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0:12

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0:21

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0:23

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0:26

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0:28

a car stops in front of him in traffic, Milan

0:30

can't decipher the sign the terrified girl

0:33

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0:36

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1:00

There

1:04

is good and there is evil. And that night, evil

1:06

came to play. We

1:18

got a good one here. We got a

1:20

call about a woman being underwater

1:23

for a minute or two. No,

1:26

leave that right there. Don't touch that. Her

1:28

boyfriend said he walked out in the water.

1:31

When he come back, she was propped

1:33

up in the hot tub and she was

1:36

not breathing. Tell me her name again.

1:38

Mary Ann Shockley. Mary Ann,

1:41

last name Shockley. We get out

1:43

here and she got a big old gash on

1:45

her head. I'm

1:48

telling

1:48

you, the hair on the back of my neck standing up. Something

1:50

ain't right with this. What's your

1:53

name? Marcus Lillard. I'm

1:55

Mary Ann's boyfriend. I talk

1:57

to her every morning and every night.

1:59

She was my hero because she was so

2:02

intelligent. My name is Dr. Marianne

2:04

Shockley. I'm an outreach entomologist

2:06

and I'm the director of the insect zoo. She

2:09

was on the cutting edge of

2:11

the industry. I absolutely

2:14

looked up to her. As my big sister, I wanted

2:16

to be her.

2:17

We're going

2:19

to rope it off and go from there. I

2:22

want you to now take me to May 11th, 2019. Okay.

2:27

Take me through the day. What happens? Wow.

2:31

They went bar hopping.

2:32

They had a

2:34

couple of mimosas and then we have a couple

2:36

of shots. And then they went out

2:39

to the country club and had drinks there.

2:42

I'm Penny Dearman. This

2:44

is Bloodtown. I created the

2:46

podcast about the Marianne Shockley

2:48

case.

2:50

They

2:50

were having a really fun night. At

2:53

this point, how many drinks do you think you've had? Oh,

2:57

wow.

3:01

There was some communication about does somebody have a pool?

3:04

Marcus knew that his friend Clark Heindel

3:07

had a pool. So can I get your name please?

3:11

And they went over there at some point.

3:15

They

3:15

liked to have a few drinks.

3:17

They brought some beer with them. Marcus

3:20

and Marianne are in the hot tub and they're enjoying themselves.

3:24

What the hell happened after that? Marcus

3:28

says that he went into the woods to gather

3:30

some firewood.

3:31

As I dropped the wood off at

3:33

the fireplace, I could see Marianne

3:36

slump down. He called out

3:38

her name and she did not respond.

3:42

We started doing CPR. She

3:44

was pronounced dead at the scene. My

3:48

mother called me and she said, Marianne's

3:51

gone.

3:52

I just fell to the ground and I

3:54

just was saying, no, mama, no, no. And

3:57

she was like, she's drowned in some.

3:59

hot tub. Marianne is not stupid.

4:02

She would not drown in a hot tub. Something's

4:05

funny with this one, buddy. It ain't adding up.

4:08

I just knew that Marcus had killed her. I'm

4:10

Carson Lillard. I'm Marcus's son. He's

4:12

angry and he's violent. Marcus

4:15

is in a police car at this point. You're not

4:17

under arrest or anything right now, okay? Where

4:20

is Clark?

4:21

He went into his house. Sheriff's

4:23

office! Sheriff's office!

4:25

And he shot himself to death.

4:29

The very first thought was that he had to have had something

4:31

to do with this. Why

4:33

would he kill himself? There's

4:36

something he's hiding. I

4:38

don't believe anything that comes out of his mouth. Angie

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6:30

It was nearing 3

6:33

a.m. on Mother's Day, May 12, 2019. Sheriff's Office!

6:35

Sheriff's Office! That's

6:39

when Baldwin County Sheriff deputies stormed

6:41

into Clark Heindel's house and found he'd killed

6:43

himself with a shotgun. We're

6:47

going to need to get that gun away

6:49

from him. His hand's still on it. 911. Yes, I need an ambulance. Only

6:55

moments earlier, the sheriff's office

6:57

called 911. Only moments

7:00

earlier, Clark

7:00

had called 911, asking

7:03

paramedics to come to his home in

7:05

Milledgeville, Georgia, and the scene

7:07

was captured on police body cams.

7:10

Clark said a friend of his, college

7:12

professor Mary Ann Shockley, had

7:15

seemingly drowned in his hot tub. We've

7:17

got to treat this like a crime scene. Within

7:20

hours, Mary Ann's death was

7:22

being investigated as a homicide,

7:25

and authorities say they had two suspects.

7:28

Her boyfriend, Marcus Lillard, who was

7:30

being held

7:30

for questioning, and Clark, a

7:33

longtime resident of Milledgeville. I

7:36

think a lot of people do think that

7:38

because Clark Heindel killed himself, he

7:40

had some kind of involvement.

7:44

Today we're recording on location in Milledgeville.

7:47

This is season two. Penny

7:49

Dearman investigated the case on

7:51

her podcast. I'm doing

7:53

this podcast because I need

7:56

to know what happened to her. As

7:59

it turns out... Penny had previously

8:01

met Marcus. I met Marcus

8:04

when I purchased my truck. At

8:06

the time, Marcus was working as a car

8:09

and truck finance manager. And

8:11

what was your impression during that transaction?

8:14

He was very nice. He

8:16

was very personable, making jokes,

8:18

making me feel very comfortable, very

8:21

at ease. And I liked him right away.

8:22

Pretty

8:25

much everyone agrees that Marcus,

8:27

who was married and divorced twice, was

8:29

a charmer. But as Penny later learned,

8:32

that charm came with a reputation.

8:35

He was definitely known as a ladies man.

8:37

Everyone, regardless of what they thought

8:40

of him, knew that about him.

8:42

Somehow, God continued

8:44

to send women my way

8:46

that were way too good for me. And I would date

8:48

them, and I'd take them for granted, one right after

8:50

another. It was a steady pattern.

8:54

He's the most charismatic

8:57

person I've ever met. I mean, he's just got

8:59

this kind of aura

9:01

about him that sucks people in.

9:03

Carson is Marcus's 23-year-old son. Anywhere

9:07

he wanted to go, there was a woman there that

9:09

he could shack up with and stay with.

9:13

And eventually, Marianne also

9:15

fell under his spell. The two had

9:18

met in the late 90s when they were

9:20

students at Georgia College in Millageville

9:22

and working at the same local restaurant.

9:25

Was there a spark in that moment? No,

9:29

I was a kid, man. I was probably 17, and

9:32

she would have been 20. I

9:34

was a little, you know, little, little,

9:36

wormy guy.

9:37

I thought he was fine. I mean, nothing stood

9:39

out to me to be irregular about him. Ayla

9:42

Crippen is Marianne's younger sister.

9:45

She went to the same college as Marianne and Marcus.

9:48

He

9:48

dated one of my best friends and roommates

9:51

at the time. They didn't date

9:53

for very long. She said she got a weird vibe

9:54

from him. Marcus admits drugs

9:57

got in the way of his college education. and

10:00

he dropped out. I just thought life

10:02

was a party, and I

10:04

treated it as such. I never really

10:06

thought about him again until Marianne started dating him,

10:09

you know, two decades later. The

10:12

year was 2017. Marcus

10:15

was on the road in Athens, Georgia. He

10:18

knew Marianne lived there, so he invited

10:20

her to lunch. I was on my motorcycle.

10:24

We took a trip around Athens.

10:26

It went to her home away from home, and

10:29

then we went to the botanical gardens.

10:33

The motorcycle ride, I mean, that

10:36

was as romantic as you can get for lunchtime

10:38

on a Wednesday. Some 20 years

10:41

after they first met, Marcus says

10:43

they clicked. We spent every possible moment

10:46

together on the weekends.

10:49

Marianne enjoyed Marcus's

10:51

company so much that she brought

10:54

him along as her assistant on trips

10:56

to China and Ecuador. So

10:58

this is a very serious relationship. Absolutely,

11:01

yeah, yeah. We were super in love

11:03

with each other.

11:06

To me, he was not relationship material.

11:08

He's somebody that you go have a good time with and then you'd send

11:10

him on his way.

11:13

Ayla says the relationship seemed to

11:15

suit Marianne's busy lifestyle. She'd

11:18

been married and divorced three times and

11:20

had two children. She had a PhD

11:23

and was a star professor at the University

11:25

of Georgia, where she was known around campus

11:27

as Doc Shock. Her specialty

11:30

was entomology,

11:32

the study of insects. We are

11:34

going to talk about bugs.

11:38

Marianne liked everything about insects,

11:40

including their taste. Ants taste

11:43

like citrus. Some green-steamed

11:45

bugs taste like cinnamon. She embraced

11:47

entomophagy, the eating of insects,

11:50

and she believed bugs could be used as a

11:52

protein source to help solve world

11:54

hunger.

11:55

So what do we have here? Today we have

11:58

cricket brownies.

13:59

I asked my mom about it. These are the questions

14:02

that keep me up at night, but I'm taking these questions

14:04

out of my head and I'm bringing them to you because

14:06

on Baby This is Kiki Palmer, no topic

14:08

is off limits. Follow Baby This is Kiki

14:11

Palmer wherever you get your podcasts.

14:13

Hey Prime members, you can listen early and

14:15

app free on Amazon Music. Download

14:18

the Amazon Music app today.

14:20

Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, host of Wondery's

14:23

podcast, American History Tellers. We

14:25

take you to the events, times and people that

14:27

shaped America and Americans. Our

14:29

values, our struggles and our dreams.

14:31

In our latest series, union victory

14:34

in the civil war ends centuries of slavery

14:36

and begins the era known as reconstruction.

14:39

The federal government begins the difficult task

14:41

of restoring a shattered union and

14:43

political leaders struggle to integrate millions

14:46

of newly emancipated African Americans

14:48

into a racially divided society. Black

14:51

Americans fight for social and economic

14:53

equality, but they soon encounter violence

14:55

and political pushback. Follow American

14:57

History Tellers wherever you get your podcasts, you

15:00

can listen ad free on the Amazon Music

15:02

or Wondery app.

15:10

On the afternoon of May 11th, 2019, Marcus

15:14

and Marianne were in a celebratory

15:17

mood. The college school year had just

15:19

ended and as seen in this surveillance

15:21

footage, the couple went bar hopping

15:23

in Millageville before heading over to Clark

15:25

Heindel's house. Had

15:27

a few beers, smoked a little

15:30

pot, started a list of some music,

15:32

had a couple more beers. Marcus

15:35

spoke to us from jail. He's been

15:37

behind bars since Marianne's death.

15:40

He told us about that night and

15:42

how it all began as an impromptu jam

15:44

session. Clark

15:46

played the accordion and Marcus tried

15:49

his hand at the conga just as they

15:51

had done in the past.

15:54

We had stepped down from his porch

15:56

and we're getting ready to leave. I

15:58

said, hey Clark, I heard you got me. some acid. He

16:01

says no, but I've got some ecstasy.

16:04

Marcus says all three of them took

16:06

the ecstasy pills, a drug that

16:08

makes users feel euphoric, but

16:10

can also cause anxiety and

16:13

paranoia.

16:15

What happened next? It

16:18

got all fuzzy after that. I was

16:21

so out of it, I couldn't make a sentence. So

16:23

I couldn't speak. But

16:26

Marcus did later piece together

16:28

a timeline and told investigators

16:30

that he thought he and Marianne got into

16:32

the hot tub around 9pm. Marcus

16:35

said at one point, he got out

16:37

of the hot tub and Marianne begged

16:40

him not to leave. She says baby

16:43

get back in this water with me right now.

16:44

Was she afraid? Was she expressing any kind

16:47

of concern? She had fear in her voice and it

16:49

was it was definitely

16:51

fear. Marcus says it was

16:54

not clear what Marianne was afraid

16:56

of. Why in that moment

16:58

did you not turn back? Because

17:00

I'm an idiot. Leave that right there. Don't

17:03

touch nothing. Marcus initially

17:05

told deputies that he went into the woods

17:08

to collect firewood. But he later

17:12

said

17:14

the real reason he went into the woods was

17:17

that he was trying to recreate a scene from

17:19

a documentary called The Last Shaman.

17:24

While on drugs, the lead

17:27

character takes part in bizarre rituals

17:29

like being buried alive.

17:32

I said I'm going to the woods to dig a hole.

17:35

Marcus says he went into the woods and

17:38

simply laid down for how

17:40

long he says he does not know.

17:43

I can't remember anything past her

17:45

saying

17:46

don't leave me. What do you say to those

17:49

who are hearing this story of a

17:51

guy who has a history of drugs who

17:54

is claiming you know I

17:57

blacked out convenient it sounds like. The

18:00

devil was at work. I mean, everything that he could

18:02

have possibly done to line this thing up,

18:05

to make it confusing and

18:08

deceitful and...

18:11

It was all there. You emerged

18:13

from the woods. What is the first

18:15

thing you remember seeing, hearing? I

18:18

didn't hear anything. I could

18:20

see Mary Ann

18:21

slumped down with her chin

18:24

up to her nose underwater. Deputies

18:27

ask Clark where he was when

18:30

Mary Ann was in the hot tub, and

18:32

he says he stayed in the far end of the

18:34

pool. I'm sitting down there,

18:37

hanging out, swimming, going

18:39

into the shelter. And she's in the hot tub.

18:44

Do you know at what point you've noticed

18:46

she wasn't visible? I

18:50

never saw that she was invisible. But

18:52

I got up, I guess, when he was coming back.

18:54

Marcus

18:56

says he pulled Mary Ann out of the

18:58

hot tub and placed her on the

19:00

pool deck. In doing so, Marcus

19:03

admits dropping Mary Ann, who

19:05

suffered a gas to her forehead. At

19:07

that point, he says, Clark walked

19:10

over.

19:11

And he actually says, should we

19:13

call 911? And what did you say?

19:15

I said, no, I think she'll be fine. But

19:18

Mary Ann was not fine. That

19:20

gash on her head bled profusely,

19:23

and it appeared she was not breathing. Marcus

19:26

and Clark say they took turns giving

19:28

her CPR, but delayed calling 911.

19:32

Maybe speak to some of the individuals that

19:34

were present. Podcaster Penny

19:36

Dearman has her own theory about why

19:38

Marcus did not immediately call police.

19:42

In 2015, Marcus was

19:44

convicted of selling marijuana and

19:46

possessing methamphetamine and cocaine.

19:49

He was still on probation for that crime.

19:53

I would say that if you were an individual who's

19:55

been in trouble with the law before and you're

19:57

currently on probation, that

19:59

you would be afraid.

19:59

to call 911. It

20:03

makes my family so angry

20:06

and so hurt. If

20:09

he had a good heart, if

20:11

he truly loved Mary Ann, he

20:15

would have sacrificed anything to

20:17

save her. It's

20:19

unclear how much time had passed

20:22

before Clark called 911. Yes,

20:24

honey, an ambulance. But investigators

20:26

believe Mary Ann had been dead for

20:29

at least two hours before help

20:31

arrived. The questions

20:33

from deputies on the scene got much

20:36

more pointed.

20:37

If she's unconscious, y'all didn't think

20:39

they'd call 911? If she's unconscious? And

20:41

I didn't want to. She was breathing. Deputies

20:45

decided to separate the men for further

20:47

questioning. They put Marcus in

20:50

a squad car. The policy says I have to put

20:51

your hands up anytime I touch the screen for you, okay? Just

20:54

place your hands on your back for me, okay? But judging

20:57

from the body cam footage, deputies

20:59

seem to be having a hard time getting

21:01

Clark to cooperate. I've been told

21:03

three times to stay off the pool, but

21:06

he's insisting to have his lawyers. Something,

21:10

something is not right here, bro. All

21:13

right, wait right there. There's a crime scene now. Wait

21:15

right there. I

21:18

asked you to wait back there, sir. I

21:20

asked you to wait back there. But then the

21:22

deputy watching

21:23

Clark got a phone call, and

21:26

Clark wandered off. We got

21:28

a dead woman. No one noticed

21:30

that Clark had slipped into his house,

21:33

not until deputies heard that shotgun

21:36

go off. Dead dolphin!

21:39

Dead dolphin! Dead dolphin!

21:42

And found his body. You're

21:44

back, sir. Yeah.

21:48

It tainted the case 100 percent,

21:51

because there weren't two

21:54

people there that could say what happened. There

21:56

was only one. But

21:58

investigators say... Clark did

22:01

leave behind a potential clue,

22:04

a handwritten suicide note. And

22:07

I just said, well, he had to have done it.

22:09

If that pill made me so stupid, maybe it

22:11

made him for once in his life a violent

22:13

guy. What

22:19

do you think happened to Marianne Shockley? Chat

22:21

now on Facebook and Twitter.

22:36

Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massey

22:39

and Major Brad King say

22:41

they still can't shake the unease they felt

22:43

when they arrived at Clark Kindles House

22:46

on May 12, 2019, during the early morning hours

22:51

when Marianne Shockley was pronounced

22:53

dead. The

22:56

feeling at this scene was totally different

22:58

than any I'd ever been to. It

23:00

was a very, very

23:03

strange, strange feeling that everybody

23:05

noticed here. Sheriff

23:08

Massey remembers walking through Clark's

23:10

house when he spotted what turned

23:13

out to be a handwritten suicide

23:15

note on the kitchen counter.

23:19

This is the suicide

23:21

note Clark wrote before taking his

23:23

life. That is the note, yes, that we found in the

23:25

house. He says, I am very

23:28

sorry. I don't know what happened

23:30

with Marianne, but it was on my watch

23:33

and I am so sorry for the

23:35

family and friends. Massey

23:38

says Clark did not admit

23:41

any guilt in the letter. It mostly

23:43

instructed his heirs on what to do with his

23:45

possessions. Marcus was now

23:47

the only surviving witness

23:49

from this scene that night. Why was

23:51

Clark allowed to go back into his home?

23:54

Well, I'll be upfront with you. It

23:56

was a violation of our policy and procedures. How

23:59

big of a mistake.

23:59

was that in this case. Oh, it was terrible

24:02

mistake. Terrible mistake. It was a

24:04

dramatic, dramatic error

24:07

in this case.

24:08

Soon after deputies discovered Clark

24:10

had killed himself, Marcus was

24:13

taken in for questioning. Hours

24:15

later, he was interviewed by Michael Maben,

24:17

a special agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation,

24:20

also known as the GBI. Maben

24:23

broke the news about Clark's suicide.

24:27

During the time that I

24:29

guess you were in the backseat of the car, Clark

24:32

went inside his house and

24:34

he committed suicide and something happened. Holy sh**.

24:41

You're kidding. I'm not kidding. Why

24:48

would he do that? I don't

24:51

know. I'm

24:53

like, that sh** is the lie, though. Maybe

25:01

we need a kiss and you do that.

25:03

Marcus immediately began speculating

25:06

on what might have happened

25:08

when he says he was in the woods and

25:10

away from Mary Ann. There's

25:13

a pretty good chance that Clark out there

25:15

hopped up with me. I almost thought

25:17

it was a very high chance of that. A really

25:19

high chance. I mean, do

25:21

you think he did something?

25:24

She would do it to herself, and I know I

25:26

didn't do anything. The

25:29

investigation was in its early stages,

25:32

and authorities weren't sure who

25:34

or what to believe. Ayla

25:36

found it impossible to believe her sister

25:39

could drown in a hot tub.

25:41

That made no sense. Mary Ann was

25:44

intelligent. Like, even if she was

25:46

drinking in the hot tub, I just could

25:48

not see that happening.

25:50

Almost immediately, investigators

25:53

found out about Marcus's 2015 drug conviction, but

25:57

they were also looking closely at Clark

25:59

Kindle.

25:59

who was 69 years old and

26:02

had his own issues. And

26:04

he had a bit of a checkered

26:06

past that really caught up with him and impacted his

26:09

career.

26:09

Yes, unfortunately he lost his

26:11

license to practice

26:14

psychology. Podcaster

26:16

Penny Deermann says Clark's license

26:18

to practice psychology was revoked

26:20

in 2017 after

26:23

a former female patient filed a

26:25

complaint with a state licensing board.

26:27

She charged that Clark had engaged

26:30

her in a sexual relationship and

26:32

had given her marijuana.

26:34

It's a pretty sordid tale.

26:37

But investigators could find no proof Clark

26:40

had done anything to Mary Ann. Sheriff

26:42

Massey had known Clark for years and

26:45

knew his son had died at the age

26:47

of six from a rare form of cancer.

26:50

Losing his psychology license,

26:53

the death of a young son that had had

26:56

him depressed for years, the

26:58

embarrassment of it all, and it happened at his

27:00

house.

27:01

After his son's death, Penny

27:03

says Clark took the first of

27:05

several trips to Peru to work

27:07

with shamans, much like

27:09

the main character in the last shaman

27:11

documentary.

27:13

By

27:16

coincidence, Marcus says he

27:18

and Clark discussed that film on

27:20

the night Mary Ann died. And

27:22

in another bizarre twist, Marcus

27:24

says Clark found some hydrangea

27:27

branches and shook them around

27:29

Mary Ann's body. It

27:31

was a ritualistic

27:33

or a séance or something.

27:36

Clark, who had opened a local yoga

27:38

studio in recent years, had a lot of

27:40

friends and supporters, including

27:43

Marcus's son, who began seeing

27:45

Clark for therapy when he was only 14 years old.

27:49

I did love Clark and I still do. And I

27:51

think I didn't realize how much

27:53

he meant to me until he was gone.

27:56

Carson says that as soon as he heard,

27:58

Mary Ann was dead.

27:59

he pinned the blame on his father, whom

28:02

he describes as a malignant narcissist.

28:06

He was headed

28:08

towards destruction and was

28:11

determined to bring somebody with him. And

28:14

Carson wasn't the only person

28:17

who felt Marcus had violent

28:19

tendencies. I was at my desk

28:21

at the office, and a young lady called

28:23

me extremely upset. And she said, Sheriff

28:26

Massey, Mary Ann Shockley didn't

28:28

drown. She said, Marcus

28:30

choked her to death.

28:47

Soon after Mary Ann Shockley

28:49

was declared dead in the early morning

28:52

hours of Mother's Day, May 12, 2019, Sheriff

28:56

Massey received that phone call from

28:59

an ex-girlfriend of Marcus, who

29:01

said she strongly suspected that

29:03

Marcus had choked Mary Ann. She

29:06

said the same thing happened to me a long

29:09

time ago when I was at a low point in my life.

29:11

And she said he choked her, having

29:14

sex. News had spread through

29:16

word of mouth in the small town

29:17

that Mary Ann had died in

29:19

a hot tub, and Marcus was

29:22

in jail. I asked if she'd come give

29:24

us a statement, and she did.

29:27

Marcus's ex-girlfriend told investigators

29:29

that Marcus had a choking fetish,

29:32

and that it was a regular part of their

29:34

sex life. How

29:36

many times do you think you and Marcus had sex? Maybe 100

29:40

times. How many times do you

29:43

think choking was involved? I'd

29:49

say at least 30 times. The

29:51

woman said the erotic choking was

29:53

consensual, but one time she

29:56

says Marcus went too far.

29:58

where I lost

30:00

consciousness and my body

30:03

crumbled to the floor. He just left me there.

30:05

Marcus says his ex-girlfriend was

30:08

exaggerating, but he didn't deny

30:10

choking her during sex. It

30:12

was really more of a place to put

30:14

your hands for control.

30:16

Just a little light pressure to the carotid arteries.

30:19

You know, that was really about it. There

30:21

was never any pressure here. The pressure was here.

30:24

It was not that. That was blowing way out

30:26

of proportion. Marcus said he

30:29

only tried choking Marianne one time

30:31

and not on the night she died. He

30:34

said she told him she didn't like it and

30:36

he never tried it again. Ayla

30:39

does not believe him.

30:40

I believe that they were having sex

30:42

and he choked her and that is what

30:44

caused her death. GBI agents had

30:47

first interviewed Marcus on Mother's

30:49

Day morning and later placed him

30:51

in custody on a probation hold stemming

30:53

from his previous drug conviction. The

30:56

following day, Monday, May

30:58

13th, 2019, the

31:01

autopsy results came in and

31:03

investigators felt they were

31:05

damning. We were notified by the medical

31:07

examiner that it was a classic case

31:09

of strangulation. Busted blood vessels in

31:12

our eyes and had nothing to do with

31:14

any drowning.

31:15

Medical examiner Dr.

31:18

Melissa Simms-Stanley wrote that Marianne,

31:21

quote, died as a result of asphyxia

31:23

due to strangulation. The manner

31:26

of death

31:26

is best classified as homicide.

31:30

Given the results of the autopsy and

31:32

the information from Marcus's ex-girlfriend,

31:35

authorities say Marcus became the

31:38

focus of the investigation.

31:40

Hours after getting those autopsy

31:42

results, GBI agent Michael

31:44

Mabin requested another interview

31:47

with Marcus and he agreed. Again,

31:50

he did not request a lawyer, at

31:52

least at first. Strangle is in what

31:54

killed her,

31:56

okay? And you need to tell me what

31:58

the hell happened because you know.

31:59

We need some I don't know if I do I

32:02

was told you immediately. Agent

32:04

Maben accuses Marcus of lying.

32:08

I'm in here lawyer this because I mean you

32:10

you've already got your mind made up your your

32:12

your mind. Yes, I did

32:15

well, you're a wrestler.

32:18

It was only one day after

32:20

Mary Ann's death when Marcus was

32:23

charged with her murder. He was

32:25

formally indicted nearly 2 years later

32:27

in March 2021 and charged with 4 counts felony murder

32:33

aggravated assault involuntary

32:35

manslaughter and reckless conduct

32:37

he was ordered held without bond.

32:40

It made sense that she was not responsible

32:42

for her own death. Because I know

32:44

my sister she wasn't a careless person

32:47

did it make me feel better. No

32:50

because now. I

32:53

know that someone. Took her

32:55

from us.

32:58

Marcus sat in jail months

33:01

turned into years. Sheriff

33:03

Massey says investigators vetted Clark

33:06

and dropped him as a suspect and as

33:08

the trial approached Marcus settled

33:11

on Matt Tucker as his defense

33:13

attorney. And he just goes I'm

33:15

not going to admit to anything

33:17

I didn't do.

33:19

I'm largely

33:22

because of covid nearly 3 years went

33:24

by before Marcus alert stood trial

33:27

for the murder of Mary Ann Shockley. But

33:29

on April 4th 2022 his trial began here at the Baldwin

33:34

County courthouse.

33:35

Assistant district attorney Tammy coffee

33:38

laid out what the prosecution believes happened

33:41

between Marcus and Mary Ann on the

33:43

night she died. After

33:45

they got in the hot tub.

33:47

I think that they engaged in sex. I think

33:50

he choked her. I think each other too

33:52

hard and for too long.

33:53

Assistant district attorney Nancy

33:56

Malcor told 48 hours. There

33:58

was no clear evidence.

33:59

of sexual activity because

34:02

Mary Ann's body had been in the hot tub

34:04

for a prolonged period of time.

34:08

Meanwhile,

34:08

GBI agents had been busy talking

34:11

to former sex partners of Marcus to

34:13

determine if he had choked them.

34:15

It turns out GBI

34:18

agents found eight women. I

34:21

went out with Marcus a few times back

34:23

in the fall

34:25

of 2016. One

34:28

night we were having sex and

34:30

he put his hands around my neck.

34:34

You said he did choke you at times? He

34:37

did try to choke me. That

34:40

was something that he was into. I stopped

34:43

him twice. It's not something

34:45

that I'm into. I don't

34:47

like it. It scares me.

34:53

Prosecutors put six of

34:55

the women on the stand. The

34:58

women testified Marcus choked them

35:00

or attempted to choke them during sex.

35:03

And two of those witnesses told jurors

35:05

Marcus had choked them until they

35:08

passed out. All of it was consensual.

35:10

They're still alive. So I mean, how does it

35:12

even relevant? But Ayla

35:15

thinks their testimony was relevant

35:17

and demonstrates how callous and

35:20

dangerous Marcus could be.

35:22

It's one thing to gamble with your own life. You

35:24

know, you want to do drugs if you want

35:26

to choke yourself out. I mean, OK. And

35:29

one of his girlfriends, he just told her to shut up.

35:32

So that showed a disregard for

35:34

women, period.

35:35

The medical

35:38

examiner testified to her findings,

35:40

but Tucker noticed that the autopsy

35:42

revealed the hyoid bone in Mary

35:44

Ann's neck was intact and

35:47

not broken.

35:48

Some experts, including a surgeon

35:51

Tucker consulted, considered that

35:53

unusual in a strangulation case.

35:56

And he said, that's what you need to explore. Find out

35:58

why it wasn't broken.

35:59

somebody was a strangling Marion why

36:02

didn't it break. Tucker

36:04

suggested to doctor sim Stanley that

36:06

perhaps whoever killed Mary and was

36:09

too old or not strong enough

36:11

to break that bone he asked could

36:13

that person 70 years of age. And

36:17

she said yes before she realized what she was saying.

36:20

Clark was 69 at the time. Tucker

36:23

says that shows Clark nearly 3

36:26

decades older than Marcus could

36:28

have been Marianne's killer.

36:29

But with this juror agree.

36:33

I was not there to prosecute

36:36

car. I was there to spy on whether

36:38

Marcus Lillard was guilty or not.

36:43

Follow the evidence to learn more about what

36:45

happened the night, Mary and died at 48 hours

36:48

dot com.

36:54

As

36:57

the president states counsel president as

36:59

Marcus Lillard's trial progressed defense

37:02

attorney Matt Tucker floated the theory

37:04

that Clark strangled Marianne after

37:07

she rebuffed his sexual advances. It

37:10

was a scenario that Marcus said had

37:12

haunted him while he was behind bars.

37:15

My theory for the better part

37:17

of 3 years was he

37:20

took a shot at her

37:22

while she was alone and she rejected him.

37:24

Prosecutors say there is no evidence

37:27

Clark did anything to Mary and

37:29

and they insist Marcus was

37:31

the killer. In the autopsy

37:34

shows manual strangulation it was deliberate

37:36

the muscles themselves

37:39

were severely damaged. I think

37:42

that in straggler. What do you say

37:44

to people who are

37:46

convinced you

37:48

killed Marianne. I've been defending

37:50

myself for so long. I'm

37:53

not really concerned what they think. At

37:56

trial, prosecutors Tammy coffee

37:58

and Nancy Melkour.

37:59

put Mary Ann's sister, Ayla, on

38:02

the stand. I

38:05

know my sister, I know, you know. And

38:07

she talked about a private letter found

38:09

in Mary Ann's house. The letter

38:11

was her being reflective on

38:14

her relationships and how

38:17

she has selected guys to

38:19

date or to spend time with

38:21

that were not good for her. Did

38:24

she mention anyone by name?

38:26

She did. And that was Marcus. She

38:31

wrote, when he does White Lady,

38:33

he gets violent. The White

38:35

Lady, I understood

38:37

that to be cocaine.

38:39

Tests show that Marcus did

38:41

have cocaine in his system the night Mary

38:44

Ann died, but could not

38:46

pinpoint when he had taken the drug.

38:49

As for that private letter. What

38:51

did you do with it? I gave it to my dad.

38:54

Ayla testified that her father

38:56

burned the letter, leading Matt Tucker

38:59

to question her memory. We don't recall

39:02

at the beginning of this letter started to

39:04

ask. She's swarping

39:06

out. She read it. But

39:09

three years ago, how do you remember what was

39:11

in there? Tucker

39:13

offered jurors a second explanation

39:15

for Mary Ann's death, a theory

39:18

now embraced by Marcus, who no

39:20

longer blames Clark. I think the

39:22

ecstasy in the hot tub killed her, I feel like,

39:24

in my heart of hearts

39:26

that the medical examiner has made a mistake.

39:28

Marcus's lawyer tried to get the

39:30

medical examiner to admit Mary

39:33

Ann could have died because of the amount

39:35

of ecstasy and alcohol in her system,

39:38

coupled with the heat of the hot tub. Ecstasy

39:41

is also known as MDMA. Now

39:44

ma'am, it's true that this hot tub was 107.

39:47

There were supposed to be 104. That didn't

39:49

have a factor with the body temperature

39:52

being that high with having the high

39:55

levels of MDMA

39:57

in her system with them being drinking.

40:00

all day just had nothing to do with it and

40:02

she was like no she just disregarded

40:04

that immediately. But the medical examiner's

40:07

own autopsy revealed that Mary

40:09

Ann had cardiomegaly an

40:12

enlarged heart which is a condition

40:14

that medical experts say could lead

40:16

to sudden cardiac death.

40:19

48 hours had some questions

40:21

and sent all the autopsy information

40:23

to doctor Greg Davis a forensic

40:26

pathologist not involved with the case

40:28

after reviewing the documents he said

40:31

that it was possible Mary Ann

40:33

was strangled but a valid competing

40:35

cause of death is sudden cardiac

40:38

death due to mixed drug intoxication

40:41

a lethal mix of MDMA alcohol

40:43

and marijuana with a contribution

40:46

from underlying heart disease. He

40:48

said

40:49

there was no way he would have called

40:51

Mary Ann's death a homicide if

40:53

it were up to him he wrote he'd classify

40:56

her manner of death as undetermined.

40:59

But no medical experts testified

41:02

for the defense. No one did not

41:04

even Marcus. He wanted to testify

41:07

that he wanted to get across but I didn't

41:09

it could be productive. The

41:12

trial moved swiftly jury

41:14

selection started on a Monday and

41:17

by late Friday afternoon April

41:19

8th 2022 the case went to

41:22

the jury. Time to deliberate what

41:25

are you thinking I had peace man I

41:27

had peace over.

41:28

Really the whole thing. Deliberations

41:32

began and ended just

41:34

like that. Less than an hour goes by

41:36

there's a verdict 38 minutes.

41:41

My first impression was he did it. He

41:44

committed this murder and whatever they

41:46

tell me it's not going to prove to me that

41:48

he didn't do it.

41:49

Tisha Davis was juror number 11

41:52

why do you think that. Because

41:54

the professor was his

41:57

girlfriend and Clark

42:00

Heinde was a 70 something

42:02

year old man. He couldn't have murdered

42:04

her. And I just I knew

42:06

Marcus did it I just knew he did it. That's

42:09

a count one.

42:10

The top charge was felony

42:12

murder and the verdict was not guilty

42:15

not guilty. Verdicts on the

42:17

other charges followed in quick succession.

42:20

And it's just not guilty not guilty

42:23

not guilty not guilty. With

42:26

each one my heart just kind of sucked

42:28

lower and lower.

42:29

I thought there was no way that

42:32

he could get off. We were in

42:34

utter shock. Everyone

42:37

was shocked. And of course I look

42:39

over at Marcus and he's got a smirk on his face.

42:43

My blood was boiling. How

42:47

does Tayshia explain her change of heart.

42:49

I felt like the prosecuting

42:52

attorney. She painted a

42:54

picture that Marcus Miller was a womanizer

42:57

he was a narcissist but

42:59

they didn't prove that he was

43:01

a killer.

43:03

What do you think happened to Mary

43:05

and chocolate that night. I don't know what

43:07

happened that frustrated me because

43:10

we don't know what happened to her. If

43:13

she really was strangled if she died

43:16

from strangulation

43:17

who strangled her. So it sounds like you

43:19

even question if there was a murder in the first place.

43:22

I have my doubts about that. Judge

43:24

Allison Burleson also had doubts

43:27

but they were of a different nature.

43:29

It's a lot of come to quite a different conclusion

43:32

that what the jury has come to it is

43:34

quite clear to this court that the

43:36

only

43:36

person you were concerned with that night

43:39

may 11th 2019 was herself. She

43:42

immediately found that Marcus violated

43:45

his probation for that 2015

43:47

drug conviction and he was remanded

43:49

to prison.

43:51

My consciousness very clear when it comes to Mary

43:53

and do I miss Mary and yeah. I

43:56

was lucky. To get that

43:59

time with her that I. And I cherish that. I

44:02

think of Marianne every single

44:04

day. I have her name

44:06

on my bracelet. I'm wearing her earrings right now. Marianne

44:10

was the most beautiful spirit. She

44:15

worked hard.

44:17

She cared about

44:19

things that other people didn't care

44:21

about. The teeny weeny creatures that keep

44:23

us alive.

44:27

That keep our world

44:30

turning. I'm

45:00

County 911. Help me! Help me! My husband's 37!

45:03

Three murder trials, two dead

45:05

husbands, and an ending

45:08

no one expected. The defendant,

45:10

Raynella Leith, is... Join me as

45:12

I revisit

45:13

the death surrounding Raynella Leith on

45:15

Married to Death. I don't

45:17

understand it, and still, to this

45:19

day, can't explain it. Follow Married to Death from My

45:21

Life of Crime with Erin Moriarty,

45:24

wherever you get your podcasts. You

45:26

can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery

45:28

app.

45:56

This message comes from NPR sponsor

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