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Neighbor slain, then cut up

Dismembered body of Glen Cove woman found in basement two houses away, where suspect often stayed

BY SUSANA ENRIQUEZ | STAFF WRITER; Staff writers John Gonzales and Christine Show contributed to this story.

August 19, 2006

It started as a routine missing-persons report, but within hours police were pulling body parts out of a Glen Cove basement in a gruesome crime scene that stunned a quiet community.

Denice Fox, 57, was killed Thursday in her home on Willada Lane in Cove Landing - a winding, tree-lined private community north of Morgan Memorial Park - between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., said Nassau County police Det. Lt. Dennis Farrell, commanding officer of the Homicide Squad.

Evan Marshall, 31, was arrested Friday and accused of decapitating and dismembering the retired schoolteacher, Nassau County police said. He was charged with one count of second-degree murder.

Police found most of her remains in garbage pails in the basement of the home of Marshall's mother, Jacqueline, who lives two houses away from Fox along a curving cul-de-sac at 3 Willada Lane, Farrell said.

Later, police said, they made an even more grisly discovery - Fox's head was in the trunk of a car being driven by Evan Marshall.

Fox was killed and dismembered with two "rather large" carving knives, Farrell said. He would not specify a motive for the killing, citing a continuing investigation.

The only apparent relationship between Fox and Marshall, Farrell said, was that Fox and his mother were neighbors.

The Fox family moved to the private community in March, Farrell said.

Marshall lived - sometimes for months at a time - in his mother's townhouse home in the basement, which is at ground level and has sliding doors that lead to the garden. It was in the basement that police also found several mannequins and what sources described as sadomasochistic paraphernalia.

Marshall, a bedding salesman who was arrested on charges of petit larceny and driving while intoxicated, is scheduled to be arraigned Saturday on the second-degree murder charges.

Missing-person call

Fox's daughter called the Glen Cove Police Department about 4:30 p.m. Thursday to report her mother missing. The daughter told police that a great deal of blood was on the vestibule floor and a back window had been broken.

While investigators were canvassing the neighborhood, Marshall's mother approached them and handed them a phone. An attorney, who was on the line, advised police that they could search her property.

About one hour later, police found Fox's body parts, but not Evan Marshall.

On Friday, about 10 a.m., Marshall returned to the private community, which was blocked by police vehicles, and was stopped by Glen Cove police Officer Perry Giambruno.

When Marshall identified himself in order to enter the community, Giambruno arrested him.

The light blue, 1990 Toyota Corolla he was driving remained outside the community with its headlights on until a tow truck removed it about noon.

Neither the Fox nor Marshall families could be reached for comment.

Suspect in another case

Police also are investigating another incident that they say involved Marshall. About 8:30 a.m. Thursday, before the killing, a woman was walking down New Woods Road about a mile from Willada Lane when a car veered off the roadway and struck her intentionally, Farrell said.

The woman, who was in stable condition at a local hospital and was not identified, called police Friday after seeing TV footage of Marshall's arrest and identified him as the driver, police said.

Previously, Denice Fox and her family lived on Auerbach Avenue in Hewlett. The woman who bought that house last September said Fox formerly worked as a public schoolteacher in Queens.

"She loved her home," said the woman, who declined to give her name. "She loved to cook and entertain. She seemed like a nice lady. This is absolutely shocking."

Neighbors in Glen Cove also were stunned that somebody was killed there.

"It's terrible," said Barbara Fischman, who described Fox as a lovely woman. "We've never even had a burglary in this community."

When Don Lubin, who lives around the corner on Watersedge Court, went for a walk Thursday night, police told him there had been a burglary in the neighborhood. But an officer walking with a police dog around the wooded area behind Willada Lane led Lubin to believe otherwise.

"It was pretty obvious to everyone that it was more serious than a burglary," said Lubin, who moved to Glen Cove about two weeks ago from Michigan. "I thought I was moving into a safe neighborhood."

Staff writers John Gonzales and Christine Show contributed to this story.