Grand jury will hear murder case
Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 3, 2006
The grand jury will now consider the case of Megan Goff, the 26-year-old woman charged in connection with the weekend shooting death of her husband, William “Bill” Goff.
Goff appeared briefly in Ironton Municipal Court Thursday morning and waived her right to a preliminary hearing.
When Ironton Municipal Court Judge O. Clark Collins asked her if she understood her rights and that she had a right to a preliminary hearing, Megan Goff replied quietly, “Yes, sir.”
After the hearing, Goff’s attorney, Marty Stillpass, said he did not want to try the case in the media but said, “I am confident when the truth is brought forth it will differ from the version given to the press by the prosecutor’s office.”
Stillpass said he was disappointed that Lawrence County Prosecutor J.B. Collier had indicated that domestic violence charges that had been pending against Bill Goff, 51, were under review and may likely have been dismissed.
“On Jan. 18, when Mr. Goff was arrested, Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies removed 63 guns from the residence. Many, if not most, were hidden, loaded and some had a round in the chamber,” Stillpass said.
“They were not kept as a collection, they were kept for terrorizing Megan and her children, from what Megan told us.”
Stillpass also said deputies found an explosive device in the Goff residence and that it had been sent to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification for examination.
When reporters questioned why people had described Bill Goff as a quiet, mild-mannered man, Stillpass replied, “all I can say is, in many cases as we all know, there is a public side and a private side to people.”
Stillpass said the Goffs were in the process of obtaining a divorce at the time of the shooting. He declined to answer specific questions about the case.
Megan Goff was arrested March 18 and charged with shooting her husband several times with two guns. He was pronounced dead at the scene by a member of the Lawrence County Coroner’s Office.
She remains in the Lawrence County jail under a $5 million bond.