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Thread: Marcel Emanuel Johnson - Pennsylvania Death Row

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    Marcel Emanuel Johnson - Pennsylvania Death Row



    Ebony Talley and her daughter, R’Mani Rankins





    DA seeks death penalty in Bristol Twp. triple-murder case


    Emotions ran high in the courtroom as the Bucks County District Attorney filed to seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing 22-year-old Ebony Talley, her daughter, R’Mani Rankins, 4, and an unborn child in Bristol Township last year.

    Marcel Johnson, 21, of Bristol, would face the death penalty for the killings of Talley and Rankins, and first-degree murder for the killing of Talley’s unborn child if convicted, according to Assistant District Attorney Matt Weintraub. Johnson was formally arraigned on murder charges Friday and his attorney filed a plea of not guilty on the charges.

    Craig Penglase, Johnson’s court-appointed attorney, said the friends and family members of the victim were understandably emotional.

    “I think that this is as such as in any homicide that involves a child emotions are going to overcome some people,” he said.

    Weintraub said one man, after seeing Johnson for the first time since the killings, had to be asked to leave.

    “There was a victim’s family member who was seeing the defendant for the first time and he got upset,” Weintraub said. “I don’t blame him, but I have to concentrate on what’s going on in front of me and not what’s going on behind me and he was asked to leave.”

    Investigators said Johnson stabbed the three in Talley’s Avalon Court apartment and then set fire to the apartment to cover up the crime.

    To justify seeking the death penalty, the district attorney alleged that Johnson tortured his victims, risked the lives of others while committing the murders, knew Talley was pregnant and that Rankins was less than 12.

    The judge scheduled pretrial motions for June 30 and the trial for Sept. 15.

    http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.c...a04dd2396.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    June 30, 2014

    Defense challenges confession in Bristol Twp. double murder


    By Matt Coughlin
    The Bucks County Courier-Times

    The constitutionality of a jailhouse confession is one of several issues defense attorneys have raised during pretrial hearings in the triple murder case against Marcel Emanuel Johnson of Bristol.

    Johnson is accused of killing 22-year-old Ebony Talley; her daughter R’Mani Rankins, 4; and Talley’s unborn child in Bristol Township last year. The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office accuses Johnson of stabbing Talley and R’Mani dozens of times inside Building 600 of the Avalon Court apartment complex in the 3500 block of Bristol Oxford Valley Road on Nov. 25. Johnson then set the apartment ablaze, according to police.

    http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.c...d2508168e.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    November 26, 2014

    Judge quashes defense motion in Bristol murder, arson trial

    By Hayden Mitman
    The Bucks County Courier-Times

    After taking a night to consider new evidence, Judge Diane Gibbons returned Wednesday to quash a motion to suppress evidence in the upcoming trial of 22-year-old Marcel Emanuel Johnson, of Bristol.

    Gibbons said that police officers used proper procedure when interviewing Johnson.

    http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.c...9e8c5c749.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Jury selection starts in Bucks triple-murder case

    Jury selection began Monday in the trial of Marcel Johnson, a Bristol Township man accused of killing a pregnant woman; her 4-year-old daughter, and -- under an infrequently invoked law -- the unborn child.

    Because the Bucks County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty, the selection process is expected to continue through the week, with opening arguments anticipated May 26, the day after Memorial Day.

    Johnson, 22, allegedly stabbed to death Ebony Capri Talley, 22, who was five months' pregnant, and her daughter, R'Mani Rankins, in November 2013 at Talley's Levittown apartment. Johnson then set the apartment on fire, police said. His motive remains unclear.

    Much of the prosecution's case is built on the testimony of a criminal informant who contends that Johnson tearfully admitted to the killings in his jail cell, and evidence that includes Talley's DNA found under Johnson's fingernails, according to court documents stated.

    http://www.philly.com/philly/news/lo...T1jO57ZQ2GK.99
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  5. #5
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Trial Opens in 2013 Levittown, Pa. Murder of Woman and Four-Year-Old

    By Jim Melwert
    CBS

    DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — Opening statements were being presented today in the murder trial of a Bucks County man accused of killing a pregnant woman and her four-year-old daughter, then setting the bodies on fire inside a Levittown apartment.

    Bucks County assistant district attorney Matt Weintraub told the jury that four-year-old R’Mani Renkins’ only crime was witnessing the murder of her pregnant mother, 22-year-old Ebony Talley.

    Weintraub says he is confident the evidence will show defendant Marcel Johnson was the murderer.

    “A critical piece of evidence was a locket on the floor that the defendant always wore, that had the victim’s blood on it. There were some drugs stolen from the victim’s apartment that had the defendant’s DNA on it,” he told KYW Newsradio.

    But defense attorney Craig Penglase says Johnson sold drugs with the victim, and she often let him stay at her apartment.

    He also argues that the car the defendant is said to have used to flee the gruesome murder scene was tested for blood traces and none were found, even though Talley had been stabbed more than 30 times.

    And, Penglase adds, there was no trace of any accelerant even though one was used to try to set the bodies on fire.

    http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/201...four-year-old/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #6
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Inmate said Bucks man confessed to killing

    The week that Marcel Johnson was sent to Bucks County prison on a drug charge, George Lewis said, Johnson tearfully confessed to murder.

    It was November 2013. News had been percolating around the cell block about a gruesome killing in Levittown, Lewis said. Lewis, held for a parole violation, was assigned to watch over Johnson, a new inmate.

    And almost immediately, Lewis recalled Tuesday, Johnson told Lewis he'd killed two people: "Ebony," referring to 22-year-old Ebony Talley, and her 4-year-old daughter, later identified as R'Mani Rankins.

    Johnson would later be charged with killing Talley's unborn daughter as well.

    "I was very surprised," Lewis testified in a Doylestown courtroom Monday, the last witness in Johnson's death penalty murder trial.

    Lewis, who is still in jail, admitted he was motivated to share the apparent confession with authorities because it might help his own case. Additionally, when pressed by defense attorney Craig Penglase on the details of Johnson's admission, Lewis grew flustered at times, once pleading with Judge Diane Gibbons to move past questions about specific details.

    Still, when he stepped down from the stand Monday afternoon, prosecutor Matt Weintraub rested his case. Penglase said he may have one witness to present on Johnson's behalf Tuesday and that he was still trying to convince his client not to testify.

    Deliberations could begin Tuesday following closing arguments.

    http://www.philly.com/philly/news/lo...yTXryFyIxK6.99

  7. #7
    Senior Member Frequent Poster Fact's Avatar
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    Ugh, I don't like jailhouse confessions.

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    Jury still out in killing of Bucks County pregnant woman, 4-year-old girl

    A jury was expected to resume deliberations in the trial of a suburban Philadelphia man charged with killing a pregnant woman and her 4-year-old daughter because he wanted the woman’S drug business.

    The Bucks County jury deliberated about 3 1/2 hours Tuesday without reaching a verdict in the case of 22-year-old Marcel Johnson.

    Authorities say the Bristol Township man stabbed Ebony Talley, 22, and R’Mani Rankins in November 2013 and then set fire to the Levittown apartment to destroy evidence.

    Prosecutors want the jury to convict Johnson of first-degree murder, citing his DNA under the victim’s fingernails. If convicted, Johnson could face the death penalty.

    Johnson’s defense attorney says an inmate who testified that Johnson acknowledged the killings might have learned of the case on the news and lied to police

    http://www.timesherald.com/general-n...-year-old-girl
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  9. #9
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    Bucks man found guilty of murdering woman, child

    By Chris Palmer
    The Philadelphia Inquirer

    A 22-year-old Bristol Township man was found guilty Wednesday by a Bucks County Court jury of stabbing to death a pregnant woman and her 4-year-old daughter, a crime prosecutors said was an attempted takeover of the woman's heroin-dealing business.

    Marcel Johnson was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder, one for Ebony Talley, 22, and one for her daughter, R'Mani Rankins. Johnson was also convicted on a count of third-degree murder for killing the child Talley was carrying, as well as arson for setting Talley's Levittown apartment on fire after the murders.

    Wearing the same button-down shirt he had worn throughout the seven-day trial, Johnson showed no emotion in the Doylestown courtroom as the verdict was read.

    Johnson's defense attorney, Craig Penglase, said his client did not utter a word before he was sent back into custody.

    Members of Talley's family sighed and wiped their faces with tissues. They declined to comment as they left the courthouse.

    A jury of nine men and three women deliberated for 12 hours before reaching the decision. They will now hear several days of testimony to determine whether to sentence Johnson to death.

    Bucks County Chief of Prosecution Matt Weintraub praised the jury's decision, calling the murders "more heinous and brutal" than many others he has seen.

    During five days of testimony before Judge Diane Gibbons, Weintraub used witnesses to paint a grim picture of Johnson. Lacking a permanent home or reliable income, witnesses said, he became mired in the lower Bucks County drug trade.

    Occasionally, witnesses testified, Johnson and Talley dealt drugs together. But ultimately, Weintraub argued, he wanted the entire business.

    In Talley's apartment on Nov. 25, 2013, the jury found, Johnson stabbed Talley multiple times, then plunged the knife into the only witness, R'Mani. Johnson then set the apartment on fire and fled in Talley's Cadillac. Talley's body was found in her bedroom, charred and covered in small yellow baggies of heroin.

    Police locked Johnson up within hours on unrelated drug charges, believing him to be involved in the killings. Behind bars, he apparently confessed to a fellow inmate. That inmate, George Lewis, testified during the trial.

    Penglase had attempted to point out that Lewis was a motivated witness with a long rap sheet and plenty of reasons to lie to help his own case. Penglase also told the jury that Johnson's DNA was not found in evidence from the scene.

    Penglase's attention will now shift to trying to save his client's life. The penalty phase of Johnson's trial is expected to last through Monday.

    http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20...rr28dWi6APy.99

  10. #10
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    Bristol Township triple murderer gets death penalty

    By Hayden Mitman
    The Bucks County Courier-Times

    UPDATE: Marcel Johnson, who last week was convicted of three Bristol Township murders, has been sentenced to death by a Bucks County jury.

    http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.c...50b79471e.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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