Last paragraph reads: "Lori Adams had Tylenol and traces of the antidepressant Citalopram [Celexa] in her system, according to the toxicology report. She also had a blood alcohol level of .24. Marshall’s blood alcohol level is unclear, officials said. The toxicologist found a .15 level in his liver but could not get a blood alcohol level, Hunter said. He advised that Marshall’s level would have been much lower than Adams’ blood alcohol level."

Paragraph four reads: "Investigators have maintained that Lori Adams attacked Marshall first with a 7-inch kitchen knife. While she was able to cut him badly, Marshall managed to take the knife away from Adams and stab her to death, according to statements from investigators and reports from the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office. Marshall then walked around his own home leaving a trail of blood until he slipped and fell next to Adams on the kitchen floor."

http://www.newsherald.com/news/altha-77024-autopsy-confirms.html

Autopsy confirms double homicide

Lori Adams and Fred Marshall killed one another in rare case, investigators say

August 30, 2009 12:38:00 PM
By S. BRADY CALHOUN / News Herald Writer

ALTHA – The case of the Calhoun County couple who are believed to have killed one another in a knife fight might be at an end.

The autopsies for 46-year-old Lori Adams and 66-year-old Fred Marshall were released to the public Friday. The reports confirm what investigators have said since the couple’s bodies were discovered in Marshall’s Altha home on June 18, that Marshall and Adams killed one another in a rare double homicide.

“Pending some new information we have closed this case,” said Calhoun County Sheriff David Tatum. He added that it was “a very unique crime but a crime wherein both of the offenders and both victims died.”

Investigators have maintained that Adams attacked Marshall first with a 7-inch kitchen knife. While she was able to cut him badly, Marshall managed to take the knife away from Adams and stab her to death, according to statements from investigators and reports from the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office. Marshall then walked around his own home leaving a trail of blood until he slipped and fell next to Adams on the kitchen floor.

One mystery that might never be solved is the exact date of the deaths. At a minimum Marshall and Adams had been dead for a couple of days by the time their bodies were discovered, said Dr. Michael Hunter, the medical examiner for Florida’s 14th Judicial Circuit. However, it is impossible to tell exactly how long their bodies laid next to one another in the kitchen of the Altha home, Hunter said.

The autopsy states that Marshall was stabbed seven times. He had wounds in the upper right chest, the upper right and upper left abdomen, two wounds on his right arm and two more in his left arm. Marshall had one incapacitating wound to his left arm, Hunter said, adding that it would have taken a long time for him to die from those injuries.

Hunter said his findings in Marshall’s death supports the theory that Adams attacked Marshall first and that Marshall took the knife away from her and stabbed her to death.

Adams’ autopsy states that she was stabbed 10 times and had wounds to the face, the upper abdomen, her back and her chest. The killing blow was to the left chest and penetrated Adams’ heart, Hunter wrote. After this blow, Adams would have died very quickly and would not have had time to stab Marshall, he said.

None of the injuries on either victim could be described as self inflicted, Hunter said, ruling out the idea that one party killed the other and then killed himself or herself.

Adams had Tylenol and traces of the antidepressant Citalopram in her system, according to the toxicology report. She also had a blood alcohol level of .24. Marshall’s blood alcohol level is unclear, officials said. The toxicologist found a .15 level in his liver but could not get a blood alcohol level, Hunter said. He advised that Marshall’s level would have been much lower than Adams’ blood alcohol level.