Martz found guilty of murder

MUNCIE – It took a Delaware Circuit Court 3 jury only 30 minutes Wednesday afternoon to determine William Verlin Martz was guilty of murder.

The 60-year-old Martz was accused of killing fellow Eaton resident Mark Gilland, 50 at the time of his death, in January 2014. Testimony during the three-day trial reflected Martz was furious that Gilland was no longer going to allow him to live rent-free on property in the 500 block of Race Street.

Martz – whose public defenders had called no witnesses to the stand – showed little reaction when Judge Linda Ralu Wolf read the guilty verdict.

Gilland came from a large, close-knit family, and several of his relatives on Wednesday wore shirts touting his favorite football team, the Green Bay Packers. A few shed tears of relief when the verdict was announced.

Martz will face a maximum 65-year prison term when he is sentenced Dec. 17.

On Wednesday morning, prosecutors Jeffrey Arnold and Eric Hoffman presented testimony indicating Gilland – found dead by relatives in a pole barn on the Race Street property – was shot five times, twice in the head.

One of those fatal gunshots was fired at extremely close range. Another witness said tests on the murder weapon – a .380-caliber handgun – determined it carried Martz’s DNA.

On Tuesday, a witness said she heard five gunshots near Gilland’s Eaton property on the day of his death. A few minutes after that, another witness said, he saw Martz leaving town in the shooting victim’s pickup truck.

Martz was arrested after checking into a south Muncie motel, where authorities also found Gilland’s truck and the victim’s keys.

In his closing remarks, Hoffman said Gilland was “ambushed and executed by an individual who he had brought in from the cold,” allowing Martz to live in a camper, which he also provided with heat and electricity.

He also noted Martz had at least twice told a friend he intended to kill Gilland.

Public defender Jake Dunnuck discounted his client’s comments, saying “many of us have made such a threat in the heat of an argument.”

“Nobody saw Willie Martz on that property that day,” he told jurors.

Arnold called Martz a “dangerous person” who killed “one of the few people who cared about him ... because he could no longer freeload.”

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.