Livingston, Texas March 25, 2010: Joseph Goodrich (left) with his attorney Tom Brown in Judge Robert H. Trapp's District Court.
Convicted Murderer Sentenced to 40 Years in Judge Trapp's Court, LIVINGSTON, March 26, 2010 - On March 25, 2010, a Polk County jury found Joseph Goodrich guilty of the 2005 murder of 20 year old Johnny Ray Bogany.On May 25, 2005, Bogany met Goodrich in the River Lake Estates subdivision in the Goodrich area to sell him drugs.During the meeting Goodrich shot Bogany three times.Bogany fled the scene on foot and collapsed in a nearby yard and died.
During the investigation by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Texas Rangers, it was determined that Goodrich had bought cocaine from the victim on many occasions.Witnesses came forward and placed Goodrich at the location of the shooting moments before the murder.Another witness informed law enforcement that the defendant had threatened Bogany approximately a week before he was killed.Three .22 caliber shell casings were located at the scene of the murder. Ballistics testing by the Harris County Crime Lab revealed those three casings matched a casing known to have been shot by Goodrich from a .22 caliber handgun owned by him.Phone records showed a series of calls between Goodrich and his victim in the thirty-six hours leading up to the murder.On the morning of the murder the defendant left of voicemail for Bogany indicating he needed to purchase a large amount of cocaine.Kaycee Jones and Joe Martin, assistant district attorneys for Polk County, presented this evidence to the jury during the three day trial.After deliberating for less than an hour the jury found Goodrich guilty of the murder of Johnny Ray Bogany.
Livingston, Texas January 25, 2010: Joseph Goodrich is led out of Court after he was found to be guilty of murder and then subsequently sentenced to fourty years in TDCJ.
A punishment hearing was then held before Judge Robert H. Trapp.During that hearing, evidence was presented showing Goodrich had committed a robbery in Louisiana while out on bond for the murder.He was sentenced to eighteen months in a Louisiana prison for that crime. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, 411th Judicial District Judge Robert H. Trapp sentenced Goodrich to forty years in prison.
“The Polk County Criminal District Attorney’s Office would like to thank the jurors for their time and attention while having to listen to three days of grueling and upsetting testimony,” said Assistant District Attorney Kaycee Jones, “their verdict shows that in our community value is not based simply on the individual but on the loss of a life.”
Goodrich is led out of the 411th District Court and straight to prison.
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