Wanda Sue Gough

Case record: Wanda Sue Gough

People

• Wanda Sue Gough — defendant; widow of John Gough; claimed self-defense after John Gough threatened to kill their three daughters.
• John Gough — victim; husband of Wanda Gough; 27 years old when he was shot and killed on Oct. 27, 1980; asleep when Wanda Gough shot him; described as violent and known for violent temper; drug dealer per Wanda Gough and Texas Ranger John Martin.
• Christy Furguson — oldest daughter of Wanda and John Gough; testified about abuse she witnessed.
• Robert Fox — partner of Wanda Gough; drove to Kilgore and sat in the courtroom for the entire three days of trial.
• Romy Gough — brother of John Gough; expressed dissatisfaction with Wanda Gough’s explanation.
• Fred Gough — brother of John Gough; disputed many abuse claims; promoted reopening/consideration of evidence; after trial said, "The justice system worked," and "There's still God's law to answer for."
• Texas Ranger John Martin — cold case investigator; met Wanda Gough at the Garner Police Department; later prompted Wanda Gough’s arrest and charges.
• William Jennings — district attorney who tried the case.
• Alvin Khoury — 124th District Judge who announced the jury’s decision.
• David Moore — defense attorney who presented summation.
• Jerry Rosegrant — retired Kilgore police detective; testified about John Gough’s reputation for violent temper.
• Lamara Williams-Hackett — news researcher who contributed to one of the articles.
• Ken Hartley — Gregg County Sheriff’s Department spokesman; gave details of surrender, arraignment, and bond.
• B. H. Jameson — Justice of the Peace who arraigned Wanda Gough and set bond.
• Ronnie Moore — Kilgore police chief; turned the case over to the Texas Rangers approximately eight months before May 4, 2006; could not be reached for comment.
• John Bradley — then Police Chief who investigated the case in 1980 (as described).
• Marvin Avants — Assistant Chief who investigated the case in 1980 (as described).
• Charles Montaldo — credited author of a piece describing the turn-self-in and claims (mentioned as article attribution).
• Lester Murray — credited author of a piece describing Wanda Gough turning herself in and admission of lying about self-defense (mentioned as article attribution).
• Adam J. Holland — credited author of a piece describing the not guilty verdict (mentioned as article attribution).
• Sarah Ovaska — credited author of a piece describing background and trial (mentioned as article attribution).

Timeline

• Late 1960s — Wanda Gough and John Gough met at a burger joint in Kilgore that doubled as the only high school hangout in East Texas.
• 1971 — Wanda Gough described their marriage in Kilgore and said abuse began a month after their 1971 wedding.
• Month after their 1971 wedding in Kilgore — Wanda Gough said John Gough struck her with an ashtray after she stayed at her mother’s house too late.
• Nine years (from the start of the abuse described) — Wanda Gough said nearly daily blows went on for nine years.
• Oct. 27, 1980 — John Gough was sleeping when Wanda Gough shot him with a .38-caliber handgun; later described as the basis of the 1980 murder charge.
• Night before Oct. 27, 1980 — Wanda Gough said she grabbed the handgun she had taken from her parents’ house.
• During the original autopsy — Fred Gough said it was missed that John Gough was initially shot in the back.
• 2003 — Wanda Gough moved to Garner with her partner Robert Fox (also described elsewhere as part of the timeline context); additionally, in 2003 Fred Gough asked Kilgore Police Department and Texas Rangers to look into the shooting and officials called up court files and police reports that had not been examined in more than 20 years.
• 2004 — The couple started a cabinet installation business and adjusted to life in North Carolina.
• Approximately eight months before May 4, 2006 — Wanda Gough’s arrest is described as owing to Chief Ronnie Moore listening to Fred Gough and turning the case over to the Texas Rangers.
• May 4, 2006 — Wanda Gough turned herself in to Gregg County authorities; surrender described as at 10:20 a.m.; arraigned and given a $20,000 bond.
• 2005 — The case was forwarded to the Texas Rangers Unsolved Crimes Investigation team (as described).
• 2006 — The prosecution’s main concern included that Wanda Gough shot her husband while he slept; it also described that in 2006 she admitted to a Texas Rangers cold case investigator that she shot John Gough while he slept.
• Mid-January (trial preparation) — Wanda Gough went back to Kilgore to prepare for the murder trial.
• May (arrest referenced) — Wanda Gough was arrested and charged with first-degree murder (as described as occurring in May).
• February 1, 2007 — Jury returned a verdict of not guilty after deliberating for three hours.
• February 1, 2007 (about 3:40 p.m.) — Alvin Khoury announced the jury’s decision; Wanda Gough placed her hands over her mouth and began to cry.
• Last Sunday (after verdict) — Fox and Gough returned to Garner; a Lone Star flag remained fixed to a post on their front porch; they returned to work within days.
• Friday, February 02, 2007 — A piece describes that Wanda Gough was found not guilty on Thursday.
• February 18, 2007 — A piece describes the background, trial, and aftermath.

Background

Wanda Sue Gough and John Gough had met in the late 1960s at a burger joint that doubled as the only high school hangout in Kilgore. They married as high school sweethearts and lived in abuse. Wanda Gough described the abuse as beginning a month after their 1971 wedding in Kilgore, when John Gough struck her with an ashtray after she stayed at her mother’s house too late one afternoon. She said he would fly into a rage over things as minor as not enough ice in her sweet tea. She said he whipped her with a fan belt and that she still had scars from a beating with an arrow.

Wanda Gough said John Gough was often unemployed and known as a drug dealer. She described fleeing from John Gough five times after he left the house long enough for her to gather her purse and their daughters and run. She said she would come back after he threatened to burn down her parents’ house or put a gun to her mother’s head. She said her family and some people in town suspected her trouble, but she described being isolated on a poor side of town without a car or phone and rarely seeing her family. She said her daughters lived behind closed doors, running to their rooms and keeping quiet whenever their father was home. She said they never knew what he was going to do.

Wanda Gough said domestic abuse was hidden and described it as a different era. Texas Ranger John Martin said: "It was a different era," and added: "It very well could have happened exactly how she described."

Wanda Gough said the abuse went on for nine years, until John Gough told his wife that he did not just want her dead, he wanted their three daughters—ages 8, 3 and 1—gone, too. She said he fired a shot at their daughters’ door. She said John Gough was sleeping the morning of Oct. 27, 1980, when she grabbed a handgun she had taken from her parents’ house the night before. She said she believed he was fixing to kill her and that she picked up the gun and shot him.

She said afterward she walked to a nearby store to call her parents. She believed she would be going to jail and would need someone to look after her daughters. She said her father told her there was no need to tell anyone that John Gough had been asleep when he died. She later said she did not want to put those thoughts in nobody’s head.

Wanda Gough raised their three daughters in Kilgore, working as a substitute teacher and later in a regional education agency. She said that after burying her husband, she tried not to speak ill of him for her daughters’ sake. She said she took her daughter Christy to counseling but never went herself. She said a woman who ran a domestic abuse support group in Texas asked her to talk to a group, but Wanda Gough declined.

Wanda Gough said the only time she talked to a counselor about the abuse was right before the trial last month, when she sat down with a psychiatrist her attorneys had hired.

The offence

John Gough was 27 years old when he was shot and killed by his wife Wanda Gough on Oct. 27, 1980. The shooting occurred while John Gough was asleep in their bed, and Wanda Gough was described as having admitted to investigators that she shot John Gough. She told investigators she fired in self-defense and to defend the lives of her children after John Gough threatened to kill their three daughters and she said he was fixing to kill her. Wanda Gough described the event as her picking up a .38-caliber handgun and shooting John Gough while he was asleep.

During police interaction described in the coverage, Wanda Gough handed police the gun she had used. She said she fired after John Gough pulled a gun on her, and she said police found a gun in the bed with his body.

Investigation

A Gregg County grand jury agreed with Wanda Gough’s self-defense claim and refused to indict her after her 1980 statements. The case was reopened in 2003 to investigate what officials said were discrepancies, and it was forwarded to the Texas Rangers Unsolved Crimes Investigation team in 2005.

Fred Gough had asked the Kilgore Police Department and the Texas Rangers to look into the shooting in 2003. Officials called up court files and police reports that had not been examined in more than 20 years.

Texas Ranger John Martin was prompted by the dead man’s brother to take a second look at the shooting, and he sifted through old evidence. Wanda Gough met Martin at the Garner Police Department. Martin asked her what happened, and Wanda Gough told him what she had never been honest about before.

In a non-custodial interview described in coverage, Martin’s complaint asserted that Wanda Gough admitted to shooting John Gough while he was asleep in bed and admitted fabricating statements about killing her husband in self-defense. The prosecution’s main concern centered on Wanda Gough shot her husband while he slept, which she admitted to Martin in 2006. In 1980, she told police and grand jurors that John Gough was reaching for a gun when she shot him, but Martin doubted her story.

Fred Gough said during the original autopsy it was missed that John was initially shot in the back.

Arrest

Wanda Gough was described as being arrested within a few days of the Oct. 27 shooting. She was described as surrendering to Gregg County authorities on May 4, 2006. Texas Ranger John Martin and investigators described her claims and her later admissions.

Gregg County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Ken Hartley said Wanda Sue Gough surrendered herself to the Gregg County Sheriff’s Department at 10:20 a.m. and was arraigned by Justice of the Peace B. H. Jameson with a $20,000 bond. The coverage also described that Wanda Gough was now 53 and residing in Raleigh, NC at the time of surrender.

The case was described as being forwarded to the Texas Rangers Unsolved Crimes Investigation team in 2005, which resulted in indictment. Wanda Gough was charged with first-degree murder and was released after posting bond at a Texas jail and returned to Garner.

A piece described Wanda Gough as turned herself in to Texas authorities to face charges of murder in connection to the shooting death of her husband while he was asleep 26 years earlier. Kilgore Police Chief Ronnie Moore was quoted regarding the timing of the Rangers interviewing her, stating: "I guess the timing was right when the Rangers finally interviewed her." Another quote attributed to Ronnie Moore stated: "She had had enough and was going to give up."

Fred Gough said he owed the arrest to Chief Ronnie Moore, who listened to him and turned the case over to the Texas Rangers approximately eight months earlier.

Trial

Wanda Gough went back to Kilgore in mid-January to prepare for the murder trial. Television and newspapers covered the trial extensively in Kilgore, and Wanda Gough was described as being noticed when she entered stores. Her partner Robert Fox drove to Kilgore and sat in the courtroom for the entire three days.

The jury consisted of nine women and three men. The jury listened to police investigators and a tape of the conversation Wanda Gough had with Martin at the Garner Police Department.

Wanda Gough’s attorney called her daughter Christy to the stand to testify about the abuse Christy witnessed. A retired Kilgore police detective testified that John Gough had a temper local police knew well.

Jerry Rosegrant, a former Kilgore police detective, testified: "It was known throughout the (Kilgore Police Department) that John Gough had a violent temper."

William Jennings, the district attorney who tried the case, expected the jury to convict Wanda Gough but possibly sentence her to probation. He wondered whether the abuse was as bad as Wanda Gough said. Jennings said afterward: "As much as they wanted to heap on John, they had three children in this marriage." In an interview, Jennings said: "The truth always lies somewhere in the middle." Jennings also agreed that Wanda Gough was subjected to abuse but did not think it was bad enough to warrant killing a sleeping man.

Fred Gough repeatedly disputed the majority of the abuse claims, including a brief outburst during defense attorney David Moore’s summation of his case Thursday morning. After the trial, Fred Gough said: "The justice system worked," and also said: "This is how it came out. This is just man's law. There's still God's law to answer for."

During trial testimony described, the jury heard from 13 witnesses. More than half testified that Wanda Gough was abused at the hands of John Gough. At least two additional witnesses, including Jerry Rosegrant, testified that John Gough had a reputation of being violent. Wanda Gough’s explanation of the killing did not satisfy John Gough’s family; Romy Gough said: "She had a chance to go, and she went and got a gun and came back."

The prosecution’s case included the fact that Wanda Gough shot John Gough while he slept, which she had admitted to Martin in 2006.

Sentencing

No sentence was imposed because the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

Appeals

No appeals were described.

Outcome

The jury deliberated for three hours before returning a verdict on February 1, 2007. Wanda Sue Gough was found not guilty by a jury. When 124th District Judge Alvin Khoury announced the jury’s decision, Wanda Gough placed her hands over her mouth and began to cry. Wanda Gough said: "I'm so glad this is over with," and also said: "After 27 years I can put this behind me and enjoy my grandchildren more."

A coverage described that Wanda Gough could have been convicted of a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter had jurors found she acted under the influence of sudden passion when she shot John Gough. The jury’s decision essentially meant that she acted in self defense and reasonably believed that deadly force was necessary.

Aftermath

After the verdict, Fox and Wanda Gough returned to Garner last Sunday. The Lone Star flag was still fixed to a post on their front porch. The coverage described their four cats and three dogs as eager to be back. They returned to work within days and were described as facing $40,000 in legal bills.

Wanda Gough described enjoying anonymity and wanting her story told to shed light on domestic violence. She said: "I can almost feel like nothing's gone on." She said no one stops her when she shopped at the Garner Wal-Mart or Food Lion. She also said the trial stirred up memories she thought she had escaped and that she woke up each morning remembering jagged scenes of the abuse she had blocked out for years. She said: "The stressful part is having to go back and relive those memories," and added: "And there were no good ones."

One described reaction was that Wanda Gough had family in the room at the time of the verdict, as well as John Gough’s kin. Wanda Gough said: "I didn't know I could hold my breath for so long."

Romy Gough, a brother of John Gough, and Fred Gough were described as offering opposing views of the case and the abuse claims. Fred Gough’s statements included: "Our family just wants to see justice done after all these years," and: "know my brother was not considered saint, but the right thing needs to be done."