photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Rodney Marshall, left, appears with one of his attorneys, Matthew Cohen, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Douglas County District Court.

A double-murder trial that was scheduled to begin Monday has been canceled, as expected, and new counsel has been appointed for a man who has gone through at least half a dozen court-appointed attorneys.

As the Journal-World reported, one of defendant Rodney Marshall’s attorneys, Cline Boone, withdrew from the case Wednesday — a move that the court deemed necessary under the rules of professional responsibility.

A new attorney, Branden Bell, has been appointed to defend Marshall alongside attorney Matthew Cohen, but Bell has indicated that he cannot be ready by Monday.

The case is set for scheduling at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Marshall has gone through numerous appointed attorneys, including two others who withdrew from representing him after he reportedly instigated a physical altercation with them at the jail.

Judge Amy Hanley, expressing “an extreme level of frustration” but without being specific, indicated Wednesday that Boone’s withdrawal was also due to some action by Marshall.

Boone had stated in a motion that “the attorney client relationship is no longer viable.” In support of that, he cited two rules of professional responsibility that he said required counsel to withdraw — one where representation would result in the violation of the rules of professional conduct or other law; and one where representation involves a concurrent conflict of interest.

Marshall has been in custody since his arrest on a $1.5 million bond. He is alleged to have shot Shelby McCoy, 52, at 1115 Tennessee St. before driving across town on a moped to shoot William D. O’Brien, 43, of Lawrence, at 325 Northwood Lane on July 31, 2022. After the shootings, police staked out Marshall’s residence in central Lawrence, and when he tried to leave the home, he led police on a chase while allegedly firing a pistol out of his window that ended on Kansas Highway 10 near Eudora, as the Journal-World reported.