A Baldwin County judge on Friday found sufficient probable cause to move forward with a murder charge against Marcus Lillard in the killing of a University of Georgia professor.
Marianne Shockley, who taught entomology, was found dead on the pool deck of a Milledgeville home in May. She was bleeding from an apparent head wound. When police arrived, they interviewed, Lillard, her boyfriend, and Clarke Heindel, the homeowner.
Heindel, 69, fatally shot himself while police were still at his house.
Lillard told authorities Shockley had drowned in the hot tub while he was gathering firewood. But an initial autopsy showed she died by strangulation. Lillard denied harming her, and said he and Heindel spent two hours trying to revive Shockley before calling 911.
All three were nude.
Police arrested and charged Lillard , a 41-year-old car salesman, with murder, concealing a death and aggravated assault.
District Attorney Stephen Bradley said they’re waiting for reports and testing results before moving forward to present an indictment to the grand jury.
Shockley was a 43-year-old mother of two and an international leader of entomophagy, the human consumption of insects.
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