By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A Buchanan County jury has found a St. Joseph man guilty of killing an Independence woman.
The jury deliberated for more than three hours before finding 32-year-old Marcus Brooks guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Ariel Starcher.
25-year-old Taylor Stoughton pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder in the death and testified during the trial against Brooks.
Starcher died of suffocation in a Kansas City hotel room February 6th of 2020. Brooks and Stoughton attacked her, bound her hands and feet, gagged her with duct tape and a washcloth. They dumped her body in rural Buchanan County.
Buchanan County Sheriff Department deputies discovered the body a few days later outside of Faucett.
Sentencing for Brooks has been set for next month.