Maria and Rob Marshall, the Blind Faith murder (Patreon)

The Marshall family seemed to have it all—wealth, status, and a picture-perfect life in Toms River, New Jersey. But on Thursday, September 7, 1984, tragedy struck when Maria Marshall, a beloved 42-year-old mother of three, was murdered in a parking area off the Garden State Parkway.

What first appeared to be a random robbery quickly unraveled into something far more sinister. As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered a troubled marriage, financial troubles, a torrid love affair, and a murder plot that crossed state lines. The case became one of the most notorious crimes in New Jersey, later documented in Joe McGinniss’s best-selling book and movie Blind Faith.

Original Love Marry Kill air date: 4/7/2025

Sources:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OzZyF2PUrk&t=597s “Blind Faith” 1990 movie

• McGinniss, Joe (2012). Blind Faith. Berkley (originally published 1989). 

• https://www.newspapers.com/image/174522914/?match=1&terms=Woman%20slain%20at%20rest%20area%20in%20NJ%20Parkway%20

• https://www.newspapers.com/image/517503220/?match=1&terms=Woman%20slain%20at%20rest%20area%20in%20NJ%20Parkway%20

• https://www.newspapers.com/image/145993996/?match=1&terms=Maria%20Marshall

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23088/maria-marshall

• https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/25/nyregion/robert-o-marshall-dies-at-75-convicted-in-blind-faith-case.html

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/143002814/robert_oakley-marshall

• https://www.nydailynews.com/2017/09/09/perfect-marriage-masked-husbands-gambling-debt-affair-and-plot-to-have-his-wife-murdered/

• https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/01/30/sons-fight-keep-blind-faith-killer-in-prison/22577249

• https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/25/nyregion/robert-o-marshall-dies-at-75-convicted-in-blind-faith-case.html?searchResultPosition=1

• https://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/20/nyregion/murder-statement-held-too-devastating-to-reveal.html

• https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/13/nyregion/jersey-man-going-on-trial-on-charges-he-paid-to-have-wife-slain.html

• https://apnews.com/article/toms-river-ciba-geigy-childhood-cancer-pollution-42b1c56028b70e09ae530567011f34ed