N.Y. man gets life plus five years in brutal 2007 murder
MEDIA COURTHOUSE >> A Brooklyn man convicted in May on first-degree murder for the 2007 beating death of 45-yearold Sharon Hill resident Gary Jenkins was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Tuesday.
Izena Goudy – a transsexual man who now goes by the name Isaiah Goudy – continued to deny he murdered Jenkins during the hearing before Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Cappelli, instead blaming his deceased father.
“I am no murderer,” said Goudy, 36, who was a 23-year-old female at the time of Jenkins’ death. “I did not murder anyone, but I realize I am responsible for his death.”
Jenkins’ body was discovered in his home May 7, 2007, during a wellness check after he missed work. He had been wrapped in a bloody comforter and a towel had been wrapped around his head. County Medical Examiner Dr. Frederic Hellman testified Jenkins had died of “crushing” blunt-force trauma to the skull associated with nearly 40 slash and stab wounds.
Investigators took 14 blood swabs from the rear bedroom, staircase, living room floor, kitchen floor and a 30-pound dumbbell believed to be the murder weapon. A swab was also collected from the bite mark on Jenkins’ body.
Delaware County Detective Sgt. Dave McDonald testified at trial that a bent kitchen knife with blood on the handle – indicative of being used in the murder – was also collected from a drying rack in the kitchen.
The blood swabs were provided to National Medical Services Labs in Willow Grove. Detectives were later notified that the samples included Jenkins’ DNA as well as that of an unidentified second person. It was not until Goudy was convicted on assault charges in King’s County, New York, in 2014 that his DNA sample was entered into the CODIS system and produced a hit for blood taken from Jenkins’ home.
County Detective Sgt. William Wright collected another DNA sample from Goudy in September 2015, which forensic researcher Heather McKiernan said matched blood samples collected from several spots in the living room and kitchen floor, as well as the bite mark and dumbbell.
Jenkins’ loved ones spoke briefly Tuesday. His daughter, who was 7 years old at the time of his death, lamented not having her father there to see her graduate high school and his sister described him as a nice man.
Kitty Scott, the mother of Jenkins’ child, also said that though they had split, they still had a good relationship as coparents and that he was a great father. She said it was hard having to try to answer her daughter’s questions growing up.
“I guess we will never get the real answers,” she said. “But I know he is missed. He was an awesome, awesome person.”
Goudy testified at trial that he went to Jenkins home on the 100 block of Reese Street on April 28, 2007, and admitted getting into an altercation with Jenkins, but claimed his father had killed Jenkins at some later point.
Goudy said he went to Jenkins home that night to use the bathroom and telephone, but Jenkins began hitting on him. Goudy, who had not yet transitioned at the time, said he punched Jenkins and the two got into a scuffle before Jenkins choked Goudy unconscious.
When Goudy woke up on a bed, he said his pants had been removed and a nude Jenkins was urinating on him. Goudy said he bit Jenkins on the arm and rolled over, at which point Jenkins sexually assaulted him.
Goudy claimed some of his hair came away in Jenkins’ hand as he dislodged himself and that Jenkins slashed him on
Izena Goudy – a transsexual man who now goes by the name Isaiah Goudy – continued to deny he murdered Jenkins during the hearing before Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Cappelli, instead blaming his deceased father.
the leg with a box cutter before Goudy found the dumbbell and used it as a weapon to make his escape.
Goudy said Jenkins was still alive and conscious when he left the house and that he later showed his father where Jenkins lived. Goudy’s father allegedly told Goudy he would “take care of it.” Some days later, Goudy said he found items he had left at Jenkins’ home that night in his father’s possession and deduced his father had returned to the Reese Street address at some point. Goudy’s father has since died.
Goudy reiterated the story that his father was the true murderer Tuesday, denying he had ever stabbed Jenkins but accepting some culpability for showing his father where the victim lived.
“I made decisions,” he said. “I made choices, and my choices are what led me here. But I was not going to plead to a murder I did not commit … I didn’t expect to walk away from this clean, I just didn’t expect that my entire life would be
“I am no murderer. I did not murder anyone, but I realize I am responsible for his death.”
— Isaiah Goudy
taken from me.”
Because murder in the first degree carries a lifetime sentence, the only issue Assistant District Attorney Matt DeNucci and defense counsel Gene Taggart had to parse was a second count for possessing an instrument of crime.
Taggart asked that the charge be run concurrently, while DeNucci argued the gruesome nature of the crime and the possibility that some future Legislature might amend sentencing laws begged for a maximum sentence of five years. Cappelli sided with the prosecution and added 30 to 60 months to the lifetime sentence, running consecutively.