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While on drugs, Matthew English went to police and said he had something to get off his chest.
He told a detective he and Luther Polston IV talked about robbing Polston’s ex-girlfriend after their breakup, the detective testified Wednesday in court. Because Toni Isenburg sold narcotics, they thought she had a lot of cash on hand, the officer said.
English said he agreed to help if he got some of the proceeds, Detective John Humphries testified.
Police say Polston went into Isenburg’s Portsmouth home on April 25, 2019, and stole a bag of money and drugs.
In his conversation with the detective days later — after Isenburg was found dead — English said Polston contacted him while inside. Isenburg’s roommate had come home while Polston was there, and Polston said that now, he was going to have to kill them both, the detective said English told him.
English and Polston split the money and narcotics from the stolen bag and returned later to steal a safe, with Polston going inside the home and English driving the getaway car, the detective said English told him.
On Wednesday, Portsmouth General District Judge Douglas Ottinger found prosecutors had established sufficient evidence in their case against Polston and English to send the case forward to Circuit Court, moving it a step closer to trial.
Isenburg’s roommate found her dead in her bed in the afternoon of April 26, 2019. The 30-year-old mother of three had been shot in the head.
Police arrested Polston and English in July 2020 — more than a year later. Both men face charges of first-degree murder, burglary, conspiracy and using a firearm in Isenburg’s death.
At Wednesday’s preliminary hearing, a friend of Isenburg’s who used to date English testified that she overheard him and Polston talking about robbing Isenburg sometime in the months prior to her death, although she said she didn’t think they were serious. She described Polston and Isenburg’s relationship as “super toxic.”
Isenburg’s roommate said he saw Polston at the home the day before discovering her body. Polston told him Isenburg was sleeping and later that she was about to get in the shower, but the roommate didn’t see or talk to her that day, he said.
He described returning home April 26, 2019, to find the door cracked open and Isenburg’s truck parked outside. His lock box was missing, and Isenburg didn’t respond when he knocked on her locked bedroom door, so he forced his way inside. He found her body under a stack of pillows on her bed, he said.
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He called Polston but couldn’t reach him, so he contacted English through Facebook. He testified that English didn’t believe him when he said Isenburg was dead, so he showed English her body over video.
The roommate acknowledged he “cleaned” her room before police arrived, removing baggies used to sell drugs so her family wouldn’t see them, he said. He also said he took Isenburg’s cellphone but later gave it to police.
Before the judge moved the case forward Wednesday, defense attorneys for Polston and English argued the charges should be tossed out.
Diane Toscano, English’s lawyer, said there was no testimony her client entered Isenburg’s home, and his statement to police was both uncorroborated and given while under the influence. English told the detective he didn’t know Isenburg was dead until her roommate called him and showed him her body during the video call, she said.
Jason Barlow, Polston’s lawyer, argued that the prosecutor’s case relied on too many inferences and that many witnesses were unreliable — one of whom tampered with the crime scene. He said there were holes in the police investigation. For example, he said, officers didn’t talk to a person who picked up items from Isenburg’s roommate before police arrived at the scene, and they didn’t check video surveillance from the day before the crime.
Prosecutor Pia Miller countered that she’d presented “more than enough” evidence to establish probable cause, the standard required at this phase in the case. English made clear statements to police, she said, and the detective didn’t see cause for concern about his state of mind. The detective testified English was nervous but coherent.
Margaret Matray, 757-222-5216, margaret.matray@pilotonline.com