Charles Goff

Charles Robert Goff: Born February 22, 1952, Longview, Texas.

Goff hit national news in August 1981 for his appearance before a grand jury in Austin investigating the wounding of a State Representative, Mike Martin. Goff openly admitted to wounding his cousin with a 12 gauge shotgun at Martin's request in payment for a state job. Martin was indicted for perjury and later resigned his seat in a plea bargain agreement with prosecutor, Ronnie Earle.

Records indicate that during the investigation of Martin's shooting, Charles Goff's mother contacted Texas Ranger, Glenn Elliott, and asked him to come to her home. While there, Charles Goff arrived and voluntarily told Elliott he was the shooter and that Martin asked him to do it. When quizzed by the grand jury why he volunteered the information when there was no suspicion on him, he claimed his mother made him do it. To this day, Martin still refutes Goff's claim. Martin insists that Goff admitted to friends and relatives that Gregg County prosecutors offered him a deal. The alleged deal was that they would drop unrelated pending charges in return for his story. Records do show that Goff had three felony warrants for burglary at the time but was never prosecuted for any.

Goff's last known location was in the Easton Unit; a maximum-security prison near Huntsville, Texas. Goff was jailed for parole violation for owning a gun he used in the accidental slaying of a friend while fishing. According to an editorial in the Houston Star Telegraph in June 1991, relatives claim Goff was killed by a fellow inmate in 1989 and was buried in a state owned cemetery near the prison. Others claim, in retribution, the brothers of the friend he killed murdered Goff and his body was never found. Close friends of both families believe Martin had Goff killed in either scenario. Martin claims he was overseas from 1985 through 1995.

ources

* [http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?referid=8306&showtopic=69741] from The Smart Marks.com
* [http://www.fanstory.com/displaystory.jsp?id=150380] Short story by Mike Martin