Eric Brian Golden sentenced to life. Or 14 years. Whichever comes first.

Eric Brian Golden sentenced to life. Or 14 years. Whichever comes first.

Eric Brian GoldenAn alert reader notified me that on Tuesday, October 17, Eric Brian Golden admitted to murdering his wife, DeeDee Marie Golden late one night 11 months ago, on November 17, 2005.

If you’re new to this blog, I wrote about Brian Golden previously. He was an ordained Assemblies of God minister, serving as youth pastor at Southside A/G, in Savannah, Georgia. Here are the former posts:

According to the news reports so far (WTVM9 and SavannahNow), the Chatham County DA agreed to drop the charge for “concealment of death” in exchange for a guilty plea to a charge of felony murder by aggravated battery by Golden. I’m not sure what that got him, because he received a life sentence. W. Down Bonds, a family law attorney representing Golden, made it sound more like a gesture of contrition:

“It was his intent in taking this plea agreement to accept responsibility for the crime, and to spare his family and the victim’s family the agony of a protracted trial … This plea of guilty was in conformity with Mr. Golden’s wishes, and also provides closure to both families in this terrible tragedy.”

More details have surfaced about that night in November. We already knew that Golden had been arrested for pandering in June 2004 when he offered an undercover officer $20 for oral sex. What we didn’t know then was that he had been using porn in the interim — not surprising — and that DeeDee had been talking about divorce and on the night of her murder she demanded he attend counseling. But Brian Golden was concerned about his reputation and his job — worried that he might not be allowed to continue as a youth pastor if divorced. According to Brian, DeeDee had also been drinking that day, and was angry about a youth he had taken to the mall.

He snapped.

DeeDee’s autopsy revealed blunt force trauma to her neck, and signs of asphyxiation. Earlier reports said her neck had been broken. In Golden’s preliminary hearing, he said they were wrestling, “I’m not sure exactly what happened, but at some point her head twisted and it felt like her neck was broken. … I could tell she was badly injured. She didn’t move at all and she had the oddest look on her face, like it was frozen in shock. I reached for where we were on the floor and grabbed a pillow. I placed it over her face to hide that look.”

And then he hid her body.

Robert McKie, DeeDee’s father, remarked on the aftermath for family and friends of the Goldens: “When someone makes a wrong decision like this, it’s like a tidal wave washes over everyone who knew them. … We’ve all struggled.”

DeeDee’s sister was less philosophical. Taking the stand on Tuesday, she said Golden deserved death.

Eric Brian Golden will be eligible for parole in 14 years.

[tags]BlogRodent, DeeDee-Golden, Eric-Brian-Golden, Golden, murder, youth-pastor, Savannah, Georgia, assembly-of-god, assemblies-of-god, wife-abuse, religion, Christianity, Pentecostal[/tags]

6 thoughts on “Eric Brian Golden sentenced to life. Or 14 years. Whichever comes first.

  1. Marc V

    “… provides closure to both families in this terrible tragedy.”

    Would that it could be so. A sad part to this story is that as a pastor he should be very familiar with humbling himself and the steps of repentance. He was interested in neither, and now families are torn apart.

    Some sins have a horrible price, yet all can lead to the worst predicament: a separation from God. Time to pray.

  2. PASTOR PHIL

    Dear Marc V,

    No offense but regarding your comment, the only information that we have here to go off of is that in the courtroom he offered no words to either his or her family. We don’t know any other communications that they have had.

    It is a slippery slope that got Brian to to that road where he would kill his wife and we don’t know all the details there either.

    We can set here and judge all day long based on the information that we have at hand (which is sketchy at best). That is something that I wanted to do all day this past Friday when I first found out about all of this. But I had to submit all of the grief that had overcome me to the LORD.

    You see… this thing hits me VERY hard. Brian and DeeDee were both very good friends to me in college. We entered college as freshmen together. Ate dinner at each others tables. Studied together. Prayed together. Cut classes together to go eat at a Edelweiss, a German restaurant that was a favorite among Southeastern students and professors.

    If we are to be Christ-like… we are to forgive and to pray for DeeDee’s family. Pray for Michael… I held this kid when he was only 2 years old and would never have imagined that 14 years later he would have something like this to deal with. And we are to pray for Brian… yes Brian. Does he deserve death? Yes. Has he committed a horrible crime? Yes. Does he deserve hell? Yes. But let’s keep in mind… we all deserve death (for the wages of sin is death). We have all fallen and come short of the glory of God. But thank God that we have a Saviour who forgives. Let us forgive with the same measure that we have been forgiven.

    Just think about this the way that Christ would.

    Jesus said to bless them curse you… to pray for your enemies. That doesn’t seem natural but what Christ has done for us is not natural either.

    In Christ,

    Philip White

  3. anonymous

    Funny how they mention not his affairwith a girl in the youth group as well- the girl the arguement was over.

    Funny how they don’t mention how terrible his lies were and how the police needed not his work computer they found so much on his home computer.

  4. anonymous

    Anyone who knew DeeDee knew that she was NOT drinking the night of this horrible tragedy. I believe it was also proven in the toxicology reports that no alcohol was present.

    Brian is guilty of premeditated murder. And he will pay dearly in hell for this because we all know that in order to receive forgiveness, one must truly, deeply, HONESTLY, repent. And, until he can honestly admit to the truth of his crime, he will not be forgiven. God knows his heart and He knows Brian has not even begun to ADMIT to the acts of that night. A plea bargain in Court is not an act of penance.

    Yes, we are supposed to forgive, but as a close friend of DeeDee’s, and as a part of my weak human nature, I can not forgive Brian for what he did…not yet. I pray for the strenght to forgive, but it has not yet reached me.

    And, may God be merciful to the young lady (the 3rd party so incredibly hidden) involved in this crime. She is just as responsible as Brian.

  5. A. B.

    He had a sexual relationship with a 15 year old girl from the youth group. DeeDee had a right to be upset. Especially since that 15 year old bitch was “dating” their son. And the senior pastor was informed a month prior to the murder about suspicion of an inappropriate relationship between Brian and that girl. Did anything get done? NO!!! also that girls mother should have pressed additional charges to make sure he doesn’t get out!!! Dee Dee did not deserve to die like this and it will be my mission to make sure women realize when they are married to a monster. The signs were there. He started with the mental abuse and then he snapped. I believe to this day that he planned the murder for a while and that the girl helped him. How else did he make it look like Dee Dee ran off to her sisters and got “robbed”?

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