Murder suspect Marygold to return to court in May

Judge Kent Jasperson granted a continuance in the pre-trial hearing for Robert James Marygold, arrested July 24, 2015 on suspicion of murdering his stepmother Alma Marygold.

Nye County Sheriff's deputies found the body of his stepmother in the home they both shared.

Authorities believe she was killed July 13.

During Wednesday's hearing, Defense Attorney Harry Gensler requested the continuance.

"Your honor, we are going to request another continuance because the state sent off some things to the labs that we need to review before we go to a preliminary hearing and we don't have them back," he said.

Gensler was referring to the issue of DNA and forensic evidence testing where both sides need to examine the results of the tests before the case proceeds any further.

The forensic ballistics testing relates to the bullets recovered from the crime scene.

"The state indicates that they think the DNA results are more imminent than the ballistics results which were also sent to a lab," Gensler said. "We are anticipating perhaps 90 days for another pretrial hearing."

Prosecutor Daniel Young told Jasperson the evidence was sent to the lab, which began processing the DNA several weeks ago.

"We are just waiting for that to come back," Young said. "The ballistics were sent to a lab and that lab is actually backlogged around four months. It was about a month ago that he informed me of that information so that's where we are at right now."

Jasperson granted the continuance and set a new pre-trial date.

"We will come back May 25 for a pre-trial again at 9 a.m. and Mr. Marigold will be remanded into custody of the sheriff's office," Jasperson said.

According to the sheriff's office, Marygold, after waiving his Miranda rights, admitted during an interview with detectives to shooting his stepmother twice in the chest with a .45 caliber handgun and concealing her body within the residence.

At the time, the Nye County District Attorney's office filed five felony charges in the case, including murder with the use of a deadly weapon, robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, battery with the use of a deadly weapon, fraudulent use of credit card or debit card, and theft.

Authorities said Marygold allegedly obtained his stepmother's credit card without permission to make ATM withdrawals or purchases totaling approximately $1,900 at various locations throughout town.

In July, deputies had responded to the residence on West Florida Street to check on the welfare of the elderly woman after out-of-state family members called to report they had no contact with her for several days.

The family spoke with Robert Marygold about Alma Marigold's whereabouts and he told them that she had gone camping, according to police.

The investigating deputy, after arriving at the residence, noticed an extremely foul odor coming from within the home and made entry, according to the arrest report.

Once inside, deputies found a body wrapped in trash bags and a blanket in a bedroom closet.

After unwrapping the body, it was determined that the description of Alma Marygold matched the deceased person found in the home.

Detectives responded and obtained a search warrant to search the home for any evidence that could possibly reveal the cause of death.

Due to the advanced decomposition of the body it was a challenge for investigators to determine and locate any evidence of gunshot wounds, but several corroborating details were confirmed through evidence at the scene.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com.