Do you have anyone stored in your phone under a nickname? “Princess,” perhaps. Or maybe “bbygurl.” Or just “Bae.” Well, this killer did that too.
At precisely 8:16 p.m. one evening in Cincinnati, ShotSpotter detected gunfire and alerted police. They arrived to find a victim lying facedown in the street, a fatal wound to his head.
No one called 911.
Police had an idea of who was responsible because this shooting—like so many others—was apparently retaliatory for an earlier incident. They arrested the suspect, Carl Godfrey Jr., a couple days later. He was charged with a litany of murder-related and firearm offenses (for this shooting and a couple others).
Police seized Godfrey’s iPhone during the arrest and forensically examined it. Those things hold a treasure trove of evidence. Often the evidence is direct; some idiots (like Godfrey) take pictures of themselves committing crimes. Police found photos and videos of him (a felon) with guns.
Other times, though, the evidence is contextual. There was a lot of that in this case, including text messages. Godfrey objected to their introduction at trial, raising confrontation clause and hearsay objections. (I’ve written about those before, here https://lnkd.in/gKJsNhB4 and here https://lnkd.in/g8cdBeHC.) The trial court allowed them in and earlier this month, the Court of Appeals for the First District of Ohio affirmed that decision.
Through an exhaustive presentation of info from the phone that corroborated witness testimony, prosecutors showed that Godfrey fancied himself a hit man and identified with ‘John Wick,’ the fictional character played by Keanu Reeves. His iCloud name was “JohnnyWickBang.” Indeed, the facts reflect a lifestyle permeated by shockingly casual violence.
He orchestrated some of the shootings with his compatriots, TwoFoe (‘2-4’) and Mini Twin Blood Thirsty. These nicknames.
The shooting detected by ShotSpotter was retaliation against a man who was himself retaliating. Casings recovered from the scene indicated an AK-type rifle was used; Godfrey’s phone had pics of him with an AK.
Before the shooting, Godfrey sent specifically threatening texts to someone stored in his phone under (what I assume is) a nickname: “Dick Head.” (He only knows one?!)
After the shooting, he sent messages to other people with details that could only have been known (at the time they were sent) by someone who was there.
That’s because ShotSpotter fixed the precise time of the shooting and since no one called 911, no details of the shooting had been broadcast when Godfrey obviously knew them.
All this (and much more) amounted to plenty of evidence to convict him. He can play John Wick in prison for the rest of his life (two life sentences, actually).
This is a long(ish) opinion, a reflection of the incredibly detailed, diligent investigation by the City of Cincinnati Police Department and Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
At precisely 8:16 p.m. one evening in Cincinnati, ShotSpotter detected gunfire and alerted police. They arrived to find a victim lying facedown in the street, a fatal wound to his head.
No one called 911.
Police had an idea of who was responsible because this shooting—like so many others—was apparently retaliatory for an earlier incident. They arrested the suspect, Carl Godfrey Jr., a couple days later. He was charged with a litany of murder-related and firearm offenses (for this shooting and a couple others).
Police seized Godfrey’s iPhone during the arrest and forensically examined it. Those things hold a treasure trove of evidence. Often the evidence is direct; some idiots (like Godfrey) take pictures of themselves committing crimes. Police found photos and videos of him (a felon) with guns.
Other times, though, the evidence is contextual. There was a lot of that in this case, including text messages. Godfrey objected to their introduction at trial, raising confrontation clause and hearsay objections. (I’ve written about those before, here https://lnkd.in/gKJsNhB4 and here https://lnkd.in/g8cdBeHC.) The trial court allowed them in and earlier this month, the Court of Appeals for the First District of Ohio affirmed that decision.
Through an exhaustive presentation of info from the phone that corroborated witness testimony, prosecutors showed that Godfrey fancied himself a hit man and identified with ‘John Wick,’ the fictional character played by Keanu Reeves. His iCloud name was “JohnnyWickBang.” Indeed, the facts reflect a lifestyle permeated by shockingly casual violence.
He orchestrated some of the shootings with his compatriots, TwoFoe (‘2-4’) and Mini Twin Blood Thirsty. These nicknames.
The shooting detected by ShotSpotter was retaliation against a man who was himself retaliating. Casings recovered from the scene indicated an AK-type rifle was used; Godfrey’s phone had pics of him with an AK.
Before the shooting, Godfrey sent specifically threatening texts to someone stored in his phone under (what I assume is) a nickname: “Dick Head.” (He only knows one?!)
After the shooting, he sent messages to other people with details that could only have been known (at the time they were sent) by someone who was there.
That’s because ShotSpotter fixed the precise time of the shooting and since no one called 911, no details of the shooting had been broadcast when Godfrey obviously knew them.
All this (and much more) amounted to plenty of evidence to convict him. He can play John Wick in prison for the rest of his life (two life sentences, actually).
This is a long(ish) opinion, a reflection of the incredibly detailed, diligent investigation by the City of Cincinnati Police Department and Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
You can read the opinion here: https://lnkd.in/gRYqerab.