FRONT ROYAL — The attorneys in the Clay Marshall Curtis murder trial set the scene for the week-long trial to be nothing and everything like a Quentin Tarantino film.
“This is not going to be a straightforward story,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Brian Madden said during his opening statement, apologizing to the jury for the disjointed nature of the way evidence will be presented over the next few days.
John Bell, who with his co-counsel David Hensley defended Curtis, said during his opening statement that the “movie” the prosecution will show would be different from what they think they’re showing. Bell added that the prosecution would be stretching circumstantial evidence “like it’s silly putty” to make Curtis out to be guilty.
That circumstantial evidence was enough, however, for the jury to find Curtis guilty of the December 2014 shooting death of Front Royal cab driver Simon Funk at the end of the trial without much deliberation.
Briahnna M. Brown 