Regional News
Two arrested in rural Lexington murder to face trial
Published Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 05:11 PM
Two people arrested after a nearly year-long investigation into the murder of a rural Lexington man were ordered bound over for trial Thursday. 26 year old Jake Johannsen faces a charge of second degree murder and use of a deadly weapon in the death of Rodney Marshall. 29 year old P.J. Stapleton waived her right to a preliminary hearing and was also bound over for trial on a charge of being an accessory to a felony. The two will be arraigned in Dawson county district court in the near future. The body of the 49 year old Marshall was found Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008, about seven miles northwest of Lexington in a mobile home that he lived in with Johannsen and Stapleton. Autopsy results showed Marshall died from severe blunt force trauma to the head, neck, trunk and extremities and asphyxiation. Johannsen was in the Phelps county jail in Holdrege at the time of his April 11th, arrest on two counts of Class IV felony forgery. Cheri Saunders, Sergeant of Investigations for the Dawson County Sheriff's office testified that autopsy results revealed Marshall's injuries were consistent with those that could be inflicted by a carpet-layer's pry-bar, commonly referred as a "wonderbar." Saunders said Marshall, was a carpet-layer by trade and owned a number of such tools. Johannsen's bond was continued at $1,000,000 cash. Stapleton's bond remains at $50,000 cash.
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