[Archived] Paula Thompson-Marshall Indicted for Murder

For Immediate Release: December 12, 2016 

On December 12, 2016, the Grand Jury for the City of Alexandria returned a two-count indictment against Paula Thompson-Marshall, related to the October 5, 2016 murder of her husband, Rolf Marshall, in their shared residence on Duke Street in the Old Town South neighborhood of the City.

Paula Thompson-Marshall, a 47-year old City resident was charged with a total of two felony counts:

1. Murder and
2. Use of a Firearm in the Commission of Murder.

The charges will be tried before the Circuit Court for the City of Alexandria.  The maximum penalty for First Degree Murder is life in prison. The maximum penalty for Use of a Firearm in the Commission of Murder is three years in prison, this sentence being a mandatory, minimum sentence that cannot be suspended in whole or in part. Therefore, the total maximum penalty in this case is life plus three years.

A trial date has not yet been set in the matter.

Rule 3.6 of the Virginia State Bar's Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys states, in pertinent part: "A lawyer participating in or associated with the… prosecution … of a criminal matter that may be tried to a jury shall not make or participate in making an extrajudicial statement… that the lawyer knows, or should know, will have a substantial likelihood of interfering with the fairness of a trial by jury." Therefore, the Commonwealth is prohibited from discussing the evidence, its trial strategy or its work product prior to disposition of the matter.