'Devil was at work': Marianne Shockley’s BF recalls 'fear in her voice' the night she was strangled to death
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA: Chilling new details have emerged about the 2019 death of University of Georgia professor Marianne Shockley, who was found dead in a hot tub with a gash on her head. The sole survivor of the gathering has now said that "the devil was at work" on the night Shockley mysteriously died. Another man who was at the scene that night later died by suicide.
On May 11, 2019, Shockley was indulging in a hot tub time with her boyfriend Marcus Lillard. They were at their mutual friend Clark Heindel's home in Milledgeville at the time. Lillard has now said that the two "were super in love with each other." "The devil was at work. I mean, everything that he could have possibly done to line this thing up to make it confusing and deceitful and it was all there," he told CBS' 48 Hours.
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When police arrived at the scene, Heindel said he did not go into the hot tub but stayed in the shallow part of the pool. Heindel, a 69-year-old former psychologist who was three decades older than the couple, died by suicide early into the investigation that evening. He left a lengthy suicide note but did not claim responsibility for Shockley's drowning death.
Lillard said he has only sparse memories of the evening because he had been drinking and had also taken ecstasy with Heindel. He said he had wanted to explore the woods during his high but Shockley told him to stay at her side. "Baby … get back in this water with me right now," Lillard recalled Shockley as telling her.
"She had fear in her voice and it was … definitely fear," he said. Asked why he refused to listen, Lillard said, "Because I'm an idiot." He went on to claim he had no idea why she had panicked and how long he had been in the woods. He that as he returned to the hot tub, "I could see Marianne slumped down with her chin up to her nose under water..." Her lifeless body reportedly also had a gash to the head.
Authorities believe the men waited about two hours before calling the cops. Both Lillard and Heindel were initially named as suspects, but Lillard became the primary suspect amid the investigation. Shockley's cause of death was ruled strangulation by the medical examiner. Lillard was indicted for felony murder and additional charges in her death. However, he was acquitted just one week into his trial.
Lillard maintains that cursed drugs are responsible for the two deaths. "One thing I know for sure is that was no normal ecstasy … it was super potent … and I believe was made with evil hands," he said. When asked why he thought the drug harnessed nefarious power, Lillard said, "Well, it killed two people..."
Lillard shared this chilling account of the incident on the CBS Special 48 Hours, which can be watched on Paramount+.