Man involved in Bokeelia shooting faces prior charges for aggravated battery

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has identified the victim in an ongoing, bizarre death investigation.

Police say 65-year-old Ted Hubbell is dead.

Attorney Robert Harris says his client, 52-year-old John Marshall, showed up at his law office in downtown Fort Myers late Wednesday afternoon with a body in the back of his pickup truck.

Harris says his client shot and killed Hubbell after a dispute over a property in Bokeelia.

“It is a loss, a loss to his family, loss to the island, loss to the world,” said Jill Hammer.

Hammer hasn’t slept since she first learned her Hubbell, her good friend, was killed.

“He’s just an incredibly wonderful guy. We were just always touched by his gentle nature, his kindness,” said Hammer.

Harris tells WINK News that Marshall, his client, killed Hubbell in self-defense.

The attorney says he knew the two had a bad history.

“The guy had threatened him in the past and then came out and ostensibly said he was sorry for threatening him in the past, and pulled a gun on him and pistol-whipped him,” said Harris.

Those that know Hubbell say this story simply isn’t true.

“He murdered the kindest, most gentlest man on this planet. Now he’s out walking free while Ted is dead,” said Gary Pierson.

But WINK News talked to another neighbor who spoke to both men and says just the day before, Marshall said Hubbell threatened to kill him.
That neighbor also says Hubbell was extremely territorial and constantly antagonized marshall.

Crime scene units were back in Bokeelia Thursday combing the Hodges Drive property where Harris says the fight happened.

Before Wednesday’s incident, Marshall was already being represented by the Harris Law Firm for an aggravated battery with a deadly weapon that happened in September 2014.

The case is still pending, but according to police reports, Marshall hit a 57-year-old handicapped man with his car at a Cape Coral McDonald’s and then drove off.

Mark Lieb was at the McDonald’s at the corner of Pine Island Road and Santa Barbara Boulevard the morning it happened.

He says a man was trying to back his car into a handicapped spot when a truck, driven by Marshall, blocked him.

“At one point the guy who’s handicapped even got out and motioned that he was needing to get into the handicapped spot and he wouldn’t let him get in,” said Lieb.

That’s when Lieb says he saw Marshall ram the handicapped man with his truck.

“The guy just jumped forward on the truck and knocked him over to the pavement, knocked him down pretty good, backed up, swerved around him and then took off out of the side,” said Lieb.

Marshall told police he thought the man was trying to back his car into his truck as part of an insurance scam.

He claimed he never hit the man and that the man threw himself to the ground for no reason.

According to police, a McDonald’s security camera captured the entire incident. Authorities say the video clearly shows Marshall hitting the man and driving off.

WINK News asked Marshall’s attorney about the parking lot incident.

“He’s presumed innocent of that and i don’t have any further comment about that,” said Harris.

Marshall is still awaiting trial in the Mcdonald’s incident. He’s due back in court March 31.

Marshall was not arrested and is not facing any charges related to Hubbell’s death at the moment.