Cape Coral man faces murder charge in father’s death

CAPE CORAL, Fla.- A 33-year-old man is accused of killing and dismembering his father, the Cape Coral Police Department said Tuesday.

Matthew Marshall is facing charges for second degree murder, abuse of a human body, and tampering with physical evidence in 58-year-old James Richard Marshall’s death, detectives said.

James Marshall was reported missing on Feb. 19 when he didn’t show up for a real estate convention in California.

Matthew Marshall was originally arrested for fraud after police say he used his father’s credit card at a Cape Coral bar a day after his father was last seen.

Parts of James Marshall’s body were later found dismembered in a wooded area near the home he shared with his son at the Island Cove Condos, Cape Coral police said. Investigators found other body parts in a canal more than a mile away.

“This was a very labor-intensive and forensically based investigation, we had a crime scene in one place and another crime scene where the body was located,” said Captain Lisa Barnes with CCPD. “Our detectives have worked tirelessly on this case, amassing as much evidence as possible in what is one of the most gruesome homicides Cape Coral has ever seen.”

But the investigation took two months to end in an arrest. Barnes said police were able to take time to build their case against Matthew Marshall because he was already in jail.

“The fact that he was in jail was good because maybe the fear of him fleeing where they thought he was a suspect could have taken a little pressure off with the timing of it and giving investigators a little bit of an edge of ‘Okay, we can take our time a little bit,'” Barnes said.

Matthew Marshall’s arrest is a breakthrough in two separate Lee County murders.