Former Poker Pro Confesses to Wife’s 1997 Murder

A 16-year old murder case can now be put to rest. Former poker pro Marcus Bebb-Jones has pled guilty to the 1997 murder of his wife Sabrina Bebb-Jones. Marcus was set to go to trial this April but this week decided to strike a deal with prosecutors. The former poker pro has now plead guilty to murdering his wife so many years ago.

This case started back in 1997, when Sabrina Bebb-Jones, the wife of poker pro Marcus Bebb-Jones, went missing. Sabrina was gone and Marcus, who was known for playing poker professionally, mainly in the UK, went on a gambling spree in Las Vegas. The trip was paid for, in part, with his wife’s credit cards. Marcus spent thousands of dollars during the ‘Playboy weekend’ and suspicion arose of his involvement with his wife’s disappearance.

It was not until 2004 that Sabrina’s skull was found by investigators in the case. It was not until 2009 that Marcus was arrested on charges of his wife’s murder while in Kidderminster and it was in 2011 that he was extradited to the United States. Investigators believed that Marcus had killed his wife and then placed her body in the Colorado National park.

During the time of the disappearance, Marcus and Sabrina were living with their son Daniel, who was just three at the time. The couple were owners of the Hotel Melrose which was located in Grand Junction and Marcus quickly sold the hotel and move back to the UK within one year of Sabrina’s disappearance.

According to reports, Marcus pled guilty to second degree murder in the plea bargain. He claims the murder happened in the ‘heat of passion’ but has yet to explain what exactly this means. Sheri Caloia, the District Attorney for Garfield County, spoke with BBC News this week about the plea bargain and she stated:

“We are happy we can get on with sentencing now. Since the skull was discovered it’s taken three and a half years to bring (the case) to fruition.”  On the plea bargain, Caloia stated: “The plea affects the sentencing in that it reduces the number of years the judge can give Mr. Bebb-Jones. Pleading to first degree murder would be a life sentence but this charge of second degree murder with provocation carries a maximum of 32 years. We’ve stipulated the judge would be limited to a maximum of 20 years.”

Sabrina’s family is hoping that Marcus earns the maximum sentence. The family sent out a press release in relation to the plea bargain and stated that they hope the sentencing results in “the maximum penalty for his cruelty, lack of remorse and for taking Sabrina from them”.

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