A man who pled guilty last month to second-degree murder in the 2011 death of a Carter County man has been sentenced to 13 years and 6 months in prison.
Israel Benjamin Goudy, who will turn 34 on Friday, appeared before Criminal Court Judge Robert Cupp on Wednesday for his sentencing hearing. Goudy entered a guilty plea to the charge of second-degree murder on April 17 in a plea agreement which resulted in the second charge against Goudy – tampering with evidence – being dropped.
Goudy has been classified as a “violent” offender and must serve 100 percent of his sentence before he can be released from prison.
The charges against Goudy stem from the October 2011 slaying of 55-year-old Larry Wayne Whittaker, who was shot four times.
At the time Goudy was arrested, police said Goudy had stabbed himself and staged the murder scene, placing a gun in the victim’s hand, in an attempt to claim that he had shot Whittaker in self-defense.
Police said at the time of Goudy’s arrest that he had claimed self-defense for nearly a year, but that he admitted killing Whittaker and staging the scene during an interview with investigators in September 2012.