Nicholas Marsh, one of the federal attorneys who prosecuted the late Sen. Ted Stevens, has taken his own life.
The 37-year-old Washington, D.C. based prosecutor was instrumental in convincing jurors that Stevens lied on financial disclosure forms -- but his victory in the case was short-lived, as Marsh became the subject of an investigation into possible misconduct during Stevens’ trial.
As a federal prosecutor, Marsh had travelled the country fighting public corruption.
“I think that to work there you have to be very hard-working, very intelligent, very committed,” said Cliff Groh, an attorney and writer of the Alaska Political Corruption blog.
Marsh's high-profile career in public service came to a disturbing end Sunday, when authorities say he took his own life.
"Our deepest sympathies go out to Nick's family and friends on this sad day. The Department of Justice is a community, and today our community is mourning the loss of this dedicated young attorney," Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the department's Criminal Division said in a statement Monday.
There's no conclusive reason as to why Marsh committed suicide, but it's fair to say he had been under considerable stress in recent years. There are two investigations into possible misconduct on the part of prosecutors during the Stevens trial.
Judge Emmet Sullivan threw out the case after he found that the prosecution withheld crucial evidence. Sullivan then appointed an attorney to look into the matter, and the Department of Justice launched a probe of its own.
Both investigations are ongoing at this time.
Marsh's own attorney, Bob Luskin, told media outlets like NPR and CNN that the suicide came as a complete shock -- and that he thought there would come a time in the near future when his client would be cleared of any allegations of criminal charges.
A report from one of the investigations into the prosecution is expected to be released in the next few weeks, and could yield significant insight into what may have gone wrong during Stevens' trial.
Contact Ted Land at tland@ktuu.com
