Cornelius Alan Goss

Case details

Name: Cornelius Alan Goss

Timeline

• May 20, 1987 — 66-year-old Carl Leevy, a sporting goods representative for Converse, headed home between 6:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. after having played in a golf tournament in Carrollton, Texas. That night, Leevy’s wife returned to their home in Dallas, Texas and found her dead husband in the den.
• May 21, 1987 — About 12 hours after the murder, Goss was picked up hitchhiking in Dallas by Gerald Shed; Shed later implicated “Goss” after the Rolex transaction was found to be stolen, and police arrested Goss at a residence in South Oak Cliff.
• May 1988 — Goss was indicted in Dallas County, Texas, for the murder of Carl Leevy while in the course of committing and attempting to commit burglary of a habitation, a capital offense.
• July 23, 1988 — A jury found Goss guilty of capital murder.
• March 4, 1992 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence.
• June 28, 1993 — The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review.
• June 28, 1994 — The Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with the trial court’s recommendation to deny state habeas corpus relief.
• July 18, 1995 — Goss filed a federal petition for writ of habeas corpus with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.
• Jan. 30, 1998 — The district court denied federal habeas relief, and thereafter denied Goss permission to appeal.
• Oct. 20, 1999 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted Goss permission to appeal but affirmed the district court’s denial of relief.
• Nov. 15, 1999 — The court of appeals denied Goss’s motion for rehearing.
• Feb. 22, 2000 — The Texas Attorney General issued a media advisory regarding Cornelius Goss scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 23rd.
• February 23, 2000 — Cornelius Goss was executed by lethal injection in Texas. He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m.

Background

Carl Leevy was a sporting goods representative for Converse. He was 66 years old. His home was in Dallas, Texas, and the murder occurred there on the night of May 20, 1987, after he returned home from playing in a golf tournament in Carrollton, Texas.

The offence

On May 20, 1987, Leevy was found dead in the den of his Dallas, Texas home. Blood came from his ears, mouth, and nose due to an obvious head injury. A butcher knife and a dirty 2x4 length of wood were next to him.

At the scene, wood chips were found in the area of the victim’s body, both behind the chair and in front of the desk, consistent with Leevy being struck with the 2x4. The medical examiner later testified that Leevy sustained four distinct external injuries to his head. An internal examination of the brain revealed a “depressed skull fracture,” or “denting in” of the skull, and the medical examiner found “extensive” fracturing of the skull, including the forehead, the left side of the skull, the right side of the skull above the ear, the back of the skull, the base of the skull, the top of the eye sockets, and the temple and ridge bone on the right side of the skull. There was no evidence of defensive injuries.

In the den, the desk behind Leevy’s body appeared to have been gone through and a file cabinet had bloody glove prints on it. Money was missing from the desk. Items of jewelry missing after the murder included a Rolex watch and a distinctive Converse ring. Other missing jewelry included a necklace that had a $10 goldpiece hanging from it and a distinctive Converse ring. Leevy’s reading glasses were found on a silver plate on top of the television; the glasses appeared to have blood and a speck of wood on the right earpiece.

Police found in the backyard a pair of bloody gloves, consistent with a pair missing from a master bedroom night stand. Strewn along the back fence were billfold items, pictures, and a checkbook. A shirt was found laying beside a pile of wood containing 2x4 boards between the carport and the back fence.

Investigation

Police processed the entire house for latent fingerprints but obtained comparable prints only from the window, window screen, and window sill, all at the point of entry into the master bedroom.

Police learned that Goss’s fingerprints matched those recovered from the point of entry into Leevy’s home, and a warrant was obtained for the arrest of Goss.

Arrest

Goss was arrested at a residence in South Oak Cliff. Inside the residence, officers found an athletic bag in the living room similar to one missing from Leevy’s house. Later searches revealed new and worn Converse clothing, a Converse bag, a lock blade knife, a ladies gold bracelet, and a large blue garment bag containing a pair of Converse miniature display shoes.

Confessions

When police confronted Goss with the fact that he was under arrest for capital murder, that they had his fingerprints at the murder scene, and that they had discovered the victim’s property in his house, Goss broke down and orally confessed he committed the capital murder.

Goss’s confession included the following verbatim statement:

. . . I started walking back towards some friend's house on Marsh Lane and I was trying to figure out how I was going to get home with only about two dollars in my pocket. I was taking shortcuts and on the spur of the moment, I stopped to instigate [sic] this guy's house and I jumped the back fence. As dark as the house looked, I took out my pocketknife and used it to get the window open. After I got the window open, I crawled in. The door on the bedroom was closed and I started searching for money or gold. As I was searching, I heard the T.V., so I cracked the door and looked out and then left it cracked and continued searching. I found some gloves in a drawer and I put them on. I didn't find any money, but I did put a bracelet in my pocket. I looked in the closet and I didn't see anything of interest. I also looked under the mattress. After that I went to the door and opened it. I went to the left and saw the more open house part [sic]. When I walked into the more open house part of the house [sic] I saw the man asleep in a chair. It kind of startled me and I stepped back. I realized that he was sleeping, so I turned around and went back and looked in the room next to the bedroom. I didn't find anything in this room, so I came back to where I saw him and I stood there a few minutes. I then snuck around through the livingroom and I paused and looked at him again. I then went into a room with a desk and a phone and there were a lot of exercise clothes and equipment. I grabbed the clothes off the rack and laid them by the patio door. I then grabbed a blue bag, and emptied it and I put the bag on the floor by the clothes. I walked back to see if he was still asleep and I leaned against what was the refrigerator. I opened it and took out a Pepsi. I was drinking the Pepsi, watching the man, and while I was standing there I thought I would take the silver from the china cabinet and put it in the bag and then leave. I went up the two stairs from the kitchen and I lost my balance, but I had not made any noise yet. I continued to make a left into the livingroom when my foot made a squeak on the kitchen floor. When I turned back to see him, I could see him moving, taking off his glasses. He saw me and he yelled, hey, and then something else of which I am not sure. I looked at the patio door and I snapped that I didn't know how to get out. I picked up a board that was laying on a box and threw down the Pepsi. I ran back towards the man and I tried to hit him two times, but I missed the second time. I hit him one more time and he went out and I leaned over to pick up the T.V. remove control to turn off the T.V. The man grabbed my left leg, and without even looking, I hit him once or twice more. The man flopped to his left in the chair and I picked him up and tried to place him on his side. I noticed he had a watch and necklace and I took them from him. I looked around to see if anybody seen me and then I looked in the desk behind the man and I found a wallet. I took the wallet and the money that was in it and I put it in my pocket. I ran in there and grabbed the bag and put it in the clothes bag and I got the patio door open. I saw the garage door open and I went and prowled through two or three boxes, but didn't take anything. I then got the bag and jumped the back fence and left...

In a separate confession, Goss described what he did with the property that he stole, including the following verbatim statement:

. . . I asked my friend, [Charles] Ford, if he knew where I could get rid of the Converse ring with one diamond that I took from the guy's finger. Charles took me to a place off of Sergeant Road that looked like a bootleg house. Charles went in and sold the ring for eighty dollars. I gave Charles about three or four dollars. Charles and I sold the ring two Friday's ago. I sold the necklace and the gold about five days after this happened. I lost the wedding band that I got from the man's finger jogging on Cedar Crest Golf Course the following morning after I sold the ring. The night this happened, I put the jewelry in my pocket. I also got some active wear from the man's working office that was already in the blue bag. I poured some tennis shoes out of a blue Converse bag. I put the Converse bag in the big blue bag. I then left. I pulled my shirt off and left it in the backyard. I pulled the gloves that I had on and left them in the backyard. I don't know what I did with the man's wallet. I have been looking for the wallet for the last four or five days but I can't find it. The red shorts that I'm wearing came out of the man's house. After speaking to Ford, police recovered the victim's Converse ring.

Trial

In May 1988, Goss was indicted in Dallas County, Texas, for the murder of Carl Leevy while in the course of committing and attempting to commit burglary of a habitation, a capital offense. He pleaded not guilty and was tried by a jury.

On July 23, 1988, the jury found him guilty of capital murder.

After a separate hearing on punishment, the jury returned affirmative answers to the punishment issues submitted pursuant to state law. In accordance with state law, the trial court assessed punishment at death.

Appeals

Because Goss was sentenced to death, appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was automatic. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence on March 4, 1992.

The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review on June 28, 1993.

Goss filed an application for state writ of habeas corpus with the convicting court. The trial court recommended that relief be denied and, on June 28, 1994, the Court of Criminal Appeals agreed.

Goss proceeded into federal court, filing a federal petition for writ of habeas corpus with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, on July 18, 1995. The district court denied federal habeas relief on Jan. 30, 1998, and thereafter denied Goss permission to appeal.

On Oct. 20, 1999, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted Goss permission to appeal but affirmed the district court’s denial of relief. Goss’s motion for rehearing was denied by the court of appeals on Nov. 15, 1999.

Sentencing

The trial court assessed punishment at death after the jury returned affirmative answers to the punishment issues submitted pursuant to state law.

Drugs and/or alcohol

According to Goss’s confession, he had consumed approximately one six-pack of beer on the evening of the instant offense.

Prior criminal history

At the punishment phase of trial, the State presented evidence of Goss’s prior criminal history.

• On Oct. 4, 1978, when Goss was 17 years old, he was arrested for possession of a controlled substance: 23 rolled marijuana cigarettes, just two blocks away from Oak Cliff High School.
• On March 5, 1979, Goss was convicted of misdemeanor possession of marijuana and sentenced to six months probation.
• On March 25, 1979, Winston Dones held a birthday celebration for his 14-year-old daughter. That evening, Goss came to the party and was asked to leave because he was several years older than the other children. After being invited to go out to eat but refusing, Dones locked up the house and left with the children. When Dones returned an hour-and-a-half later, the house was ransacked and property stolen.
• On June 22, 1979, Goss received a probated five-year sentence for burglary of a habitation. After failing to report to his probation officer and receiving another conviction, Goss’s probation was revoked.
• On Dec. 9, 1979, Goss was involved in a high-speed chase after stealing an automobile. He ran through someone’s yard, crashed into a telephone pole, and was convicted of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a felony, sentenced to five years incarceration.
• During his subsequent prison stay, Goss was involved in a fight on March 10, 1981.
• On June 28, 1986, William Akins met police at his convenience store after his alarm company notified him of a break in. Police found Goss hiding in the attic of the store. Akins found five 55-gallon trash bags full of grocery items lined up behind the counter.
• On Oct. 7, 1986, Goss was convicted of burglary of a building and sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
• According to Goss’s parole officer, Goss was paroled on April 27, 1987.
• On May 9, 1987, police arrested Goss and Vivian Ward while attempting to steal a chainsaw from Sears, Roebuck, and Company in Mesquite, Texas. On the driver’s side of the floorboard inside Goss’s vehicle police found an illegal long-blade knife, drugs, and drug paraphernalia. Ward testified about other illegal activity involving Goss after he was released from prison, including that she and Goss used cocaine and heroin and that Goss had a big drug deal going on the first day he was released from prison. Ward also testified about stealing from various places, including an earlier theft of a blower from the same Sears location where they were caught with the chainsaw.
• Based on the events of May 9, 1987, Goss pled guilty to the misdemeanor offense of unlawfully carrying of a weapon on May 19, 1987, and was sentenced to one day in jail.

Other details

Property and the pawn shop

On May 21, 1987, shortly after the murder, Gerald Shed picked up Goss hitchhiking in Dallas. Goss was carrying a gym bag and was wearing a Rolex watch he wanted to sell. After purchasing beer and liquor, the men drove to a pawn shop where Shed attempted to pawn the Rolex watch. A pawn shop employee offered Shed $150 for the watch but refused to complete the transaction when Shed was unable to produce a driver’s license. Shed exited the store.

Shortly thereafter, William Bryant arrived at the same pawn shop to sell some of his own property. Shed approached Bryant before Bryant entered, said he did not have his identification with him, and asked whether Bryant would be willing to pawn a Rolex watch for him. Bryant agreed and completed the transaction.

After leaving the pawn shop, Shed dropped Goss off at a residence “off Winfield.” The pawn shop later ran the Rolex transaction through a law enforcement computer database and discovered that it was stolen. The serial number from the pawn shop ticket matched the serial number that the family had found on an earlier repair bill for Leevy’s watch.

After his arrest, Shed implicated a person he knew only as “Goss” as the man who gave him the Rolex watch to pawn. Shed led police to the house where he had dropped Goss off on May 21. Through a neighbor, police confirmed that Goss lived at the house and Shed later identified Goss in a photo lineup.

Quotes at execution

From the gurney where he was strapped, Cornelius Goss apologized to his victim’s family. He said: “I don't think I can say anything that will help, but I hope through your God, you can forgive me,” Goss said. “I'm definitely not the person now that I was then. I was sick, afraid, looking for love and friends in all the wrong ways.”

He also told his mother, watching through a nearby window, that he loved her. Goss also said:

“I'm definitely not the person now that I was then. I was sick, afraid, and looking for love and friends in all the wrong ways. I've caused you pain and grief.”

Before the drugs took effect, Goss turned to his mother and said, “I loved her,” and he was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m., seven minutes after the flow of lethal drugs began.

Statements reported in an interview

Goss did not deny killing 66-year-old Carl Leevy. He said: “I'm definitely guilty,” and he said, “It was just out to get some money to get some drugs. I've been sorry from day one.”