SPECIAL TO THE REPORTER

A Jefferson County jury has recommended death by lethal injection for a 41-year-old man convicted of killing his teenage stepdaughter and dumping her nude body in Shelby County.

According to media reports, a Jefferson County jury convicted William Bruce Marshall on two counts of capital murder on Thursday.

The jury recommended death by lethal injection during a death penalty hearing last Friday.

Marshall admitted to strangling Alicia Nicole Bentley on Dec. 28, 2004.

Prosecutors also contended Marshall raped the 15-year-old Vestavia Hills High School student. But the jury did not convict him of capital murder during a rape.

Lt. Rick Miller of the Vestavia Hills Police Department said investigators obtained warrants accusing Marshall in the death of Bentley, who was last seen at home by her mother when left for work.

Officials of the Vestavia Hills Police Department later announced they had recovered a body positively identified as the missing 15-year-old.

Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry said at the request of the Vestavia Hills Police Department and the FBI, the Sheriff&8217;s Office assisted in the search.

Miller said investigators obtained warrants accusing Marshall in the slaying and that Marshall led authorities to the body, which was found off a dirt road in Shelby County near Columbiana.

Previously, Miller said, investigators found Bentley&8217;s driver&8217;s permit in a trash bin where a pair of handcuffs were also found. The bin was located outside a concrete plant where Marshall worked as a truck driver.

Miller said it was unclear whether the items had anything to do with the case.

Police said Marshall refused to answer the door of his home when officers went to speak with him and police kicked in the door.

Deputy Police Chief Butch Wilson said the victim&8217;s mother, Tonya Bentley Marshall, provided information that led to her estranged husband.

The couple were recently separated, and the mother and her daughter were living in an apartment by themselves.

Court records indicated Marshall blamed his stepdaughter for the breakup of his marriage. According to media reports, Marshall had pleaded guilty to aggravated assault of an ex-wife in Tennessee in 2001 and had convictions in Florida for aggravated assault and aggravated burglary