Composite of suspect. Credit: FCPD
Two murders. Two women. Two miles apart. Two decades unsolved, but detectives refuse to give up.
Last week marked 20 years since the homicide of Marion Marshall in 2006. Then, about three months later, Marion Newman was killed in the same manner.
The Franconia (Virginia) Cold Case Squad has persistently worked on these cases since they happened and believe someone out there holds the crucial piece of information needed to bring the victims’ families the answers they deserve.
Marshall was last seen on Aug. 14, 2006. Surveillance video showed she visited a grocery store in the Bradlick Shopping Center in Annandale at approximately 11 a.m. that day. Detectives believe she drove home and was unloading groceries when she encountered her killer. The circumstances of the encounter are unknown, but detectives found no signs of forced entry into her home. Marshall was found dead by a friend later that evening.
Newman was last seen on Nov. 19, 2006 when she visited her mother at a senior living community in Springfield. She was scheduled to return to see her mother the next day but never arrived. She was found dead by a friend inside of her home in the 7100 block of Reservoir Road in Springfield two days later.
Although detectives do not believe the victims knew each other, they had a lot in common. Most notably, both women were named Marion, and both in their 70s. Neither woman had children or was married at the time of their death. They lived alone—only two miles apart from each other.
DNA evidence collected from the scenes confirmed that both women were sexually assaulted and that the same offender was responsible for both murders. Despite being entered more than a decade ago in a nationwide database of DNA samples, the identity of the offender has remained unknown.
In 2019, detectives sought assistance from Parabon to help predict physical appearance and biological relationships. From that, the suspect was determined to be of Latino descent, particularly El Salvadorian. It is unknown how old the offender was at the time of the crimes, but the composite sketches are a representation of what the suspect may look like at age 25, 40 and 55 years old.
Detectives from the Major Crimes Bureau Cold Case Squad are committed to solving these two murders. They are still exploring forensic genetic genealogy for leads and firmly believe there’s someone out there who noticed something unusual or suspicious or can share more information about the victims around the time of the murders to help bring justice to this case.
Marshall’s family is offering a $11,000 reward. Her niece and nephew say: “We live in hope the individual who harmed this gentle woman will be brought to justice.”
Republished courtesy of FCPD