Community comes to grips with double murder-suicide in Pocomoke City
Pocomoke City is still trying to come to grips with the double murder- suicide on Groton Road. On Tuesday, 47 ABC spoke with neighbors and friends who told us more about the victims and the alleged suspect.
Janice Elliott, a longtime neighbor who lived across the Purnells says, “It’s been a devastating loss this has been.”
On Monday the bodies 78 year old Marvin Wilmer Purnell, 53 year old Karen Purnell
and 46 year old Marvin Desmond Purnell were found by police. It’s not clear how they died, since investigators are still waiting on an autopsy to confirm cause of death, but police are calling the younger Marvin the suspect in the deaths of the other two, with the belief that he later killed himself.
“They were very good neighbors.They raised their children with good morals,” says Elliott.
Elliott and members of the family’s church tell 47 ABC Marvin Wilmer Purnell, known as ‘Big Marvin’ was the father of both Karen Purnell and Marvin Desmond Purnell, who is also known as ‘Little Marvin’, but Maryland State Police tell us a different story. MSP says Karen Purnell is ‘Big Marvin’s’ sister and ‘Little Marvin’ is his son.
On Monday afternoon, police went to their house after family friends expressed concern about Karen’s welfare fellow and church members tell 47 ABC they last saw her a week ago. They started to worry when she and her family didn’t show up on Sunday for an event.
“They were supposed to prepare a meal and we had been calling all day and no one answered. We had members who had gone to the home, knocked on the door, windows and never got a response,” says Reverend Anna Foster.
During the well-check investigators heard the voice of a man inside the house, but when officers entered the home they made a gruesome discovery. They reportedly found the bodies of Karen and ‘Big Marvin’ decomposing. Police say the body of ‘Little Marvin’ had an apparent gun shot wound. State police tell 47 ABC no shots were heard by emergency responders on the scene and no wounds were found on Karen and ‘Big Marvin’ because of how much the bodies had decomposed, however they could not confirm how long they were dead.
When 47 ABC asked the Reverend about the kind of person ‘Little Marvin’ was she described the suspect as quiet a person who didn’t frequent church as much as the rest of the family. However, Elliott described him as helpful and caring.
“He was a good hearted boy If it snowed, he would shovel the snow for me , or bring me my newspaper and he did it for various people in the neighborhood,” says Elliot.
Community members are now left with the memories of this loss and preparing for a memorial service for the family in the coming days.
A long time friend of the Purnell family also reached to 47 ABC this morning. She tells us this family experienced a very difficult loss not long ago. ‘Big Marvin’ lost both his wife and one of his daughters a few years ago due to medical issues.
