Naman Shrestha
In April 2010, when a divorced mother of two named Kathy Goble disappeared in Charleston, West Virginia, shockwaves were sent across the community. Her loved ones were devastated when her remains were discovered several miles away from her home. As the detectives dug deep into her life, they eliminated a long list of suspects until her burial site led them right to the perpetrator responsible for the gruesome crime. The episode titled ‘Suited for Murder’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Betrayed’ chronicles the murder and the investigation that followed in a detailed manner, thanks to interviews with Kathy’s loved ones and the officials who helped solve the case.
Kathy Goble’s Remains Were Found Two Years After She Went Missing
Sheila “Kathy” Long Goble was described by her family and friends as a fun and loving woman. She spent most of her life in Charleston, West Virginia, from her birth on December 16, 1947, through her adulthood, while working at Kelley’s Men’s Shop. The beloved daughter of Frederick and Helen Long maintained a decades-long friendship with Karen White, whom she considered her sister. Her two marriages didn’t work out, but her marriage to David McCartney resulted in the birth of her two sons, Paul and Jason McCartney. Despite the divorce, she maintained contact with David.
By March 2010, Kathy had been dating Fred Ferrell for a couple of years but wasn’t ready to get married, according to the documentary. Everything seemed to be going well in her personal and professional life until fate intervened on the fateful night of April 24, 2010. While Fred went out on a fishing trip on Cherry River, she headed to work. According to the documentary, investigators explored an incident where a coworker’s daughter, Nicole Helms, allegedly asked Kathy to give her Xanax. Authorities noted at the time that Nicole was likely struggling with addiction, which led Kathy to refuse the request. At the end of the workday, her co-worker, Charles, walked Kathy back to her car, and both went their separate ways.
Per reports, Kathy went to Fred’s place to clean it up for him before visiting her ex-husband, David. A couple of days later, her son, Jason, learned that she didn’t show up for work that morning. He then visited her apartment to check on her, but she was nowhere to be found. Jason found no sign of a struggle, and all her belongings were still there. Thus, that same day, he reported his 62-year-old mother missing to the authorities. During the search for the missing mother of two, the police found her abandoned car along Interstate 64, but no sign of her. About two years after her disappearance, on April 25, 2012, the police received a 911 call from a man who found human remains in his father’s backyard in Chesapeake, West Virginia. It was determined that the remains belonged to Kathy Goble, who had been strangled to death.
Kathy Goble’s Killer Made a Chilling Confession
In the days following Kathy Goble’s disappearance, the police interviewed her family, friends, and other people in her social circle. Her ex-husband, David, told the detectives that she went to Fred Ferrell’s place on the fateful night. During his interview, Fred told them that he and Kathy were close friends and not partners. The investigators also questioned Kathy’s coworker, Charles Eugene March, who had developed a romantic interest in her. He alleged that Kathy was having a secret affair with one of her clients, a married man named Dr. Ken Dwyer. Charles further claimed that Ken gave her thousands of dollars for her expenses. When interrogated, the doctor asserted he was with his wife when Kathy went missing. Ken was entirely eliminated as a suspect after investigators corroborated his alibi and administered a polygraph.
The authorities briefly suspected Nicole when she reportedly didn’t show up for a lie detector test and asked for a lawyer. However, they ultimately found no evidence linking her to the disappearance and cleared her as a suspect. For the next two years, they kept digging but came across only dead ends. The 911 call that they received on April 25, 2012, was the break that cracked the case wide open. The property on Ohio Avenue in Chesapeake, where Kathy’s remains were discovered, belonged to Charles. As he was brought in for questioning again, he ended up confessing to killing his coworker. However, he claimed that she was suicidal and offered him $500 to kill her. Charles told the detectives that he accepted her alleged request and proceeded to strangle her to death.
According to the police’s theory, the coworker lured Kathy out of her apartment by asking for a favor. Midway through, he allegedly asked her to park her car on the side of the road and get into his car. Once she was in his house, it is alleged that the two got into an altercation. After tying her to the bed with neckties, Charles raped her before strangling her with both hands. As per his confession, he also put a plastic bag over her head to make sure she was dead. He admitted to dismembering her remains with a handsaw and wrapping her remains in a blanket. After burying her remains in his yard, he also admittedly buried her purse near his deck. Consequently, he was arrested and charged with the murder of Kathy Goble.
Charles March Passed Away While Serving His Sentence
A few months later, in December 2012, Charles March entered an Alford plea, agreeing to the punishment for the crime but maintaining his innocence. However, on January 31, 2013, he pleaded guilty to killing his coworker, Kathy Goble. During the hearing, the prosecution highlighted how the defendant performed the killing and dismemberment systematically, with the help of expert testimony. Thus, Charles was sentenced to life in prison. During his sentencing hearing, the killer read a prepared statement aloud.
He stated, “I live with the guilt every day and will live with that guilt as long as I live. It never goes away. It’s on my mind every day and in my dreams every night. I know what I did resulted in her death, and while that wasn’t my intent, at this point, what I intended doesn’t matter. The result is all that matters, and what I did killed her.” In the following months, he went through multiple medical issues. Reports suggest that he also tried to take his own life while he was behind bars at the South Central Regional Jail. Less than two years into his term, on December 23, 2014, the 62-year-old killer died in the Mount Olive Correctional Complex in Fayette County, West Virginia.
Read More: Barbara Blatnik Murder: What Happened to James Zastawnik?
