Watertown, NY: Watertown woman allegedly admitted fatal stabbing to responding officers

By BRIAN KELLY
TIMES STAFF WRITER
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012

A Watertown woman accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death in 2010 allegedly admitted the act to the first police officer at the scene.

The question for jurors in the Jefferson County Court murder trial of Krista M. Goley will be whether she acted in self-defense when she stabbed Timothy C. Rolland near his heart with a butcher knife Sept. 1, 2010, at their residence at 111 E. Lynde St., Apt. 3.

City police Officer Dennis P. O’Brien testified Tuesday that he responded to the apartment for a report of a stabbing and found Goley, 26, leaning over Mr. Rolland, 21, who lay in “a very large pool of blood.”

“I asked her who stabbed him and she stated, ‘I did,’” Mr. O’Brien said. “She made the statement that he had come after her, that she didn’t mean to do it.”

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Mr. O’Brien said there were two other adults sleeping in the apartment at the time, but both said they had seen nothing. He said Goley’s 5-year-old son was present and apparently witnessed the domestic dispute that led to Mr. Rolland’s stabbing. Goley led Mr. O’Brien to the kitchen sink, where the knife used was found.

Officer Joshua P. Moran, who knew Goley from an investigation into a May 2010 domestic incident that led to several charges against Mr. Rolland, said he was asked to escort her to his patrol car.

“She made several statements at that time that, ‘I didn’t mean to hurt him. I just wanted to get him away from me,’” Mr. Moran said. “She did say that her son witnessed the incident, he was probably going to be messed up for the rest of his life from what he saw.”

The officer said Goley told him that she pulled the knife on Mr. Rolland to “scare” him and that when he raised his hand as though to hit her, “she went to block it,” resulting in his wounds. Mr. Moran accompanied Goley to the hospital for treatment of a cut on her head. While at the hospital, she asked Mr. Moran, “Am I a murderer now?” according to his testimony.

Jurors also watched several hours of a recorded interview Detective James A. Romano conducted with Goley at the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building. In that video, Goley describes how, before the stabbing, an intoxicated Mr. Rolland threw a wooden stool and small table at her and struck her in the head with a beer bottle. She also told the detective Mr. Rolland had punched her up to eight times.

Goley, a Fort Drum soldier, said she initially was “slashing at him, to keep him away from me because he was coming at me.” She said when he came closer and “swiped in front of my face” with his fist, she “jabbed” him in the chest with the knife. When he raised his left hand as though to strike at her again, she told the detective, she swung the knife “overhand” into his chest near his heart.

“He said, ‘You cut my main artery,’ while I ran for my phone,” she told the detective.

Jurors will continue to watch the video of Goley’s statement this morning. Mr. Romano said he interviewed her for about 10 hours, but jurors are expected to watch about six hours of video.