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Suspect charged in murder, rape cold case

Suspect charged in murder, rape cold case

A pending felony domestic assault case in Lake County, Indiana, recently led local cold case investigators to a man believed to have sexually assaulted three teenage girls, killing one, more than 20 years ago. 

Kenneth Marshall, 54, of Hammond, Ind., was indicted by a Lucas County grand jury on Thursday for charges of aggravated murder, murder, and felonious assault — all with sexual motivation and repeat violent offender specifications — as well as six counts of rape, with a repeat violent offender specification. 

Charges were filed under seal on Thursday as detectives with the Toledo Police Department and Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office Cold Case, Bill Goodlet and Jay Gast, traveled to Hammond, Ind. Marshall was arrested at approximately 8:30 a.m. Friday. 

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After nearly 21 years, cold case investigators were able to link Marshall’s DNA to the April, 2000 murder of a 19-year-old girl. Over the course of six months, he is believed to have also sexually assaulted two other teenage girls, said assistant county prosecutor Michael Bahner, who is also a member of the cold case unit. 

Kenneth Marshall, who is on trial for rape and murder, consults with his attorney Merle Dech on Monday at the Lucas County Courthouse in Toledo.
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“We have been in touch with the victims and the family of the deceased,” Mr. Bahner said. “[They were] shocked, ecstatic. A lot of times, people in these cases give up like, ‘Police aren’t doing anything, nobody cares.’ And then you show up and knock on the door to say, ‘We found him.’” 

Over the past several years, investigators gained more information and had an idea of who they were looking for, but the final pieces of the puzzle were really put together last week. 

On April 15, 2000, Toledo police were initially called to an apartment in the 2400 block of Robinwood Avenue in Toledo for the report of a woman found strangled in her apartment living room. Officers located the victim, Chrishana Logan, 19. 

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The Lucas County Coroner’s Office ruled that her death was a homicide by strangulation, and police initially charged Ms. Logan’s boyfriend for the murder. However, DNA evidence later determined he was not the suspect and charges were dismissed. 

No one else was charged for her death. 

On Aug. 21, 2000, a 17-year-old girl was attacked and assaulted behind a laundromat on Byrne Road near Dorr Street in South Toledo. 

Two months later, on Oct. 3, 2000, a 13-year-old girl was confronted on Collingwood Boulevard near Central Avenue and raped. 

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The victim was able to give details about the suspect’s appearance, but his identity was still unknown. 

Five years later, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations compared the DNA samples taken from the three female victims, which determined the DNA in each case was from the same suspect, Mr. Bahner said. 

In 2018, the Toledo Police and Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office Cold Case Task Force took another look at the case. 

They partnered with Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company, to examine a sample of the suspect’s DNA. The company provided investigators with genetic information, determining some of the suspect’s key identifiers, like race and characteristics, Mr. Bahner said.

The cold case unit then worked with Advanced DNA Labs in Ohio, who were able to link the suspect’s DNA with potential relatives in the Chicago area, according to the prosecutor. 

Still, investigators didn’t have a link with the incidents in Toledo — until last week.

“Unfortunately, for Kenneth Marshall, and fortunately for us, according to some complaints filed in Hammond, Ind., he held a girlfriend captive in his home, took her phone, threatened her with a gun, choked her, took her clothes and beat her up,” Mr. Bahner told The Blade on Friday. 

He was subsequently charged with six felony and two misdemeanor offenses in Lake Superior Court from the  incident over the summer. In December, he posted bond and had been out on electronic monitoring. 

Officials collected a sample of his DNA following his arrest and on Jan. 4, cold case investigators received notice Marshall was linked to the three Toledo cases. He was taken into custody again on Friday, Mr. Bahner said.

Investigators determined Marshall was convicted of murder in Chicago for the fatal stabbing of another man in 1985. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but he only served 15 years and he was released in 1999. He then traveled to Toledo to stay with his mother, who lived on Broer Street, south of the University of Toledo, Mr. Bahner said. The cold case unit also discovered he had at least one speeding ticket in 2000. 

“We can place him in Toledo at the time of the offenses, as well, outside of his DNA,” Mr. Bahner said. 

Marshall moved to Indiana about a year later, investigators said. 

Marshall will be extradited to Toledo after the conclusion of his Indiana case. His attorney representing him in that case declined to comment on Friday. 

A motive for the assaults still remains unknown. 

First Published January 15, 2021, 5:26 p.m.

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In 2010, Nurse Julia Benfield goes over paperwork from a rape kit in the emergency room at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center, in Toledo.  (THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY)  Buy Image
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