Wife Turns Husband In For 1993 Lawrence Co. Murder

September 27, 2010NEW CASTLE, Pa.-- A Pulaski man is in the Lawrence County jail facing murder charges after his wife led police to solving a 17-year old crime and missing persons case. A second man, now in Louisiana, also faces similar charges. Both are accused of the 1993 murder of a 15-year old single mother.

New Castle police say the victim was 15-year old Laura Thompson. She was a high school student and a mother of a baby when she disappeared in 1993.

Now 39-year old Joseph Marshall Jr., of Pulaski faces murder charges after his wife turned him in to police. He was arrested on Sunday. Investigators say 38-year old Sean McDonough of Louisiana also faces charges in the murder. He was also arrested over the weekend in Thibodaux, La. He is currently being processed for extradition to Pennsylvania.

Marshall's wife Shannon Marshall, who is now divorcing him, told police that she went along when her husband dug up and dismembered Laura Thompson's body a few months after she was killed in January 1993.

Marshall's wife Shannon Marshall, who is now divorcing him, told police that she went along when her husband dug up and dismembered Laura Thompson's body a few months after she was killed in January 1993.

According to the criminal complaint, Marshall and McDonough were hanging out with Thompson at McDonough's trailer in Shenango Township. Marshall told police McDonough attacked Thompson, stabbed her to death, and then stripped her and had sex with her corpse before burying her remains in a shallow grave. The victim was a high school student at the time as well as a single mother with a 9-month old baby.

The victim's mother, Nancy Thompson of New Castle, says her daughter had gone to play cards with Marshall and McDonough and she always believed she was alive and would be found.

Nancy Thompson says she can't yet make funeral arrangements because police are hoping the suspects will help them locate her daughter's remains.

According to the criminal complaint, Shannon Marshall revealed to police that her husband told her that "he had done something very bad and had killed someone."

Police said Shannon Marshall knew about the slaying in 1993, but only reported it to police in July because their marriage was ending and she feared for her life.