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Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (Cornelius Goss)

Texas Attorney General Media Advisory

AUSTIN - Tuesday, February 22, 2000 - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on Cornelius Goss who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 23rd:

FACTS OF THE CRIME

On 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 from her bridge game at approximately 12:15 a.m. When she arrived, she saw that her husband's car was parked in the garage where it was supposed to be, but his Converse duffle bags were in disarray. She called out for her husband, but received no reply. According to witness statements, Leevy typically ate dinner in the evening, then retired to his easy chair in the den to watch television. As Mrs. Leevy continued her approach, she did not hear the television, which was usually playing loudly due to her husband's hearing problem. She stopped at the entrance to the kitchen and saw that his easy chair was empty. She called out a second time but received no response. She continued and found her dead husband on the floor in the den. Mrs. Leevy then ran to her neighbor's house and called the police.

When paramedics and police arrived, they found Leevy laying face down on the floor next to his chair. There was blood coming from his ears, mouth, and nose due to an obvious head injury. A butcher knife and a dirty 2x4 length of wood were laying next to him. 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 at trial that Leevy had sustained four distinct external injuries to his head. Additionally, an internal examination of the brain revealed a "depressed skull fracture," or "denting in" of the skull. 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 to Leevy.

At the scene, 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. 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. Although the entire house was processed for latent fingerprints, comparable prints were only obtained from the window, window screen, and window sill, all at the point of entry into the master bedroom. Also discovered missing after the murder were various pieces of jewelry Leevy possessed. These included a necklace that had a $10 goldpiece hanging from it, a Rolex watch, and two rings -- one 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.

On May 21, 1987, just 12 hours after the murder, a man by the name of Gerald Shed picked up Goss hitchhiking in Dallas. Goss was carrying a gym bag and was wearing a Rolex watch that 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 then exited the store. Shortly thereafter, William Bryant arrived at the same pawn shop to sell some of his own property. Before he entered the store, however, Shed approached him, 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 pawnshop, 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. Shed's identity was discovered and, after his arrest, he implicated a person who he knew only as "Goss" as the man who gave him the Rolex watch to pawn. Shed also led police to the house where he had dropped Goss off on May 21st. Through a neighbor, police confirmed that Goss lived at the house and Shed later identified Goss in a photo lineup. When police learned that Goss' fingerprints matched those recovered from the point of entry of the Leevy home, a warrant was obtained for the arrest of Goss. Police arrested Goss at a residence in South Oak Cliff. Inside this residence, officers found an athletic bag in the living room similar to one missing from Leevy's house. Later searches of this residence revealed new and worn Converse clothing, a Converse bag, a lock blade knife, a ladies gold bracelet and a large blue garment bag which contained a pair of Converse miniature display shoes.

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 that he committed the capital murder. In relevant part, Goss's confession reads as follows: P>. . . 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:

. . . 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.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

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.

Because he 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 then 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 then 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' motion for rehearing was denied by the court of appeals on Nov. 15, 1999.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

At the punishment phase of trial, the State presented evidence of Goss' prior criminal history. On Oct. 4, 1978, Goss, then 17 years old, 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. Dones asked Goss to leave because he was several years older than the other children. Goss, however, would not listen and kept "hanging around." After giving up that Goss would leave, Dones invited Goss to go out to eat, but Goss refused. Dones locked up the house and then left with the children. When they 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' probation was revoked.

On Dec. 9, 1979, Goss was involved in a high speed chase after stealing an automobile. Ultimately, Goss lost control of the vehicle, ran through someone's yard, and crashed into a telephone pole. Goss was convicted of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a felony, and was 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, Goss was found 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' 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 also testified about other illegal activity that Goss was involved in - days after he was released from prison. According to Ward, she and Goss used cocaine and heroin, and Goss had a big drug deal going on the first day he was released from prison. Ward testified that they were 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 9th, 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.

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.

ProDeathPenalty.com

Cornelius Goss was sentenced to death in the May 1987 beating death of Carl Leevy in Dallas. Evidence showed that Goss broke into Leevy's home through a bedroom window and beat Leevy to death with a board. Goss then stole a $10 gold piece, lady's bracelet, camera, necklace, Rolex watch and two men's rings. Goss's fingerprints were found inside the home and he later confessed to police. Goss had a previous conviction for burglary of a building, receiving a 7 year sentence from which he was parole after serving only 6 months.

APBNews Online

"Killers Executed in Texas"

(February 24, 2000) Huntsville, Texas (AP) - In Huntsville, Tex., a parolee who clubbed a Dallas man to death with a two-by-four during a burglary was executed by injection Wednesday night. From the gurney where he was strapped, Cornelius Goss, 38, apologized to his victim's family. "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.

Victim was dozing

Goss did not deny killing 66-year-old Carl Leevy as he dozed in an easy chair at his home May 20, 1987. At the time, Goss had been on parole three weeks after serving six months of a seven-year prison term for burglary. The day before the slaying, he had been sentenced to a day in jail for a misdemeanor conviction of illegally carrying a weapon. Police had found an illegal long-blade knife in his car while arresting him for trying to steal a chainsaw from a store. Police tracked down Goss after he had a friend try to pawn the victim's Rolex watch.

Abilene Reporter-News

Thursday, February 24, 2000 "Parolee Executed for Murder During 1987 Burglary," by Michael Graczyk.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A parolee with burglary and auto theft convictions was executed Wednesday night for fatally clubbing a Dallas man with a 2-by-4 during a burglary while the victim dozed in an easy chair at his home. Strapped to the death chamber gurney, Cornelius Goss apologized to his victim's family. “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. I've caused you pain and grief.” Before the drugs took effect, Goss turned to his mother, who was watching through a nearby window, and said he loved her. The victim's son, daughter-in-law and two family friends also watched. Goss took a deep breath, sputtered and was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m., seven minutes after the flow of lethal drugs began.

Goss, 38, did not deny killing 66-year-old Carl Leevy the evening of May 20, 1987. “I'm definitely guilty,” Goss said in an interview last week. “It was just out to get some money to get some drugs. I've been sorry from day one.” “I'm glad to hear Mr. Goss say what he said because I needed to hear that,” Clark Leevy, the victim's son, said after watching Goss die. “The important thing we all need to recognize is that we all have choices. They can be good or be bad. When we make wrong choices, there are consequences. “Justice was served. It was a long time, but certainly the right thing happened today.”

Goss had been on parole three weeks after serving six months of a seven-year prison term for burglary. The day before the slaying, he had been sentenced to a day in jail for a misdemeanor conviction of illegally carrying a weapon. Police had found an illegal long-blade knife in his car while arresting him for trying to steal a chainsaw from a Sears store in Mesquite, an East Dallas suburb. Goss was the eighth Texas inmate to receive lethal injection this year and the first of two scheduled this week.

Betty Lou Beets, a 62-year-old great-grandmother, faces execution Thursday night for the shooting death of her fifth husband in what authorities contend was a scheme to collect his life insurance and pension. She was charged but never tried for the fatal shooting of her fourth husband and would be the fourth woman to be executed in the United States since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in the mid-1970s.

Goss began building a criminal record at 17 when he received probation for marijuana possession. He followed that with burglary and auto theft convictions before he was arrested for the Leevy slaying. Police tracked down Goss after he had a friend try to pawn the victim's Rolex watch, which by then had been reported stolen. When arrested, he was wearing a pair of red shorts taken from Leevy's home.

In a confession to police, Goss said he had crawled through a window to get inside the house, went looking for valuables and even grabbed a drink from the refrigerator. He said when he turned into the living room, the floor squeaked and stirred the sleeping man. In a panic, he grabbed a nearby 2-by-4 board and clubbed Leevy until the man “flopped to his left in the chair,” Goss told officers. Then he took a watch, a necklace, a ring and a wallet from Leevy, who had worked for Converse, a sporting goods supplier, along with some bags of athletic clothing.

Prosecutors believed Goss was hanging around a convenience store where Leevy had stopped that day and saw the man's flashy jewelry. “He saw that gold and followed him home,” said Andy Beach, a former Dallas County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Goss. “It was just worth it to Goss to take a life to get those objects.”

Goss said last week the prospect of dying frightened him at times, but in a way he was looking forward to his execution because it meant leaving death row. “I've had many people tell me there's got to be a better place,” he said.

Fight the Death Penalty in the USA

Cornelius Goss, 38, 00-02-23, Texas

A parolee with burglary and auto theft convictions was executed Wednesday night for fatally clubbing a Dallas man with a 2-by-4 during a burglary while the victim dozed in an easy chair at his home. Strapped to the death chamber, Cornelius Goss apologized to his victim's family. "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. I've caused you pain and grief." Before the drugs began taking effect, Goss turned to his mother, who was watching through a nearby window, and said he loved her. The victim's son, daughter-in-law and 2 family friends also watched. Goss took a deep breath, sputtered and was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. 7 minutes after the flow of lethal drugs began.

Goss, 38, did not deny killing 66-year-old Carl Leevy the evening of May 20, 1987. "I'm definitely guilty," Goss said in an interview last week. "It was just to get some money to get some drugs. I've been sorry from day one." Goss had been on parole 3 weeks after serving 6 months of a 7-year prison term for burglary. The day before the slaying, he had been sentenced to a day in jail for a misdemeanor conviction of illegally carrying a weapon. Police had found an illegal long-blade knife in his car while arresting him for trying to steal a chainsaw from a Sears store in Mesquite, an East Dallas suburb. Goss began building a criminal record at 17 when he received probation for marijuana possession. He followed that with burglary and auto theft convictions before he was arrested for the Leevy slaying.

Police tracked down Goss after he had a friend try to pawn the victim's Rolex watch, which by then had been reported stolen. When arrested, he was wearing a pair of red shorts taken from Leevy's home. In a confession to police, Goss said he had crawled through a window to get inside the house, went looking for valuables and even grabbed a drink from the refrigerator. He said when he turned into the living room the floor squeaked and stirred the sleeping man. In a panic, he grabbed a 2-by-4 board that was nearby and clubbed Leevy until the man "flopped to his left in the chair," Goss told officers. Then he took a watch, a necklace, a ring and a wallet from Leevy, who had worked for Converse, a sporting goods supplier, along with some bags of athletic clothing. Prosecutors believed Goss was hanging around a convenience store where Leevy had stopped that day and saw the man's flashy jewelry.

"He saw that gold and followed him home," said Andy Beach, a former Dallas County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Goss. "It was just worth it to Goss to take a life to get those objects." Goss said last week the prospect of dying frightened him at times, but in a way he was looking forward to his execution because it meant leaving death row. "I've had many people tell me there's got to be a better place," he said.

Goss becomes the 8th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 207th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on Dec. 7, 1982. Goss also becomes the 16th condemned prisoner to be put to death this year in the USA and the 614th overall since America resumed executions on Jan. 17, 1977.

(Sources: Associated Press and Rick Halperin)