Goodley found guilty of first degree murder

After approximately 30 minutes of deliberation on Thursday, an Evangeline Parish Jury found Chistopher Bryant Goodley guilty of first degree murder.
Goodley was arrested on November 3, 2014 as a suspect in the murder of his 80-year old grandmother Delsy Williams. After being arrested Goodley admitted to being under the influence of “wet,” which is a cigarette or marijuana cigarette dipped in Phencyclidine (PCP), and cocaine.
Goodley, who confessed to the murder days after his arrest, was represented by Jacob Fusilier in the murder trial that lasted three days.
When the trial began on Tuesday morning in Judge Chuck West’s courtroom, Goodley’s defense argued that Goodley did not have the intent to kill his grandmother during the afternoon of November 2, 2014, and that it was the drug PCP that caused Goodley to not know what he was doing. The defense never denied that Goodley murdered his grandmother, it only argued that the drugs put him in a state of mind that made Goodley not understand what he had done.
By using this defense, the State, who was represented by assistant district attorneys Timmy Fontenot and Marcus Fontenot, was left with having the burden of proving that Goodley did in fact have the intent to kill his grandmother when he began beating her with an aluminum bat. Proving intent would be the only way to get a first degree conviction.
Knowing how long Williams endured the beating on that November day came from Goodley’s confession that he made to Evangeline Parish Detective Elliott Thomas on November 5, 2014.
The State used this to prove that the drugs Goodley had smoked and snorted before he killed his grandmother did not cause Goodley to blackout or not know what he was doing at the time of the murder.
When the 22-year old defendant took the stand as the last witness in the trial, the State prepared to completely discredit the idea that the drugs made Goodley not know what he had done.
Assistant DA Timmy asked, “Mr. Goodley, you said you don’t remember what happened, but during your confession you were able to remember details of when you beat your 81-year old grandmother to death. Didn’t you tell detective Thomas that you beat your grandmother with a bat from 1:00 in the afternoon until 1:41?”
The assistant DA then said, “If the drugs made you not remember what you did, then how were you able to recall all of these details during your confession?”
Goodley also remembered details from that day that involved his grandmother telling him she wanted him to move out of her home if he was going to continue using drugs and do nothing but sleep all day.
During the states questioning of Goodley, he continued to maintain that he did not remember beating his grandmother although he once again described the details of November 2, 2014 while on the witness stand.
The State also used the fact that Goodley attempted to clean up the streak of blood across his grandmother’s floor inside of her home and on her car port to prove that the defendant did in fact know what he had done.
The State proved that Goodley did have the intent to kill by quoting his confession. In the confession, Goodley told investigators that he grabbed the bat from his grandmother’s room and placed it at his side as he walked towards Williams. When she began to turn around, Goodley said, “I swung the bat.”
After killing his grandmother, Goodley confessed that he waited until dark to drag her body to the trunk of her car, and then placed her, wrapped in a sheet, inside.
During his confession, the defendant admitted to then driving and disposing of the body in a field on Louisiana Highway 29.
According to the state, “Goodley’s acts following the murder of his grandmother prove intent,” and the jury unanimously agreed.
Following the reading of the verdict, Fusilier said, “We respect the decision of the jury, and the verdict. I am also very appreciative that the prosecution acted professional throughout this whole process.”
Evangeline Parish District Attorney Trent Brignac, at the end of the trial, said, “I want to compliment the efforts of assistant DA Timmy Fontenot and Marcus Fontenot. I also appreciate the investigative efforts on the part of the Evangeline Parish Sheriff Office since this all began.”
Goodley’s sentencing date has been set for February 25, 2016.