Ralston man serving life sentence for murder dies in Lincoln hospital
by Kevin Cole update on January 23, 2023
A 62-year-old Nebraska prison inmate serving a life sentence for first-degree murder died Monday at a Lincoln hospital. Marty Nuzum of Ralston had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony. He admitted to stabbing and strangling his former girlfriend, Jodi Rowe, 36, of La Vista, on Feb. 12, 2002. Nuzum began serving a life sentence in 2003.
Nuzum’s cause of death has not been determined, according to a statement from the Nebraska Department of Corrections.
Nuzum, who had been an inmate at the state prison in Tecumseh, was being treated for a medical condition, the department said. Under state law, a grand jury investigates whenever someone dies while in custody.
According to prosecutors with the Douglas County Attorney’s Office, Nuzum had been dating Rowe, although Rowe had tried to end the relationship several times. Rowe tried to end it again in February 2002 and called Nuzum crazy, Nuzum told others. He punched, strangled and stabbed her. Afterward, he drove to his sister’s Omaha home. She persuaded him to call police. Police went to Nuzum’s apartment, where they found Rowe’s body, two bloody knives and a pair of bloody scissors.
An assistant public defender said his client was remorseful and had a long history of mental illness. The defense submitted a psychiatric evaluation of Nuzum to that effect.
In 2007, jurors rejected the claim of Rowe’s family that Nuzum’s psychiatrist had a duty to warn Rowe about a comment Nuzum made before the murder about hurting her. The decision came 2½ years after a different set of jurors deadlocked on the same issue.
Kathy Pinna 
