A man who fatally shot his neighbor during an argument and then drove the body to his lawyer’s has not been arrested, causing mixed feelings among others involved.
Attorney Robert Harris told WZVN in Fort Myers that his client, John Marshall, admitted to killing his neighbor, but claimed it was in self-defense. Harris explained Marshall and the neighbor, Theodore Hubbell Jr., had a contentious history and were arguing about some property.
“This man went up to him and said he wanted to apologize for his behavior and then pulled the gun,” Harris said of what Marshall told him. He explained Hubbell allegedly pistol-whipped Marshall and the two then wrestled over the gun. Marshall, 52, got control of it and shot 65-year-old Hubbell. He then drove the body to Harris’ office. “Once I learned of the facts, I called 911.”
After police responded, Marshall went to the hospital where he was treated for broken fingers and missing teeth. He has not been charged with any crime, as his lawyer called it “the cleanest-cut case of self-defense I’ve ever seen.”
However, some others believe Marshall is at fault.
“He murdered the kindest, most gentlest man on this planet. Now he’s out walking free while Ted is dead,” a friend of the victim’s told WINK.
Another was baffled by Marshall’s course of actions.
“If I had in self-defense had to shoot somebody or kill somebody in my home or near my home, what would I do, drag the body into my vehicle and take it to a lawyer? I would be calling 911 – that’s what you do – any sane person would.”
Others noted that Marshall is the one with a history of violence: He was arrested in September after getting in a fight with a handicapped man in a McDonald’s parking lot. Surveillance cameras show Marshall then got in his truck, hit the man and fled the scene. That case is still pending.
