GUILTY TX - Michael Swearingin, 32, & Jenna Scott, 28, Temple, Bell County, found deceased, 4 Jan 2019 #2

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Wednesday, May 10th:
*Trial continues (Day 18) (@ 9am CT) - TX – Michael Lee Swearingin (32) & Jenna Kay Scott (28) (Jan. 4, 2019, Temple; found in Clearview, OK on Jan. 19, 2019) – *Cedric Joseph Marks (44/now 48) (ex bf of Scott’s) arrested (1/8/19) in Kent County, Mich. for a burglary warrant, waived extradition to Texas. *Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (5/10/19) with capital murder of multiple persons & tampering with evidence. $2,016,500 Bond. DA will seek DP. Bond reduction denied (3/30/21). Will be representing himself.
*Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (4/10/19) with interfering w/emergency call, false report to police officer violating protective order, burglary habitation intend.
*Charged & indicted (3/13/19) & arraigned (4/26/19) with 1st degree felony burglary (on 8/21/18 at Scott’s home). $16,500 bond on charges of interference with an emergency call, making a false police report & violation of a protection order, bond for the burglary charge is $250K, the murder of multiple persons is carrying a bond of $1.5 million & $250K. Plead not guilty to all charges.
Trial was set to begin on 2/20/23 with jury selection (could last 3 week). Judge Steven J. Duskie presiding. Representing himself (pro se). From 3/27/23 to 4/4/23 with a total of 69 potential jurors selected. Final individual voir dire happened on 4/13/23. (could be) 12 jurors & 2 alternates. 1 juror dismissed on 5/4/23. 12 jurors & 1 alternate.
Trial began on 4/17/23.
Court information from 2/3/19 thru 2/9/23 & Jury Selection Days 1 to 29 (2/20 to 4/4/23), 4/5/23 thru 4/13/23 & Trial Day 1-16 (4/17-5/8/23) reference post #277 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...nna-scott-28-temple-bell-county-4-jan-2019-14
5/9/23 Wednesday, Trial Day 17: State witnesses: Breck McDaniel, cell phone analysis expert back on stand for cross-exam. Maya Maxwell.
For more info see posts #278 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...emple-bell-county-4-jan-2019-2.577817/page-14
Trial continues on Wednesday, 5/10/23.
*Maya Renee Maxwell – Pretrial hearing on 5/19/23.
*Ginell Marie McDonough – 1/31/20: Plead guilty. Sentencing on 11/19/20 where charges were dismissed, will testify against Marks.
 

UPDATE: Codefendant recounts slayings at Marks capital murder trial​


BELTON — Many people temporarily left the 426th District Court sobbing on Tuesday as Maya Maxwell, the codefendant in the capital murder trial of Cedric Marks, testified about their roles in the deaths of Temple residents Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin — cries that continued into the hallways, bathrooms and exterior courtyard of the Bell County Justice Center.
Marks, a former mixed martial arts fighter, was arrested for allegedly killing his ex-girlfriend, Scott, and her friend, Swearingin, at a Killeen residence on Jan. 3, 2019 before their bodies were discovered more than a week later in a shallow grave about 20 miles from a Henrietta, Okla., Walmart., where Marks and Maxwell were captured on surveillance video.
The grave was approximately 700 yards away from the Northfork Cemetery where Marks’ mother is buried.

Maxwell — who took the witness stand in a green prison jumpsuit with her hands cuffed in front of her — discussed how Marks first came into contact with Scott and Swearingin on Jan. 3, 2019, when she dropped him off for a period of time by the side of Swearingin’s West Temple residence.
While under the impression Marks was meeting a friend named Alex, she drove around the surrounding area at his command until she grew impatient.
“I had been texting him several times and calling him,” said Maxwell, her hair now longer than it was when her mugshot was taken . “Eventually, I just went back to that house. The back gate was open, so being that I thought he was with a female (cheating), I went in the gate and in the back door.”
She noted how there weren’t any lights on inside the residence.
“I walked a few more feet forward (into the house) and I saw Jenna on the ground handcuffed to the leg of a desk,” said Maxwell, who noted that Scott was still alive at the time. “I walked back out, went back in the car and I tried calling him and texting him. Eventually, I talked to him on the phone. (He said what I saw) wasn’t what I thought.”
Although she was skeptical, Maxwell took his word and drove back to a Killeen residence where she and Marks were staying while they were in Bell County. It was the residence of Rebecca Adney, whose white Toyota RAV4 they were driving. Adney, who was in Wyoming at the time, was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Marks that spanned seven years.
Footage that Bell County prosecutors introduced into evidence last week — enhanced by the Regional Organized Crime Information Center in Nashville at the request of the Temple Police Department — showed that same vehicle drive past Swearingin’s Temple residence several times and station itself in the nearby First Baptist Church of Temple parking lot earlier that day on Jan. 3, 2019.
“I went back to Rebecca’s house and waited,” Maxwell said. “He said he would be back soon. Just give him a minute. Everything’s OK.”
Slayings recounted
It was hours before Marks — who was in Bell County to surrender to the police for a violation of a protective order — returned and entered the residence through the garage. However, this time he was with Scott and Swearingin, who he brought in handcuffs to Adney’s Killeen residence via Swearingin’s Hyundai Genesis.
Marks then placed the Temple residents in the bathtubs of separate bathrooms.
Although Marks told the Temple residents that he was going to let them go home, Maxwell, who was at the time sitting on the living room floor, detailed how that statement quickly lost any sense of truth.
“The last thing I heard (Michael) say was, ‘Thank you,’” she said.
“Mr. Marks put him in a choke hold,” Maxwell testified as members of the jury glanced over at the defendant. “He was behind him and put his right arm around his neck. I heard him choking and struggling. A lot of blood came out of Michael’s mouth.”
Maxwell, in between tears, told the jury how Marks struggled with Swearingin for approximately five minutes before he carried Jenna — who was handcuffed at her wrists and ankles — into the bathroom and showed her Swearingin’s lifeless body.
“She got scared. Her eyes got really big. She didn’t say anything,” Maxwell said. “Then he brought her back into the small bathroom. All I heard him say was, ‘Ready?’ Then he shut the door and I heard the same sounds coming out of that bathroom that I just heard come from Michael.”
Like Swearingin just minutes before, the sounds of Scott fighting for her life began to fade.

When Marks exited the bathroom, he grabbed trash bags and placed them over the victims’ heads and bodies and secured them with black electrical tape before he shifted his focus toward relocating Swearingin’s vehicle away from Adney’s Killeen residence.
Marks, who drove Swearingin’s vehicle, told Maxwell, who drove Adney’s vehicle, to follow him to Austin where he knew of a neighborhood that wasn’t in the best part of town.
Along the way, Marks talked to Maxwell by phone to make sure she hadn’t told anyone about the slayings, Maxwell testified.
In Austin, “he parked Michael’s car just on this side of what looked like an alley … scrubbed it down with peroxide and all kinds of different cleaning stuff for at least a good 20, 30 minutes,” Maxwell said. “He was very thorough.”
Although Tyler Belknap, a latent print supervisor with the city of Austin, located fingerprints on candy wrappers and inside Swearingin’s car, he told the jury on April 21 how the fingerprints were unable to be matched to anyone.
Marks, Maxwell emphasized, took the same thorough approach when cleaning Adney’s Killeen residence to eliminate evidence of the slayings.
Oklahoma trek
Maxwell and Marks later showered in the same bathrooms that the slayings were committed before Marks loaded the bodies — hidden with a flurry of trash bags, blankets and luggage — into his vehicle.
“Jenna was right behind me and Michael was all the way in the back,” Maxwell said.
During the trip to Oklahoma, Maxwell and Marks stopped at a Henryetta, Okla., Walmart, where the pair purchased a shovel, new clothes and new shoes with cash on Jan. 4, 2019 — an incident that was captured on multiple of the store’s surveillance cameras.
Maxwell, who identified Marks and herself in each piece of footage presented, noted how Marks purchased a smaller shoe size to make it less likely for law enforcement to connect him to the 6-foot by 3-foot grave on a vacant property in Clearview, Okla., that they were about to dig.
“That’s when he drove us to where his family does family reunions, the little cemetery where his mom is, and then eventually to where he ended up burying Jenna and Michael,” she said.
Maxwell recounted the lengths at which Marks took to actually place Scott and Swearingin into the shallow grave that took him approximately an hour to dig.
“He put an extension cord around Michael and dragged his body,” she said. “He put Jenna’s body over his shoulder. He had to break rigor to put (Jenna) in the hole on top of Michael.”
As the bodies were buried, Marks told the sobbing Maxwell to be quiet or someone would hear.
Marks repeatedly objected to lines of questioning by prosecutors on Tuesday, but Judge Steve Duskie overruled him.
Marks did not have the opportunity to direct any questions to Maxwell.
Marks is charged with capital murder of multiple people, a capital felony; burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a felony, a first-degree felony; tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; and various misdemeanor charges.
Marks will continue his defense at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning in the 426th Courtroom at the Bell County Justice Center in Belton. The state is seeking the death penalty in the case.
 
MAY 10 - DAY EIGHTEEN

CEDRIC MARKS TRIAL DAY 18 | Trial starts at 10:30 a.m. this morning inside of the Bell County Justice Center. I’ll have updates throughout the day, so stay tuned!

Marks’ former girlfriend and alleged accomplice, Maya Maxwell, is back on the witness stand. Maxwell shared with the courtroom this morning, “I was never going to keep quiet about this… I was trying to figure out when the safest time would be.”

After interviews with Michigan State Police, Maxwell testified she wasn’t honest with law enforcement. She says she didn’t want Marks or his wife, Ginell McDonough to find out. However, she later reached out via email to detectives because she wanted to tell everything.

On Jan. 11, 2019, Maxwell met with Temple detectives Ashley Cunningham and James Powell. Maxwell says she spoke with them for over nine hours. The next day law enforcement located the burial site of Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin.

“Anything I would remember, I told them,” Maxwell testified. “I was scared… not of the police. I just wanted me and my son to be okay. I know how loyal Ginell is to Mr. Marks. If she knew I was saying anything, she would tell him.”

Maxwell also says law enforcement has been doing a good job keeping her safe. She testified she wants no further communication with Marks going forward.

Maxwell shared Marks sent her a letter marked as legal mail while she was in prison. She says it was actually written by Marks and informed her of three options.

“I could either continue to go against him and lose my son, find a different attorney, so he can know what’s being talked about or we can do this together and live some sort of happily ever after,” Maxwell said.

Prosecution asked if she believed the fairytale. Maxwell said, “Before this happened I believed in that.”

Maxwell testified both her children are in foster care, including her and Marks’ child who is turning four on June 2.

Maxwell testified today she is accepting a plea deal to serve 20 years for two counts of tampering with evidence with chance of parole. While Maxwell said this, Marks looked down at his computer and shook his head. | @6NewsCTX

Maxwell finished up direct examination before lunch. Now Marks will cross examine Maxwell starting at 1:15 p.m. 6 News will have all the updates on what happened in the courtroom at 5 & 6 tonight.

(No tweets from this afternoon by this reporter.)
 
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MAY 10 - DAY EIGHTEEN

Court will resume in 10 minutes where Marks will have the opportunity to cross examine Maya Maxwell.

In Marks cross examination, Marks asked if Maxwell is really telling the truth for her plea deal which she confirmed. Maxwell said law enforcement did not take her to Oklahoma, but he did when he buried Jenna & Michael.

Maxwell doesn’t remember the letters she wrote to Marks while in jail in May 2019. She also doesn’t remember the letter she wrote to Marks wanting to keep their relationship in December 2018.

When Marks asked Maxwell if she ever did make the notice to leave Ginell’s home. Maya said no due to being homeless and claims Marks made her lose her job.

Maxwell admits they did not go to the Henryetta Walmart after Marks made claims they went there for fishing equipment.

Maxwell testified she doesn’t remember Marks mentioning he wanted to drop charges against Jenna Scott.

Maxwell did admit Marks didn’t want her to come with him on his January 1 trip back to TX. Maxwell said she had to convince Marks to let her join wanting company for her PTSD.
 
MAY 10, 2023
www.kcentv.com

'I was never going to keep quiet about this' | Alleged accomplice in Cedric Marks double capital murder trial accepts plea deal

Maya Maxwell will face 20 years in prison in exchange for her testimony against Marks. Marks says law enforcement is trying to paint a false narrative.
www.kcentv.com www.kcentv.com
[...]

Maxwell testified, "I was never going to keep quiet about this." She says she was trying to figure out when the safest time would be.

Maxwell says she had multiple interviews with Michigan State Police after arriving back to Michigan from Texas. Maxwell admitted to being dishonest and eventually gave up the burial site ...

Maxwell claimed the reason she didn't speak up sooner was because she didn't want Marks or his wife, Ginell McDonough, to find out since they were all living together at the time in Michigan.

On Jan. 11, 2019 Maxwell ended up speaking with Temple detectives for about nine hours after reaching out to them via email. She says she told them anything she remembered.

[...]
 
PommyMommy from article said:
On Jan. 11, 2019, Maxwell met with Temple detectives Ashley Cunningham and James Powell. Maxwell says she spoke with them for over nine hours. The next day law enforcement located the burial site of Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin.
Click to expand...

I have they were found on Jan. 19, 2019... She is saying Jan. 12th. I guess I should change my notes than.
 
Thursday, May 11th:
*Trial continues (Day 19) (@ 9am CT) - TX – Michael Lee Swearingin (32) & Jenna Kay Scott (28) (Jan. 4, 2019, Temple; found in Clearview, OK on Jan. 12, 2019) – *Cedric Joseph Marks (44/now 48) (ex bf of Scott’s) arrested (1/8/19) in Kent County, Mich. for a burglary warrant, waived extradition to Texas. *Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (5/10/19) with capital murder of multiple persons & tampering with evidence. $2,016,500 Bond. DA will seek DP. Bond reduction denied (3/30/21). Will be representing himself.
*Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (4/10/19) with interfering w/emergency call, false report to police officer violating protective order, burglary habitation intend.
*Charged & indicted (3/13/19) & arraigned (4/26/19) with 1st degree felony burglary (on 8/21/18 at Scott’s home). $16,500 bond on charges of interference with an emergency call, making a false police report & violation of a protection order, bond for the burglary charge is $250K, the murder of multiple persons is carrying a bond of $1.5 million & $250K. Plead not guilty to all charges.
Trial was set to begin on 2/20/23 with jury selection (could last 3 week). Judge Steven J. Duskie presiding. Representing himself (pro se). From 3/27/23 to 4/4/23 with a total of 69 potential jurors selected. Final individual voir dire happened on 4/13/23.
Trial began on 4/17/23.
Court information from 2/3/19 thru 2/9/23 & Jury Selection Days 1 to 29 (2/20 to 4/4/23), 4/5/23 thru 4/13/23 & Trial Day 1-17 (4/17-5/9/23) reference post #281 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...nna-scott-28-temple-bell-county-4-jan-2019-15
5/10/23 Wednesday, Trial Day 18: State witnesses: Maya Maxwell back on stand.
For more info see posts #283 to 285 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...emple-bell-county-4-jan-2019-2.577817/page-15
Trial continues on Thursday, 5/11/23.
*Maya Renee Maxwell – Pretrial hearing on 5/19/23. Has made a plea deal to serve 20 years for two counts of tampering with evidence with chance of parole.
*Ginell Marie McDonough – 1/31/20: Plead guilty. Sentencing on 11/19/20 where charges were dismissed, testified against Marks.
 
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Road trip confessions: Maxwell says capital murder defendant Marks admitted to other slayings​


BELTON — The clanking of the shackles at the wrists and ankles of Maya Maxwell, the co-defendant in the capital murder trial of Cedric Marks, was all that could be heard shortly before 9 a.m. on Thursday in the 426th District Court.
Marks was arrested for allegedly killing his ex-girlfriend, Jenna Scott, and her friend, Michael Swearingin, at a Killeen residence on Jan. 3, 2019, before their bodies were discovered more than a week later in a shallow grave about 20 miles from a Henrietta, Okla., Walmart, where Marks and Maxwell were captured on surveillance video. Marks is representing himself with outside legal counsel in the death penalty case.
It was the third day Maxwell — who is giving her testimony against the former mixed martial arts fighter in exchange for a 20-year plea deal that was OK’d by the victims’ families — was on the stand.

During a hearing outside of the presence of the jury shortly after 3 p.m., Bell County Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Newell asked Maxwell why she was so terrified to flee or take action against Marks in the period following the murders of Scott and Swearingin.
“Not only (because of) what I had just witnessed him do with his bare hands but his mention of this wasn’t the first time,” Maxwell told Newell.
Maxwell thereafter testified to four additional murders that Marks, 48, had confessed to her in “great detail” while the pair traveled north from Clearview, Okla., toward his ex-wife’s residence in Muskegon, Michigan.
“First he told me that this all started with cats and kittens — that he was hurting them,” said Maxwell, who was pregnant at the time of the murders. “Then he said that the first person he killed was a boy when he was still a boy. I don’t know what age and he never told me a name, but he said that this boy had come over and asked for him to come out and play. They walked to a pond and he saw a log that he was able to pick up but heavy enough to hurt this boy. He hit him in the back of the head where he fell face first into the pond. He said he watched him drown and he left. At the time, no one ever knew really what happened because all there (was) were kids’ footprints.”
The three other road trip confessions, Maxwell testified, covered the murders of a fellow prisoner while Marks’ served six years in a Oklahoma penitentiary before he was released in 1998; Tulsa resident Andre Ogans in 2007; and Bloomington, Minnesota, resident April Pease in 2009.
“The second one was when he was in prison in Oklahoma,” said Maxwell, whose voice trembled as she spoke. “Again, I don’t know the name but there was a man in there who was set to be released relatively shortly. He had been kind of a problem to everybody in the prison to include the guards, (Marks) said. They ended up going somewhere off camera in the prison and he killed him. He was questioned about it, him and a couple other people, because they were the last people seen going into wherever that area was, and they believed him that he didn’t do it.”
She noted how that murder also involved a choke hold — the same form of restraint that was used to kill Swearingin, a Temple resident, in the bathtub of a Killeen residence.
“(The next murder) turns out to be Andre,” Maxwell said. “He said that they were in prison together and while they were in prison Andre had hit on him and made sexual advances. (Marks) said he was patient and waited till they were both out. He had found Andre out there in the free world. He had him leave a note for his mom or whoever it was that he had been staying with basically saying he’d be right back. I don’t remember what he said about how he killed him. Just that he did cut him up and burned him, and that (Ginell McDonough) helped bury him near where family reunions are.”
Newell then asked if he confessed to any other slayings.

“Yes, he did … to April Pease,” Maxwell said. “I don’t know for sure how he killed her, but it was in Minnesota and (he) mentioned something to do with North Dakota in relation to that murder.”
Pease, who was abducted from a Minnesota women’s shelter, also was the mother of one of Marks’ children.
Over the course of the hours-long cross examination, Newell objected to countless lines of Marks’ questioning when he repeatedly asked Maxwell questions that had already been answered and attempted to claim that Maxwell was lying on the stand to simply earn her plea deal — of which at least 82 were sustained by 426th District Court Judge Steve Duskie.
“If you get on that transport and head back to your cell and you found out that your deal could be pulled because of inconsistencies, what will you do?” Marks asked Maxwell.
Maxwell stressed that she would be giving the same exact testimony if it was during a trial where she was being tried for the same crimes as Marks.
“I know that I’m not lying. I’m fully confident in everything that I’ve said and that’s all I can do,” she told Marks. “If they were to decide to pull the deal, whatever comes my way, I would accept it. I would just accept it at this point … because I believe that Jenna and Michael deserved to have someone tell the truth.”
Although Marks indicated earlier in the afternoon that he would only need about 30 more minutes to finish cross-examining Maxwell, he told Duskie how he would need another couple of hours on Friday.
“I’m going to limit any re-cross to the scope of what’s been brought up earlier by the redirect,” Duskie told Marks.
Marks was not pleased in the slightest.
“Your honor, this is a death penalty case and this is the co-defendant telling these jurors lies about me killing people that I never did,” he said, raising his voice to Duskie. “I’m upset for a reason because my life is on the line. This person has clearly lied and I have the right to cross examine her vigorously. I’m not getting a fair trial whatsoever in this courtroom with this district attorney.”
Marks is charged with capital murder of multiple people, a capital felony; burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a felony, a first-degree felony; tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; and various misdemeanor charges.
He will continue his defense at 9 a.m. Friday morning in the 426th Courtroom at the Bell County Justice Center in Belton.
 
MAY 11, 2023
www.fox44news.com

Day 18 of testimony begins in Cedric Marks Capital Murder trial

BELTON, Texas (FOX 44) – Testimony in the Cedric Marks Capital Murder Trial continues in Bell County’s 426th District Court on Thursday, May 11. It’s been a relentless day with Cedric M…
www.fox44news.com www.fox44news.com
[...]

In Maxwell’s testimony over what happened in Oklahoma, Maxwell said she intentionally had the white camper shell placed on the burial site to mark the location so police can find it.

Maya testified to Marks she did see bruises on Jenna’s neck.

[...]

Marks questioned Maxwell on her past use of lithium and tremadol to discredit her testimony and past interviews. Maxwell says she rarely used lithium and responsibly used tremadol.

After recess, Marks continued to cross examine Maxwell. Marks alleged how Maya wanted to get revenge on Jenna in the past due to Jenna’s relationship with Marks. Maxwell said to the jury “I never wanted to hurt or harm Jenna and Michael. They didn’t deserve what he did to them.”

Marks later alleged Maxwell has motivation and bias to speak against him in the trial, even adding how her plea deal can help her see her son.

Maxwell broke down in tears and said, “I feel horrible about this and I accept the responsibility. This is something I didn’t want, and I’m not upset with my acceptance.”

When Maxwell made this statement in tears, Marks asked her how long did she practice to give this speech to make it more believable. The judge then called for a 15 minute break.

[...]

In discussing what Marks allegedly did to Oggins, Maxwell said Ginell McDonough helped bury Oggins and move the body to another location.

Maxwell also says Marks alluded to killing April Pease.

Marks allegedly told Maxwell he was having legal battles with a female trying to take his kid away from him in Minnesota.

[...]

Marks says Maxwell is lying about the other stories, and questioned why she never mentioned the women shelter situation and other alleged murders in her past interviews.

Marks said if this is discussed in front of a jury, he would call for a mistrial.

In the end, the judge decided to sustain Marks objection for this testimony to not be said in front of a jury. Maxwell will continue her testimony tomorrow.

[...]
 
Friday, May 12th:
*Trial continues (Day 20) (@ 9am CT) - TX – Michael Lee Swearingin (32) & Jenna Kay Scott (28) (Jan. 4, 2019, Temple; found in Clearview, OK on Jan. 12, 2019) – *Cedric Joseph Marks (44/now 48) (ex bf of Scott’s) arrested (1/8/19) in Kent County, Mich. for a burglary warrant, waived extradition to Texas. *Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (5/10/19) with capital murder of multiple persons & tampering with evidence. $2,016,500 Bond. DA will seek DP. Bond reduction denied (3/30/21). Will be representing himself.
*Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (4/10/19) with interfering w/emergency call, false report to police officer violating protective order, burglary habitation intend.
*Charged & indicted (3/13/19) & arraigned (4/26/19) with 1st degree felony burglary (on 8/21/18 at Scott’s home). $16,500 bond on charges of interference with an emergency call, making a false police report & violation of a protection order, bond for the burglary charge is $250K, the murder of multiple persons is carrying a bond of $1.5 million & $250K. Plead not guilty to all charges.
Trial was set to begin on 2/20/23 with jury selection (could last 3 week). Judge Steven J. Duskie presiding. Representing himself (pro se). From 3/27/23 to 4/4/23 with a total of 69 potential jurors selected. Final individual voir dire happened on 4/13/23.
Trial began on 4/17/23.
Court information from 2/3/19 thru 2/9/23 & Jury Selection Days 1 to 29 (2/20 to 4/4/23), 4/5/23 thru 4/13/23 & Trial Day 1-18 (4/17-5/10/23) reference post #287 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...nna-scott-28-temple-bell-county-4-jan-2019-15
5/11/23 Thursday, Trial Day 19: State witnesses: Maya Maxwell back on stand.
For more info see posts #288 & 289 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...emple-bell-county-4-jan-2019-2.577817/page-15
Trial continues on Friday, 5/12/23.
*Maya Renee Maxwell – Pretrial hearing on 5/19/23. Accepting a plea deal to serve 20 years for two counts of tampering with evidence with chance of parole.
*Ginell Marie McDonough – 1/31/20: Plead guilty. Sentencing on 11/19/20 where charges were dismissed, testified against Marks.
 
MAY 12, 2023 - DAY TWENTY
(Counting the day Marks was sick)
https://twitter.com/EarlStoudemire

CEDRIC MARKS TRIAL DAY 19: Maya Maxwell has finished her time on the witness stand. Marks asked his final questions to see if Maxwell added extra details for her plea deal. Marks claimed Maxwell was lying in front of the jury to believe her.

Marks then claimed Maxwell never witnessed any events she detailed on January 3 for Maxwell to say she did. Marks then recalled Maxwell to possibly speak later in the trial.

A Bank of America representative came to the witness stand next. This representative provided Marks bank records from January 2019 and a recording of Marks calling to close his bank account. Marks said in the audio he believes his ex has his bank account information.

Vivint Field Service Manager Brandon Credough came to the witness stand next. Credough’s testimony rebuts information Marks gathered in his past cross examinations to say doorbell footage can’t be deleted from Michael’s home. Credough said it can be deleted.

Former TPD Detective Corey Powell is now back on the witness stand.

UPDATE: Powell is continuing his testimony. In Powell’s police interview, Powells says Maxwell mentioned Marks tore his bicep lifting the jeep from mud at the Oklahoma property where Michael and Jenna were located.

Powell also said he tried to get surveillance video of Maxwell entering a Central Texas Walmart to purchase trash bags being unable to find this footage. Powell was also unable to get the casino footage in Oklahoma where Maxwell pulled out money.

Powell testified Marks lied in his initial interview with him. Powell said Marks never left Michigan in January 2019 and gave a false alibi for Powell to investigate.

The court is now watching Powell’s first police interview with Cedric Marks. We’re now halfway through the 2 hour long video with Marks denying multiple times he didn’t kill Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin.
 

‘I’m just letting him lie to me’: Investigator recalls Marks' false claims after arrest​


BELTON — Corey Powell — a former Temple Police detective who is now an investigator with the Bell County Sheriff’s Department — continued his testimony in the capital murder trial of Cedric Marks on Friday after Bell County prosecutors had an opportunity to interview other law enforcement officers involved in the case.
Powell, who testified earlier in the trial, discussed how his role in the investigation involved traveling to Muskegon, Michigan, to interview co-defendant Maya Maxwell and Ginell McDonough and later went to Clearview, Okla., to help recover the bodies of Scott and Swearingin.
“It was determined to attempt to get Maya to come to the prosecutor’s office on Friday, (Jan. 11, 2019) to begin to try to re-interview her,” Powell, who first testified last week, told Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza on Friday. “In that interview, she details the murders.”

He emphasized how the bodies of Scott and Swearingin likely would not have been located if Maxwell did not provide the information she did — details that largely relied on landmarks Maxwell remembered seeing, including the Northfork Cemetery where Marks’ family had headstones.
“It would’ve been very, very difficult,” Powell said. “It was hard to imagine what she was telling us, but when you come out there and lay eyes on it, you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s what she’s talking about.’ It was pretty descriptive.”
With Marks now connected to the 6-foot by 3-foot grave on the vacant property in Clearview, Powell recounted how he returned to Michigan on Jan. 15, 2019, to interview the former mixed martial arts fighter a day later at the Kent County Jail in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Although Marks was captured on surveillance footage with Maxwell in a variety of locations across Texas leading up to the murders of Scott and Swearingin and throughout Oklahoma in the hours following, he was unaware of the fact.
“He says he was in Michigan the whole time — from Jan. 1, 2019, through having been taken into custody during that proof of time,” Powell said. “That’s what he told me at first.”
Marks objected to that line of Powell’s testimony, citing speculation, but 426th District Court Judge Steve Duskie overruled him.
“It’s coming from your mouth to his ear,” Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza quipped in the seconds after the ruling.
Garza then published in court the more than two-hour interview from Jan. 16, 2019, at the Kent County Jail in its entirety.
“The purpose was to see what Cedric Marks had to say about where he was at and then to confront him with evidence that we knew on that date,” Powell said. “I’m just letting him lie to me.”
In the interview, Marks could be seen and heard trying to clear his name.

“I have never ever threatened Jenna. I have never done anything like that to Jenna,” he said in the 2019 interview. “The only time that I ever laid my hands over was one time in June 2018 is when she was hitting me. She had hit me like 18 times in the groin and face and everything, and I had to restrain her to stop her. That’s the only time.”
He added how the last time he saw Scott was in September 2018.
“That’s the last time that I’ve laid eyes on her,” Marks said. “That’s the last time that I verbally said something to her.”
However, Powell told Marks how the Temple Police Department, U.S. Marshals, the Michigan State Police and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation had been working diligently to locate Scott and Swearingin, and had learned a lot in that time.
“Mr. Marks, I’m going to tell you that we know a lot,” he said. “So here’s my question: Did you kill Jenna and Michael?”
Marks quickly denied.
“I am not a killer, a kidnapper, a disappearer or anything else,” he said. “I’m not. That’s all there is to it.”
Powell proceeded to tell Marks how law enforcement had already gathered an abundance of surveillance footage, including Marks and Maxwell purchasing a shovel, new clothes and new shoes with cash on Jan. 4, 2019, at a Henrietta, Okla., Walmart — approximately 20 miles away from where the missing Temple residents were discovered.
“When we talked to (Maxwell), she was very descriptive, and after we talked to her, I took my butt to the plane and I flew to Oklahoma,” he said. “We found the house that she described and we went behind it where you put the white camper shell on top of the body and our archaeologist from the University of Oklahoma dug up Michael and Jenna. How would Maya have known Michael and Jenna were right there?
Marks still denied their involvement.
“I have no idea why Maya would say anything like that. I have no idea whatsoever because she’s been with me in Michigan — not anywhere else,” he said. “I don’t know how that would be possible. I don’t.”
Marks is charged with capital murder of multiple people, a capital felony; burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a felony, a first-degree felony; tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; and various misdemeanor charges.
He will continue his defense in the death penalty case at 9 a.m. Monday morning in the 426th Courtroom at the Bell County Justice Center in Belton.
 
Monday, May 15th:
*Trial continues (Day 21) (@ 9am CT) - TX – Michael Lee Swearingin (32) & Jenna Kay Scott (28) (Jan. 4, 2019, Temple; found in Clearview, OK on Jan. 12, 2019) – *Cedric Joseph Marks (44/now 48) (ex bf of Scott’s) arrested (1/8/19) in Kent County, Mich. for a burglary warrant, waived extradition to Texas. *Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (5/10/19) with capital murder of multiple persons & tampering with evidence. $2,016,500 Bond. DA will seek DP. Bond reduction denied (3/30/21). Will be representing himself.
*Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (4/10/19) with interfering w/emergency call, false report to police officer violating protective order, burglary habitation intend.
*Charged & indicted (3/13/19) & arraigned (4/26/19) with 1st degree felony burglary (on 8/21/18 at Scott’s home). $16,500 bond on charges of interference with an emergency call, making a false police report & violation of a protection order, bond for the burglary charge is $250K, the murder of multiple persons is carrying a bond of $1.5 million & $250K. Plead not guilty to all charges.
Trial was set to begin on 2/20/23 with jury selection (could last 3 week). Judge Steven J. Duskie presiding. Representing himself (pro se). From 3/27/23 to 4/4/23 with a total of 69 potential jurors selected. Final individual voir dire happened on 4/13/23.
Trial began on 4/17/23.
Court information from 2/3/19 thru 2/9/23 & Jury Selection Days 1 to 29 (2/20 to 4/4/23), 4/5/23 thru 4/13/23 & Trial Day 1-19 (4/17-5/11/23) reference post #287 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...nna-scott-28-temple-bell-county-4-jan-2019-15
5/12/23 Friday, Trial Day 20: State witnesses: Maya Maxwell back on stand for cross exam. Vivint Field Service Manager Brandon Credough, BofA representative. Former Temple Police Dept. Detective Corey Powell is back on the witness stand to continue his testimony. DA showed 1/15/19 interview with Marks & Powell.
For more info see posts #291 & 292 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...emple-bell-county-4-jan-2019-2.577817/page-15
Trial continues on Monday, 5/15/23.
*Maya Renee Maxwell – Pretrial hearing on 5/19/23. Accepting a plea deal to serve 20 years for two counts of tampering with evidence with chance of parole.
*Ginell Marie McDonough – 1/31/20: Plead guilty. Sentencing on 11/19/20 where charges were dismissed, testified against Marks.
 
Last edited:
MAY 15, 2023 - DAY TWENTY-ONE
(Counting the day Marks was sick)
https://twitter.com/EarlStoudemire

Cedric Marks Trial Day 20: Detective Powell is continuing his testimony from Friday. We’ve now finished the first recorded interview and an audio recording between Marks and his sister saying he’s innocent. We’re now going to hear the second police interview with Marks.

In the three hour second police interview, Marks told Detective Powell a different story from his first interview to say he did go to Texas in January 2019 not staying in Michigan.

In a recorded interview Marks said he’d plead guilty to murder charges if he’d be able to be release on bail to sell action figures to raise money for his family. Detective Powell told Marks “There is no way we’re going to let you out.

In the video Marks said he went down to Texas to turn himself in. Marks then explained to Powell how everything was crushing him since August 2018. In this period Marks said he couldn’t think, feel, focus, felt like he was seeing Jenna everywhere & how he tried to commit suicide.

When Detective Powell asked Marks what he remembers on his trip to Texas, Marks said he doesn’t remember specific things rushing through his head at the time. The only thinks Marks could remember was crying when seeing a picture of his boys.

When Detective Powell asked Marks if he drove in Rebecca Adney’s car in January 2019, Marks says he doesn’t remember ever driving her car in that time period.

In the video Marks followed this claim to say he doesn’t remember being in Adney’s home either. Marks told Powell he remembered Maya taping Jenna’s mouth in a bathtub and putting a bag over Jenna’s head to suffocate.

Marks says he could not remember anything about Michael’s whereabouts and has little memories of anything happening in Oklahoma. After claiming innocence in the deaths of Michael and Jenna Marks then claimed he had no part in the death of April Pease.
 
MAY 15, 2023
www.kwtx.com

Cedric Marks trial: “I’m not saying everyone is lying on me.” Interviews with law enforcement shows Marks admitting to traveling to Texas where victims were kidnapped

Day 21 of the trial started with looking into more of Marks’ early interviews with lead detective, Corey Powell.
www.kwtx.com www.kwtx.com
[...]

Day 21 of the trial started with looking into more of Marks’ early interviews with lead detective, Corey Powell.

The interview shows Powell being stern with Marks as he allegedly lies during the interview, according to Powell.

Marks constantly stated that he never threatened Scott. “You never threatened, you’re right, you made a promise. The promise ended on January 3 when you choked the life out of Jenna and Michael,” said Powell.

[...]

“I’ll be facing the death penalty. Honestly, that doesn’t bother me if I know my family is financially secure,” said Marks.

Powell responded, “It’s not gonna happen.” He said, “You hated Jenna so much that you’ve ruined these women’s lives who loved you so much and you’re taking them down with you.”

During the interview, Marks discredits all of Maxwell’s claims against him, but eventually said, “I’m not saying everyone is lying on me, and I’m not going to speak on what Ginell said,” said Marks.

[...]

In the video, Marks stated he didn’t remember going to Austin, Oklahoma, or to Adney’s house in Killeen, but made references of specific items in her home. For example, photo evidence in Adney’s home shows a stick with spikes around it. Marks claimed Maxwell threatened to hit Scott with it.

While the video played, there was a part where Powell explained to Marks about Scott’s daughter’s reaction to learning her mother was missing and that she’ll never see her again. At this point, Powell wipes his eyes as his tears fall while he’s on the stand.

[...]

Marks didn’t have the chance to cross examine Powell, that will likely happen sometime Tuesday.
 
Tuesday, May 16th:
*Trial continues (Day 22) (@ 9am CT) - TX – Michael Lee Swearingin (32) & Jenna Kay Scott (28) (Jan. 4, 2019, Temple; found in Clearview, OK on Jan. 12, 2019) – *Cedric Joseph Marks (44/now 48) (ex bf of Scott’s) arrested (1/8/19) in Kent County, Mich. for a burglary warrant, waived extradition to Texas. *Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (5/10/19) with capital murder of multiple persons & tampering with evidence. $2,016,500 Bond. DA will seek DP. Bond reduction denied (3/30/21). Will be representing himself.
*Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (4/10/19) with interfering w/emergency call, false report to police officer violating protective order, burglary habitation intend.
*Charged & indicted (3/13/19) & arraigned (4/26/19) with 1st degree felony burglary (on 8/21/18 at Scott’s home). $16,500 bond on charges of interference with an emergency call, making a false police report & violation of a protection order, bond for the burglary charge is $250K, the murder of multiple persons is carrying a bond of $1.5 million & $250K. Plead not guilty to all charges.
Trial was set to begin on 2/20/23 with jury selection (could last 3 week). Judge Steven J. Duskie presiding. Representing himself (pro se). From 3/27/23 to 4/4/23 with a total of 69 potential jurors selected. Final individual voir dire happened on 4/13/23.
Trial began on 4/17/23.
Court information from 2/3/19 thru 2/9/23 & Jury Selection Days 1 to 29 (2/20 to 4/4/23), 4/5/23 thru 4/13/23 & Trial Day 1-20 (4/17-5/12/23) reference post #293 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...nna-scott-28-temple-bell-county-4-jan-2019-15
5/15/23 Monday, Trial Day 21: State witnesses: Former Temple Police Dept. Detective Corey Powell is back on the witness stand to continue his testimony. DA showed 1/15/19 interview with Marks & Powell. Jurors heard the three hour second police interview that Marks had with Detective Powell. Still on direct exam. Will be back for cross-exam tomorrow.
For more info see posts #294 & 295 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...emple-bell-county-4-jan-2019-2.577817/page-15
Trial continues on Tuesday, 5/16/23.
*Maya Renee Maxwell – Pretrial hearing on 5/19/23. Accepting a plea deal to serve 20 years for two counts of tampering with evidence with chance of parole.
*Ginell Marie McDonough – 1/31/20: Plead guilty. Sentencing on 11/19/20 where charges were dismissed, testified against Marks.
 
MAY 16, 2023 - DAY TWENTY-TWO
(Counting the day Marks was sick)
https://twitter.com/EarlStoudemire

Cedric Marks Trial Day 21: Detective Powell walked the jury through his master timeline of all calls, texts, and recorded activities between January 1 - 10 2019.

In this timeline Powell explained how Marks sent and/or received messages from three of his other girlfriends outside of Maya Maxwell. The record from January 1 - 5 also shows multiple phone calls between Marks and his former wife Kristina Marks.

From January 3 - 5, Marks has multiple conversations with Kelly Sorenson who’s tied to the death of April Pease.

Powell explains how in January 4, Marks was in contact with a bondsman, his therapist, and his attorney. On the evening of January 5, Powell says Marks phone location in Joliet, Illinois refutes Marks time alibi of being at Island Jiu Jitsu in Michigan.

UPDATE: Marks is now cross examining Detective Powell. Marks wanted to admit evidence that’s already in a state exhibit of Jenna speaking with Marks after she claimed Marks choked her. The judge denied this request due to Powell being unable to authenticate the audio.

Marks is going over the timeline Powell put together to catch if there’s any incorrect time or data keyed in. Marks asked if Powell made the timeline on events he believed transpired. Powell said the timeline is based on evidence.

In the timeline, Marks asked Powell how many women did he speak with to say they’re in a relationship with Marks himself. Powell said he knows of 17 girlfriends who’ve been in a relationships with Marks, some at the same time. “You string all these women along,” said Powell.
 
MAY 16, 2023
www.kcentv.com

Former Temple lead detective presents timeline of events in Cedric Marks trial

Marks says the timeline is based on Corey Powell's narrative and beliefs. Powell countered Marks saying his timeline is based strictly on admitted evidence.
www.kcentv.com www.kcentv.com
Powell says he believes the abduction time of Swearingin was around 4:10 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2019. Vivint camera footage shows Swearingin walking outside of his house, looking around and turning to the left. This would be the last time he was seen.

Just eight minutes later, Scott received a message from Swearingin's phone saying to come to his house. Powell says this was Marks trying to lure Scott in.

Scott arrived about 30 minutes later and was not seen again. That same night there was search history of how to delete Vivint video footage on Swearingin's computer.

Throughout the evening, messages are sent to Scott's mother and Swearingin's girlfriend, but Powell says he believed it wasn't either of them sending the texts.
 
Wednesday, May 17th:
*Trial continues (Day 23) (@ 9am CT) - TX – Michael Lee Swearingin (32) & Jenna Kay Scott (28) (Jan. 4, 2019, Temple; found in Clearview, OK on Jan. 12, 2019) – *Cedric Joseph Marks (44/now 48) (ex bf of Scott’s) arrested (1/8/19) in Kent County, Mich. for a burglary warrant, waived extradition to Texas. *Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (5/10/19) with capital murder of multiple persons & tampering with evidence. $2,016,500 Bond. DA will seek DP. Bond reduction denied (3/30/21). Will be representing himself.
*Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (4/10/19) with interfering w/emergency call, false report to police officer violating protective order, burglary habitation intend.
*Charged & indicted (3/13/19) & arraigned (4/26/19) with 1st degree felony burglary (on 8/21/18 at Scott’s home). $16,500 bond on charges of interference with an emergency call, making a false police report & violation of a protection order, bond for the burglary charge is $250K, the murder of multiple persons is carrying a bond of $1.5 million & $250K. Plead not guilty to all charges.
Trial was set to begin on 2/20/23 with jury selection (could last 3 week). Judge Steven J. Duskie presiding. Representing himself (pro se). From 3/27/23 to 4/4/23 with a total of 69 potential jurors selected. Final individual voir dire happened on 4/13/23.
Trial began on 4/17/23.
Court information from 2/3/19 thru 2/9/23 & Jury Selection Days 1 to 29 (2/20 to 4/4/23), 4/5/23 thru 4/13/23 & Trial Day 1-21 (4/17-5/15/23) reference post #296 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...nna-scott-28-temple-bell-county-4-jan-2019-15
5/16/23 Tuesday, Trial Day 22: State witness: Former Temple Police Dept. Detective Corey Powell is back on the witness stand to continue his testimony. Detective Powell walked the jury through his master timeline of all calls, texts & recorded activities between January 1 - 10 2019.
For more info see posts #297 & 298 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...emple-bell-county-4-jan-2019-2.577817/page-15
Trial continues on Wednesday, 5/17/23.
*Maya Renee Maxwell – Pretrial hearing on 5/19/23. Accepting a plea deal to serve 20 years for two counts of tampering with evidence with chance of parole.
*Ginell Marie McDonough – 1/31/20: Plead guilty. Sentencing on 11/19/20 where charges were dismissed, testified against Marks.
 
Last edited:
MAY 17, 2023 - DAY TWENTY-TWO

CEDRIC MARKS TRIAL DAY 23 | The day started with intensity as former Temple detective Corey Powell was back on the witness stand for the fourth day in a row. In cross, Marks says Powell has been tampering with witnesses and instructing them to lie throughout the investigation.

Marks says, “I’m not sure why this detective’s credibility is being protected.” He also says to Judge Steve Duskie outside the jury “I’m sitting here trying to save my life and you’re sitting here trying to protect this piece of garbage. They know he’s a piece of garbage.”


Cedric Marks Trial Day 22: Marks has been escorted out of the courtroom for his statements to Judge Steve Duskie. Marks wants speak on Powell being deceptive in his investigation to not be a credible source. After multiple objections, Marks says the court is protecting Powell.

Once Marks came back into the court room, Marks continued to claim Powell did witness tampering in his investigation and deceived anyone who knew Marks to fulfill Powell’s narrative.

When Marks questioned Powell on his January 2020 interview with Ginell, Powell did say he spoke with Ginell about Andre Oggins. Marks then claimed in Powell’s interview with Ginell, Powell distorted the story to make his case stronger against Marks.

Update: Marks lashed out again at Judge Steve Duskie in the middle of court proceedings. “You should be ashamed of yourself. You shouldn’t even be a judge in a hot dog eating contest,” said Marks. The judge immediately called for a 15 minute break.

:oops:o_O
 
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