James Washington gives deathbed confession to crime, but lives and now gets life
The family of Joyce Goodener finally will get some relief knowing that her killer has been caught.
James Washington
James Washington, a Tennessee man, made a deathbed confession to Goodener’s murder, but survived his heart attack only to face a life sentence in the new conviction.
“I didn’t have any trust in the system. All of a sudden, I got this phone call and they said, ‘We think we found him,'” said Goodener’s daughter, Sonya Kimbrell.
Washington had a heart attack while in jail for an unrelated crime, and he thought he was about to die. Lying in his hospital bed, he desperately looked for a confessor and found one in guard James Tomlinson.
“He kind of got as best as he could, motioned, and said, ‘I have something to tell you. I have to get something off my conscience and you need to hear this.’ He said, ‘I killed somebody. I beat her to death,'” Tomlinson said.
So, prosecutors were handed the most improbable testimony.
Washington was always considered a person of interest, as he knew the victim and admitted he saw her the day she died. But there was never any real evidence until Washington provided it himself.
That is, until his health improved and he changed his mind. But it was too late, and Washington will now serve an automatic life sentence of at least 51 years in prison
Photo a screenshot from this video coverage – here
[…] Washington tried to take back his statement after he survived the heart attack, but it was too late. He was found guilty late last month and now faces a life sentence, the Global Dispatch reports. […]
[…] Washington tried to take back his statement after he survived the heart attack, but it was too late. He was found guilty late last month and now faces a life sentence, the Global Dispatch reports. […]
[…] Washington tried to take back his statement after he survived the heart attack, but it was too late. He was found guilty late last month and now faces a life sentence, theGlobal Dispatch reports. […]
[…] Washington tried to take back his statement after he survived the heart attack, but it was too late. He was found guilty late last month and now faces a life sentence, the Global Dispatch reports. […]
Maybe he will be able to spend the rest of his life knowing he has the redemption. The time we have on this planet is fleeting. His belief system embraces an afterlife. Now he can live out the rest of this life knowing he has done the right thing and paradise await. It’s a lot better than existing with overwhelming guilt and feeling that an everlasting punishment will come after the date of his expiration.
[…] Washington tried to take back his statement after he survived the heart attack, but it was too late. He was found guilty late last month and now faces a life sentence, the Global Dispatch reports. […]