Acquitted for Murder, Man Admits Role in Famous '80s Slaying

Prosecutors in South Jersey say a Louisiana man has confessed to being the triggerman in one of the state's most notorious murder-for-hire cases.

Larry Thompson was acquitted in 1986 of the murder of Maria Marshall at a rest stop on the Garden State Parkway in 1984.

Following the aquittal, Thompson told NBC10's Brian Williams that he didn't shoot the woman.

"There was one man who said I did something and seven people who said that I didn't. Who would you believe," Thompson said outside the court in Mays Landing.

Marshall's husband, Robert Marshall, was convicted of hiring Thompson and another man to kill his wife and has been in prison since. Robert Marshall collapsed in court after the verdict was read and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. He later was sentenced to the death penalty.

Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato said Friday a 12-month cooperative investigation with authorities in Louisiana culminated in Thompson's admission that he fired the shots that killed Maria Marshall. Thompson, now 71, is currently serving life in prison for armed robbery.

He admitted that witnesses who gave him an alibi for the day of the murder were lying or mistaken.
Thompson can't be retried under double jeopardy rules.

The case became the subject of the book Blind Faith.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us