Friends Plead Guilty To Murder of Pal Shot By Palos Homeowner In Botched Burglary

BRIDGEVIEW, IL -- Three friends accused in a plot to rob and beat a wealthy 65-year-old Palos homeowner who ended up shooting one of their friends dead, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder before Cook County Judge Stephen Connolly. Brandy Marshall, 20, her 21-year-old sister Paige, and Tyler Gulli, 24, accepted an offer that would allow them to get out of prison before their fortieth birthdays in exchange for a guilty plea. Brandy and Paige Marshall’s young children will be grown when their mothers are released from prison.

The young Indiana adults began plotting the robbery after the homeowner had arranged for a paid sexual tryst with Brandy Marshall and another friend, Sarah Risner on July 5, 2016. The two women had never intended on going through with the sex. Instead the women would let their friends into man’s home in unincorporated Palos Park to beat and rob him. When Risner went to unlock the front door, the homeowner saw Gulli, Paige Marshall, and 19-year-old Anthony Dalton crouched in the bushes, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Nick D'Angelo said.

As Dalton crossed the doorway, the homeowner shot Dalton dead. Gulli was shot in the leg. The surviving four friends were arrested later that night when they tried to flee to Indiana and after dropping a wounded Gulli off at a hospital emergency room. Police found Paige Marshall hiding in the bushes in the homeowner’s front yard when they arrived. The homeowner was not charged with wrongdoing because he was defending himself and had a valid FOID card and a conceal-carry permit

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Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Nick D’Angelo said he had extended a plea offer to the four surviving co-defendants of 18-years in the Illinois Department of Corrections with 85-percent of time served, and three years of supervised release. Those who accepted the offer would also be required to testify against the others if their cases went to trial. The Marshall sisters and Gulli were set to go to trial this fall. Instead, all three accepted the state's deal pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree murder on Sept. 20. The home invasion charges were dropped. The young Hoosiers will also receive credit for the 422 days they served in Cook County Jury awaiting trial.

Risner was found guilty in a bench trial in June. Immediately after the guilty verdict she fired her attorney, John Paul Carroll. Carroll argued that while Risner conspired to a crime of burglary, she didn’t conspire to commit murder. Cook County Assistant Public Defender Daniel Nolan, representing Paige Marshall, had referred to the homeowner as a “mystery man” who gave police a “sketchy” statement to police about his role in the fatal shooting of Dalton. Risner is due back before the judge on Oct. 11, when she is expected to be sentenced.

In Illinois, any commission of a crime that results in the death of an accomplice or victim, even if the defendant is not the one who wielded a weapon, is charged as first-degree murder.