearly 47 years.

Williamson had retired from Elevator Union but kept busy repairing lawn mowers with his son, Rick, and working as a courier for H&R Block. He still found time to do what he enjoyed: Long road trips with Margaret in their RV.

The couple visited 14 states last year, Kristy Williamson said. "He loved to travel. He loved to spend time with his wife. He loved his family."

When his oldest son moved to a new home in Virginia Beach over the weekend, Williamson borrowed a pickup to help with the haul.

Margaret was waiting at home for her husband when she saw news of the accident on television. The crash had shut down the bridge and snarled traffic.

She called her husband's cell phone, then called the police when he didn't answer. They mistakenly told her Williamson had not been involved in the crash.

"That put her at ease a little bit," Kristy Williamson said, until she saw a state police car pull into the neighborhood.

"That's when she knew."

Kristin Davis, (757) 222-5555, kristin.davis@pilotonline.com

Pilot writer Bill Bartel contributed to this report.