Michael Marin Update: Convicted arsonist likely took cyanide after guilty verdict, police say

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

(CBS/AP) PHOENIX - Police in Arizona say they found cyanide on Monday in the car of Michael Marin, who collapsed in court and died last Thursday after hearing a jury convict him of burning down his $3.5 million mansion.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said at press conference Tuesday that investigators believe Marin made the cyanide powder found in the vehicle into capsules, local station KNXV reports.

Arpaio says Marin ordered the canister of cyanide off the internet in 2011, before his trial even began.

Court officials said the judge and lawyers were discussing aggravating factors and the jury was out of the room when 53-year-old Marin's face suddenly turned red and he collapsed to the floor.

He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators said Marin deliberately burned down his $3.5 million suburban Phoenix mansion in July 2009 after it failed to sell at a charity auction and he could no longer pay the mortgage. He was seen escaping the fire by climbing down a rope ladder while wearing scuba gear.

A Maricopa County Superior Court jury found Marin guilty last week of arson of an occupied structure. Prosecutors said he could have faced 16 years in prison for the charges.

A video recording of Marin's last moments in court had some officials wonder whether his death was a suicide. The video showed Marin cover his mouth and his hands while hearing the guilty verdict and apparently swallowing something, KPHO-TV reports.

He was also seen occasionally sipping from a sports drink bottle before his body twisted into violent convulsions.

Investigators say they are still waiting for the final toxicology reports to come back.

More on Crimesider

June 29, 2012 - Michael Marin, Arizona man, dies moments after being convicted in arson case

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by KnowerseekerReturns July 11, 2012 12:36 PM EDT: Welp... at least taxes don't have to pay for his upkeep now.; Reply to this comment


by credibility2 July 11, 2012 11:30 AM EDT: Courts will now have to frisk anyone entering a courtroom to make sure they have neither weapons nor cyanide on their person. This guy was a coward...he burns his place down because he couldn't sell it or keep up with the mortgage payments and couldn't fathom being incarcerated for his crime and then commits suicide.; Reply to this comment


by Teddie Seeley July 11, 2012 9:31 AM EDT: How very sad for his family. I'm sure someone loved him.; Reply to this comment

by saucymugwump July 11, 2012 9:26 AM EDT

Marin appears to have been guilty of the arson, but in the overall scheme of things he was a small fish. He was looking at 16 years in prison for arson, yet the Wall Street crowd, which did trillions of dollars of damage to our country, is free, even rewarded with bonuses.

And for those commenters like LosAngelesCA who are ignorant of the law: his mortgage was most likely a "recourse" loan, i.e. he could not walk away from it. He could have declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but then all of his assets would have been liquidated.

http://saucymugwump.blogspot.com/2012/07/debt-follies-part-2.html

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by kroguej July 11, 2012 9:42 AM EDT: Yup, if you commit a crime you want to commit well connected multi-billion dollar white collar crime. Its the way to go.


by kroguej July 11, 2012 9:42 AM EDT: Yup, if you commit a crime you want to commit well connected multi-billion dollar white collar crime. Its the way to go. I seriously doubt he would have served 16 years.


by knewsteerrrrr July 11, 2012 9:21 AM EDT: Gotta love how they do the headlines here, this is goes:
"...Took cyanide.."

Then the sub headline says:

"...think he took cyanide.."

Then the comments headline says: "most likely took..."; Reply to this comment

by waynenipper July 11, 2012 8:12 AM EDT

Now remember ... the cost to the taxpayer to keep this character in prison, feed him, give him cable TV, and a host of other 'benefits', just got scratched ... there's some overall benefits to his plan.

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by 55minus5 July 11, 2012 8:23 AM EDT: Ah, his place will be taken right away.


by zunitribe July 11, 2012 9:07 AM EDT: You laugh at a human life Wayne'sSniffer? Would you approve of suicide for one of your terminally ill children? Why Not? Hypocracy and Bigotry part of your daily diet? I miss the days when they hung people like you in Neurumberg


by KnowerseekerReturns July 11, 2012 12:30 PM EDT: His terminally ill children aren't committing crimes.


by nomorelibs July 11, 2012 12:48 PM EDT: This is hilarious. Wayne pokes fun at this article and zunitribe is offended and wants wayne hanged. In the words of Alanis Morrisette "Isn't it Ironic"

by themanfrombrum July 11, 2012 2:59 AM EDT

Who wants to be a millionaire, la, la, la......I don't!

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by 55minus5 July 11, 2012 8:31 AM EDT: I'd like to be one. I'd help my relatives and friends and travel around the globe. Life is short; no time for frauds.

by BWB2020 July 11, 2012 12:51 AM EDT

There is very probably more than the face value to this story.

This guy would rather die than go to prison, a place where the elected officials he happily votes for, send people who are convicted of committing crimes.

In prison, populations usually group together by ethnicity, it is highly unlikely that he would be raped by some "black" or Latino prisoner, his neo-nazi friends would have shielded him from that.

He can't face an imagined fate which he doesn't mind seeing others endure.

This loser exemplifies TBB, "Typical Bagger Behavior", that is, unwillingness to pay for that which he does, whether being a sentence for a crime, taxes for the wars he likely supported, or even living on the property he occupied.

I guess the new mantra for the right should be "Death AND Dishonor Before Responsibility".

At last there is one less of them now, hopefully more will follow suit when they are held responsible for their acts, or at least when Mr. Obama is re-elected.

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by saucymugwump July 11, 2012 9:40 AM EDT: David Cay Johnston wrote in "Where's the fraud, Mr. President?" of your hero's complete lack of prosecutions of Wall Street crimes, ones which dwarf Marin's arson. Shouldn't the Wall Street crowd, aka Barry's friends, also be "held responsible for their acts"?

http://blogs.reuters.com/david-cay-johnston/2011/12/13/wheres-the-fraud-mr-president/

by LosAngelesCA July 11, 2012 12:30 AM EDT

I do not understand why he did not let it fall into foreclosure like everyone else. He would have a bad credit rating for awhile. So what. Now he is dead. That is sad. He could have declared bankruptcy like Donald Trump has done so many times. This is just sad.

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by smittyc July 11, 2012 9:19 AM EDT: It's a little more complicated than that, he would still owe a small fortune.


by Jaylah54200 July 10, 2012 11:39 PM EDT: I'm still confused about why he didn't just let it go back to the mortgage holder if he couldn't keep up with the mortgage. Goodness knows he wouldn't have been alone in a foreclosure situation. A blot on your credit score sure seems like a better idea than facing an arson charge, never mind killing himself.

And this article only contains a still from the video. If you saw the actual video, he *clearly* put something in his mouth and swallowed.; Reply to this comment