An Ohio woman will spend at least two decades behind bars before she is eligible for parole from a life sentence handed down this week for the murder of her husband.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Marcia Eubank was accused of killing 54-year-old Howard Eubanks and living with his remains for months before their son found the decomposing body parts in containers at the Coventry Township home in 2017.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Eubanks pleaded guilty late last year to criminal counts including murder with a firearm, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse. The plea deal that saw the more serious aggravated murder charge dropped.
Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh issued a press release describing the trial and circumstances around it “a very difficult situation” for all involved.
LIVE IN AKRON: A Coventry Township woman is being sentenced after she pleaded guilty to killing and dismembering her husband. Marcia Eubank stored her husband’s remains in plastic storage bins in their home for months after the murder, prosecutors say.
Posted by cleveland.com on Friday, February 8, 2019
“My heart goes out to the family,” she said. “However, Mrs. Eubanks needs to be held accountable for her actions. She killed her husband, hid the body, and lied for six months about what happened. If not for her son finding his father’s body, what she did might still be secret today.”
Investigators believe Eubank killed the victim in 2017 following an argument, later using various tools to dismember his body. She allegedly told those who knew Howard Eubank that he had accepted a job working in Texas.
Cleveland.com reports that Eubank reportedly told authorities her husband was physically abusive, but family and friends said that Eubanks seemed to be the aggressive one in the relationship. They added they never saw Howard become physically abusive toward her, although their relationship was “extremely verbally abusive.”
While Eubank accepted a plea deal and avoided trial, her attorney said a jury would have heard evidence that she was subjected to physical and mental abuse during her marriage.
Brian Pierce went onto explain that the defense team wanted Eubank to be evaluated by a psychologist.
“She allowed us to do that,” Pierce said. “She accepted responsibility and is remorseful.”
[Featured Image: Marcia Eubank, Summit County Police]
