Thursday, May 19, 2011

Chapmanville, WV: Former Logan BOE member shot and killed wife, police say

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A former Logan County school board member faces murder charges after police say he shot his wife during an argument the couple was having in their Chapmanville home on Tuesday.

Police arrested Jerry Darrel Godby, 64, of 3623 Harrisburg Ave., for allegedly firing a bullet into his wife's chest Tuesday evening, killing her, according to a criminal complaint filed in Logan County Magistrate Court.

Godby is the cousin of Logan County Commissioner Danny Godby, and worked for the commission as a contractor for hazard mitigation grants, a family friend confirmed. He served as a board of education member in the early 2000s, losing a re-election bid in 2002.

On Tuesday, Godby and his wife, Delores, were arguing in their home when Godby went into his bedroom closet and retrieved a brown and black leather bag containing a loaded .38 caliber revolver, the complaint states.

Godby unzipped the bag, picked up the gun and walked past his wife, into the kitchen. He turned around, pointed the gun at his wife and told her to "back off," the complaint states.

"You going to shoot me?" Delores Godby said, according to the complaint.

Godby then fired one round into his wife's chest, the complaint states. Delores was taken to Logan Regional Medical Center where she was later pronounced dead. It is not clear whether Godby himself called the police and the ambulance for his fatally wounded wife.

The family friend told the Gazette that Godby had been retired and disabled ever since a car accident several years ago crushed the right side of his body from the hip down.

Commissioner Danny Godby did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday.

Staff writer Rusty Marks contributed to this report.

Reach Zac Taylor at Zachary.Tay...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5189.

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