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The Advocate
August 25, 2014
In one night, a tearful Craig Godbold testified Tuesday, a robbery aimed at stealing a safe thought to contain gold and collectible coins changed everything for his family.
“In one night — in one night — my wife lost her whole family. In one night. Her mother, her brother and her stepdad,” said Godbold, commander of the Natchez, Mississippi, Police Department’s criminal investigations.
Godbold was staring straight at defendant Bernard James, 27, 36344 Lorena Drive, Prairieville. James is one of five men accused in the brazen Gonzales-area home invasion more than two years ago that led to the slaying of Godbold’s in-laws, Shirley and Robert Irwin Marchand, and their 50-year-old son, Douglas Dooley, of Cross Plains, Tennessee.
Since that February 2012 night, Godbold said, the joy in his wife Teresa Godbold’s voice is gone and she continues to live in fear.
The statement from Craig Godbold was part of the powerful drama that played out Tuesday at the Ascension Parish Courthouse Annex in Gonzales, where James became the second defendant in the slayings to plead guilty and accept life in prison to avoid a potential death sentence.
District Attorney Ricky Babin said afterward he was happy to have the second conviction for the Marchands’ and Dooley’s surviving relatives.
“The family is relieved,” Babin said.
Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies have said that 74-year-old Robert Marchand’s throat had been slashed, as had those of Shirley Marchand, 72, and Dooley on the night of Feb. 17, 2012. All three were severely beaten. The slayings inside the Marchands’ Babin Road home shocked residents living in the quiet corner of Ascension Parish.
James’ plea was finalized midafternoon Tuesday as prosecutors and defense attorneys were midway through preparations for jury selection on Wednesday. A lengthy trial was expected that would have included two of James’ co-defendants and his own cousins, Devon James and Travis Moore, testifying against him.
Prosecutors also have said in court papers that they found Bernard James’ DNA inside the stolen safe and on cigarette butts found in the vehicle used in the robbery and slayings, as well as cellphone records tying him to the scene. Hours before the plea was finalized Tuesday, Judge Alvin Turner Jr. rejected the defense attorney’s bid to throw out James’ confession to sheriff’s deputies.
