S1: E17 – Murder on the Parkway, Part 2

Summary

American Homicide: S1:E17 – Murder on the Parkway, Part 2

Release Date: February 13, 2025
Host: Sloane Glass
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts

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Introduction

In the gripping second part of "Murder on the Parkway," host Sloane Glass delves deeper into the harrowing case of Maria Marshall’s murder. Set against the backdrop of Toms River, New Jersey, this episode meticulously unpacks the intricate web of deceit, betrayal, and justice that surrounded the tragic event. With insightful interviews from those directly involved, including victim’s family members and investigators, Glass paints a comprehensive picture of this infamous American homicide.

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Case Background

Maria Marshall's Tragic Death
On a late summer night in 1984, Maria Marshall was fatally shot twice in the back at a rest stop along the Garden State Parkway. Initially, authorities dismissed the incident as a robbery gone wrong. However, suspicions soon pointed towards a more sinister motive.

Robert Marshall’s Alleged Involvement
Maria was married to Robert Marshall, an insurance salesman with a seemingly idyllic family life, including three teenage sons who were championship swimmers. Despite appearing devoted, Robert harbored significant personal troubles, including mounting debts and a gambling problem. According to prosecutors, Robert orchestrated his wife’s murder to secure a hefty life insurance payout and escape his failing marriage.

“He had a girlfriend and he wanted out, and he wanted his wife to pay for it with her life.”—Judy Peet, Interviewee [05:06]

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Investigation and Evidence

Linking Robert to the Murder-for-Hire Plot
The investigation uncovered that Robert Marshall had increased Maria’s life insurance shortly before her death, with an additional policy taken out the morning of the murder. These financial maneuvers raised red flags, directing suspicion towards Robert.

Involvement of Louisiana Associates
Three men from Louisiana—Billy Wayne McKinnon, Larry Thompson, and Bobby Cumber—were implicated in the case. Robert allegedly connected with McKinnon through Bobby Cumber, a hardware clerk, to hire a private detective who ultimately became entangled in the murder plot.

“Marshall would have signs out of cardboard and turn around, show it to his kids and say I love you.”—Robert Marshall during Trial [20:28]

Key Evidence
One critical piece of evidence was a manipulated tire on Robert’s car. Investigators discovered a two-inch cut in the sidewall, making it impossible for Robert to have driven the car from Atlantic City without the tire blowing out—a pivotal factor that initially implicated him.

“There was about a 2 inch cut in the sidewall. Perfect for somebody who had a fairly large knife and just stuck it in there and let it out.”—Lieutenant Jim Churchill [09:15]

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The Trial

Prosecution’s Strategy
The prosecution decided to try Robert Marshall and Larry Thompson together, with Billy Wayne McKinnon as a key witness. McKinnon, a former deputy sheriff turned private detective, claimed that Robert had hired him to murder Maria. However, McKinnon later revealed his true intentions were to extort money from Robert rather than carry out the killing.

“McKinnon has no intention of doing this, but he has an intention of bleeding this guy for money.”—Lieutenant Jim Churchill [06:44]

Robert Marshall’s Defense
In a surprising move, Robert chose to testify in his own defense. He admitted to the affair with Saran Crashhauer and other women but vehemently denied involvement in his wife's murder. His testimony included emotional displays, such as giving thumbs-ups to his family during questioning.

“I didn’t do it. I was a loving father and didn’t do it.”—Robert Marshall [19:10]

Notable Exchange
One of the most dramatic moments occurred during cross-examination when the prosecutor highlighted Robert’s continued display of his wedding ring, questioning the absence of any collection of Maria’s ashes.

“He didn't pick up the ashes of Maria Marshall at the funeral home.”—Prosecutor [20:55]

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Verdict and Aftermath

Conviction of Robert Marshall
Despite his defense, the jury found Robert guilty, and he was sentenced to death. The emotional weight of the trial had a profound impact on his family and the community.

“What happened was after the verdict came in, he fainted and they took him to a local hospital.”—Lieutenant Jim Churchill [26:49]

Acquittal of Larry Thompson
In a surprising twist, Larry Thompson was acquitted. His alibi, backed by family and community testimonies, convinced the jury of his innocence, despite significant evidence pointing towards his involvement.

“The jury acquitted Larry Thompson.”—Sloane Glass [27:16]

Public Reaction
The local community of Toms River was left in turmoil, with the case remaining a topic of discussion for decades. A poignant photograph capturing Thompson leaving the scene while Robert lay injured became an iconic image symbolizing the unresolved tensions of the case.

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Later Developments

Larry Thompson’s Confession
Three decades later, in 2014, Lieutenant Jim Churchill finally received a confession from Larry Thompson, who admitted to fabricating his alibi and committing the murder. This revelation provided long-awaited closure for Maria Marshall’s family, particularly her son Robbie.

“Did you fire those shots that killed Maria Marshall? Yes, I did.”—Larry Thompson [32:00]

Robert Marshall’s Death
Robert Marshall remained incarcerated until he died of a stroke in 2015, mere months before his scheduled parole hearing. His death effectively closed the chapter on the case, but not without lingering questions and a legacy of pain for his family.

“He was resented and had the possibility to address the court.”—Lieutenant Jim Churchill [30:15]

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Conclusion and Reflections

Impact on the Community and Family
Maria Marshall’s murder left an indelible mark on Toms River, influencing countless lives and sparking conversations about justice and morality. The Marshall children, who endured the loss of their mother and the upheaval caused by their father’s actions, have carried the scars of this tragedy into their adult lives.

“It had an impact on a lot of people. It's a case that's still talked about in town.”—Linda Fenwick [30:51]

Lieutenant Jim Churchill’s Perspective
For Lieutenant Churchill, the case remains a poignant reminder of the complexities within criminal investigations and the pursuit of truth. The eventual confession by Thompson validated years of relentless dedication, bringing a semblance of justice for Maria Marshall.

“I feel I know more about him and her and Larry Thompson and McKinnon than I do some of my relatives.”—Lieutenant Jim Churchill [34:38]

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Looking Forward

In the upcoming special bonus episode, Glass promises to shed light on Bobby Cumber’s role in the case— the unassuming hardware store clerk who connected Robert Marshall to Billy Wayne McKinnon. Peet emphasizes the importance of Cumber’s narrative, hinting at overlooked aspects that may have further unraveled this intricate murder-for-hire plot.

“The Bobby Cumber angle was small. He was the little guy that nobody really paid attention to.”—Judy Peet [35:36]

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Final Thoughts

"Murder on the Parkway, Part 2" intricately weaves the factual evidence, personal testimonies, and emotional narratives surrounding Maria Marshall’s untimely death. Through meticulous storytelling and engaging interviews, Sloane Glass ensures that listeners gain a profound understanding of the case’s complexities and enduring impact.

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Notable Quotes:

• “He had a girlfriend and he wanted out, and he wanted his wife to pay for it with her life.”—Judy Peet [05:06]
• “There was about a 2 inch cut in the sidewall.”—Lieutenant Jim Churchill [09:15]
• “I didn’t do it. I was a loving father and didn’t do it.”—Robert Marshall [19:10]
• “Did you fire those shots that killed Maria Marshall? Yes, I did.”—Larry Thompson [32:00]

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For More Information:
Subscribe to American Homicide on Apple Podcasts and follow on iHeartRadio.

Transcript

[Sloane Glass]

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[Judy Peet]

Robert Marshall was an upscale problem gambler. He and his wife Maria had spent the evening in Atlantic City. They were on their way home. There was a problem with his tire. He stopped at a rest stop and his wife was shot twice in the back and died almost immediately.

[Sloane Glass]

The police didn't think this was a robbery turned homicide.

[Judy Peet]

It was murder for hire and they.

[Sloane Glass]

Believe the person who hired someone to kill Maria Marshall was her husband.

[Judy Peet]

He had a girlfriend and he wanted out and he wanted his wife to pay for it with her life.

[Sloane Glass]

Today we're in New Jersey for the conclusion of Murder on the Parkway. Hello, I'm Sloane Glass and this is American Homicide. Just a note that this episode contains some graphic content. Please take care while listening. On a late Summer Night in 1984. Maria Marshall was killed at a rest stop along the Garden State Parkway. The ordeal was originally believed to be a robbery turned homicide.

[Judy Peet]

New Jersey's no stranger to murder. We have a lot of mobsters in New Jersey, but this was different. It was murder for hire, which we didn't get that much of.

[Sloane Glass]

Journalist Judy Peet wrote about the story for a New Jersey newspaper.

[Judy Peet]

It got national attention. A book was written about it. A movie was done about it based on the book. And no story about Toms river for about 25, 30 years. Ram without mentioning the spectacular murder in the headline or at least in the first paragraph.

[Sloane Glass]

Even the Toms River Little League team found that out in 1998 when it won the Little League World Series.

[Judy Peet]

It was huge. But they never really got their due because of the Marshall case.

[Sloane Glass]

By Christmas of 1984, three men from Louisiana were charged with Maria's murder, along with her husband, Robert Marshall.

[Judy Peet]

Robert Marshall was an attractive man with a very attractive wife and three teenage sons. I think the youngest was about 12 or 13 at the time, who were all championship swimmers. And she was swim team mom of the year. They seemed to have an idyllic life.

[Sloane Glass]

Think about it. Those three teenage boys already having to deal with their mother being murdered. And then they had to process the fact that their father was charged with orchestrating her death.

[Judy Peet]

Robert Marshall sold insurance and IRAs and did very well. However, Marshall was in debt. He had a gambling problem. He had, just in the months before the murder, upped his wife's life insurance to a million and a half.

[Sloane Glass]

In fact, Robert had just taken an additional policy out on Maria the morning prior to her murder. According to prosecutors, Robert's motive for killing his wife was to use her insurance money to pay off his debt and run away with his mistress.

[Judy Peet]

He had a girlfriend and he wanted out, and he wanted his wife to pay for it with her life.

[Sloane Glass]

Prosecutors believe Robert Marshall put the plan in place with the help of three guys from Louisiana. Billy Wayne McKinnon, Larry Thompson, and a hardware clerk named Bobby Cumber. And they believe it all started with Bobby.

[Judy Peet]

He first met Bobby at a party. He was up in New Jersey visiting. And Marshall asked Bobby if he could find him a private detective.

[Sloane Glass]

Lieutenant Jim Churchill investigated, and he learned Bobby Cumber connected Robert Marshall to a PI named Billy Wayne McKinnon.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

McKinnon talks with Marshall. Marshall said, I have a very sensitive investigation that I want him done. I don't trust anybody in my area to do it. So McKinnon says, well, it'll cost you $5,000 for me to come up there and do this. So Marshall sends him a Western Union money order, which we have a copy of.

[Sloane Glass]

That's when Robert Marshall took things a step further.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

He says, well, basically, I want her done away with. McKinnon is somewhat taken back by that, and he says, well, you know, that can be done, but it's going to cost you a lot more than what you've already given me. So negotiate some sort of a deal.

[Sloane Glass]

Now, according to Billy Wayne McKinnon, their deal to murder Maria amounted to over $80,000.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

McKinnon has no intention of doing this, but he has an intention of bleeding this guy for money as often as he can, because what's he going to say, you know, he stole from me because I wanted to kill my wife?

[Sloane Glass]

So McKinnon simply took Robert Marshall's money and strung him along throughout the summer of 1984. And by the end of that summer, he turned the job over to his friend Larry Thompson.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

Thompson's the kind of guy that does this and kind of horns in on this scam. The authorities in Louisiana know him. Whenever there's a homicide, he's the first guy they think of.

[Sloane Glass]

McKinnon told investigators that he and Larry Thompson drove up from Louisiana the day before Maria's murder. By then, Robert Marshall had already paid Billy Wayne McKinnon nearly $20,000. With the promise of more money to come after the job was done, he and Robert Marshall then came up with their plan. They'd make Maria's murder look like a robbery gone wrong. At a rest stop off the Garden.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

State Parkway, they tell him to pull in, park your car here, get out of the car, and then they will do the rest. He said, I'll have $2,500 in my pocket. You can take that, hit me over the head, but don't hit me hard enough, I'm going to be a vegetable.

[Sloane Glass]

But here's where things get tricky for prosecutors.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

Thompson was the only person at the scene. Billy Wayne had dropped him off, and then he circled around and came back north after the shooting had occurred and after Marshall had been hit on ahead.

[Sloane Glass]

So Billy Wayne McKinnon never actually saw Larry Thompson kill Maria. He dropped Larry off at the rest stop, drove away, and then returned after the murder.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

When he gets there, he sees Marshall laying by the rear tire, and Thompson is running towards a car, gets in the front and says, take off. When he starts to take off, he says, wait a minute, I gotta do something. He gets out of the car, runs back to the car, and Billy Wayne Sees him take out his knife and stick it in the right rear tire, and he hears the air coming out.

[Sloane Glass]

So the last thing to happen was Larry Thompson cutting the marshal's rear tire.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

There was about a 2 inch cut in the sidewall. Perfect for somebody who had a fairly large knife and just stuck it in there and let it out.

[Sloane Glass]

Billy Wayne McKinnon confirmed what investigators originally believed about the tire.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

We had an air pump brought to the scene to inflate the tire, and it wouldn't inflate it. The air was escaping as fast as it went in. So there's no way he could have driven from Atlantic City with the tire like that.

[Sloane Glass]

Now, if you remember, the suspicion over the tire was what made Robert Marshall a suspect. Early on in the investigation.

[Linda Fenwick]

He was arrested while he was Christmas shopping.

[Sloane Glass]

Linda Fenwick was friends with Maria Marshall.

[Linda Fenwick]

It was complicated. It was a complicated situation.

[Sloane Glass]

Now picture this. It's been three months since Maria was killed. Her husband Robert is Christmas shopping for his three kids, and that's when police go to arrest him. He even pleaded with the officers to allow him to first drop off the gifts, but they refused.

[Linda Fenwick]

I couldn't imagine anybody hurting Maria. That was my feeling, least of all him. I was torn between whether he was guilty or not. I didn't think he was. In fact, he said to me at the last time I saw him at a swim meet, he said, don't believe everything you see in the paper. You know, I said, okay, don't believe was just before he was arrested.

[Sloane Glass]

But hindsight is 20 20, and looking back, she remembers Robert's demeanor changing after Maria's murder.

[Linda Fenwick]

At first, it was very hard for him to deal with. He acted like a grieving husband, certainly at the funeral, at the church. But yes, he did return to life as normal. You know, going to swim meets and, you know, helping out at the house with the boys and whatnot. But what the boys went through was absolutely horrible. To see that your father is involved in a murder with your mother, it was terrible. I mean, I. I mean, as far as they were concerned, their father was innocent, he wasn't involved, and let's find out who was.

[Sloane Glass]

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[Sloane Glass]

Maria Marshall looked to have the ideal life. She was beautiful, she married her high school sweetheart and they had three kids. They lived in the upper middle class township of Tom's River, New Jersey where they belonged to the local country club. Robert was a successful insurance salesman, but he still seemed to have his priorities straight. He would take Fridays off to spend time with his family, but according to prosecutors, it was all a facade. In early 1986, Robert Marshall sat at the defense table in a New Jersey courtroom. He was on trial for murdering his wife.

[Judy Peet]

Marshall was charged with conspiracy to commit first degree murder, which is a capital offense in New Jersey, or was at the time.

[Sloane Glass]

That's journalist Judy Peet.

[Judy Peet]

The other person in the case was a man named Larry Thompson. Thompson and Marshall were tried first.

[Sloane Glass]

In an unusual move, prosecutors tried Robert Marshall and Larry Thompson together. Thompson was accused of pulling the trigger and shooting Maria Marshall. While Robert Marshall was accused of orchestrating the whole thing. The third man who would be tried separately is Billy Wayne McKinnon. He was accused of driving the getaway car.

[Judy Peet]

McKinnon revealed the whole thing, at least his version of the whole thing, in turn for essentially getting a vastly reduced sentence.

[Sloane Glass]

And this is important and likely the very reason prosecutors tried Robert Marshall and Larry Thompson together. Billy Wayne McKinnon struck a plea deal with prosecutors. He agreed to testify against the two men.

[Judy Peet]

Billy Wayne McKinnon was just going to fleece Marshall, at least that's what he testified. But he ended up hiring a murderer.

[Sloane Glass]

Billy Wayne said he subcontracted the job and hired the co defendant, Larry Thompson, to kill Maria. If you remember, the Louisiana hardware store clerk named Bobby Cumber was the one who originally connected Robert Marshall to Billy Wade McKinnon. Although the police charged Bobby, those charges didn't stick.

[Judy Peet]

The judge actually dismissed the charges against Bobby.

[Sloane Glass]

There's a lot more to what happened with Bobby Cumber, and we'll share the full story in a special bonus episode of American Homicide. But first, let's get into the case against Robert Marshall and Larry Thompson. I know there's a lot of names in this case, so let's recap. Robert Marshall was married to Maria Marshall. He was cheating on her with a woman named Saran Crashhauer. During the summer of 1984, Maria hired a PI to look into Robert's affair, while Robert hired a PI of his own named Billy Wayne McKinnon to look into Maria. According to Billy Wayne, Robert wanted him to murder Maria. But Billy Wayne McKinnon subcontracted that job to his friend Larry Thompson. And prosecutors made the risky decision to offer Billy Wayne McKinnon a plea deal in exchange for his testimony against Robert Marshall and Larry Thompson. He would be their star witness.

[Judy Peet]

It really rested on Billy Wayne McKinnon.

[Sloane Glass]

And Billy Wayne McKinnon was a former deputy sheriff turned private detective. This is not someone you'd expect to be a hitman. He testified that Robert Marshall hired him to kill Maria. But he said his conscience wouldn't allow him to be the shooter.

[Judy Peet]

He stalled for at least three or four months. McKinnon never expected to actually go through with it. He was just trying to see how much he could fleece Robert Marshall for. And he'd taken 21,000 up front.

[Sloane Glass]

And eventually Billy Wayne McKinnon offered some of that money to his friend Larry Thompson.

[Judy Peet]

Authorities always believed that Larry was a stone cold killer. He was fairly slick that way.

[Sloane Glass]

McKinnon said he and Robert Marshall Planned out the murder the afternoon before.

[Judy Peet]

She could not be shot in the face. He didn't want her beauty affected, so she was shot in the back. I mean, these were the kind of details that came out in court and they were pretty damning.

[Sloane Glass]

Billy Wayne McKinnon said he did not witness the shooting. He was there to drive the getaway car. But here was the problem for Billy Wayne McKinnon and prosecutors. Larry Thompson used McKinnon's gun in the killing.

[Judy Peet]

Larry Thompson, this surprised everyone, but he brought up a preacher and family from Louisiana who testified that he was at the dentist and a revival meeting at the time of the murder.

[Sloane Glass]

Larry Thompson denied killing Maria Marshall. He said he was at home in bed that night. His son, wife and brother even backed up his alibi. Larry even went a step further, further and said he had never even been to Atlantic City. And that was the risk prosecutors took with having Billy Wayne McKinnon as their star witness. So now, with a confused jury looking on, Robert Marshall was called to testify.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

He took the stand in his own behalf.

[Sloane Glass]

Lieutenant Jim Churchill was in the courtroom.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

Basically what he says is that he didn't do it. He was a loving father and didn't do it. And he, he wasn't in financial trouble, had no problem paying bills.

[Sloane Glass]

Robert Marshall testified he had simply hired Billy Wayne McKinnon to investigate some missing gambling winnings. He said he later learned his wife Maria had used that money to hire a detective to investigate his adultery.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

He was carrying on an affair with Suran crash hour.

[Sloane Glass]

So Robert Marshall confirmed his 14 month long affair with Saran and other women. He also admitted that in the three months after his wife's murder, he vacationed with another woman in Florida, sent flowers to an ex lover and was involved with a third woman. All that aside, he maintained he was not at all involved in Maria's murder.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

Basically that was it. McKinnon who testified against him, was lying. And the inference was that he did it, stole the money and now he's making all this stuff up.

[Sloane Glass]

By this point, the trial became a spectacle. In between his testimony, Robert Marshall would turn to his family, smile and give them a thumbs up.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

Marshall would have signs out of cardboard and turn around, show it to his kids and says I love you. And he'd do that so the press that was there would be able to see him flashing these guards to him.

[Sloane Glass]

The most explosive exchange during Robert Marshall's nine and a half hours on the stand happened during cross examination. Listen to what the prosecutor said. When he noticed Robert Marshall was wearing his wedding ring.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

So the prosecutor said, hold up your left hand. Is that a wedding ring on there? He said, yeah, that signifies your devotion to your wife, your deceased wife, and you know, your devotion and love for her. Isn't that right? You say, but can you tell the jury why she's still in a box at the funeral home? Nobody came and picked up the ashes of Maria Marshall at the funeral home.

[Sloane Glass]

That's heartbreaking. Maria Marshall was cremated in mid September and Robert was arrested in December.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

At the time of the trial, she was still on a shelf in the funeral because nobody picked her up.

[Sloane Glass]

Robert Marshall was stunned and he held.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

His hand up there for like five minutes. He didn't know what to do.

[Sloane Glass]

When he finally found the words to respond, he said he and his children had planned to bury Maria in Florida over the Christmas holiday. But Robert Marshall was arrested a week before Christmas.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

It was something I'd never seen like that in a courtroom before.

[Sloane Glass]

The seasoned insurance salesman hoped the jury would ignore the mountain of evidence against him and made one last attempt to sway the jury.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

His boys testified on his behalf.

[Sloane Glass]

One of his sons explained that their mother wanted to be buried under a palm tree. To the prosecutor's credit, he went easy on the children who testified, but he unloaded on Robert Marshall during closing arguments.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

They said what he did to those boys and he said to put him on a stand like that. And you saw it, they didn't want to be there. But he made him take the stand. And because of that, there's a special place in hell for him.

[Sloane Glass]

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[Sloane Glass]

It'S not always a given that the accused takes the witness stand in his own defense, especially in a murder trial. But Robert Marshall did. He testified that he was hit over the head while changing a flat tire and woke up to find his beloved wife Maria shot to death in the front seat of their car.

[Tom Kelliher]

That particular murder, because of the nature of it, who the people were and so on, sent a lot of shockwaves through town.

[Sloane Glass]

Tom Kelliher is the former mayor of Toms River.

[Tom Kelliher]

Maria had been shot with looked like a.45 automatic and they said that Marshall was hit over the head apparently with the same. 45. I have to tell you that I thought why would they shoot a petite blonde lady who was asleep anyway and wasn't really a threat to them and only hit Marshall over the head? That raised a question right off the bat in my mind.

[Sloane Glass]

After Robert's six week trial, the court of public opinion in Toms river had pretty much convicted him.

[Tom Kelliher]

The evidence was so overwhelming against Marshall, there are only one or two people that really went to bat for him and everybody else was just kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[Sloane Glass]

As the case went to the jury, Robert Marshall, who had been holding up signs to his children that said I love you, passed another message to his.

[Tom Kelliher]

Youngest son when everybody in the world who knew anything about the case figured dead sure he's only going to be out 10 minutes and convict this guy. He kept telling us that, listen, you go home, get the house ready for a big celebration tonight and then when it's over, you and I are going to go to Florida, get a boat and fish and everything.

[Sloane Glass]

But Robert Marshall would never take his Children fishing in Florida.

[Tom Kelliher]

The jury wasn't out very long at all. And the jury found him guilty. He was convicted.

[Sloane Glass]

Jim Churchill was in the courtroom when Robert Marshall heard the verdict.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

What happened was after the verdict came in, he fainted and they took him to a local hospital down there.

[Sloane Glass]

Can you even imagine? Even after Robert Marshall was hauled off on a stretcher, the jury still had to rule on the co defendant, Larry Thompson.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

The same jury that finds Marshall guilty finds Thompson not guilty.

[Sloane Glass]

That's right. The jury acquitted Larry Thompson.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

We spent as much time, I think, trying to convict Larry Thompson than we did Robert Marshall. For some reason or other, they just didn't buy it.

[Sloane Glass]

It's unbelievable. The jury believed Larry Thompson's defense that he was home in Louisiana on the day of the murder, that he was.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

At a dentist office with his son, having some work done on his child's mouth.

[Sloane Glass]

So Larry Thompson walked away a free man.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

A member of the jury was polled and said, you had so much information, so much stuff against Marsh. And the judge kept talking about reasonable doubt, reasonable doubt, reasonable doubt. So either the system works or it doesn't work and it stays with you, you know.

[Sloane Glass]

An infamous picture ran in the local newspaper. Larry Thompson is seen climbing into his beat up pickup truck, going off to leave while Robert Marshall is laying on a stretcher in the background. But there's an even more important photo, A picture of Maria Marshall that Lt. Churchill had pinned to his bulletin board at work. He put it there as a reminder that the case was not closed.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

I mean, you've been this enough. Sure, you get involved in cases, but you do the best you can. You collect investigation. There might be something you might overlook, but it's certainly not on purpose.

[Sloane Glass]

With Larry Thompson's acquittal, the attention again returned to Robert Marshall. After recovering from his fainting spell, he returned to the courtroom hours later and.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

The judge ordered him back because the hospital said there's nothing, no reason why he shouldn't go back.

[Sloane Glass]

That's when Robert Marshall heard his sentence.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

Marshall got the death penalty.

[Linda Fenwick]

You know, I expected him to serve sometime, but I was surprised that death.

[Sloane Glass]

Penalty, that's Maria's friend, Linda Fenwick.

[Linda Fenwick]

He wrote me a couple of letters early on when he was in prison telling me that he didn't do it and that, you know, he missed Maria and he missed boys and, you know, that kind of thing.

[Sloane Glass]

Robert Marshall spent 18 years on death row before an appeals judge ruled that his lawyer misrepresented him during the death penalty phase of his trial. So in 2000, six. He was resentenced and had the opportunity to address the court. Here he is speaking.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

I know I've made some terrible mistakes.

[Sloane Glass]

Mistakes which have caused a lot of.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

Suffering from my family. I accept full responsibility that my actions led to her death. I'm deeply sorry for my actions, but I can't change the past. However, I can change the Future. I'll be 75 years old when my 30 year sentence is up. And I hope and pray I have a chance to spend what's left of my life with my sons and grandchildren.

[Sloane Glass]

By this time, Robert's three children were in their 30s.

[Linda Fenwick]

I mean, he actually thought he was going to, you know, that these appeals were going to work. But of course they didn't.

[Sloane Glass]

The judge re sentenced Robert Marshall to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

[Linda Fenwick]

All three of them supported him until it was clear that he had some involvement. But the younger one supported him till his death.

[Sloane Glass]

And Robert Marshall was right about one thing. The people of Toms river did talk and they talked about this case and the murder of Maria Marshall for years.

[Linda Fenwick]

Yes, it had an impact on a lot of people. It's a case that's still talked about in town. I mean, everybody was aware of every detail of it and they still talk about it.

[Sloane Glass]

The alleged triggerman was Larry Thompson, who was acquitted. But his story doesn't end there. After being exonerated in the Marshall case, Larry Thompson was later convicted of armed robbery and the attempted murder of a Louisiana policeman. That landed him a long prison sentence and a lot of time to think about his past.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

In 2014, I get a phone call saying, larry wants to talk with you.

[Sloane Glass]

So three decades after Lieutenant Jim Churchill had investigated Maria Marshall's murder, he gets on a plane and flies to Louisiana to visit Larry Thompson in prison.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

Larry's waiting outside the warden's office for me, and this is the first time I've talked to him, ever.

[Sloane Glass]

The two sit face to face. That's when Lieutenant Churchill turned on his tape recorder.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

And I said, this is going to be short and sweet. Did you fire those shots that killed Maria Marshall? Yes, I did. Those people testified to you, including your son. They were either mistaken or deliberately lying on your behalf. Is that right? Yes.

[Sloane Glass]

Larry Thompson admitted that he fabricated his alibi and he killed Maria Marshall. But even with Larry's confession, double jeopardy laws prevented him from being retried. Regardless, it was the truth. Something Lieutenant Churchill had never stopped looking for.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

I did it mostly for Robbie.

[Sloane Glass]

Robbie Marshall was Robert and Maria's oldest son. He had always believed his father murdered his mother.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

Robbie wasn't too happy with the fact that the man we charged with his mother's actual murder was found not guilty. He thought that it was because we didn't do enough work on it.

[Sloane Glass]

With this information, Lieutenant Churchill got in touch with Robbie's brother Chris.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

And I called him. I said, look, I got some closure for you here. So I told him, and he thanked me very much. And I said, do me a favor. Call your brothers and tell them, you know, I just told you.

[Sloane Glass]

And it was the last time he heard from any of the Marshall children.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

The fact that there are three young boys who, you know, were left without a mother and now, you know, then without a father. And it's amazing to me that they've done as well as they have.

[Sloane Glass]

The Marshall children would receive shocking news in 2015, a year after Larry Thompson's confession, Robbie and his siblings were preparing for the possibility of their father getting out of prison. Robert Marshall was up for parole. And just before his parole hearing, Robert suffered a stroke and died. He was 75 years old. For Lt. Churchill, he felt like the Marshall case was finally closed. And that meant he could remove the photo of Maria that hung above his desk.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

I took it off the bulletin board, put it back in a file, and that's where it is among the 19 file boxes in the archives.

[Sloane Glass]

It's been over 40 years since Maria Marshall was killed along the Garden State Parkway and nearly a decade since Robert Marshall died in prison. And this is still the one case that sticks with the lieutenant.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

Not because it's the hardest case we ever had, but it's the one that's most memorable. I feel I know more about him and her and Larry Thompson and McKinnon than I do some of my relatives.

[Sloane Glass]

And when he says him, he's referring to Robert Marshall.

[Lieutenant Jim Churchill]

And to have him do something like what he did. And he had every opportunity to get out of it, but he was so desperate. Desperate to get out of debt, desperate to get out of a marriage, desperate to maintain his notoriety in the community. That trumped everything.

[Sloane Glass]

Next time on American Homicide.

[Judy Peet]

I was interviewing a judge, and as I was walking out the door, he actually said, you know, there's one case that always bothered me.

[Sloane Glass]

Journalist Judy Pete wrote extensively about one person in this story.

[Judy Peet]

It sort of stunned me, because sitting judges under New Jersey law are not allowed to discuss any case they've had.

[Sloane Glass]

I'm Sloan Glass in a suit. Special bonus episode. We'll talk about Bobby Cumber, the man at the hardware store who passed messages between Robert Marshall and Billy Wade McKinnon.

[Judy Peet]

The Bobby Cumber angle was small. He was the little guy that nobody really paid attention to.

[Sloane Glass]

He was the person so few paid attention to. And yet the part of this case I think is worthy of so much more attention.

[Judy Peet]

The way he was treated was criminal almost every step of the way.

[Sloane Glass]

That's next time on American Homicide. You can contact the American Homicide team by emailing [e-mail] that's AmericanHomicidePodmail.com American Homicide is hosted and written by me, Sloan Glass and is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Todd Ganz. The series is also written and produced by Todd Ganz with additional writing by Ben Fetterman and Andrea Gunning. Our Associate producer is Kristen Melchuri. Our I Heart team is Ally Perry and Jessica Krynchak. Audio editing, mixing and mastering by Nico Aruka. American Homicide's theme song was composed by Oliver Baines of Noiser Music Library, provided by My Music. Follow American Homicide on Apple Podcasts and please rate and review American Homicide. Your five star review goes a long way towards helping others find this show. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. GLP1 injections have helped many people lose weight, but they can be costly and out of reach for some. That's where Henry Meds makes a difference. Even if you don't have health insurance, you can save over $1,000 a month with no hidden fees. Henry Meds offers affordable compounded GLP1 treatments from licensed US pharmacies and their team of providers is with you every step of the way. Take control of your weight management journey. Visit henrymeds.com now. Results may vary. Not all patients are eligible. Compounded medications are not FDA approved. Consult a healthcare provider to determine if treatment is right for you.

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