How Could You? Hall of Shame-Adoptee Marcus Wallace UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, adoptee Marcus Wallace,41, is on trial for the 2009 murder of his adoptive parent, Consuella Wallace, 70.

“Before she died of injuries from the beating her son allegedly gave her, 70-year-old Consuella Wallace would pray every night that her son “would turn his life around,” her niece testified Thursday.

According to prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, Marcus Wallace attacked his adoptive mother on Dec. 10, 2009, while burglarizing her Hamilton Township home.

The 41-year-old Chambersburg man appeared in Franklin County Court Thursday for a hearing to determine what evidence can be used in his December jury trial. At his attorneys’ request, the court will appoint an “independent, neutral psychiatrist” to judge whether he is competent to stand trial.

Three of Consuella Wallace’s out-of-state relatives testified over Skype that Marcus Wallace’s mother was afraid of her son.

Chantal Price said she lived with Sam and Consuella Wallace, her deceased uncle and aunt, as a child and that Marcus Wallace was more like a brother than a cousin to her.

She said Marcus Wallace was a good kid who changed for the worse in his late teens when his dad died.

“He dealt with it in a way that was very detrimental to his spirit,” said Euphemia Tasker, Consuella Wallace’s sister. “He went away to school and when he came back he seemed like he was very, very angry.”

Tasker said her sister once told her she was “a little” afraid of her son but that she doesn’t think her sister worried he would actually harm her.

But Tasker’s husband, William Tasker, said Consuella Wallace told him numerous times in the years before her death that she feared for her safety and that she secured her house doors with clubs to keep him away.

Price moved back in with her aunt in 1995 and said Marcus Wallace, despite protection from abuse orders his mother filed against him, would come to Consuella Wallace’s house and constantly call her – wanting money to pay off drug dealers. A few years earlier, Price said she saw her cousin push his mother up against a wall during an argument between them.

She said Consuella Wallace changed the locks on her doors and removed all his photos from the walls and photo albums. She took him out of her will and would only allow him to come home if he gave up drugs, Price said.

“She feared that he would kill her one day – not physically kill her but of a broken heart,” Price said. “He would always play the adoption card and say, ‘You only do this to me because I’m adopted.’ She would cry herself to sleep because of that.”

Discussion on a request from defense attorneys Michael Toms and Michael Palermo to move the trial to another location on the basis that media coverage of the case “has reached virtually every household in Franklin County” was originally on tap for Thursday.

Toms said he feels the discussion would be premature at this point, so the court held off on the matter.

“I think you’d have a hard time making a case of pervasive, inflammatory publicity,” Judge Richard Walsh told Toms.

At Palermo and Toms’ request, the court will appoint a psychiatrist to determine whether Marcus Wallace is competent to stand trial. Marcus Wallace agreed to undergo an examination, but offered his thoughts on the subject.

“Just for the record, I believe I am competent,” he told the court.

The court will meet to discuss the status of the case at 10 a.m. Sept. 17.”

Testimony: Mother afraid of adopted son

[Public Opinion Online 9/7/12 by Beth Anne Heesen]

“Franklin County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas Judge Richard Walsh heard testimony throughout the morning as the lawyers and judge determine what evidence will be used in Marcus Wallace’s December trial.

Wallace, 41, is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, burglary, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault.
Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, said Wallace attacked his 70-year-old mother, Consuella Wallace, in her Hamilton Township, Pa., home Dec. 10, 2009. She died of her injuries in February 2010. ”

“Consuella Wallace’s niece, Yvette Marks, read a letter purported to be from her aunt to Marcus Wallace, who was adopted by his parents. In the letter from 1993, Consuella Wallace tells her son to move out of her home, and stop using drugs and alcohol.
“I love you, but I can’t live life the way you want me to. … You have a good mind — use it, not me,” Marks said when quoting the letter on the witness stand.
“It looks like it says, ‘Love, Mom,’” she said when finishing the reading.
Marks, who lived with Consuella Wallace when the woman had health problems, looked at her cousin after she put the letter down.
Neighbor Ronald Sugden from Pleasantview Drive testified that he and his wife prayed with Consuella Wallace several times.
“She was praying for her safety,” he said. “She was afraid.”
Pennsylvania State Police troopers testified about times they were called to the house in 1996. In one incident, Marcus Wallace allegedly fled into a nearby wooded area and was found by a trained dog.
Franklin County Prothonotary Linda Beard read from protection-from-abuse orders bearing a signature that Marks testified matched her aunt’s. In one application for a protection-from-abuse order, Consuella Wallace allegedly claimed her son said she would regret calling the police, and that she was “unable to sleep and very nervous.”
The protection-from-abuse applications and family testimony indicate Consuella Wallace changed her phone number several times, added a bar to secure doors into the floor, added deadbolts and kept a gun in her bedroom.
Defense attorney Michael Palermo asked witnesses if they had firsthand knowledge of Wallace’s handwriting or her requesting protection-from-abuse orders. He asked witnesses to specify dates of their conversations with the woman and with his client.
Another hearing about the suppression of evidence is scheduled for Sept. 6. It will involve videoconference testimony from some of Consuella Wallace’s out-of-state relatives.”

Slaying victim prayed ‘for her safety,’ hearing witness testifies

[Herald-Mail Online 8/6/12 by Jennifer Fitch]

2011 Articles

“Wallace, 39, is charged in the Dec. 10, 2009, beating of his mother at her Hamilton Township, Pa., home, causing multiple skull fractures that investigators say led to her death on Feb. 9, 2010.
Wallace is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, aggravated assault, burglary, criminal trespass and criminal mischief in the death of Consuella Wallace, 70.
During the hearing, Franklin County District Attorney Matt Fogal called two witnesses to the stand, Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Dick and Franklin County Coroner Jeffrey R. Conner.
Dick filed a criminal complaint against Wallace on Jan. 3, 2010, for several offenses, including criminal contempt, burglary, criminal mischief and attempted homicide. He was a witness at Wallace’s preliminary hearing on those charges on Jan. 22, 2010.
Fogal asked Dick about two separate DNA matches obtained from the scene. Dick said the DNA samples matched samples taken from Marcus Wallace.
Fogal then presented a three-inch stack of Consuella Wallace’s medical records from Dec. 10, 2009, until she was discharged from Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center. She died Feb. 9, 2010 at ManorCare in Chambersburg.
Summarizing the records, Dick said Wallace suffered multiple skull fractures and was in a coma.
Fogal handed a color photograph of Consuella Wallace to Dick and Carter, showing her as she was loaded into the ambulance the evening of the attack.
Public Defender Michael Toms asked where the blood samples were retrieved.
Dick said they were taken from the point of entry (a window) and a light switch in the victim’s bedroom.
Conner testified that the manner of death was homicide, and the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
Fogal presented a transcript of Wallace’s prior preliminary hearing on Jan. 22, 2010, before first- and second-degree murder were added to his list of charges.
“Judge, can I ask a question?” Wallace said.
When Carter didn’t acknowledge Wallace, Toms said: “Mr. Wallace believes that’s not the correct date that hearing was held.”
Carter said there was enough evidence to go forward with the case.
“I object to that,” Wallace said as his lawyer tried to quiet him. “Can I have some objections considering the seriousness of the case? I want to voice some objections — irregularities in these matters,” said Wallace as court was adjourned.”

Pa. man to stand trial in mother’s slaying

[Herald-Mail Online 2/1/11 by  Roxann Miller]

He pled not guilty on 3/17/11 and the DA will pursue the death penalty.

PA: Wallace Pleads Not Guilty to Mother’s Murder

[Your4State.com 3/17/11 by Angelique Gonzalez]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update:“Prosecutors in central Pennsylvania are no longer seeking the death penalty against a man accused of having beaten his adopted mother to death four years ago.

 

 

Forty-one-year-old Marcus Wallace of Hamilton Township is charged with first- and second-degree murder in Franklin County in the December 2009 slaying of 70-year-old Consuella Wallace.

 

 

The (Chambersburg) Public Opinion (http://bit.ly/1e7wU6D) reports that prosecutors said in court documents that evidence uncovered about the defendant’s mental health history could be considered by jurors a mitigating factor, so the death penalty is “no longer tenable.”

 

 

Authorities say Marcus Wallace was burglarizing his adopted mother’s home in Hamilton Township when he attacked her. She died after more than a month on life-support.

 

 

District Attorney Matt Fogal said the decision was made in concert with the victim’s family.”

Death penalty no longer sought in 2009 Pa. slaying[Mercury News 4/1/14 by AP]