Marco Allen Chapman (September 4, 1971 – November 21, 2008) was a convicted murderer and the most recent person executed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He was executed on November 21, 2008 by lethal injection at the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville, Kentucky. Chapman was executed for a series of murders he committed on August 23, 2002, in Warsaw, Kentucky on Weldon Way, killing two children, Chelbi Sharon, 7, and Cody Sharon, 6, by stabbing after he had raped and stabbed their mother, Carolyn Marksberry, the city clerk of Warsaw at the time, over 15 times. 10-year-old Courtney Sharon played dead after she had also been stabbed by Chapman several times, and escaped.
Early life
Marco Allen Chapman was a native of West Virginia. Chapman's parents were alcoholics. Chapman's father sexually abused him, and would often beat him until he went unconscious. Chapman's mother whacked him many times in the head with a skillet. Chapman was suicidal as a child, which is the reason he began abusing drugs. Chapman suffered from depression, suffered from flashbacks and hallucinations, and, according to a court motion, showed symptoms of bipolar disorder.
Chapman dropped out of school in the 8th grade.
The federal government had convicted Chapman of a bank robbery in Texas. While serving his sentence at FCI Oakdale, in Oakdale, Chapman was known as "the kid". He held a job in the paint shop which paid him 19 cents an hour, and was a good worker. He was well liked by his peers in prison and for the most part abided by the rules and stayed out of trouble. Those who knew him in prison described him as a nice, responsible individual.
Chapman worked in construction, and was a former soccer coach.
Chapman's last known address was in Warsaw, but the Boone County Sheriff's Office said he had been staying at a home on Beaver Road in Boone County.
Murders of Cody and Chelbi Sharon
On August 23, 2002, some time between 4:10 a.m. and 5:49 a.m., Chapman knocked on Carolyn Marksberry's door on Weldon Way, waking her up, and asking to use her telephone. Carolyn let Chapman in.
Chapman had previously played cards with Carolyn's family, and helped with some home improvement work at her house. Chapman claimed he and "Carolyn had been involved in a sexual relationship for about a year", and that he knew Chuck Marksberry, Carolyn's husband, was working out of the country. Chapman admitted going to Carolyn's home armed with a knife, but he said he planned to have consensual sex with her, and had only premeditated the robbery. After they had consensual sex, according to Chapman, Carolyn "raised all kinds of hell" when he told her that he was going to steal from her.
Carolyn Marksberry had been counseling her best friend, unnamed, to get out of an abusive relationship with Chapman. The friend lived within yards of the Marksberry home on Weldon Way. Ms. Marksberry's unidentified friend often spent the night at the Marksberry home because she was afraid of Chapman.
Immediately after Carolyn let Chapman in, he punched her in the stomach, and pulled out a knife he had in his duffel bag, "put a knife to [Carolyn's] throat," and demanded of Carolyn to give him money. Carolyn gave Chapman all of her credit cards and all of her cash, which amounted to about $120. Chapman then "bounded her hands with duct tape, tied her to the bed frame, and raped her". He used the cord he had cut from her vacuum cleaner, and apologized to Carolyn for cutting the cord, before sexually assaulting her. Chapman stabbed Carolyn repeatedly, even going to the kitchen to get more knives after breaking two during the attack. Chapman stabbed Carolyn a total of 15 times with a knife that broke off in her chest, and then he "attacked her children."