Witness killer guilty

Sir Mario Owens faces death penalty in couple's murder

By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News (Contact), Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Linda McConnell / Special To The Rocky

Rhonda Fields, mother of Javad Marshall-Fields, gets a hug Wednesday from Arapahoe County Chief Deputy DA John Hower, before Sir Mario Owens was found guilty in the 2005 killings.

Sir Mario Owens was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder in May.

Javad Marshall-Fields celebrated his graduation from Colorado State University on May 14, 2005.

On Wednesday, the third anniversary of that milestone, his family celebrated the conviction of his killer, Sir Mario Owens.

"I think what (the guilty verdict) says is that you cannot get away with murder, and that in the state of Colorado the killing of a witness will just not be tolerated," said Rhonda Fields, Marshall-Fields' mother.

A 12-person Arapahoe County jury on Wednesday found Owens, 23, guilty of first-degree murder in the 2005 shooting deaths of Marshall-Fields and his fiancee, Vivian Wolfe.

The jury will be back in court Monday to decide whether Owens should die for his crime.

Arapahoe County District Judge Gerald J. Rafferty gave the jurors today and Friday off, but told them to return next week to begin hearing evidence as part of the death penalty phase.

Marshall-Fields and Wolfe, also a CSU graduate, met in school and became engaged. The couple planned to move to the East Coast, where Marshall- Fields hoped to land a job as a lobbyist or Fortune 500 employee. Wolfe had set her sights on becoming a doctor midwife. Both were student leaders.

But on July 4, 2004, Marshall- Fields was at a rap music party at Aurora's Lowry Park when he saw his friend, 20-year-old Gregory Vann, gunned down.

Marshall-Fields was set to testify against Owens and Robert Ray in that case, but on June 20, 2005, one week before the trial, he and Wolfe were shot in their car at an intersection in Aurora.

Even without Marshall-Fields' testimony, Owens, 23, was convicted of murdering Vann in the park. He was sentenced to life without parole.

Ray was also found guilty and sentenced to 108 years. Ray will be tried in August in connection with the slayings of Marshall- Fields and Wolfe.

Immediately after the verdicts were read Wednesday, Christine Wolfe, mother of Vivian Wolfe, was so distraught she had to be helped from the courtroom to a victims assistance room.

Later, outside the courthouse in Centennial, she thanked Aurora detectives and prosecutors.

"I know someone killed my daughter and Javad because my daughter was just there - no reason," Wolfe said. "To them, human life is nothing, but (it) means so much for us."

Owens, in a green shirt and tie and wire-frame glasses, faced the bench as the verdict was read, so his expression could not be seen by those behind him in the courtroom.

His family maneuvered their way through a throng of reporters and camera crews and left immediately without commenting.

As many as a dozen Arapahoe County deputies and security guards were present. The judge warned audience members that they would be escorted out if they openly displayed emotion as he read the verdicts.

While addressing reporters outside the courthouse, Rhonda Fields held up a picture of her son and his fiancee in their caps and gowns, a photo she frequently has displayed since their deaths.

It was taken three years ago on Wednesday.

"This photo was taken May 14, 2005," she said. "So it's kind of ironic that we get a verdict on the day that he's celebrating his graduation."

She said she was proud of her son's determination to testify against Owens despite the threats he received.

"(It) speaks to the kind of phenomenal young man he was that he was willing to testify for seeing his friend get murdered, and that's something you just don't see a lot today," she said.

Fields said she plans to attend the sentencing phase of the trial.

Vivian Wolfe's mother, standing next to Fields, said, "Justice is served. I still have faith in this society and these people."

The timeline

* July 4, 2004: Gregory Vann, 20, is shot dead during a party at Lowry Park. Vann's brother, Elvin Bell, and Vann's friend Javad Marshall-Fields chase Owens to a vehicle and are wounded as they attempt to keep him from leaving the scene, witnesses said.

* June 2005: Marshall-Fields and his fiancee, Vivian Wolfe, both 22, are gunned down in their car at an Aurora intersection a week before Marshall-Fields is to testify in the trial of Robert Keith Ray, Owens' alleged accomplice in the death of Vann.

* Nov. 2005: Owens is arrested in Shreveport, La., and returned to Denver.

* Nov. 2006: An Arapahoe County jury finds Robert Keith Ray guilty of attempted first-degree murder and accessory to murder in the death of Vann. He is sentenced to 108 years.

* Jan. 2007: Owens is convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Vann and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Owens also is convicted on two counts of attempted second-degree murder for shooting Marshall-Fields and Bell when they tried to stop him from fleeing the scene of the July 4, 2004, violence.

* May 14, 2008: An Arapahoe County jury finds Owens guilty of seven counts in the Marshall-Fields and Wolfe case.

* Aug. 2008: Ray is scheduled to go on trial in the murders of Marshall-Fields and Wolfe.

• May 15, 2008

  1:43 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  happymike44 writes:

  This guy deserves to die in prison.The murder of these two people was to send a message to everyone don't snitch.Well guess what if you do the crime then do the time.I am so sick of eople who do wrong all their lives.Thinking it is acceptable to rob,muder and just do whatever you want.The rest of us obey the law why not you.So scumbag it looks like you will get to know the true meaning of the prison system.

• May 15, 2008

  7:47 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  outrider writes:

  No he needs to be stoned to death by his priors.

  I better understand why Blacks don't come forward. What a waste of a good life. These kids denied the chance of a successful life. Their families torn apart and probably living in fear.

  Where are the Sharptons, Jacksons, and Wrights at for these people? No money in it because race wasn't involved? I hate these people because it's about holding their own race as hostage.

  Booker T Washington was the Saint of Black and White America, a true Man among Men

• May 15, 2008

  7:57 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  chickersdad writes:

  I agree with both of the above. What a piece of trash. Keep him in prison forever and treat him like a piece of trash.

• May 15, 2008

  8:10 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  davies writes:

  Well, he'll be in prison for the rest of his life, but he won't be treated like trash. Inmates have many rights, you know. Humane treatment, medical care equal to what is provided on the outside, non-discrimination, etc., etc. Sorry, but it's not that bad of a life really.

• May 15, 2008

  8:21 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  badfrog101 writes:

  Owens is the poster child for the death penalty. Why should we use our tax money to support this monster @ $40,000 per year for the next 45-60 years. He deserves a bullet in the back of the head like he gave the three people he murdered.

  Actually, he deserves worse. But why should we lower ourselves to that.

• May 15, 2008

  9:08 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  theairdog writes:

  What's really sad, is that by the time the appeals process is over it will have cost The State of Colorado (meaning you and me) more money than it costs to keep him in prison for the rest of his life.

  Too bad he wasn't shot by one of those bloodthirsty Denver Cops.
  :-)

• May 15, 2008

  9:46 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  TheDenverB writes:

  "Sorry, but it's not that bad of a life really."

  except for the small fact that you are still IN PRISON.

• May 15, 2008

  10:59 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  happymike44 writes:

  I am not for the scum of the earth murdering and robbing ad raping at free will.Yes it is to bad that his 2 victims did not have a chance to protect themselves from this lying piece of dirtbag scum.The worst part of this is the families will grieve over this the rest of their lives knowing this dirtbag is still alive.The reason for the death penalty was equal to a eye for a eye.That meant you killed someone you got the same treatment.I am not for murder but I am for removing dirtbags like this from the planet.Remember if we take them off the street it sends a message to the rest to not step out of line.Also don't whine and cry to the media.You did th crime now do the time.

• May 15, 2008

  11:14 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  opinionatedcolo writes:

  Davies, you are a moron. Ever stepped foot in a maximum security facility or really talked to anyone who has? It is a terrible place with terrible people both as inmates and some as employees where you are treated like trash every minute of every day. Whatever you think about punishment in this case, to claim that life in prison is "not that bad a life" is to reveal yourself as ignorant.

• May 15, 2008

  4 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Devil_Dog writes:

  It's still a better life that this piece of crap deserves, and a thousand times better than that of his victims.

• May 15, 2008

  4:59 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  happymike44 writes:

  Hey Devil Dog
  You said a mouth ful.These people were doing the right thing when so many don't.Then look what happens to them, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family.