New Hanover County man sentenced to at least 18 years in prison for father’s murder
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A New Hanover County man will spend at least 18 years in prison for the murder of his father.
A judge sentenced Marshall Todd Anderson, 63, to between 18 to 22 years in prison for killing his father William Thomas Anderson, Jr.
The New Hanover County District Attorney’s Office said the victim’s adult grandson, who is also the defendant’s son, called to report his grandfather missing the early evening of Thursday, February 22, 2024.
Officials said the grandson had gone to William Anderson’s residence at 905 Marlow Street to check in on his grandfather, who had begun to display signs of dementia.
The grandson found Marshall Anderson, who the New Hanover County District Attorney’s Office said had a history of drug abuse and altercations with the William Anderson, at the house and claiming to have seen William Anderson only a minute before.
When the grandson began to search the house and then the yard for his grandfather, Marshall Anderson told him not to disturb a blue tarp in the backyard under which he claimed there was trash.
The grandson began to search the surrounding neighborhood and called 911.
When deputies with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office met the grandson at the house, they found that Marshall Anderson had left the scene.
They thought Marshall Anderson may have been looking for his father; however, it was later determined that he had asked a neighbor to drive him to Walmart as patrol vehicles approached the home.
Deputies found William Anderson’s body under the tarp in the backyard.
The medical examiner determined that William Anderson had been dead for at least half a day, and a pathologist determined the cause of death to be multiple blunt-force injuries.
