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Asbury Park Press

FRIDAY 01.30.15

What would you do if your father could be

paroled in the murder of your mother?

A LITTLE
FUNERAL
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ASBURY PARK PRESS FILE PHOTO

From left, John, Roby and Christopher Marshall in 1986. Roby and Christopher are lobbying to keep their father, Robert
O. Marshall, behind bars for the murder of their mother. John has always believed in his father's innocence.

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storms Asbury Lanes. Jersey Alive!

Hundreds
speak out
against
N.J. testing

DEFEND
OUR MOM
A
ERIK LARSEN @ERIK_LARSEN

t dinner last week, Chris and Roby Marshall grappled with the unthinkable: Their
father actually might be paroled from prison in the murder of their mother. How
would they cope? And what could they do to stop it? It was a conversation no broth-

AMANDA OGLESBY @OGLESBYAPP

JACKSON New Jerseys newest standardized test
takes away local control from school districts and is
marring the educational experience of students, according to more than 200 parents and teachers who
gathered Thursday in the township.
Inside Jackson Liberty High School, they spoke for
more than three hours before the Study Commission on
the Use of Student Assessments in New Jersey and
state Education Commissioner David C. Hespe.
Politicians and state education leaders hope the new
test, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for
College and Careers, or PARCC, will better measure
student skills than previous tests and hold teachers
more accountable for their students success and failure.
But the test and the educational benchmarks it measures, the Common Core State Standards, are at the
heart of a battle waged by both conservatives and liberals who fear the resulting changes in education, the test
and the time spent preparing are hurting children,
causing students anxiety and confusing them with
poorly written questions and new learning methods.
Many of the speakers who talked during the public
forum said the new tests were forcing teachers to direct significant class time to teaching to the tests.
Inbar Robbins, 40 of Manalapan, a mother of two
children, described the test as an ill-contrived effort
by New Jersey to get federal education funding.
Though New Jersey has received a waiver freeing it
from some requirements of No Child Left Behind,
schools still must administer statewide standardized
assessments in order to qualify for federal funding under the act.
I am angry that anyone would think is it right or fair
to assess a third-grader on college and career readiness, said Robbins. Our children deserve a better
education than simply filling in bubbles.
New Jersey Education Association spokesman
Steve Wollmer said New Jerseys public education system is headed toward a cataclysm.
What were doing to education and teachers and
kids is a terrible chapter in our history, he said. If we
dont reverse it, we risk losing a lot, we risk losing everything.
Read more at www.app.com/education.

ers should have but life has been a series of unthinkable conversations for the
Marshalls, ever since they first learned their mother Maria was murdered at 42,

and then, as they realized it was their father, Robert O., who was behind the notorious 1984
murder-for-hire plot in the first place. But for Christopher and Roby Marshall, there was
only one answer.
Were going to stand up and defend our mom,
Christopher Marshall said in an interview with the
Asbury Park Press. Were going there in person to
send a clear message. We believe going there in person is the most compelling way to make our case.
Next month, Christopher, 48, and his older brother, Roby, 49, will travel to the State Parole Board in
Trenton, where they will plead with all 15 members
to keep their father incarcerated. Their youngest
brother, John, 44, always has believed in their fathers innocence.

For a look back at the

Marshall case, scan the QR
code or visit

APP.com

See MOM, Page A4

Bourdain, Southside at Franks Deli

CHRIS JORDAN @CHRISFHJORDAN

Theres always something going on at Franks Deli in

Asbury Park.
Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and rocker Southside Johnny Lyon spent Wednesday afternoon at the
iconic Main Street eatery with a film crew from CNN,
said Franks owner Joe Maggio.
They were eating a pastrami sandwich and doughnuts and stuff like that, Maggio said. Its very exciting. Theres about 50 people in here. Its a good afternoon at Franks Deli in Asbury Park.

Bourdain, a native of Leonia, and his crew have been

filming at Atlantic City area spots in recent weeks, according to The Press of Atlantic City, including Tonys
Baltimore Grill and the Lucy the Elephant roadside attraction in Margate.
I just got a cup of coffee and met up with the Bond
Street guys because I heard he was there and Im a huge
Bourdain fan, said Ron Santee of the city group Battery Electric via email. He was having lunch with
Southside Johnny.
See BOURDAIN, Page A6

PRESIDENT CALLS FOR END OF SEQUESTER CUTS, 7% SPENDING HIKE PAGE 1B

Find out who Christie the Horseshoe Crab

picked to win the big game. C8

No college program in the nation has more

alumni in Super Bowl XLIX than Rutgers. C1

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