I've been watching this topic fairly closely, and have resisted the urge to comment, mostly out of sensitivity to those involved. Hopefully what I have to say will not be constriued as "having a go", because that is sincerely not my intention.
I grew up not 500 metres from the crash site. I did nearly 10 years in G/A (mostly out of Bankstown), and accumilated about 1600 hours in PA31 aircraft with several operators. I can tell you now, I feel so sad about this whole episode that I almost want to cry!
As stated in the report, other information may come to light, and there for the grace of God..., but whether to land at RIC or not to land at RIC, IMHO appears to be a moot point. WHY, WHY, WHY, did the pilot sacrifice invaluable altitude rather than adopt a drift-down. I know it's easy to be an armchair critic, but I've had failures in PA31's and was taught early on: Initial actions, blue-line, power to maintain min ROD, declare a PAN, take stock. After the initial shock, that should reasonably take no longer than a minute, in that time he lost over 1200 feet!
I think it can be said that the pilot probably didn't realise the lack of performance available untill after his rapid (in anybody's language) descent from over 7000 feet down to 1500 feet at 12 miles BK! If he had taken stock, ie: ROD at blue-line with max power available on the "good" engine, he just may have discovered a "curve-ball" with at least some altitude to spare.
Engine failures, even in ageing G/A aircraft are still relatively rare, and perhaps there lies part of the problem. I now have the benefit of between 6-8 engine failures a year, both at altitude (failure management and performance/decision making), and EFATO's, (critical handling/performance/decision making) conducted over 4 sim sessions twice a year. Even so when it happens for real the initial reaction is usually "holy sh!te!" It's what you do subsequently of course that makes the difference.
I hope for the sake of the families and friends, and the wider aviation community, that some of the questions are eventually answered. As is the way with these things, maybe some changes to the way people are trained might help reduce the risks in the future.