In How I Caught My Killer, the police had a hard time cracking the murder case of Candice Parchment until they found the clue left by her, which led them to Marshae Hickman. The docuseries is now streaming on Hulu.
Candice Parchment, a 15-year-old resident of Forest Park, went missing in April 2010. Her mother gets an uncanny text message from Candice, stating that she is going to Tennessee, followed by another text message that said she is fine.
Her mother does not believe that her teenage daughter would go somewhere without any money or essential items. Her concerned family barely gets any help from the overburdened police department; the police dismiss this case as a runaway teenager case.
Months later, Candice’s decomposed body is discovered in her neighborhood. The police try to find the killer, but they have no significant leads.
More than a year after her death, her mother finds Candice’s personal diary, which holds several secrets, and hands it over to the police. The police find a diary entry that describes one of Candice’s most frightening life experiences and mentions two names — Marshae and Jermane.
Who is Marshae?
Candice had written in her diary that Marshae and Jermane set her up to enter an abandoned house and tried to sexually assault her. She managed to escape unharmed, and the two boys begged her to not tell anyone about what had occurred between them.
Marshae was a friend of Candice’s good friend, My’lik; he used to produce music with him. He seemed like a harmless neighborhood friend.
The police look for Marshae in their jail system and discover that he is currently in prison for burglary, but he was a free man at the time of Candice’s death, so he cannot be ruled out as a suspect. Additionally, Candice’s body was found near his house.
Does Marshae confess?
The police question Marshae in prison. According to Marshae, Candice was last seen alive passing by the court where he was playing basketball. She was being followed by a Hispanic man on her way home. Marshae told the police that the man looked creepy to him. He then saw her entering the woods.
This leads the police to suspect Artemio Hernandez, a man who was arrested for killing a young girl. They had questioned him earlier, and he had denied even knowing Candice.
The police bring in Jermane for questioning. He easily cracks under pressure and reveals that Marshae killed Candice because he did not want her to tell anyone about the assault.
Marshae had even texted him about killing Candice, and Jermane went along with it because he was scared of him.
To get Marshae to confess to the killing, the police lie to him that his DNA was found on Candice’s body. Thinking that there is no point in lying anymore, Marshae confesses that he was the one who committed the murder.
He strangled Candice to death and then disposed of her body. Candice was also stabbed in the chest, but Marshae only confessed to strangling her.
He hid her body under an old mattress and went to check on it several times after the murder. He also writes an apology letter to Candice’s mother, which is then used in court.
What happens to Marshae?
Jermane pleads guilty to the attempted rape of Candice and gets sentenced to 10 years in prison. Furthermore, he testifies against Marshae in court.
Candice’s diary is also presented in court as evidence against the two men; it provided a detailed account of the attempted assault on her.
The jury finds Marshae guilty and sentences him to life in prison without parole with an additional 20 years. Marshae is still in prison, serving his sentence at Telfair State Prison in Helena.
Also Read: How was Jesse Valencia’s murder case from How I Caught My Killer solved?