No verdict yet in Springfield quadruple murder trial

UPDATE 4:57 PM : With no verdict reached, Judge Joshua Christensen informed the jurors a little before 5 p.m. that they could go home for the night and come back Thursday morning to continue deliberations.

Original Story:

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Closing arguments were held Wednesday morning in the trial for a man accused of killing four people in a Springfield motel room back in 2014.

Scott Goodwin-Bey’s fate is in the hands of the jury as it weighs whether he is guilty of four counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Trevor Fantroy, Lewis Green, Danielle Keyes and Christopher Freeman.

The defense rested its case Wednesday morning after Goodwin-Bey ultimately decided not to testify, despite telling the judge he had “serious reservations” because he wanted to profess his innocence to the families of the victims.

Wednesday’s proceedings began with jury instructions and then closing arguments from Greene County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Harrel.

Harrel started by saying on Nov. 15, 2014 at the Economy Inn on North Glenstone Avenue, Scott Goodwin-Bey made a “cowardly choice to take a life,” but he was interrupted by Goodwin-Bey loudly saying “That is not true,” before one of his attorneys presumably told him to remain quiet.

Harrel said the most horrifying part of the case is that not only did Goodwin-Bey kill one person but decided to kill three more people. Goodwin-Bey did not speak up during that part but could be seen shaking his head.

Harrel said the state presented over 200 pieces of evidence over two days, showing crime scene photos and outlining the events of Nov. 15, 2014.

Prosecutors say Goodwin-Bey was on meth, and paranoid about those around him ratting him out to the police, and was upset people were on their phones, another instance of paranoia.

“We know the defendant had a gun he was nervously fidgeting with while speaking about people out to get him,” Harrel said. “Scott Goodwin-Bey was extremely worried about people working with law enforcement.”

The prosecution went on to show grisly crime scene photos of each victim and describe in order how the state believes they were killed based on the location of the bodies, the red color of blood, contrasting with the green carpet of Room 149 at the Economy Inn.

Harrel said one key piece of evidence is an eyewitness who told police he was in the room when Goodwin-Bey started shooting the victims and he ran away out of fear.

Prosecutors say two weeks after the shooting, on Nov. 30, 2014, Goodwin-Bey walked into the Star-Mart on West Chestnut Expressway and handed a gun to an employee.

A criminalist with the Missouri State Highway Patrol crime lab testified that she tested that gun and it was a match to the bullets and shell casings at the crime scene – although the defense contends that testing is not scientifically reliable and should be discounted.

In anticipation of the defense trying to discredit any validity to that testimony, Harrel said the criminalist’s study is subjective, but subjective in the way someone “with training, experience, and knowledge makes a determination,” like a doctor.

Harrel ended his nearly 45-minute closing argument by saying, “Today is the day to get justice for them,” referring to Fantroy, Keyes, Freeman and Green.

Defense attorney Chris Hatley was up next to give a closing argument on Goodwin-Bey’s behalf.

Hatley said his client is innocent and he believes the sixth person in the room – the state’s key witness – may be the real killer.

“There’s an old saying, that the first to squeal, gets the deal,” Hatley said, adding that the witness’s account of what happened doesn’t add up.

Why would Goodwin-Bey kill the other four people but leave the witness unharmed? Hatley asked.

“It makes no sense,” Hatley said.

Hatley said the state didn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Goodwin-Bey is guilty.

“You have not seen a single piece of evidence that ties Scott Goodwin-Bey to the murders, or even to the scene,” Hatley said.

Hatley also poked holes in the motive the state believes Goodwin-Bey had for killing the victims – that he was worried about them informing police about his drug activity. Hatley pointed out that police did not find any significant amount of money, marijuana, meth or cocaine at the scene.

Hatley said when police searched Goodwin-Bey’s car after the incident at the Star-Mart, they did not find any evidence tying him to the scene – and the ammunition found in his car did not match the bullets at the scene.

Hatley said “guns are like currency in the drug world,” and Goodwin-Bey may have obtained the gun in question as part of a drug deal after the shooting.

“It is not justice to send an innocent man to prison,” Hatley said.

Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Kim Pulley got the final word.

She said the witness could not have committed the killings, because he is seen on surveillance video a short time later with no visible blood on his clothes.

Pulley told the jury that there were drugs in the room, just not on anyone’s person.

Pulley also highlighted the prosecution’s main evidence that points to Goodwin-Bey – him being in possession of the gun and the eyewitness account.

The jury began deliberations just after 11 a.m.

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