ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. — A prisoner in the same jail as a landlord accused of killing his tenant says the man not only has talked about committing the murder — but has laughed about it.
Marion Conley, 79, is charged with the murder of Jody Ray Snyder. Snyder’s body was found in a home he rented from Conley on March 9. His preliminary hearing was held in Allegan County Court on Thursday.
On March 10, Conley showed FOX 17’s Mitch Fick around the crime scene – at a home on 122nd Street in Valley Township.
He pointed out the bloody puddles where Snyder’s body was found and laughed about police investigating him the night before.
11 days later, Conley was arrested and charged with the murder.
Conley’s wife, Malvia, was called to the witness stand Thursday. She says Conley started acting strange the night of March 8 – after Conley returned from Snyder’s house.
“He made a comment that – he said – told me not to say nothing about his pistol,” she testified.
After the March 9 interrogation, Malvia didn’t want to ask her husband about what happened.
“I was just pretty much afraid to face up to a lot of things at that time,” she told prosecutors Thursday. Maliva Conley admitted that she was scared of her husband during that stretch of time.
But a jailhouse informant claims Marion Conley has been far from shy about his charges. He spoke about a conversation he heard between Conley and another inmate.
“I heard (the inmate), was like, “How many times did you shoot him?” Mar’Quay Stanfill testified. “And (Conley) was like “About three to five times.”
Stanfill also says Conley was sent photos of Snyder’s body while he was in jail. He showed them off like trophies.
“Marion Conley brought me another (picture) of the same dude, I’m assuming, that was shot,” Stanfill said. “And he was like, ‘Hell, you can look!’ And he was smiling about the stuff, like it was funny.”
Conley has been bound over to Allegan County Circuit Court for the remainder of the trial.
