Killing sprang from drug deal

The killing of a New Hampshire man in an Omaha alley began as a robbery plot but turned to homicide when the victim claimed to be an undercover cop, according to the case pieced together by Omaha police.

Keith E. Huggins, 21, and William E. Bush, 22, both of Omaha, will be tried for first-degree murder in the shooting death of George Marsh, a Concord man who pedaled carpet cleaner and dealt in drugs while in town last September,

An accessory charge against a third man, Kyle I. Strode, 25, was dropped. He was accused of being the lookout during the botched robbery. The judge ruled that the prosecution hadn’t presented sufficient evidence to try Strode.

Defense attorneys argued that the prosecution also failed to link Huggins and Bush to the killing. None of the witnesses police spoke with saw the shooting. One witness who heard shots fired in the alley near 21st and Maple Streets gave police the name of a suspect she said ran from the scene, but that man was in jail the night of the killing. None of the phone calls that witnesses said Bush made in planning the robbery have been linked directly to Huggins, the alleged gunman.

The state’s case is based “on a lot of supposition” but no evidence that his client, Bush, or Huggins was involved in the killing, said Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley.

The prosecution argued that witnesses to conversations between Bush and Huggins on the night of the slaying and jail communications tie the two suspects to the Marsh killing.

Both suspects told police that they encountered Marsh on Sept. 27 at a bar near the scene of the killing. Huggins said he bought marijuana from Marsh and told police that is why they found his palm print on the outside of the victim’s car.

Bush told police that he spoke to Marsh about a job selling industrial carpet cleaner. The two also spoke about a drug deal; Marsh wanted to buy some crack, Bush told police.

Instead of selling crack to Marsh, Bush decided to rob him, said Detective Sherry King. Bush knew Huggins had a gun and called him to “do a lick,” or a robbery, a witness told police.

Gang unit officers later stopped Huggins and found him in possession of a stolen gun. While in jail on the gun charge, Huggins began worrying that police would learn the gun was “dirty” and had “a body on it,” gang talk for a gun that has been used in a homicide, King said. Huggins also expressed concern that he would end up doing “an elbow,” or a life sentence, she said.

Police learned of Huggins’ comments from fellow inmates and by monitoring his jail communications. King acknowledged that Huggins spoke of the gun’s history in general terms and never said that he used it to commit a homicide.

But at least one inmate said Huggins spoke of shooting a man in an alley after the man claimed to be an undercover police officer. The man’s license plate bore what appeared to be a police badge. King said an American Veteran’s Association emblem on Marsh’s license plate did resemble a badge.

A witness at the scene told police that just before the shooting, she heard shouting: “Are you undercover? Are you undercover?”

Contact the writer:

444-1116, judith.nygren@owh.com