Taylor Marks

Background

Taylor Marks was an Akron woman who was accused of plotting to kill her mother, Kristie Marks.

Kristie Marks operated the Visiting Angels home health-care business in Medina. Her will was written in 2004 and filed last week in Summit County Probate Court, naming her daughter, Taylor Marks, as the sole beneficiary of her personal property and life insurance proceeds, with the remaining money to be placed in a private trust. Police said the will did not specify the beneficiary of the trust, but investigators suspected that Taylor Marks anticipated receiving the entire estate.

Taylor Marks was 21 at the time of sentencing. She was a 2008 Copley High School graduate and attended the University of Akron in the spring of 2009.

Police said Taylor Marks was the motivating force in the plot to kill her mother so she could inherit her mother’s money. Police said Taylor Marks offered Troy A. Purdie II $5,000 to kill her mother.

Taylor Marks was adopted as a child by Kristie Marks and her husband, Bruce, who died in 2002.

The offence

Taylor Marks was charged in a murder-for-hire plot involving an aggravated murder of her mother.

Kristie Marks, 58, was stabbed to death on Oct. 24 in a parking lot at an apartment building on Springdale Drive in Akron. Police said a telephone call from her daughter lured her there.

Police said Taylor Marks and her co-defendants planned the killing so that Taylor Marks could collect from her mother’s inheritance. Police said the plot involved luring Kristie Marks to an Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority apartment building in the 900 block of Springdale Drive. Police said Taylor Marks lured her there, and Purdie stabbed her near a parking lot.

Police said Taylor Marks, her boyfriend Brian S. Smith, and their friend Troy A. Purdie II were at the scene of the crime when officers arrived, and they were taken to the police station for questioning. Their version of events differed, but police said all three confessed under questioning and that the case was solved in less than four hours. Investigators said the three suspects obtained confessions based on inconsistencies in the various stories.

Investigation

Akron police said the plot was designed so that Taylor Marks could inherit her mother’s wealth.

Detective James Pasheilich testified that:

'Marks admitted that she was upset with her mother [and] wanted her mother dead,' Pasheilich told the Akron Beacon-Journal. ''[Taylor] mentioned that her mom has money and has a will and that she believes that her name's on the will because she saw it. More or less, it comes down to money."

Police said Taylor Marks offered Purdie $5,000 to kill her mother, and he confessed to the stabbing. Evidence placed on the record indicated that Purdie was promised $5,000 but never received it.

Arrest

Taylor Marks, her friend Troy A. Purdie II, and her boyfriend Brian S. Smith were held in the Summit County Jail in lieu of $1 million cash bonds after being arraigned on aggravated murder charges on November 14, 2009. Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty against Taylor M. Marks and Troy A. Purdie II under Ohio’s murder-for-hire laws. Brian S. Smith was charged with aggravated murder but was not facing the death penalty.

All three pleaded not guilty Friday in separate video appearances from the jail. Their next court appearance was scheduled for 1 p.m. Nov. 24 before Common Pleas Judge Tom Parker.

At the time of her sentencing, Taylor Marks was being held in connection with her guilty plea.

Trial

Taylor Marks pleaded guilty to aggravated murder. In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors requested the dismissal of a death-penalty specification. Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tom Parker granted the request.

During the plea, the judge took steps to ensure Taylor Marks understood that she was giving up her rights to a jury trial, the possibility of a lesser sentence in the penalty phase of a trial, and any appeals of her plea. When asked whether she understood her life would come to an end “at the hand of the state, in prison?” she replied: “Yes, your honor.”

Taylor Marks read from a handwritten statement near the end of the hearing, sobbing throughout. She said:

'Today, I got what I deserve for my actions. I lost control of my state of mind, over something small, and took it out on [my mother].'
'I will always love you. You will always be in my thoughts and prayers,' she said before being led away.

A Victim Services official said the family did not wish to comment about the case until the conclusion of Smith’s trial.

Other defendants:

• Troy A. Purdie II, 20, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder. Police said he avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to aggravated murder.
• Brian Scott Smith, 23, was awaiting trial as the third alleged conspirator in the plot and was charged with aggravated murder but was not facing the death penalty. His trial was scheduled for Nov. 15.
• A separate report stated Taylor Marks was scheduled to go to trial Oct. 24 in Parker’s court, and Smith was scheduled for trial in November; later information indicates Marks pleaded guilty and Purdie pleaded guilty.

Sentencing

Taylor Marks was sentenced on September 28, 2010 to life in prison with no chance of parole after pleading guilty to aggravated murder.

At sentencing, Judge Tom Parker addressed the court and family members and friends of the victim, Kristie Marks. Parker said:

''This is a sad day in Akron, Ohio,'' Parker said, addressing those who filled nearly three rows of benches in the public gallery. ''In many ways, it's a tragic day, because not only are we coming to grips as a court and a community with the loss of Kristie Marks, we now must come to grips with our loss of Taylor Marks from this community. ''

Parker also said:

''Many people think that a sentence of life without parole is actually a more harsh sentence than a death sentence,'' Parker added, turning his attention to the defendant, ''because the reality is that it is a form of a death sentence. You will never again enjoy the freedom that the rest of us take for granted.''

Timeline

• Oct. 24, 2009 — Kristie Marks was stabbed to death in a parking lot at an apartment building on Springdale Drive in Akron.
• November 14, 2009 — Taylor M. Marks, Troy A. Purdie II, and Brian S. Smith were arraigned and held in the Summit County Jail in lieu of $1 million cash bonds.
• Aug. 24, 2010 — Troy A. Purdie II entered a guilty plea to aggravated murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.
• Sep. 28, 2010 — Taylor Marks pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.
• Sep. 29, 2010 — The sentencing outcome for Taylor Marks was published.

Outcome

Taylor Marks pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Prosecutors had requested dismissal of a death-penalty specification as part of the plea resolution, and Judge Tom Parker granted that request.

Other details

Troy A. Purdie II was promised payment of $5,000 for the killing but was never paid.

Kristie Marks’ brother Jeffrey Buckholder was quoted:

''I'm not going to say she smothered her, but Taylor, I'm sure, lived well. I never would have dreamt this.''

Kristie Marks’ friend Jeff Sigle was quoted:

''I kept telling Kristie to think the worst in every situation, you're being conned, you're being duped,''
''I told her to watch out for them, don't tread down there by yourself, don't go looking, don't get lured. For a girl who went from having everything she wants to living in that kind of situation, there's got to be a reason. It just doesn't happen and it doesn't happen overnight.''