photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Rodney Marshall, left, is pictured on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Douglas County District Court. Defense attorney Branden Bell is at right.

A 55-year-old Lawrence man on Thursday was sentenced to life in prison for murdering two men during a crime spree four years ago.

A Douglas County jury in May found Rodney Marshall guilty of nine felonies, including two counts of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted intentional second-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and one count of felony fleeing and eluding.

Marshall fatally shot Shelby McCoy, 52, at 1115 Tennessee St., on July 31, 2022, then rode across town on a scooter — in disguise — and fatally shot William D. O’Brien, 43, at 325 Northwood Lane. After the shootings, police staked out Marshall’s residence in central Lawrence, from where he led multiple officers on a chase while firing a pistol out of his truck window. He was eventually arrested on Kansas Highway 10 near Eudora in a dramatic showdown involving around two dozen police vehicles in the middle of the highway.

Shortly thereafter he confessed to the killings in videotaped interviews that his attorneys fought unsuccessfully to keep jurors from hearing. The defense characterized Marshall as a longtime hard-core drug addict who was in the throes of a delusional PCP trip both at the time of the shootings and during the confession, while prosecutors insisted Marshall was a cold-blooded killer with no respect for human life.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

photo by: Contributed

Shelby McCoy was shot to death on July 31, 2022.

photo by: Contributed

William D. O’Brien was shot to death on July 31, 2022.