MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — The suspicious death of a University of Georgia etymology professor is back in the spotlight as the popular crime docuseries "48 Hours" covers the case.
Marianne Shockley died under suspicious circumstances back in May of 2019. It was speculated that her boyfriend, Marcus Lillard, accidentally strangled her but earlier this year a jury acquitted him.
The fateful night began when Shockley and Lillard went over to their friend Clark Heindel's house before getting in the hot tub.
Then the details get murky - Shockley ended up dying by apparent strangulation.
The events began when a 911 call was placed around 1:06 a.m. by Clark Heindel, the homeowner and Lillard’s friend.
In the call, Heindel reportedly said Shockley drowned but was breathing, then later said she wasn’t breathing.
When deputies arrived around 1:20 a.m., they found a distressed Lillard and Heindel attempting to perform CPR on Shockley.
Investigators wrote that during the incident, Lillard and Heindel’s behavior seemed odd, and their statements were inconsistent.
According to what Lillard told deputies, he went into the woods gathering firewood when he came back and found Shockley unconscious. He thinks she hit her head while trying to get out of the tub.
He said he dropped her trying to pull her onto the pool deck.
Investigators then separated Lillard and Heindel for questioning.
That is when Heindel went into his master bathroom and killed himself.
After an autopsy was done, the results confirmed what investigators suspected -- Shockley’s cause of death was not drowning as the two men had claimed.
The results actually suggested strangulation, meaning she was likely choked to death.
Lillard then went to trial on charges of concealing the death of another, aggravated assault, and murder.
At trial, Prosecutor Nancy Malcor said Lillard accidentally choked and killed Shockley while they had sex in the hot tub.
However, defense attorney Matt Tucker said there was no evidence Lillard killed his girlfriend.
Jurors were also able to see the video of deputies responding to the 911 call as prosecutors and the defense debated how Shockley died.
Drugs were found in both of their systems during the strangulation, and an autopsy showed Shockley had ecstasy and marijuana while prosecutors said Lillard had cocaine in his.
During the trial, the state called up several of Lillard's past sexual partners who said that he had choked them as well, some even to the point of passing out.
In response, Defense Attorney Matt Tucker claimed that the state had "placed an arrow" on Lillard and "painted a bull's-eye" around him.
Closing out the trial, the jury then acquitted Lillard on all four counts after four days of testimony and two hours of deliberation.
The DA of the trial, T. Wright Barksdale, said "I felt like we put forth all the evidence that we had for the jury to consider. That's all that I can ask of my folks. We're going to continue to do what we've done for the past 16 months."
The "48 Hours" episode, named "The Strange Death of Professor Shockley," will air at 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15 on CBS, and will be streaming on Paramount +.
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