Three arraigned on murder charges
Bond at $1 million for woman accused of plotting to kill mother; 2 others held
Ed Meyer
November 14, 2009
Akron Beacon Journal
http://www.ohio.com/news/70091967.html
A 20-year-old woman and two friends accused of plotting to kill her mother are being held in the Summit County Jail in lieu of $1 million cash bonds after being arraigned Friday on aggravated murder charges.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Taylor M. Marks, formerly of Copley Township, and her friend, Troy A. Purdie II, 19, under the state’s murder-for-hire laws.

The third alleged conspirator, Marks’ boyfriend, Brian S. Smith, 22, of Akron, is charged with aggravated murder, but he is not facing the death penalty, court records show.

Police have said that Marks offered Purdie $5,000 to kill her mother, businesswoman Kristie Marks, 58, who operated a Visiting Angels home health-care business in Medina.

Kristie Marks was fatally stabbed Oct. 24. Her daughter is accused of luring her to an Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority apartment building in the 900 block of Springdale Drive.

Purdie is accused of stabbing her as she stood near a parking lot.

Taylor Marks and Smith called 911 to report the slaying. Purdie is accused of fleeing the scene, police said.

All three pleaded not guilty Friday in separate video appearances from the jail. Their next court appearance is scheduled for 1 p.m. Nov. 24 before Common Pleas Judge Tom Parker.

The attorneys representing them, court records show, are Lawrence J. Whitney for Taylor Marks; Kerry M. O’Brien for Purdie; and John W. Greven for Smith.

Whitney said it would be inappropriate to comment about the case until he has an opportunity to review the findings of the police investigation.

Investigators from the Akron Police Department have said the plot was designed so that Taylor Marks could inherit her mother’s wealth.

Kristie Marks’ will, written in 2004 and filed last week in Summit County Probate Court, names her daughter as the sole beneficiary of her personal property and life insurance proceeds. The remaining money is to be placed in a private trust.

Police said the will does not specify the beneficiary of the trust, but investigators suspect that Taylor Marks anticipated receiving the entire estate.

Taylor Marks is a 2008 graduate of Copley High School and attended the University of Akron through last spring. She was adopted as a child by Kristie Marks and her husband, Bruce, who died in 2002.

Investigators said they obtained confessions in the alleged plot within hours of the slaying, based on inconsistencies in the various stories.

Purdie’s bloody clothes and a knife were recovered near the scene of the stabbing, police said.