Capital murder suspect eyes January release: From Death Row to bond in Beaumont

Five years after jurors sentenced a now-44-year-old man to death for killing a mother and daughter – allegedly for the former calling to report him for a crime – a judge began the process to set a “reasonable bond” for the defendant’s potential release from jail Nov. 2.

Joseph Kenneth Colone, 44, sat on death row for five years after his 2017 sentencing, which followed the 2010 double murder of Mary and Brianna Goodman. And, since the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned that conviction March 2, Colone could be released as soon as Jan. 27, 2023, once the presiding guest judge has had time to review more than 200 pages of documents detailing the alleged murderer’s convictions.

Colone’s attorney, Mark Hochglaube, filed a writ for bail to be set ahead of the defendant’s retrial, ultimately asking Harris County’s Judge Susan Brown (from the Eleventh Administrative Judicial Region of Texas) to set the bond at $100,000. Brown, a visiting judge ruling in Judge Raquel West’s Jefferson County 252nd District Court, accepted rebuttal from prosecutors seeking a $2.5 million bond for the alleged double murderer.

“We’d like to ask the court consider the future safety of the victims,” said Prosecutor Pat Knauth from the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. “We think the future of the community is at risk. The reason we say these things is that the defendant has a lengthy criminal history: everything from felony theft; two counts of aggravated robbery, for which he received 13 years in the pen; possession of marijuana; possession of marijuana; carrying of a prohibited weapon. And, then all of this culminated in a daylight, armored-car robbery in the middle of Walmart, where he dressed up in a wig and tried to disguise himself.”

Knauth said authorities subsequently caught Colone for the aforementioned crime spree and a federal judge sentenced him to serve 87 months in prison on June 9, 2002. Once released on parole, Knauth recounted, the accused murderer participated in an aggravated robbery at a game room on June 24, 2010.

“He walked in, again wearing a mask,” he said. “Then, he robbed the patrons there, the two store owners, the two clerks that were there – he pistol-whipped one of them and held them at gunpoint. Later, he made them strip off their shoes and their pants and made them lay on top of each other.”

Investigators developed Colone as a suspect for the crime before an eyewitness sent in a CrimeStoppers tip, further confirming their investigation.

“Mary Goodman came in and gave a statement; she was scared to death that this man was going to hurt her,” Knauth revealed. “(A detective) assured her that wasn’t going to happen, that doesn’t normally happen and that the system would protect her.

“Subsequently, he was released on July 29, 2010. He was released on bond for that aggravated robbery. On July 31, 2010, he went to the home of Mary Goodman, with a mask, and shot and killed her. (He) tried to kill two other people, Mr. Reed and Robert Fontenot, who ran. Then, when the 16-year-old daughter of Mary Goodman came back to appear for her mother, (Colone) put a pistol to her head and shot her in the head.”

After the double homicide, the defendant proceeded to flee to Houston, Knauth presented. U.S. Marshals found Colone on Aug. 11, 2010, held up in a Houston hotel with a woman named Ebony Andrews. The duo answered knocks, but wouldn’t open the door for authorities, the prosecutor shared.

“They had to use a battering ram and knock a hole through the door,” Knauth described, saying authorities again asked Colone to open the door, to which the man allegedly responded, “Come on, come and get me.”

“So, they had to knock the whole door down, and go in (to) get him,” Knauth said.

Stirring trouble behind bars

While Colone was incarcerated and awaiting trial, jailers reported finding “different types of evidence” in the man’s cell. Among items they found were bare razor blades, a metal shank, the tip of a screwdriver, a broken glass mirror and duct tape. Knauth further described two books Colone apparently made notes in during his stint.

“One of the books was Spanish for Dummies, with a map, a location circled in Mexico where – we contend – he was intending to go,” Knauth alleged. “Also, there was a book on military defensive tactics, military takedowns on sentries. He would walk up behind a sentry and with a sharp, metal object – like a shank or a screwdriver – he would stab the guard in the back of the neck, and it was an immediate kill and takedown. So, these are things we found in his jail cell while we’re proceeding to trial.

“He had circled certain tactics he liked and written notes on them. There’s a diagram of a soldier stabbing another with a very thin, long instrument, like a shank, and the text was highlighted. Written words through this book included, ‘Excellent technique’ with a check mark.”

Knauth said Colone has a propensity to attack those who stand in the way of his freedom. Given the serious threat to the community Colone allegedly poses, the prosecutor asked for Judge Brown to set multimillion-dollar bail – for the two murders and “exigent” circumstances.

“Also, during the trial, the defendant became combative and threatened the guard,” Knauth said. “They had to Taze him while the trial was going on.

“For all those reasons and more we feel like the defendant is a risk to everyone that’s associated with this case. Whether it’s his attorney, whether it’s witnesses, he’s shown a tendency to attack or remove anybody that gets between him and his freedom.”

Should Judge Brown grant a bond sufficiently low enough for Colone to afford, Hochglaube said the man could stay at either his parents’ or sister’s house. While the latter sailed by without issue, Knauth did pose a problem with Colone staying at his parents’ home.

According to transcripts Knauth quoted from the previous trial, Colone’s father admitted on the stand to paying a witness to tell the jury his son was innocent; that left Judge Brown to opine, “That may not be a great place for him to be.”

After conferring with attorneys over when the parties could return to resume Colone’s bond hearing – once she’s been able to review hundreds of pages – Judge Brown set the defendant’s next appearance for Jan. 27, 2023. Colone will then learn how much it’ll cost to post bail; it could also be when the judge sets a trial date. Currently, Colone has been released from the confines of Death Row, and is sitting in lockup in the Jefferson County Jail.

Prosecutors say they are ready to proceed with trial at the court’s earliest convenience; Hochglaube, however, said, “I don’t have a light at the end of the tunnel to say when I will be ready for trial.”

– Jennifer Johnson
contributed to this report.