Richard Cates came to town in early 1985 with his young son, Kevin, after Roman Brady's untimely death. As chief of police, he met Marlena Evans straight off, and soon became enamored of her. With the support of Alice Horton, Richard slowly pursues and wins Marlena, despite Roman having been dead only a few months. The two began a tentative relationship, occasionally coming to odds over Marlena's desire to help the people that Richard was charged with keeping behind bars. A particular bone of contention was Jake Sellers, a young man Marlena wanted to help out. Despite initial resistance, Richard finally gave in to Marlena's way of thinking. Unfortunately, as he and Marlena were getting closer, Richard was getting drawn deeper and deeper into Savannah Wilder's drug ring, masterminded by Victor Kiriakis.

Everything came crashing down around when Bo and Theo began investigating the drug ring. Richard held Bo hostage with the help of a nurse, but once he managed to get released, Richard knew time was coming to a close. He had already murdered Danny Grant, and now he was determined to get young cop Hope Williams as well, who knew that he had killed her partner, Norma. He attempted to run them off the road, and Hope escaped to a nearby monastery. After Theo Carver was shot and killed when they attempted to arrest him, Richard went to the monastery Hope was staying at and attempted to kill her, shooting Brother Francis in the process. When it came down to the wire, Richard, who had finally seen just how low he had sunk and could no longer live with himself, created a situation where Abe, a man who had once considered him a friend, had to shoot him. With his dying breath, Richard begged Marlena to look after his son Kevin, and to not let Kevin turn out as bad as he had.