Criminal Justice

Man drives truck with dead neighbor to lawyer's office, says he killed in self-defense

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Florida lawyer Robert Harris says he was confronted with an issue on Wednesday afternoon that he never learned about in law school.

A Lee County man put his dead neighbor in the bed of his pickup truck and drove to Harris’ law firm in Fort Myers, report the Fort Myers News-Press, NBC2.com and the Associated Press. The man, 52-year-old John Marshall, was disheveled, with a broken tooth and what looked like two broken thumbs.

Marshall said he killed in self-defense and drove to the law office because his lawyer—an associate of Harris’—was the only person he could trust, according to Harris. The lawyer called 911.

“They don’t teach you about this in law school. That’s for sure,” Harris told the News-Press. “I believe we’ve handled ourselves correctly, but I’m a little in shock myself. This is not something that happens every day.”

Marshall said his neighbor confronted him with a gun, but Marshall was able to wrestle it away and shot the neighbor during the scuffle.

Marshall had called the law office days before the incident to report his neighbor had threatened him and he was afraid. The lawyers advised Marshall to get a restraining order. The law firm was representing Marshall in a prior aggravated battery case.

Marshall was transported to the hospital at about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday and was not charged, Harris said. Marshall was treated and later discharged, NBC2.com says.

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