August 6, 2015- Commonwealth v Eric Johnson:  Eric Johnson, 36, of Harrisburg,  this afternoon pleaded no contest to Third Degree Murder for the November 2012 shooting death of Marcus Garner in the City of Harrisburg.  A jury trial was scheduled to begin in this case on Monday, August 10th.  Johnson, who appeared before Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge Deborah E. Curcillo to enter his plea.  While Johnson officially pleaded no contest to the charges, the consequences of this plea are the same as a guilty plea.  Concerning Johnson's no contest plea, Chief Deputy District Attorney Seán M. McCormack explained, "A no contest plea essentially means that Eric Johnson did not admit to the crimes charged but he agrees that had this case gone to trial, he would have been found guilty of Third Degree Murder."  Johnson is facing a negotiated sentence of thirteen to forty years in the state penitentiary.  He is also facing a potential additional five years in a federal penitentiary for violating his federal parole in an unrelated federal case.       

This case stems from the death of Marcus Garner on November 21, 2012.  Garner, who was reported missing on November 25, 2012, had last been seen in the company of Eric Johnson on November 21, 2012.  On December 5, 2012, Garner's body was discovered in a detached garage behind a home on North 18th Street in Harrisburg.  An autopsy revealed that Marcus Garner had been shot one time, close range, to the left forehead.  

One of the last people Marcus Garner had contact with on November 21, 2012, both in person and by phone, was Eric Johnson.  Marcus Garner is seen on surveillance video at the former City Gas & Diesel station on State Street in Harrisburg, exiting and then re-entering a Chrysler mini-van.  Eric Johnson owned a Chrysler mini-van.  On November 23, 2012, Eric Johnson drove his mini-van to Rochester, New York.  He brought the van to his brother's home in Rochester.  Upon seeing the van, Johnson's brother noticed blood in the van and asked Eric Johnson what happened.  Eric Johnson told his brother that he had shot a man in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  The brother indicated to the police that the man Eric Johnson shot was dead.  The van was ultimately destroyed in Rochester, New York, at a salvage yard.  A few weeks later, the brother wrote a letter to the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office indicating that he had information about a homicide in Pennsylvania.  This ultimately led to Eric Johnson's arrest for Marcus Garner's death. 

Many of Marcus Garner's family members attended today's court proceeding.  They sat quietly in court today and listened as Johnson pleaded no contest to killing Garner.  After accepting Johnson's plea today, Judge Curcillo scheduled this case for sentencing on November 17, 2015.