Murder trial or another delay likely to be decided Monday morning

A week of the Warren County Circuit Court docket is set aside beginning Monday, June 26, for the murder trial of Clay Marshall Curtis.  Curtis is accused of the 2014 murder of off-duty Shenandoah Yellow Cab driver Simon Funk.  However, the twice delayed trial (April 10 and May 8) may be facing yet another delay.

Victim Simon Funk, Jr. Courtesy Photo

On June 19, Curtis co-counsel John Bell requested to be removed from representation of both Curtis and another RSW Jail inmate, Michael Turner, whom the prosecution plans to call as a witness.  The prosecution contends Curtis made a “jailhouse confession” about Funk’s murder to Turner.  Bell cited potential conflicts in his representation of both men.  Turner is facing charges of burglary and grand larceny.

On June 19, Judge Clifford L. Athey granted Bell’s request regarding Turner; however, denied it regarding Curtis.  But Athey told Bell he would reconsider the request if he presents additional information on the trial’s first day.  Contacted on June 21, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Layton told this reporter to anticipate additional defense motions at the outset of the trial, including the possibility of readdressing Bell’s ongoing representation of Curtis.

Accused murderer Clay Marshall Curtis – Courtesy Photo

On June 19, the judge also gave Curtis’s co-counsel David Hensley additional time to file motions to exclude inmate Turner’s testimony.  Those motions are likely also to be heard Monday morning.

Background

Curtis, now 63, is accused of the December 2014 murder of Yellow Cab driver Simon Funk Jr.  Funk was not on duty as a Front Royal cabbie at the time of his death.  However, it is alleged the 42-year-old Funk was killed after agreeing to give Curtis, whom he knew, a ride on his own time.

In explaining Probable Cause for the search of Curtis’s room at the Relax Inn on Front Royal’s northside, a search warrant executed just over 2-1/2 hours after Funk’s body was discovered on December 10 states, “Before he was taken into custody, Curtis answered the phone of Simon Funk and told Funk’s girlfriend, Carla Elliott, that ‘I’m going to prison forever and I killed him.’ ”

Well thought of at work, Funk’s passing was mourned by his co-workers and employer. Photo/Roger Bianchini

The affidavit for the search warrant also states, “Elliott advised that earlier in the day, Simon Funk had called her to tell her that he was going to give ‘Frederick,’ which is an alias that Clay Curtis was known to use, a ride into the county.  Funk advised that at first he wasn’t going to give Curtis a ride because he had seen a firearm in the waistband of his pants, but that Curtis agreed to put the firearm in the rear of the van.”

Curtis was taken into custody on an outstanding federal charge (probation violation) on December 10, 2014, following the discovery of Funk’s body at 2:35 a.m. that morning, and the subsequent search of Curtis’s motel room at 5:13 a.m..