GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) -- A documentary about the 1990 Eastown murder of Joel Battaglia may not have solved the homicide, but his family says the film kept people thinking about who may have committed the crime.
Thursday, one year after the premiere of the documentary, filmmaker David Schock was in the Kent County courtroom when killer Aurelius Marshall was sentenced to prison.
"Justice has been served," he said afterward. "I am profoundly grateful. The family now has definitive answers. This has been solved."
Before sentencing, the victim's mother, Gail Battaglia thanked Schock for his work on the case.
"We are thankful to David Schock," she told the judge. "The documentary raised awareness 25 years after the death of our son."
After the documentary premiered, cold case detectives persuaded previously reluctant or lying witnesses to testify against Aurelius Marshall and finally solve the homicide.
Marshall was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
"I want to be of good use," says Schock. "Tell as much of the truth as we can find. Tell stories that can change people's lives for the better."
David Schock has also produced documentaries on the unsolved murders of Janet Chandler in Holland and Shannon Marie Siders in Newaygo.
Cold case detectives were also able to identify suspects and solve both of those crimes.