Murder of Kristie Marks/ Daughter, Taylor Marks, gets life in prison without parole/ Troy A Purdie II, 20, pleading guilty and avoided the death penalty/ Taylor's boyfriend, Brian Scott Smith, 23, trial is scheduled for Nov 15.

Plot to kill mother was ongoing

By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer

POSTED: 12:52 p.m. EDT, Oct 26, 2009

An Akron woman plotted for some time with her boyfriend and his buddy to have her mother killed in order to collect from an inheritance, police said today.

Within four hours of the stabbing death of Kristie Marks, the scheme collapsed with confessions to detectives from the daughter and her friends, police said.

Taylor Marks, 20; her boyfriend, Brian S. Smith, 20; and their friend, Troy Purdie, 19, are each . They are being held in the Summit County Jail.

An autopsy is being performed today on Kristie Marks, 58, at the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office.

The death unfolded Saturday night about 8 in the parking lot of a Springdale Street apartment complex in Akron where Taylor Marks and Smith lived together with his mother.

An emotional Taylor Marks called 911 after the stabbing.

''My mother has been stabbed in the parking lot,'' she says in a recorded call with a police dispatcher. '' . . . someone just ran up behind my mom and stabbed her . . . ''

Marks told the dispatcher that Smith and Purdie chased the assailant. Police found Kristie Marks on the ground and bleeding from multiple stabs wounds. She was pronounced dead at Akron City Hospital.

Taylor Marks, Smith and Purdie were taken to Akron police headquarters for interviews about the attack. They talked to authorities in separate rooms.

Detective James Pasheilich said inconsistencies between the three led them to question the veracity of the statements. Within four hours of the homicide, all three confessed to plotting the killing for at least two weeks, police said.

''They were talking about it for a while,''Pasheilich said. ''These three admit that they had spoken and talked numerous times about doing this.''

Taylor Marks, whose father died in 2002, stood to collect a significant inheritance with her mother's death, police said. Kristie Marks also operated a home health-care franchise business.

Taylor Marks offered Purdie $5,000 to kill her mother and he has confessed to the stabbing, police said.

''Marks admitted that she was upset with her mother [and] wanted her mother dead,'' Pasheilich said. ''[Taylor] mentioned that her mom has money and has a will and that she believes that her name's on the will because she saw it.

''More or less, it comes down to money.''

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Then, the idiot called 911 which you can hear on the above link.

Money, money, money......the root of most evil. Now the poor mother is dead and the inheritance money will go to defense attorney's, just like Menendez!

Suspects in the stabbing death of Kristie Marks, (from left) Taylor Marks, Troy Purdie and Brian Smith.

I will always say Cindy Anthony was lucky that she did not meet an end like this....

My sister told me about this so I looked it uo. This is near where she lives.

I think Cindy was Casey's prime candidate for the neck breaking..but she knew Cindy was too strong for her. MOO!

Police said an argument over money led an Akron woman to pay a hitman $5,000 to kill her mother. She wanted her mother dead and she admitted that she planned the whole thing."

Kristie Marks, 58, of Copley Township, died when she was stabbed 13 times about 8 p.m. Saturday.

Lt. Rick Edwards said the victim's daughter lured the woman to the 900 block of Springdale Avenue where the hired killer attacked her.
Taylor Marks, 20, and her boyfriend, Brian Smith, 22, are in the Summit County Jail on charges of complicity to commit murder.
Edwards said the couple paid Troy Purdie, 19, of Akron, $5,000 to kill the woman. Purdie is in the Summit County Jail on a charge of aggravated murder.

Edwards said the three suspects were at the scene when police arrived and were taken into the police station for questioning. He said their version of events differed and when questioned, Taylor Marks admitted what she did and implicated the other two.
When confronted with the confession, Edwards said Smith and Purdie confessed also.

"It was all solved in less than four hours," Edwards said.

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Jan 14, 2010

A Summit County judge has ordered a competency evaluation for the 20-year-old Akron woman accused of conspiring with two others to kill her mother in October.

Taylor M. Marks, who is facing the death penalty under the state's murder-for-hire laws, will be evaluated by the county's Psycho-Diagnostic Clinic at a date to be determined.

Over defense objections, Common Pleas Judge Tom Parker ruled Wednesday that Marks does not need her attorneys present for the evaluation because it is not considered a critical stage of the proceedings.

The trials for Marks and her alleged co-conspirators, Troy A. Purdie II, 19, and Marks' boyfriend, Brian S. Smith, 22, both of Akron, are months away.

A competency evaluation is intended, according to court guidelines, to determine if the defendant understands the gravity of the charges and is capable of assistance in the various aspects of the case.

Kristie Marks, 58, was a well-off Copley businesswoman who
operated a Visiting Angels home health-care business in Medina. She was stabbed to death Oct. 24, according to police, after being lured by her daughter to an Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority apartment building in the 900 block of Springdale Avenue, where Taylor Marks lived with Smith.

Taylor Marks allegedly offered Purdie $5,000 to kill her mother so that she could collect on an inheritance.

The victim's will, written in 2004 and filed in November in Summit County Probate Court, names her daughter as sole beneficiary of her personal property and life insurance proceeds.

All three defendants are being held in the county jail on aggravated murder charges. Their bonds were set at $1 million cash.

Trials are scheduled Sept. 13 for Purdie, Oct. 18 for Marks and Nov. 15 for Smith.

Police have said Purdie's bloody clothes and a knife were recovered near the scene of the stabbing. He also could face the death penalty if he is convicted of aggravated murder.

Smith could face life in prison.

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Kristie Marks was born June 9, 1951 in Akron, Ohio. Kristie, a beloved friend and family member, died unexpectedly October 24, 2009.

Kristie, a kind and generous person in every aspect of her life, will be dearly missed by her family and many friends.

"We love you, Kristie"

Your loving Family

A memorial service will be held Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 4 p.m. at the Ciriello & Carr Funeral Home, 39 S. Miller Rd., Fairlawn, Ohio 44333, where family and close friends may call from 2 until service time. For those who wish, memorials should be made to the Hands Foundation c/o the funeral home.

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Defense wants murder suspect's letter tossed as evidence

Defense lawyers in the capital murder case of a 21-year-old Akron woman accused of a conspiracy to kill her mother argued Friday that a letter written by the defendant in the county jail should be thrown out as potential evidence.

The Oct. 27 letter, possibly containing admissions about the crime, was written by Taylor M. Marks, then given to a sheriff's deputy who was approached by Marks at the jail three days after the slaying.

Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tom Parker, who is handling the case against three co-defendants, heard testimony about the letter from Deputy Ann Manuel, but did not rule on its admissibility.

Parker instructed defense lawyers Lawrence J. Whitney and Joseph F. Gorman to write additional briefs on the issue because it involves the constitutional right of lawyer-client privilege.

Marks, Troy A. Purdie II, 19, and Marks' boyfriend, Brian S. Smith, 23, are being held at the jail on aggravated murder charges.

Their bonds were set at $1 million cash apiece.

Marks and Purdie are facing death-penalty specifications under the state's murder-for-hire law. Smith is not.

Marks is accused of offering Purdie $5,000 to kill her mother, Kristie Marks, 58, who operated a thriving home health-care business in Medina.

Kristie Marks was stabbed Oct. 24 at an apartment building in the 900 block of Springfield Drive. Police allege she was lured there by her daughter.

Purdie is accused of stabbing the victim near the apartment parking lot and fleeing.

Taylor Marks and Smith called 911 to report the slaying.

Police investigators allege that Taylor Marks, a 2008 Copley High graduate who attended the University of Akron in the spring of 2009, was the motivating force in the plot so that she could inherit her mother's money.

Kristie Marks' will, written in 2004 and filed in Summit County Probate Court in November, names her daughter as sole beneficiary of her personal property and life insurance proceeds. The remaining money, according to the will, is to be placed in a private trust.

Deputy Manuel, who is regularly assigned to the sheriff's detective bureau, testified at Friday's suppression hearing that she was helping out at the jail, making rounds to check on inmates, when she was informed that Marks wanted to talk to someone from law enforcement.

According to Manuel's testimony, Marks said early on that her attorney had advised her not to talk to anyone — the ''magic word,'' as Whitney called it, that all discussions must cease.

But Manuel said they soon wound up in the jail pod's television lounge, where Marks began crying because she had been unable to talk to her boyfriend, Smith.

Manuel said Marks then began talking about her mother and the case itself, so Manuel ''suggested'' that Marks ''might want to write down her thoughts.''

Manuel said she left at that point to complete her rounds, and when she returned, Marks had signed the letter, dated it and handed it over.

Manuel said she reviewed the letter, then gave it to her shift commander, a lieutenant.

Marks also wrote and turned over a second letter — this one to her boyfriend — and asked that it be given to him, Manuel said.

Under cross-examination by Whitney, who argued that the first letter was written after Marks uttered the ''magic word,'' Manuel said Marks did not specifically say it was for her attorney.

''No, she did not,'' Manuel said.

Whitney also attempted to argue that the first letter was ''seized'' by jail authorities.

Neither of the letters apparently written by Marks is part of the official court record yet, the judge said.

Marks is scheduled for trial Oct. 18. Purdie is scheduled for trial Sept. 13 and Smith, on Nov. 15.[url=http://www.ohio.com/news/99145429.html ][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] [/url]

BJ, Thanks for keeping up on this case that I started and did NOT keep up on.

When I was up in Ohio in October for my mom's surgery, we were all sitting in a private waiting room and I was on my puter when my sister who lives right in that area - told me about this. She didn't know I had a crime blog and asked, "Do you write about children killing their mother?" "Yes", I said. We most certainly do. This is when she told me about this.

How sad and how like the Anthony case where the defense want's the murder suspect's letter thrown out as evidence. How can anyone be a defense attorney? I would never sleep a wink.

Family friend Aline McMahon (rear) delivers a victim impact statement to defendant Taylor Marks (foreground), after Marks plead guilty in the murder for hire killing of her mother Kristie Marks in Summit County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday.



A 21-year-old Akron woman was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with no chance of parole after pleading guilty to aggravated murder in a plot to kill her mother.

In exchange for the guilty plea from Taylor M. Marks, who tearfully promised the court she would testify against others possibly involved in the plot but not yet charged, prosecutors requested the dismissal of a death-penalty specification.

Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tom Parker granted the request, but before doing so,told family members and friends of the victim, Kristie Marks, that he struggled with the decision.

''This is a sad day in Akron, Ohio,'' Parker said, addressing those who nearly filled three rows of benches in the public gallery.

''In many ways, it's a tragic day, because not only are we coming to grips as a court and a community with the loss of Kristie Marks, we now must come to grips with our loss of Taylor Marks from this community.

''Many people think that a sentence of life without parole is actually a more harsh sentence than a death sentence,'' Parker added, turning his attention to the defendant, ''because the reality is that it is a form of a death sentence. You will never again enjoy the freedom that the rest of us take for granted.''

The judge took considerable steps, as he did earlier in the case with a co-defendant, to ensure that Marks understood she was giving up her rights to a jury trial, the possibility of a lesser sentence in the penalty phase of a trial and any appeal of her plea.

As Marks stood before the bench between her attorneys, Parker also asked if she understood her life would come to an end ''at the hand of the state, in prison?''

She immediately replied: ''Yes, your honor.''

Marks, a 2008 Copley High School graduate who briefly attended the University of Akron, was indicted in November on a charge of aggravated murder with a death-penalty specification under Ohio's murder-for-hire law.

She was the motivating force, according to Akron police, in the 2009 plot to kill her mother.

Kristie Marks, who operated the Visiting Angels home health-care business in Medina, was stabbed to death Oct. 24 in a parking lot at an apartment building on Springdale Drive.

A telephone call from her daughter lured her there, police said.

Troy A Purdie II, 20, who previously avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to aggravated murder, admitted to the stabbing during his plea hearing last month.

Evidence placed on the record showed that he had been promised a payment of $5,000, but never received any of it.

Marks' boyfriend, Brian Scott Smith, 23, is awaiting trial as the third alleged conspirator in the plot. He also is charged with aggravated murder, but is not facing the death penalty.

His trial is scheduled for Nov. 15.

As Taylor Marks read from a handwritten statement near the end of Wednesday's 90-minute hearing, sobbing throughout, she began by saying: ''Today, I got what I deserve for my actions. I lost control of my state of mind, over something small, and took it out on [my mother].''

She concluded by asking for the forgiveness of God and her mother's family and friends.

''I will always love you. You will always be in my thoughts and prayers,'' she said before being led away.

Whatever set the plot in motion has not been explained.

A Victim Services official who assisted the family in court said the family did not wish to comment until the end of Smith's trial.

Four family members, however, did make statements in court during the emotionally charged hearing. Each stood only a few feet to Marks' left and spoke directly to her without notes.

Richard Horning of Copley Township, a cousin of Kristie Marks, said he was raised with her and that she was like his ''big sister.''

She adopted Taylor Marks, and when she brought her home, Horning said, she was so excited and so proud that ''she gave you everything. She gave you a chance to a beautiful life.''

''She gave you everything you wanted — an education. You needed cheerleading lessons? She got you cheerleading lessons.

''You wanted dance lessons? She got you dance lessons. All the finest things in life that she could provide, she sacrificed to give to you,'' Horning said.

''And for this to come to this, I don't understand it. I don't understand how something like this could happen,'' he said.

Horning concluded by telling Marks: ''Taylor, the rest of your life as you're sitting in jail, I want you to remember one thing: You killed the one person in this world who truly, unconditionally, loved you.''

Aline McMahon, a good friend of Kristie Marks from New Jersey, also spoke, telling the defendant that she killed ''the only advocate that you had.''

The slaying affected everyone so profoundly, McMahon said, it left ''a wake of chaos, despair and misery.''

''You killed all of us, in a way,'' she told Marks.

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New evidence described in court papers as ''devastating'' to the last of three co-defendants in the 2009 slaying of Kristie Marks has pushed back the trial date to March.

Brian Scott Smith, 23, originally was scheduled for trial in the murder-for-hire case on Monday in Summit County Common Pleas Court before Judge Tom Parker.

But the trial was moved to March 14 after Smith and his attorney, John W. Greven, made a brief appearance before Parker Tuesday afternoon to put the issue on the record.

Greven said he picked up the new evidence at the prosecutor's office on Jan. 5 and needed more time to go over it with Smith.

After Tuesday's hearing, Greven said outside court that he was made aware of the new evidence over the Christmas holiday, but declined to elaborate.

Asked whether the evidence was physical or testimonial in nature, Greven said it would be inappropriate to comment before the case goes to trial.

Marks, who operated the Visiting Angels home health-care business in Medina, was stabbed to death Oct. 24, 2009, in a parking lot at an apartment building on Springdale Drive.

She was lured there by her daughter, Taylor M. Marks, who was Smith's former girlfriend.

Taylor Marks, 21, has already admitted orchestrating the plot.

She was sentenced to life in prison, without any chance of parole, after pleading guilty to aggravated murder during an emotionally charged hearing Sept. 29 in Parker's court.

A cousin of the victim, Richard Horning of Copley Township, told Taylor Marks to remember one thing while spending the rest of her life in prison: ''You killed the one person in this world who truly, unconditionally loved you.''

On Aug. 24, Troy A. Purdie II, 20, who admitted to the stabbing, also was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole after he pleaded guilty to aggravated murder.

According to jail records, Taylor Marks was brought back to the county from state prison on Jan. 5 — the same day that Greven said he picked up the new evidence.

Summit County Assistant Prosecutor Brian LoPrinzi, the government's lead counsel in the cases against all three defendants, declined to comment about the new evidence, or the possibility that Marks would testify if Smith goes to trial.

However, at her September hearing, Marks vowed to the judge, as part of her plea deal, that she would testify against others possibly involved in the plot.

The circumstances of why Marks wanted to kill her mother have never been fully explained in previous hearings. Akron police investigators have said that Taylor Marks, a 2008 Copley High graduate who later attended the University of Akron, plotted the murder with the idea of inheriting her mother's money.

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