photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Rodney Marshall, left, appears Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in Douglas County District Court with his attorneys, Matthew Cohen, center, and Cline Boone.

Ahead of a Lawrence man’s upcoming trial for double first-degree murder, a Douglas County judge on Friday clarified how the term “hit list” could be used in front of a jury.

Rodney E. Marshall, 53, will face jurors beginning Jan. 6 in connection with the deaths of Shelby McCoy, 52, and William D. O’Brien, 43, on July 31, 2022. Marshall is alleged to have shot McCoy at 1115 Tennessee St. before driving across town on a moped to shoot William D. O’Brien, 43, at 325 Northwood Lane.

The names of both men reportedly appeared on a piece of notebook paper found by police who searched Marshall’s home pursuant to a warrant, but how that list can be talked about in court is a matter of some delicacy considering its potential to prejudice jurors.

Police were reportedly told by a woman close to the deceased that Marshall had a “hit list” or “murder list,” and a police officer found a piece of paper that contained people’s names, including those of the two slain men, which Deputy District Attorney David Greenwald plans to introduce at trial.

Defense attorneys Matthew Cohen and Cline Boone had moved to prohibit any testimony referring to the paper as a “hit list.”

Hanley clarified to the parties that she would allow the use of the phrase only insofar as it referred to a factual matter, e.g., an officer repeating the phrase “hit list” as something they had been told to search for. However, what Hanley called “interpretations” — witnesses referring to the paper in a conclusory way as a “hit list” without any factual context — will be prohibited.

As the Journal-World reported, O’Brien’s girlfriend testified at Marshall’s preliminary hearing a year ago that Marshall, whom she called a drug dealer, had put O’Brien on a “hit list” purportedly targeting child molesters just days before O’Brien was killed. Lawrence Police Detective Meghan Bardwell said at the time that investigators located a list in Marshall’s home and that both O’Brien and McCoy were on it. Authorities have said they have no reason to believe the men were child molesters.

The defense motion relating to the term “hit list” was the last to be settled before Marshall faces a jury in three weeks. Last month, Hanley addressed other pretrial motions, ruling that Marshall clearly waived his Miranda rights and that his incriminating statements to police would be admissible at trial. She also said that jurors would not be allowed to visit the crime scenes and that the trial would remain in Douglas County, rejecting defense arguments that Marshall could not get a fair trial here due to publicity surrounding the case.