Records of Godfrey’s alleged killer provide insight into criminal history, but only a few details about the murder emerge
ITHACA, NY – The circumstances surrounding the murder of Alan Godfrey are still frustrating and murky a year after his death, as the trial of his alleged killer, William Marshall, nears its tentatively scheduled start date at the end of the year. ‘summer.
Law enforcement officials have been tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding the murder or the evidence used to charge Marshall, who pleaded not guilty to the crime during his arraignment hearing in March. He was charged with second degree murder, second degree criminal possession of a weapon and third degree criminal possession of a weapon in the murder of Godfrey, a well-regarded worker at the local community centre.
But gleaning information from publicly available documents at least gives some insight into Marshall’s criminal past and present, including his work helping those who were still incarcerated when he was released from prison. Marshall’s connection to former Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick has also come under scrutiny since Marshall’s arrest, and Myrick answered some questions about the extent of their relationship for the first time speaking with The Voice of Ithaca.
Marshall’s federal charges
In a separate but related case, Marshall was sentenced to Thursday, 33 months in prison for federal possession of drugs and weapons in the Federal Court of Syracuse. Marshall was also ordered to forfeit more than $36,000 which police say was money from drug sales and seized during the arrest.
While Marshall’s federal weapons and drugs case is different from the murder charges, and public records from that case rarely mention Marshall’s murder charges, the sentencing notes in the federal case offer some details regarding the unclear circumstances surrounding Godfrey’s murder.
The memos, submitted to federal court in late May, say Marshall’s federal charges stem from a search of his home on Aug. 18, 2021 that was spurred by police suspicion that he was involved in Godfrey’s death, which had taken place about a month earlier. Interestingly, he also notes that Marshall originally acquired this specific weapon in this case, a Lorcin .380 semi-automatic pistol that was reported stolen elsewhere, due to “physical threats made to his disabled brother”. The memo also states that the gun found in Marshall’s possession and the one allegedly used in Godfrey’s murder do not match.
“Law enforcement readily admits that the firearm and ammunition do not match the .45 caliber gun and ammunition allegedly used in the [Godfrey] murder,” reads the accused’s note. “Mr. Marshall has categorically denied any involvement in the murder, and that matter is more properly dealt with in New York State court.
Sentence notes refer to additional information contained in the pre-sentence report, but this is sealed and rarely made public. It’s safe to assume that these documents contain other information relevant to Marshall’s murder trial, which is expected to begin in August.
Marshall’s background
Most Marshall precedents criminal history surrounds alcohol-related incidents. His most significant conviction came in the early 2000s, when he was sentenced to several years for drug possession while a student at Tompkins Cortland Community College. Marshall was sentenced to 15 years to life on three counts of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (among other less serious charges) after he was arrested with a 33-ounce brick of cocaine at a residence university in December 2001.
As drug laws began to ease during this decade, Marshall was eventually released early and, through his educational efforts while behind bars, was able to enroll in college. Cornell.
Alcohol seemed to fuel Marshall’s run-ins with the law over the next few years. There is a June 2012 incident in which Marshall and a group of people were making too much noise, then an intoxicated Marshall got into an argument with an Ithaca Police Department officer and was arrested, according to a report by police.
A second-degree harassment charge follows June 2013, when Marshall allegedly punched someone repeatedly during a confrontation outside a bar, according to a police report. In another incident, Marshall was issued an open container violation – the police report says a person with Marshall was arrested for becoming aggressive with police, but Marshall was ‘compliant’ throughout of the interaction.
Sheriff Derek Osborne said that after checking his office’s records, all of Marshall’s police interactions came with the IPD or other authorities, not the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office.
When Marshall was arrested on the first federal drug charges, his attorney, prominent local attorney Ray Schlather, solicited letters of support from those who had ties to Marshall in previous years. They paint a glowing portrait of Marshall’s work with incarcerated people and urge clemency for his drug and weapons charges. The letters were submitted before Marshall’s indictment for Godfrey’s murder was made public, but they were still shared with The Voice of Ithaca by Schlather with permission from the authors.
“With William’s leadership and guidance, I learned empathy, responsibility, forgiveness and the importance of doing my best to positively impact others,” reads, signed by Darryl Epps Jr., who met Marshall while they were both incarcerated at Five Points Seneca County Correctional Facility. “In the darkest places William has guided me to light and purpose. William is truly a good person and more than a friend I met in prison.
Others detail Marshall’s involvement in supporting those incarcerated by connecting them to services or giving them advice and being a positive voice in their lives.
Marshall’s friendship with Svante Myrick
As he became popular for rumors and more in Ithaca, Marshall was indeed friends with former Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick from their time together at Cornell University. Although they were years apart, they found themselves in school together once Marshall was released from incarceration and began dating Cornell.
“I know him socially from our time at Cornell,” Myrick said. “He was well known for his work helping formerly incarcerated people pursue higher education and lead more purposeful lives.”
Myrick said in July he was woken by a phone call from Ithaca police the night Godfrey was killed. After that, Myrick said that once he discovered Marshall was a suspect, he backed out of the case to avoid a perceived conflict of interest due to his friendship with Marshall. This was before the arrest in August on federal charges after the raid.
“That way, as mayor, I would be regularly briefed on ongoing investigations, and the IPD would come to me to approve any unusual requests for investigation-related resources,” Myrick said. “Because I was friends with the accused – and friends with the victim – I thought it would be wise to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. This happens from time to time in law enforcement, such as when a parent of an officer is accused of wrongdoing. So I withdrew from the investigation.
The tangible form that has taken is that Myrick told police not to update him on the progress of the investigation and to consult with Acting Mayor Deb Mohlenoff on any requests for foreign funding. Acting Ithaca Police Chief John Joly confirmed that Myrick recused himself, and Mohlenoff said no request for funding was made to him, likely because none was needed.
There have been persistent rumors since the arrest that Myrick and Marshall were living together, either at the time of the arrest or sometime before. These were pushed most often by Ithaca Crime, a local blog run by conservative activist Zachary Winn, who is currently running a Republican campaign for mayor of Ithaca.
While those rumors have stuck, Myrick says they’re flat-out untrue, but could stem from a time in late 2020 when he was exposed to COVID-19 and needed a place to quarantine. Myrick’s exposure and decision to quarantine was publicly acknowledged at the time, although he said he only stayed at property owned by Marshall.
“I never lived with [Marshall]”, said Myrick. “When I was exposed to COVID and needed an Airbnb for a few weeks, I contacted him because I knew he was operating a couple in town. He had a open BnB unit that he stopped renting to tourists due to the pandemic so she was available and I rented the place to him for a month he did not live on or near the premises.
Myrick provided an Airbnb receipt showing that he stayed in the apartment during this time. His stay there lasted about a month, he said, and he paid a pro-rated amount for the stay – which ended around the weekend President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, documented on Myrick’s Instagram. Myrick said he rented the lower unit while the upper unit was uninhabited during this time.
This is the same address where Marshall was arrested in a police raid 10 months later – according to Myrick’s timeline, this would have been around nine months after he last stayed at the address.
Ownership records show that six days after Marshall’s arrest, he sold the property on North Plain Street to another LLC, called North Plain LLC, for $250,000. Commercial documents confirm the federal prosecutor’s statements that North Plain LLC is owned by Marshall’s uncle, James Marshall.
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