photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Rodney Marshall appears in Douglas County District Court on Monday, May 11, 2026, with attorney Jennifer Amyx.

Hours after two Lawrence men were fatally shot, Rodney Marshall, surrounded by dozens of cops on Kansas Highway 10, confessed to the murders and claimed he had a very “good reason” for the killings.

“What a load off,” he appears to say on video as he is taken into state custody, where he would remain for the next four years and likely, if convicted, for the rest of his life.

As his trial entered its second week Monday, jurors saw police body camera footage of Marshall casually discussing the slayings after he led law enforcement officers on a dramatic highway chase.

Defense attorneys Jennifer Amyx and Branden Bell objected to the jury seeing the video, but Judge Amy Hanley had already ruled that it was admissible evidence.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Detective M.T. Brown testifies during the murder trial of Rodney Marshall on Monday, May 11, 2026.

After his arrest, Marshall was driven by Detective M.T. Brown from K-10 near Eudora to Lawrence Police headquarters. Even after being given his Miranda warnings, Marshall continued to talk about Shelby McCoy, 52, and William D. O’Brien, 43, as having deserved to be killed because they appeared on a list he had of child molesters. Police have said they have no evidence that either man was any such thing.

The state alleges that around 1:30 a.m. on July 31, 2022, Marshall donned a costume and rode a moped to to shoot McCoy at his apartment at 1115 Tennessee St., then rode across town to shoot O’Brien at 325 Northwood Lane. He then holed up at his own residence until leading police on the chase later that morning — during which he allegedly tried to murder officers by firing a gun out of his truck window.

In audio that’s sometimes difficult to make out and that’s edited in places, Marshall appears unfazed by the gravity of the situation and even expresses some desire for a McDonald’s smoothie and a “foo-foo” coffee drink that Brown offers to buy him.

He tells Brown that he was never abused as a child and that his parents were good people who are “still married.”

“I felt like it was now or never,” he tells Brown in the video, saying that he understands murder, but not hurting kids. He also corrects Brown’s interpretation of the costume he wore on his moped. It wasn’t a Ninja Turtle, he says; it was “the Joker.”

Jurors also saw video from outside Marshall’s residence of Marshall apparently dancing in a wig and costume and loading various items onto his moped. The video was recorded by his own surveillance cameras and shows him right before and right after the killings.

Jurors heard only part of Brown’s testimony on Monday to accommodate witness schedules. Brown will resume testimony later in the trial.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Defense attorney Jennifer Amyx cross-examines Dr. Maneesha Pandey during the murder trial of Rodney Marshall on Monday, May 11, 2026.

Jurors also heard from Dr. Maneesha Pandey, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsies on McCoy and O’Brien. Using photos from her exam, Pandey described how both men died by homicide of multiple gunshot wounds — McCoy by five bullets and O’Brien by two. She testified that, according to toxicology tests, both men had high levels of methamphetamine in their systems.

Marshall’s attorneys argued during opening statements that Marshall was also a heavy drug user and was “whacked out” the day of the deaths, including when he made his highway confession.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Roger Michaels, a special agent with the KBI, shows the jury a painted gun during the murder trial of Rodney Marshall on Monday, May 11, 2026.

On Monday morning, jurors heard from a crime scene technician who collected evidence at the men’s apartments and from KBI specialists in DNA analysis and ballistics who tested the items. The ballistics expert testified that cartridge cases at the various crime scenes were fired by brightly painted guns allegedly used by Marshall.

Marshall’s trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday morning at 9, when prosecutors David Melton and Eve Kemple will call additional witnesses. Marshall, 55, has been held on a bond of $1.5 million since his arrest in 2022.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Prosecutor David Melton, standing, speaks to defense attorney Branden Bell during the murder trial of Rodney Marshall on Monday, May 11, 2026.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Defense attorney Branden Bell cross-examines a witness during the murder trial of Rodney Marshall on Monday, May 11, 2026. Marshall is at left.