Test tables

I want this table to look similar to the table bellow it. I want the second table column (based on th element) to be highlighted. But the colspans in rows bellow the table header are troublesome:

a b c
a a a a a Richard Knop a a a a a
Richard Knop a a a a a a a a a a
a a a a a a a a a a Richard Knop

This is the effect I want, highlighted second column of the table (based on th element):

a b c
a Richard Knop a
Richard Knop a a
a a Richard Knop