Sound Bite
Tunnel Vision is written from death row by Robert Marshall, a New Jersey inmate whose case was chronicled in the book Blind Faith, and in the mini-series starring Robert Ulrich and Joanna Kerns. Back in 1989, Blind Faith was a bestseller but nobody heard from Robert Marshall; this book is his side of the story. Marshall contends that that account is highly inaccurate and so do many people who send him letters of support. Algora Publishing is not in a position to make a judgment on the judicial aspects of his case but is happy to be in a position to enable a man to deliver a message.
About the Author
Robert Marshall notes that Joe McGinniss, the writer who caricatured him in Blind Faith, also wrote Fatal Vision -- a book that was successfully rebutted, in 1996, in Fatal Justice . Marshall still receives letters saying that outside observers feel there were too many loose ends on his case, that his true story has not yet been told, and that Blind Faith made no sense. Tunnel Vision is his response. It gives the readers a chance to know the real Robert Marshall.
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About the Book
Here is the inside story of a headline-making murder-for-hire case that has been at the heart of the debate over the death penalty and mandatory sentencing laws in New jersey for over 25 years. Convicted in New Jersey in 1986 in what came to be...
Here is the inside story of a headline-making murder-for-hire case that has been at the heart of the debate over the death penalty and mandatory sentencing laws in New jersey for over 25 years. Convicted in New Jersey in 1986 in what came to be known as the Parkway Murder, Robert Marshall says he was subjected to a seriously flawed trial. In Tunnel Vision, he refutes the allegations made by Joe McGinnis, author of Blind Faith, and seeks to set the record straight. This is a story that raises serious questions about his case in particular and the death penalty in general. It makes one wonder about the justice system when one co-conspirator in a murder, who admits his guilt, can walk away virtually scot free, and another, who has denied guilt from the beginning, receives a death sentence. Readers will come to their own conclusions. According to New Jersey Policy Reports (http://www.njpp.org/rpt_moneyfornothing.html), "In April 2004, a federal court set aside Robert Marshall's 1986 death sentence and ordered a new penalty phase trial on grounds that enough questions were raised by the way Marshall's private attorney handled the penalty phase of his trial that the lower court should review it. Marshall has since been represented in his appeals process by public defenders. The decision to reverse Marshall's death sentence was upheld by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on November 2, 2005." "In the stark language of the court," writes Seamus McGraw in JUSTICE DELAYED: THE ROBERT MARSHALL STORY (http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/robert_marshall/11.html), [Judge] Irenas declared that Marshall's lawyer had failed to meet the standards expected of "competent counsel." NJN (NJ public television) received the Philadelphia Press AssociationÃ??'sTelevision Feature Award on June 25, 2004, for its documentary Due Process: The Strange Case of Bobby Cumber, produced by Sandra King, which explores Bobby CumberÃ??'s conviction for his role in the case and the judge's statement that "he would have applied a drastically shorter sentence were it not for the demands of the mandatory minimum sentence for conspiracy to murder."
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After a pleasant dinner at HarrahÃ??'s Meadows Restaurant in Atlantic City, Rob and Maria Marshall played blackjack for a couple of hours and walked away with over $6,000. They paid off two small credit markers, then headed for home, an hour north in Toms River, New Jersey. After pulling out of a Garden State Parkway tollbooth, Rob felt a...
After a pleasant dinner at HarrahÃ??'s Meadows Restaurant in Atlantic City, Rob and Maria Marshall played blackjack for a couple of hours and walked away with over $6,000. They paid off two small credit markers, then headed for home, an hour north in Toms River, New Jersey. After pulling out of a Garden State Parkway tollbooth, Rob felt a vibration from one of the tires. Thinking he might have to change a tire and wanting to avoid the potential danger of parking on the shoulder, he pulled into a nearby picnic area. Indeed, the right rear tire was partially flat. As he was checking the tire, he was knocked unconscious by a blow to his head Ã??' from behind. He woke up in a pool of his own blood, his pockets turned inside out and the casino winnings gone. Maria was lying across the front seats, bleeding from fatal gunshot wounds to her back and side.
That was September 7, 1984. Three months later, Rob was arrested for conspiring to have Maria killed.
The previous May, Rob and Maria had attended a neighborÃ??'s party where they met Billy Caller*, a Shreveport, Louisiana man who had become friends with the neighbor some time ago when Caller lived in north Jersey.
After an afternoon of drinking together, Rob told Billy he was going to leave his wife and needed a private investigator to determine the whereabouts of over $15,000 in missing casino winnings and to find out whether Maria was consulting a divorce lawyer.
Billy told Rob he knew an investigator, and advised Rob to give him a call after he got back to Shreveport. Thinking Billy would refer him to someone in New Jersey, Rob called Billy a week later and was introduced to the investigator, a former Louisiana deputy sheriff, who called himself Jerry Davies. It wasnÃ??'t until much later that Rob learned he was a conman named Jimmy McInerney.
Ocean County investigators believed that Rob was involved in his wifeÃ??'s death, and they interrogated Caller in Louisiana and then arrested him and McInerney; they were extradited to New Jersey, where McInerney was offered a deal if he would name someone other than himself as the Ã??'shooter,Ã??' and Rob as the person who hired him.
Before McInerney gave his statement to the prosecutor, he was allowed to review the discovery file that contained all of the notes the county had gathered up until that point in their investigation. On December 18, 1984, McInerney gave a statement matching the prosecutorÃ??'s file notes, naming Rob and identifying a Louisiana man (Larry Thompson) as the shooter. He had cut himself a deal that would limit his jail time to less than sixteen months.
Rob and Larry were arrested separately on December 19, 1984. At a pre-trial hearing in 1985, Judge Michael Green decided that they would be tried together. The trial would commence the following January.
For the first time in his life, Rob Marshall was facing the American justice system: the system he would count on to prove his innocence and return him to his three young sons.
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ACLU of New Jersey Successfully Challenges Subpoena for Student Journalist's Death Penalty Documentary Notes (9/8/2003) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENEWARK - The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey announced today that a federal court has blocked the forced disclosure of video-taped interviews that Rowan University student Jason Kitchen had created for a documentary about a New Jersey death row inmate."This ruling was a confirmation of the First Amendment...
ACLU of New Jersey Successfully Challenges Subpoena for Student Journalist's Death Penalty Documentary Notes (9/8/2003) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENEWARK - The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey announced today that a federal court has blocked the forced disclosure of video-taped interviews that Rowan University student Jason Kitchen had created for a documentary about a New Jersey death row inmate."This ruling was a confirmation of the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press and it is a victory for student journalists in particular," said Robert Balin, an ACLU cooperating attorney with the New York law firm Davis Wright Tremaine. "Although a student, Jason Kitchen was as much a reporter as any other documentary filmmaker, and the state cannot decide to go rummaging through his materials any more than it can through the materials of a reporter working for a daily newspaper."At issue in the case was whether student filmmakers such as Kitchen are covered by the journalists' privilege -- a public policy that shields the press from compelled disclosure of their newsgathering materials -- and whether the state could override the presumption against disclosure in this case. New Jersey officials had subpoenaed Kitchen's material for their defense against Marshall's federal petition challenging his death sentence based upon ineffective assistance of counsel.Referring to the state's subpoena as "fishing expedition," United States District Judge Joseph Irenas ruled that Kitchen's work was protected by the press privilege. "I'm extremely pleased with the decision," said Kitchen, 22, an aspiring filmmaker and June graduate of Rowan University. "It will help ensure the ability of students with creative intentions to conduct projects in the future."Kitchen's film, "Fatal Mistakes," is a 56-minute documentary about the case of Robert Marshall, who was sentenced to death in 1986 for hiring someone to murder his wife. Kitchen created the film for a television documentary production course at Rowan University. He and his crew interviewed a number of individuals involved in Marshall's case, including Marshall himself. This was the first filmed interview of Marshall since his conviction in 1986. Following the interview, the state served subpoenas on both Rowan University and Kitchen in July 2003, seeking "all videotapes, notes and documents pertaining to interviews" that Kitchen had conducted of Marshall, his son, his trial attorney, the trial prosecutor and the chief investigator. The state subsequently narrowed its subpoena to the Marshall interview materials and also moved to take Marshall's deposition, in keeping with the legal requirement to seek alternative sources for information. That motion was granted last week. In seeking to quash the subpoenas, the ACLU argued that federal courts have recognized a qualified privilege protecting journalists from the compelled disclosure of both confidential and non-confidential sources and newsgathering information. The courts have also consistently held that the privilege is not limited to members of the traditional print and broadcast news media, but may be invoked by documentary filmmakers and student journalists such as Kitchen and anyone who engages in investigative reporting with the intent to disseminate the information to the public. ACLU of New Jersey cooperating attorneys in the case are Balin and Matthew Leish of Davis Wright Tremaine in New York City and Bruce Rosen of McCusker, Anselmi, Rosen, Carvelli & Walsh in Chatham, New Jersey. The case is Robert O. Marshall v. Roy Hendricks.
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Publishers Weekly
Feb. 25, 2002
This is a disturbing plea for relief, bolstered by reminiscences, court transcripts, correspondence and testimonials, penned by the man sentenced to death in New Jersey for arranging his wife's 1984 murder the case explored by Joe McGinnis in Blind Faith. A successful insurance broker with three sons, Marshall and his wife, Maria, enjoyed frequenting Atlantic City casinos, where they won thousands of dollars. But in 1983, Marshall began a passionate affair with Beth (a pseudonym): "I gave her a bottle of Lady perfume as I played Kenny Rogers' song, "Lady," he writes. When Maria was murdered at a parkway rest stop, investigators focused on Marshall: his infidelity, Maria's big life insurance policy and the matter of a large sum of "salted away" blackjack winnings. They found that Marshall had paid a shady ex-deputy sheriff from Louisiana, whom Marshall calls McInerney, to find out if Maria was investigating his affair but was there more to their deal? The state's case nearly collapsed when Marshall's codefendant, McInerney's supposed triggerman, produced an airtight alibi (McInerney had turned state's evidence). In the end, though, only Marshall was convicted on the strength of McInerney's compromised testimony, while the triggerman was acquitted; his conviction was upheld on appeal. For his impending final appeals, Marshall's public defenders have prepared an impressive document demonstrating that "the entire trial was a travesty of justice." While Marshall may or may not be innocent, one concludes that flawed evidence and police misconduct so compromised his trial that the death penalty was inappropriate. This is a grim narrative of murder, misfortune and to hear Marshall tell it official thirst for retribution.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Philadelphia Inquirer | More »
Philadelphia Inquirer
January 30, 2002
In the solitude of his cell on death row, Robert O. Marshall pecked away at his aging Smith Corona.
He wrote about being arrested in connection with his wife's murder, his journey through the New Jersey court system, and his efforts - so far unsuccessful - to win a new trial in a Garden State Parkway slaying case that became the focus of a best-seller, a documentary, and a TV movie.
Now it is Marshall's turn to publish. His book from prison, Tunnel Vision , is about to hit bookstores nationwide. And the timing is important: Marshall could soon become the first convicted murderer in New Jersey to be executed since 1963.
"He's clearly the first in line right now," said his lawyer, Stephen W. Kirsch, a public defender who also said Marshall could be put to death as early as this year unless he won relief.
Yesterday, the New Jersey Supreme Court heard legal arguments on the sufficiency of one part of the jury instructions in his 1986 trial. Next month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia is scheduled to hear a wide-ranging appeal.
If Marshall loses in either place, he could seek review in the U.S. Supreme Court, which rejected an earlier appeal. Barring an unexpected development, such as a moratorium on the death penalty, Marshall's final option, if necessary, would be to seek clemency from Gov. McGreevey.
Marshall, 62, is not typical among death-row defendants in New Jersey or the rest of America. He is white and middle-aged, and he was a successful insurance broker in Toms River, Ocean County, before he was arrested.
He was convicted in 1986 and sentenced to death for arranging the 1984 murder of his wife, Maria, a homemaker who doted on their three sons and did charity work for a hospital. She was shot after Marshall pulled their car into a desolate rest stop along the parkway after an evening at an Atlantic City casino.
The prosecution contended that Marshall had hired two men for the killing so that he could collect $1.5 million in life insurance and continue having an affair. Marshall acknowledged the affair but insisted he had nothing to do with the killing, which he contended was a robbery.
He started working on the book soon after he arrived on death row in March 1986. He dedicated the book to his wife "for her love and forgiveness"; to their youngest son, John; and to his sister and several friends who have supported him.
In 1991, his death sentence became the first one upheld by the New Jersey Supreme Court since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1982. It had previously overturned 27 death sentences.
Marshall also was rebuffed by a federal judge, the U.S. Supreme Court, and on two other occasions by the state Supreme Court. The Third Circuit has scheduled oral argument for March 21.
Yesterday, Kirsch argued that the judge who presided over Marshall's 1986 trial had not properly instructed the jury on the option of a nonunanimous verdict on the penalty, which would have meant a life sentence for Marshall.
But Robert E. Bonpietro, deputy state attorney general, argued that the case had received ample review. He urged the justices to send a message that endless appeals will not be tolerated. "The state does have an interest in finality," he said.
Marshall, who was not in court yesterday, is hoping for final relief.
"I continue searching for that beam of light that can guide me to a safe landing; I hope it comes before it's too late," Marshall wrote in the last sentence of the 217-page book, which will be available in bookstores in about a week.
The book offers no stunning revelations but puts forth Marshall's side of the case and describes the distress of being separated from his family.
Marshall also details life on death row: food trays slipped through a slot in the door, a "Welcome Wagon" gift of commissary snack items from inmates, the isolation, and the anxious wait for court rulings.
His literary agent, Patricia Jozwiakowski, said Marshall deserved the chance to tell his side.
"He put a lot of hard work into it," said Jozwiakowski, who added that Marshall had written on the word processor and sent disks back and forth for editing.
The publisher, Algora Publishing, said Tunnel Vision is Marshall's response to the best-selling book Blind Faith , by Joe McGinniss.
As a convicted murderer, Marshall is barred from profiting from any book sales under the state's "Son of Sam" law, and Jozwiakowski said any profits would go to Marshall's son John.
His other two sons became estranged from him after his trial.
In Toms River, where Marshall was a prominent businessman and a fixture at the country club, his name stirs up unpleasant memories. Some people in the Ocean County community said they had not thought about the case for years - and were not necessarily looking for reminders.
"It was so close to home," said Debbie Reader, owner of a downtown florist shop. "It was just too bizarre."
About 50 miles away, in a stark cell on death row, Marshall, meanwhile, reads Tom Clancy, W.E.B. Griffin and John Grisham. And he is working on another writing project: a survival guide for prisoners.
By Emilie Lounsberry - INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
THE NEW YORK POST, February 10, 2002 | More »
THE NEW YORK POST, February 10, 2002
'Blind Faith in Dad': N.J. wife-killer's son takes aim at '84 slay rap Sixteen years after Robert Marshall was convicted of hiring a hit man to kill his wife and sent to New Jersey's death row, his loyal youngest son says he still clings to the belief that his dad is "not a calculating, twisted" murderer. "I have stood strong with him from Day One and never flinched in my belief in his innocence," said John Marshall. . . . Robert Marshall, a successful insurance broker, was accused of hiring two men from Louisiana to kill his wife of 20 years so he could collect $1.5 million in life insurance and run off with a sexy school administrator in their town, Toms River. He was convicted in 1986, and sent to death row. If he loses his latest appeal next month, Marshall could be the first person put to death by New Jersey in nearly 40 years. Now John Marshall is promoting his dad's new book, "Tunnel Vision: Trial and Error", released last week, which aims to paint a picture of justice gone awry. . . . Under New Jersey's "Son of Sam" law, like New York's, Robert Marshall cannot profit from his crime. His son John signed the contract with Manhattan-based Algora Publishing, and will collect all royalties if the publication sells, he said. "My main concern isn't about the money," John said. "I want people to pick up the book and read the truth. We're hoping that positive press will generate attention to his appeal." John, who attended his father's trial every day, believes that the state's star witness, Billy Wayne McKinnon, - who testified in a plea deal - lied to save his own skin. John believes his dad's claim that McKinnon followed his parents home from Atlantic City to rob them of $6,000 in casino winnings. He says McKinnon knocked his dad on the head with his gun, and then shot his mom, possibly because she saw his face. Saying "my father's a smart guy, not an idiot," John rejects the prosecutor's claim that Robert Marshall asked McKinnon, an ex-cop from Louisiana, to murder his wife 15 minutes after meeting him. Marshall claims he hired McKinnon only to investigate whether his wife was having him followed, perhaps hoping to uncover his extramarital affair. McKinnon testified he hired another man, Larry Thompson, to pull the trigger. Thompson, who went on trial with Marshall, was acquitted.
EDITORIAL: Life Without Parole Would Serve Victims Better | More »
EDITORIAL: Life Without Parole Would Serve Victims Better
As the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission continued its review of the state's law, the Asbury Park Press called for replacing capital punishment with the sentence of life without parole. This would better serve the families of victims, according to the editorial, because the death penalty causes years of uncertainty with little prospect that the sentence will be carried out. The editorial stated: Reasons to drop death penalty State legislators need no further proof about the merits of the death penalty law than to listen to the families of murder victims. Their pain at the thought that their loved one's killer can walk free after a successful appeal or at the end of his sentence should convince any wary lawmaker that life without parole is a far better punishment than a cell on death row. Those cells have become the permanent home of New Jersey's murderers as they await the outcomes of appeal after appeal to their death penalty sentences. As a result, no inmate — as heinous as his crime may have been — has been executed since the state restored the death penalty in 1982. The Death Penalty Study Commission conducted a hearing Wednesday on whether to recommend changes to the law to the Legislature. The answer is clearly "yes," with life without parole the best alternative. That would spare Joanne Barlieb of Atco the fear that her mother's killer in a 1985 convenience store robbery could be free and on the streets in 14 years. "Our family was forced to relive the nightmare three times," Barlieb told the panel of their courtroom appearances. That penalty would also mean that Robert O. Marshall, 66, of Dover Township, would not be eligible for parole in eight years for his role in the contract murder of his wife in 1984. "Marshall not only has escaped the death penalty, but he will probably see freedom in time to enjoy it," said Richard Pompelio, director of a victims' rights organization. Marshall was resentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility in 2014 after judges, in one of Marshall's numerous appeals, ruled that his defense was inadequate during the death penalty phase. One legislator, Sen. Robert Martin, R-Morris, told the commission that the death penalty should be abolished. Fine-tuning it hasn't worked, Martin said. Instead, "it has erected a nightmare for many of the victims' families," he said. All of these appeals cost money, which was cited by Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, as another reason to drop the law, which he supported in 1982. Now adopting the stance of death penalty opponents, Lesniak also said "there is no foolproof system to prevent the execution of an innocent person." The evidence against the death penalty law is convincing. It has to go, with life without parole the sentence that serves justice and the families left behind. Asbury Park Press, Sept. 15, 2006
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Pages 228
Year: 2001
LC Classification: HV6533.N23 M37
Dewey code: 364Ã??'dc21
BISAC: TRU002000
Soft Cover
ISBN: 978-1-892941-78-7
Price: USD 18.95
Hard Cover
ISBN: 978-1-892941-79-4
Price: USD 25.95
Ebook
ISBN: 978-0-87586-146-3
Price: USD 29.95
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