Convicted Murderer Now Accused Of Burglarizing And Killing An Elderly Man While On Parole.

A New York man and convicted murderer paroled in 2018 is now accused of killing an elderly man after burglarizing his home.

On July 23, police in Fulton, New York, responded to Marshell Foster’s home after reports of an assault. Upon arrival, they found the 82-year-old victim laying on the floor in critical condition.

As a result, Foster was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he later died due to a severe brain injury and several fractures to his spine and face.

According to investigators, Cody A. Backus, 37, who was Foster’s neighbor, assaulted the victim in front of his home two days before he was discovered, reported Syracuse.com.

After Backus forced his way in, the defendant continued assaulting Foster before posting some of his actions on social media. As a result, Fulton police arrested Backus later in the evening, and the defendant was charged with one count of second-degree murder, one count of first-degree manslaughter, one count of first-degree burglary and second-degree assault charges.

Backus was already a known entity with law enforcement. In 2007, an Oswego County Court judge sentenced Backus to 20 years to life in prison for the murder of James Brennan Jr.

However, the conviction was overturned in 2014 after State Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti believed a piece of new information by Backus’ co-defendant Kenneth Jackson was grounds for dismissal.

A year prior to the conviction, the defendant was part of a robbery on Graves Street in Syracuse, New York, that ended up in the shooting death of Brennan. However, in 2012, Jackson testified the defendant did not know one of his accomplices was in possession of a gun.

Nevertheless, an appeal court upheld the conviction based on a decision that Jackson’s testimony was nothing new and did not prove Backus was not a murderer. Then, the defendant was ordered to return to prison to finish his sentence until he was paroled in 2018.

Backus is currently being held at Oswego County Court on a $500,000 cash bail, $1 million secured bond, or $2.5 million partially secured bond, reported Oswego County Today.