By Marley Seaman and Andrew Coen
Evan B. Marshall, who is accused of stabbing his neighbor, Denice Fox, to death on Aug. 17, is a former student teacher at West Hempstead High School. During the 2003-04 school year, Marshall briefly taught and observed a social studies class.
³He was here less than three weeks,² said Dr. Carol Eisenberg, West Hempstead superintendent of schools. ³He ended his time here early.² Eisenberg would not elaborate on the reason for his departure.
Marshall was a student teacher at Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park at around the same time, and appears to have left that school abruptly as well.
At the time, Marshall was a student at Hofstra University, working toward a master¹s degree in education. He graduated in 2004. It was Hofstra that placed Marshall at West Hempstead, and West Hempstead school administrators said it was up to the university to make sure that Marshall was fit for the position.
³Following New York state education guidelines, we fingerprint all employees,² the West Hempstead administration said in a prepared statement. ³It is the responsibility of the university to screen student teachers prior to placement.²
A Hofstra spokesman, however, said that while student teachers are screened, the process is not a detailed one. Applicants to the teaching program are given a questionnaire that asks if they have ever been charged with, convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony, and if they have ever been suspended, expelled or required to withdraw from college for disciplinary reasons. Marshall would have been given a similar questionnaire when he applied in 2002. He had no arrest record at the time. He was arrested three times in 2005, however.
³It¹s not an extensive background check by any means,² said Stu Vincent, adding that the state Department of Education does not require more extensive checks. ³It¹s not part of the state process to do any kind of background check. In this particular case, it would not have turned up anything, because there was no [criminal] record at that time.²
³Psycho-sexual² murder
Detectives said that Marshall confronted Fox, 57, after he allegedly broke into her Willada Lane home in Glen Cove on Aug. 17. He is accused of stabbing her with a knife of his own and then using one of her kitchen knives to carve up her body. Police do not believe Fox knew Marshall prior to the incident.
Police responded to Fox¹s home late that afternoon when her 22-year-old daughter, Rebecca, phoned in a missing person report when she did not see her mother and noticed signs of foul play, according to detectives. After obtaining a search warrant for Marshall¹s home two doors away, where he lived with his mother, Jacqueline, investigators discovered Fox¹s body in the basement, detectives said. Police also discovered mannequins and sadomasochistic paraphernalia there, authorities said.
Detectives described the killing of Fox and the dismemberment of her body as a random act of violence and a ³psycho-sexual murder.² But police would not give specific information about how the killing occurred, saying that the details are being investigated.
Marshall was arrested the next day while he drove around Glen Cove with the victim¹s head in a gym bag in the trunk of his vehicle, officials said.
³This is definitely unusual,² said Detective Sgt. Dennis Barry of the Nassau Homicide Squad in a phone interview.
Fox and her husband, Jay, moved from Hewlett Harbor to Glen Cove in May with their daughter, according to police. The couple¹s 29-year-old son, Andrew, lives in California, friends said.
Fox¹s family and friends, while grieving her loss, are trying to make sure she is remembered as a caring person rather than as a victim of a brutal murder. ³She would never want her life defined by this brutal, horrific, senseless crime, but rather by her legacy of love and compassion,² said Fox¹s niece, Ronnie Grill of Dix Hills. ³She dedicated her life to trying to help others and giving back to society. She was a joy to be around, and she lit up any room she walked into. She was deeply in touch with the love and needs of her family and friends.²
³She was just a lovely lady,² said Elise Weiss of Hewlett Harbor. ³My heart and prayers go out to the family.²
Marshall pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in First District Court in Hempstead and is being held without bail, officials said. Police officials said that he struck a Glen Cove woman walking near her home at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 17, but that he has not been charged for the incident and that it is unrelated to the murder.
Reached by phone, Marshall¹s attorney, William Keahon, declined to comment.
Comments about this story? MSeaman@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 205.
