A long-awaited murder trial is going to have a wait a little longer.
Jury selection in the case of the man accused of killing a Stowe woman almost 17 years ago is being delayed because a defense attorney has laryngitis. Jury selection in the trial of 60-year-old Howard Godfrey, which had been set to start Monday, is now scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
It took investigators 14 years to charge Godfrey with the 1991 killing of Patricia Scoville. And it was thanks to the Scoville parents that police found Godfrey. The Scovilles pushed for the creation of Vermont’s DNA database, which prosecutors say was ultimately used to link Godfrey to the killing.
Scoville’s mother, Ann, says she’s relieved Godfrey’s finally going on trial, and that she hopes her daughter will get justice.
The case, which was filed in the Lamoille County seat of Hyde Park, is being heard in Vermont District Court in White River Junction, where it was moved because of concerns about pre-trial publicity affecting would-be jurors.