Not-Guilty Plea in Pacifica Murder Case

By Bay City News Service

A Pacifica man accused of using a knife and a hammer to kill his friend during a fight last October pleaded not guilty to a murder charge this morning in a Redwood City courtroom.

Shackled and wearing orange jail-issued clothing, Marc Anthony Furlan, 24, looked straight at San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Karesh and confidently voiced his plea when asked. The judge set a Nov. 12 jury trial date.

Furlan was arrested after police responded to a disturbance call at the home he shared with his father and two tenants on Dell Road early on Oct. 17.

When police arrived at about 5:15 a.m., they found 24-year-old Keith Coffey unconscious on the ground in the front of the home. Coffey, who had more than 50 visible wounds on his body, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the district attorney's office.

At the time of the incident, police reported that the preliminary investigation showed the two men were acquaintances and that the death appeared to be the result of an altercation between them.

According to the district attorney's office, Furlan allegedly tried to clean up the bloody crime scene and was attempting to dispose of the body when police arrived.

On March 20, a San Mateo County criminal grand jury returned an indictment charging Furlan with murder by use of a dangerous or deadly weapon. He remains in county jail where he is being held without bail.

Coffey's death marked Pacifica's first murder in more than a decade, with the last killing occurring in 2000.

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