Opening statements and testimony from four witnesses marked the start Thursday, March 23, 2017, of the second-degree murder trial of Mark Edward Colby. That began just after 9:30 a.m., and continued until after 6:15 p.m., with further testimony from a crime-scene investigator.
Colby, 60, is charged with the September 2014 shooting death of his longtime partner, 53-year-old Angela Godley.
Witnesses heard Thursday morning were Terri Applewhite, a cousin of Godley’s; Michelle Gilliam Ballard, a former employee of the Noble Savage Tavern that Godley and Colby ran and who found Godley’s body; Peter Fetterman, a former bartender and now manager of the Noble Savage; and Eric Johnson, the eatery’s former manager and now its owner.
After continuation of testimony from Johnson in the early afternoon, the jury heard from Shreveport Police Department CSI Marcus Mitchell, whose lengthy testimony was the subject of intense cross-examination.
Friday, March 24, 2017, the prosecution, Caddo Parish Assistant District Attorneys Britney A. Green and Ron Christopher Stamps, plan to call more witnesses to Caddo District Judge John D. Mosely’s courtroom, including more crime scene investigators, as well as expert witnesses from the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office and the North Louisiana Criminalistics Laboratory.
The prosecution plans to wind up its case against Colby by early afternoon, with further testimony from crime-scene investigators, among others. After that, the defense will be mounted by Colby’s attorney, Curtis R. Joseph Jr.
Jury selection took place Monday through Wednesday, selecting 12 jurors and two alternates. They have not been sequestered.
Godley’s body was found Sept. 10, 2014 in the laundry room of the house the couple shared in the 1900 block of Bayou Drive in Shreve Island. She had been shot several times in the upper body. Colby fled to Mexico after the shooting but later was found and arrested.
If convicted of second-degree murder, Colby faces a mandatory life term in prison at hard labor without parole, probation or suspension of sentence.