JACKSON, Miss. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Mississippi death row inmate’s convictions for the slayings of eight people, including his mother-in-law and a deputy sheriff, over one night in 2017.
Willie Cory Godbolt had filed a handwritten petition in August seeking the high court’s review of a decision by the Mississippi Supreme Court affirming his convictions and death sentences.
In his petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, he claimed an ineffective defense and illegal search, among other violations. The justices, who typically don’t explain their decision to deny review, did not say why they rejected Godbolt’s case.
Investigators said the violence began when Godbolt went to his in-laws’ house on May 27, 2017, and argued with his estranged wife about their children.
The family called for help, and a Lincoln County deputy sheriff who responded was fatally shot in the face. Godbolt’s mother-in-law and two other people were killed there. In the early hours of the next day, an 18-year-old and an 11-year-old were killed in a second house, and a married couple was killed in a third house.
Godbolt was convicted in February 2020 of four counts of capital murder, four counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, one count of attempted murder and one count of armed robbery.
A jury sentenced Godbolt to death for each of the capital murders. For the other convictions, Godbolt was sentenced to six life sentences and two 20-year terms.
Godbolt, now 42, is on death row at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.
The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed his convictions and death sentences in March 2024.