Jury acquits defendant in murder trial, despite prior conviction for killing alleged getaway driver
Marcellus Jones argued with the prosecution, the judge and even his own lawyer during his Philadelphia murder trial, which he complained was unfair.
Plus, by taking the stand Tuesday in his own defense and offering rambling, sometimes incredible testimony, Jones put on the record his previous murder conviction and five robbery convictions. At one point, he contended that a court transcript of what he said at a prior trial was inaccurate.
Nonetheless, in a verdict that shocked some observers, the 37-year-old was acquitted Wednesday of all five counts in a murder case over the 2008 slaying of a Drexel University teaching fellow, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. The prosecutor’s theory was that the motive for killing Beau Zabel early one June morning was to rob him of his iPod.
Years later, Jones was identified as a suspect. Authorities were tipped that Jones told friends and relations he had killed his getaway driver, Tyrek Taylor, several months after Zabel’s death, because Taylor kept saying Jones had “killed the teacher,” the Inquirer reports.
Tried and convicted in 2012 of Taylor’s murder, Jones was then tried for Zabel’s slaying. A sister, her boyfriend and a former friend and fellow inmate all testified Jones had admitted killing Taylor in order to stop him from talking about Zabel’s murder. However, Jones told the jury two of the witnesses didn’t know him and said his sister testified under duress.
Jurors declined to talk with lawyers and reporters after the Wednesday acquittal. It appears that a lack of DNA, as well as any other forensic evidence linking Jones to the crime, may have turned the tide in his favor.
There was security footage, the newspaper notes, but it wasn’t clear enough to identify a suspect.
“The jury has spoken,” said prosecutor Jacqueline Juliano Coelho after the verdict. “That is our system of justice. We put in our evidence in the best possible way.”
Attorney Richard Giuliani represented Jones. “I always believed there were problems with the prosecution case,” he said. During closing arguments on Tuesday, the lawyer said witnesses against his client were opportunists trying to gain an advantage with prosecutors or, as far as Jones’ sister was concerned, get custody of her children.
Despite the acquittal, which Jones greeted with joy, he remains behind bars. He is serving life without parole for Taylor’s murder.
Related coverage:
Philadelphia Inquirer: “Defendant in Beau Zabel murder trial takes the stand: I didn’t do it”
