LAURA THOMPSON - 15 yo (1993)/ Charged: Sean M. McDonough and Joseph Marshall - New Castle PA

Investigators will begin efforts today, two days after her suspected killers were charged, to find the body of a teen mother who was murdered more than 17 years ago.
Lawrence County District Attorney Joshua Lamancusa said Tuesday that Joseph Marshall Jr., 39, of Pulaski  Township has been cooperating with authorities in the efforts to locate the body of 15-year-old Laura Thompson, who was murdered in January 1993.
County authorities charged Marshall and Sean McDonough, 38, of Thibodaux, La., on Monday with Thompson’s murder. Marshall is being held without bond in Lawrence County Jail. Lamancusa said he doesn’t yet know whether McDonough will fight extradition from Louisiana.
According to documents filed in the case, McDonough had sex with Thompson before and after he killed her. Marshall told police that he watched as McDonough raped and killed Thompson. Thompson had a 9-month-old son at the time of her death.
Lamancusa said McDonough then buried Thompson in Shenango  Township, and Marshall later moved her body to a location in Hickory  Township.
Thompson remained a missing person for nearly two decades, until the National Center for Missing and Exploited Persons began investigating the case. Lamancusa credited investigator Joseph Hladky of the center for his work on Thompson’s disappearance.

But Thompson’s death wouldn’t be solved until Marshall’s wife, Shannon, went to New Castle police in July and implicated him in the case. Shannon Marshall said she was with her husband when he retrieved and moved Thompson’s body.
Lamancusa said Shannon Marshall was about to file for divorce from her husband, from whom she was separated, and she worried about retribution from him.
“She knew what he was capable of, and she was fearful,” Lamancusa said.
The district attorney said the focus will now shift to finding Thompson’s remains. Both potential locations are in remote areas, although he wouldn’t provide a precise location. State police will take aerial photos today as a prelude to a ground search.
Police and staff from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children will work alongside forensic anthropologists from Mercyhurst  College, using cadaver-locating dogs and hardware including ground-penetrating radar designed to locate human remains.
The ground search might have to wait a few days, Lamancusa said, because the radar works best when the earth is firm and dry, an improbability after Tuesday’s heavy rainstorms.
“As soon as the weather cooperates, we’ll be out there,” the district attorney said. “We’re hopeful that we’ll find her.”

Death Penalty Sought in 17-Year-Old Murder Case

Updated: 2/23 4:42 pm
Lawrence County 's district attorney has filed court papers saying he'll seek the death penalty against one of two defendants in the murder of a 15-year-old girl in 1993.

Joseph Marshall Jr., 39, of Pulaski Township, and Sean McDonough, 38, of Thibodaux, La., were arrested in September after Marshall's estranged wife told authorities he had confessed to killing Laura Lynn Thompson a few months after her January 1993 murder.

Shannon Marshall has not been charged, and police said Joseph Marshall has been cooperating.

McDonough and Marshall have both pleaded not guilty.

Shannon Marshall told police said a few days after he was questioned by police in 1993, Joseph Marshall took her to a wooded area off State Route 422 in Shenango Township, and she acted as a lookout while he dug up Thompson's body.

They then drove to a field off State Route 208 in Hickory Township and scattered Thompson's remains, Shannon Marshall told police.

When Joseph Marshall was taken into custody, he told police he and McDonough picked Thompson up on the night she disappeared. He said they went to McDonough's trailer off of New Butler Road in Lawrence County. There, they drank a few beers and hung out.

They eventually went to a cabin in the woods. Once inside, Joseph Marshall said McDonough became aggressive with Thompson, grabbed her and wrestled her to the floor before pulling out a knife and stabbing her in the back. Joseph Marshall said he just watched.

He said that after Thompson stopped moving, McDonough took off her clothes and had sex with her body. Afterwards, he dug a shallow grave near the cabin and buried the body.

http://www.wkbn.com/content/news/local/story/Death-Penalty-Sought-in-17-Year-Old-Murder-Case/a98eChqeoECCeywSTH23iA.cspx

Judge considers motion in homicide cold case

March 8, 2013
Nancy Lowry New Castle News

NEW CASTLE — Lawrence County Judge J. Craig Cox is considering removing the death penalty in an upcoming homicide trial.

Sean M. McDonough, 40, of Thibodaux, La., faces multiple charges stemming from the 1993 murder of 15-year-old Laura Lynn Thompson. The teen, last seen Jan. 7, 1993, was thought to be a runaway until information was received in 2010.

McDonough, extradited from Louisiana, has been held without bond in the Lawrence County jail since Oct. 13, 2010. He was initially charged with criminal homicide; murder in the first, second and third degrees; conspiracy to commit homicide; conspiracy to commit murder in the first, second and third degrees; abuse of a corpse; rape of an unconscious victim; rape by forcible compulsion; and five other conspiracy charges.

Since then, the second-degree murder charge, all conspiracy charges and both rape charges have been dismissed. The abuse of a corpse and conspiracy charges were withdrawn.

Court-appointed defense attorney Randall T. Hetrick of Mercer, who asked to have the death penalty removed, also requested that the judge dismiss all charges under rule 600. That section of the Pennsylvania Rules for Criminal Procedure ensures a speedy trial.

Lawrence County District Attorney Joshua Lamancusa Thursday asked Cox to “take judicial notice” of the voluminous case file.

“The commonwealth needs time,” he said.

Cox addressed both matters Thursday by granting both parties more time to file briefs and noting Lamancusa still has time to decide if he will appeal the dismissal of the rape charges to the Superior Court.

The death penalty hinges on the rape charges, according to Hetrick.

“There is only one aggravating circumstance in the case, the rape,” Hetrick said. If the district attorney does not appeal or if the Superior Court doesn’t overturn the local court, “then the death penalty is off the table.”

Cox continued the death penalty hearing to Thursday, noting it may not be necessary if Lamancusa does not appeal.

Thursday, Lamancusa declined to say if he would appeal.

In February 2011, Lamancusa said he would seek the death penalty for McDonough.

In July 2010, law enforcement officials were told McDonough and Joseph Marshall Jr., 41, of Pulaski, may have killed Laura’s death.

Marshall is charged with criminal homicide; murder in the first, second and third degrees; abuse of a corpse; and multiple counts of criminal conspiracy. According to court records, he is lodged without bond in the Mercer County prison.

Police were told Laura had been killed and buried in Shenango Township, but her body later dumped in Hickory Township. Various law enforcement officials searched unsuccessfully for the remains. No body has been found.

http://www.ncnewsonline.com/update/x986706625/Judge-considers-motion-in-homicide-cold-case

Commonwealth v. McDonough, PICS Case No. 13-0171 (C.P. Lawrence Jan. 14, 2013) Cox, J. (33 pages).

COURTS OF COMMON PLEAS

The Legal Intelligencer
February 12, 2013
EVIDENCE

Suppression • Custodial Interrogation • Unsolicited Statement • Miranda Warnings • Right to Counsel

Commonwealth v. McDonough, PICS Case No. 13-0171 (C.P. Lawrence Jan. 14, 2013) Cox, J. (33 pages).

The trial court denied defendant's motion to suppress where defendant made voluntary statements to police after being provided with Miranda warnings and defendant did not assert his right to counsel during interrogation.

Defendant Sean M. McDonough was arrested and charged with criminal homicide and related offenses arising out of the murder of a young woman in Pennsylvania in January 1993.

Defendant moved for suppression, arguing that any statements made to police while he was in custody in Louisiana should be suppressed because he invoked his right to counsel.

The court observed that defendant was taken into custody in 2010 at his place of employment in Louisiana on the basis of a Pennsylvania warrant. At the time, he was provided with Miranda warnings. Defendant was not questioned during transport to the sheriff's office.

While at the sheriff's office, defendant was again provided with Miranda warnings. He stated that he understood his rights and signed a form acknowledging that he received Miranda warnings.

During questioning, defendant was shown photos of several women who were murdered in Louisiana. He denied traveling to Jennings, La. where victim was murdered and stated he did not recognize any of women in the photos.

When defendant was shown a picture of the female victim from the 1993 murder in Pennsylvania, defendant reacted and appeared ill. Upon further questioning, defendant stated that he watched the television show "Law and Order" for many years and he believed he should "lawyer up."

Read more: http://www.thelegalintelligencer.com/id=1202587560929/Commonwealth-v.-McDonough%2C-PICS-Case-No.-13-0171-%28C.P.-Lawrence-Jan.-14%2C-2013%29-Cox%2C-J.-%2833-pages%29.#ixzz2w36P8OnM