A former Lawrence County woman remains in jail today charged with killing her husband while friends contemplate what could have gone so wrong in a relationship some said had once seemed alright.

Megan Goff, 26, appeared to cry at times as she sat in Ironton Municipal Court Monday afternoon waiting to be arraigned on a charge of aggravated murder in connection with the death of her estranged husband, William “Bill” Goff, 51.

Assistant Lawrence County Prosecutor Charles Cooper said that “due to circumstances and facts that have come to light and due to the aggravating nature thereof and because Mrs. Goff is an out-of-state resident we request a $5 million bond.”

Marty Stillpass, who will act as Goff’s co-counsel along with Chris Delawder, said they would reserve comment until Thursday’s preliminary hearing.

Several people who said they knew Megan and Bill Goff attended the arraignment and said they were shocked at what had happened.

Mona Holcomb, a Hamilton Township neighbor, said she knew “nothing bad” on either Megan or Bill and she had “no idea what happened.”

Myrna Kearns, of Flatwoods, Ky., said Bill Goff worked for her and her husband, Dan, when they owned the old D&M Cycle Sales in Ashland, Ky. She described Bill as being “like a son to us” and thought of both victim and accused as part of her family.

“We’ve been to both the (Goff) children’s birthday parties,” she said. “We were good friends. I had not known of any trouble until the episode in January.”

The episode in January Kearns referred to was a domestic incident at the Goff residence after which Bill Goff was arrested and charged with domestic violence.

Megan Goff sought and won a civil protection order (CPO) against her husband. But Lawrence County Prosecutor J.B. Collier Jr. said it was likely the domestic violence charge against Bill Goff would have been dropped.

“Quite frankly, the case has been subject to discussion at staff meetings,” he said. “On deeper review, we were not so sure the facts were as the lady alleged and we were beginning to question the legitimacy of the charges. It was under review. We were really concerned. We don’t want to prosecute anyone when the charges are not legitimate.”

Don Fraley, of Russell, Ky., said he had been a lifelong friend to Bill Goff and was best man at the Goff wedding. Fraley said Bill Goff told him Megan Goff had called him several times lately and asked to meet with him, but Bill Goff had refused to meet with her since she had the CPO against him and she had refused to drop it.

Fraley said he did not know what the problems were in the marriage. Fraley said he hoped his friend would be remembered as a “good, upstanding Christian young man and excellent individual. I can’t say enough about Bill Goff.”

Neither Stillpass nor Delawder could be reached for comment.