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Justin Marshall will plead guilty on May 12 in 2009 fatal shooting of Iowa City landlord
May. 5, 2017 11:41 am
IOWA CITY - Justin Marshall will plead guilty and be sentenced next week in the fatal shooting of landlord John Versypt in 2009.
Sixth Judicial District Sean McPartland set the hearing for May 12 in Johnson County District Court, a court document shows.
Marshall, 26, charged with first-degree murder filed a motion Thursday, stating he had reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and wanted to plead and be sentenced as soon as possible. The motion doesn't provide details of the plea agreement.
Marshall had planned to represent himself in his second trial May 22 in Scott County. The trial was moved due to pretrial publicity.
Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness said Friday she couldn't comment on the plea agreement.
Marshall was convicted by a Johnson County jury of first-degree murder in 2013. According to evidence at trial, Marshall intended to rob Versypt, 64, at the Broadway Condominiums in Iowa City, but ended up fatally shooting him in the head and hand.
His conviction was overturned in 2015 by the Iowa Court of Appeals, which ruled testimony of a jail informant should not have permitted. The Iowa Supreme Court upheld the appeals ruling but cited that a different jail informant shouldn't have been allowed to testify.
The Iowa Attorney General then sought a review by the U.S. Supreme Court but the court declined the review in January.
Marshall was previously set to take a plea last month, but Marshall told a judge during a hearing March 9, that he wanted to represent himself and go forward with the trial.
In April, Marshall asked the court to not allow the prosecution to call two other witnesses who testified at his first trial but McPartland hadn't made a ruling yet on those witnesses. Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
Justin Marshall (center), who is representing himself, looks towards Thomas Gaul (left), standby counsel, as Gaul answers a question from Judge Sean McPartland (right) during a suppression hearing for the murder trial for Marshall at the Johnson County Courthouse in Iowa City on Thursday, Apr. 20, 2017. Marshall is accused of killing John Versypt in 2009. Marshall was convicted in 2013 of the 2009 Iowa City shooting death of landlord John Versypt, and the conviction was overturned on appeal. A new trial was ordered after the Iowa Supreme Court upheld part of the appeal's verdict, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case in January. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette)
Judge Sean McPartland (right) asks a question to Justin Marshall, who is representing himself, during a suppression hearing for the murder trial for Marshall at the Johnson County Courthouse in Iowa City on Thursday, Apr. 20, 2017. Marshall was convicted in 2013 of the 2009 Iowa City shooting death of landlord John Versypt, and the conviction was overturned on appeal. A new trial was ordered after the Iowa Supreme Court upheld part of the appeal's verdict, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case in January. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette)
Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness (right) speaks as Justin Marshall (left), who is representing himself, and Judge Sean McPartland (center) look on during a suppression hearing for the murder trial for Marshall at the Johnson County Courthouse in Iowa City on Thursday, Apr. 20, 2017. Marshall is accused of killing John Versypt in 2009. Marshall was convicted in 2013 of the 2009 Iowa City shooting death of landlord John Versypt, and the conviction was overturned on appeal. A new trial was ordered after the Iowa Supreme Court upheld part of the appeal's verdict, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case in January. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette)
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