Trial Begins for Man Charged With Killing Austin Native
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A trial is underway in the shooting death of an aspiring teacher from Minnesota who authorities say was gunned down for his iPod a month after moving to Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports testimony began Wednesday in the trial of suspect Marcellus Jones. The 37-year-old is charged with the June 2008 murder of 23-year-old Beau Zabel.
Zabel moved from Austin, Minnesota, to Philadelphia to start work in the public schools a few weeks before he was killed during a street robbery.
Jones is already serving a life sentence for killing a man to prevent him from talking to police about Zabel's death.
On Wednesday, witness Toni Nelson recalled finding Zabel shot on the street corner. Her adult daughter testified she peered out her home's window to see a man searching around the body.