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Marshall recalled as hot-headed

BY MICHAEL FRAZIER AND BART JONES | Newsday Staff Writer

August 23, 2006

Evan Marshall at the courthouse in Mineola on August 22, 2006. He is charged with killing and dismembering his neighbor Denice Fox. (Photo by Howard Schnapp)

Evan Marshall chomped on Skoal tobacco, enjoyed an occasional cigarette, coolly strummed his guitar -- and had a short fuse, a fellow patient at an upstate rehabilitation center remembered.

Rob Kass, 23, of Rockville Centre, spent time earlier this year with Marshall, charged last week with dismembering his Glen Cove neighbor, at Supervised Lifestyles Residential, a psychosocial rehabilitation center in upstate Brewster.

"If you say the wrong word, you could picture him flipping out and screaming," said Kass, whose treatment at the center was for anxiety and agoraphobia, a fear of open spaces.

Others in the upstate area remembered Marshall's quick temper, too.

"He seemed like he was looking for a reason to go off on somebody," said Mike Sutherland, manager of a Rite Aid store Marshall often patronized.

Marshall, 31, of Glen Cove was arrested Friday and charged with second-degree murder in the decapitation death a day earlier of Denice Fox, 57.

Marshall and Kass became acquaintances at the center. Kass said he allowed Marshall to borrow two movies, which he never returned -- "Edward Scissorhands" and "The Exorcist."

Kass said he stayed at the center from March to June. He said Marshall was there before he came and remained there after he left. He declined to discuss Marshall's treatment. Shawn Prichard, chief clinical officer of the center, didn't return a call yesterday.

Sgt. Dennis Barry of the Nassau Homicide Squad confirmed that Marshall received treatment at the center, but had no details. "We're attempting to get a subpoena for his records," Barry said.

Nassau police said yesterday Marshall also underwent rehabilitation at a center in Miami, but they didn't have details about his treatment there.

Kass, a guitarist himself, said he would routinely jam with Marshall, who played the guitar and bass.

Marshall, at times calm and cool, talked about how much he enjoyed working at Rockaway Bedding in nearby Carmel, where he worked for three months, Kass said.

Workers at the Rite Aid pharmacy in the same mini-mall as the bedding outlet said Marshall was a regular customer who occasionally got into fights with workers in the store.

He came into the store several times a week to buy energy drinks such as Red Bull. Marshall had strange mannerisms and shifted his eyes around a lot, Sutherland said.

"He was a high-strung dude," Sutherland said. "It just seemed like something was always bothering him."

Kass said he was familiar with that side of Marshall. Though Marshall had a good sense of humor, Kass said, he often made people around him nervous.

"He was a nice guy but, when you walked into a room with him, it was like walking on eggshells," Kass said. "You never knew what kind of mood he was in."