Larry Epstein

East Cobb man gets life sentence for killing home contractor

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Larry Epstein, East Cobb man gets life sentence
Larry Epstein has been in custody since the March 6, 2019 shootings at his home on Wellington Lane.

An East Cobb homeowner set to go on trial next month for shooting a home contractor to death and seriously wounding another has been sentenced to life in prison.

During a plea hearing in Cobb Superior Court on Tuesday, Larry Epstein, 70, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to murder, aggravated assault and possession of a weapon while committing a felony, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s office.

He has been in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center since March 2019 for shooting Jake Horne, then 21, and Gordon Montcalm, then 38, who were leaving his home after doing some electrical contracting work.

Horne was sitting in a van outside Epstein’s home on Wellington Lane off Johnson Ferry Road on March 6, 2019 when he was shot execution-style in the head with a .22-caliber handgun with a suppressor, according to the Cobb DA’s office.

According to statements at Tuesday’s hearing, Montcalm was getting ready to leave in another vehicle and tried to get away, but Epstein fired his gun at him several times.

According to testimony offered at Tuesday’s hearing, Epstein’s wife arrived at the home just before police arrived, and Montcalm screamed at her that Epstein had shot him and Horne.

The Cobb DA’s office said Montcalm escaped to a neighboring home and wounds to his face, back and arms were treated by a nurse living at that home and who called 911.

Horne was taken off life support the following day at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, where Montcalm was hospitalized with long recovery.

“Epstein executed Jake, robbing him of life’s most precious experiences—owning a home, getting married, having children—at the young age of 21. And even though Montcalm survived, he is forever scarred, both physically and emotionally,” said Jesse Evans, the Cobb deputy chief assistant district attorney.

Horne’s uncle John Savell told the court the loss of his nephew leaves an “unfillable void,” according to the Cobb DA’s office, which said Montcalm did not attend the hearing but supported the case being resolved without a trial.

Cobb jury trials are set to resume in April after nearly a year of backlogs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this month Epstein’s attorney tried to delay the trial until August, saying that his client wanted to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before having a trial. Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris also had ordered a psychiatric evaluation of Epstein, whose attorney has said in court filings suffers from mental illness.

At Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors said that after officers arrived at the Epstein home, they discovered a surveillance camera video that showed part of the murder.

Police blocked off the street, and the Cobb DA’s office said that after Epstein surrendered peacefully, he waived his Miranda rights.

Testimony introduced at the hearing said during a search warrant at Epstein’s home, officers found firearms, including the murder weapon and the suppressor hidden in the garage.

Prosecutors aid the handgun was “positively linked by ballistics testing to the shootings of Horne and Montcalm.”

The day after Epstein’s arrest, his wife filed for divorce.

Harris called the incident an “irreparable tragedy” as she issued the life sentence.

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Top East Cobb stories for 2019: Homeowner charged with murder

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Jake Horne, East Cobb shooting victim, East Cobb man indicted murder
Jake Horne was taken off life support after being shot outside an East Cobb home in March; the homeowner, Larry Epstein, was charged with his murder.

A quiet East Cobb neighborhood became the focus of an intense law enforcement presence one afternoon in early March 2019 after two home contractors were shot in what some residents thought was an active shooter situation.

Cobb Police ordered residents to stay inside as they closed off Wellington Lane, off Johnson Ferry Road, and sent in SWAT officers and a mobile command unit.

A nearby resident told East Cobb News she’d never seen so much police concentrated in the area, a situation drawing heavy metro Atlanta media coverage as well.

A resident of Kensington, the neighborhood in question, told East Cobb News that “they have us pretty blocked in but not giving any info. They are in SWAT gear with guns drawn.”

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An hour or so after police came to the scene, the standoff ended peacefully when Larry Epstein, a resident of the Wellington Lane home where the shootings occurred, surrendered.

Two electrical contractors doing work at his home were rushed to WellStar Kennestone Hospital.

One of them, Jake Horne, 21, of Kennesaw, was taken off life support and pronounced dead the following morning after being shot in the head. Gordon Montcalm, 37, of Buchanan, Ga., was listed in serious condition and faced a long recovery.

Epstein, 69, was charged with murder and he remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center after being denied bond.

During his probable cause hearing, police said Epstein had accused the workers of killing pet ducks at the home, although there was no evidence of those acts.

The families of the victims were left to scramble to raise funds for medical and funeral expenses, and to comprehend what had happened.

“This is a boy that would give you the shirt off of his back. He had a heart of gold,” said Lisa Godsey, Horne’s aunt, who lives in California. “He thought of everyone else before himself.”

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East Cobb man indicted for murder of home contractor

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Jake Horne, East Cobb shooting victim, East Cobb man indicted murder

An East Cobb man charged in March with shooting two home contractors—one of them fatally—was indicted Thursday for murder and aggravated assault.

A Cobb Superior Court grand jury returned indictments of malice murder, felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of possessing a firearm while committing a felony against Larry Epstein, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.

Epstein, 69, has been held without bond at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center since his March 6 arrest for the shootings. Jake Horne, 21, of Kennesaw (in photo) died from gunshot wounds sustained at the Epstein’s Wellington Lane home, according to Cobb Police.

Gordon Montcalm, 37, of Buchanan, Ga., also was shot at the home, police said, and he has been undergoing what family members have said is a long recovery.

Police said Horne and Montcalm were finishing up their workday on a contracting project at Epstein’s home, located in a quiet neighborhood off Johnson Ferry Road, when gunfire erupted.

Neighbors reported an active shooter situation to police, who urged them to go inside, as SWAT and other emergency units arrived and blocked off the street.

About a half-hour after the heavy law enforcement presence came to the scene, Epstein surrendered peacefully, according to police.

Horne died later that day after being rushed to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, after family members said he was taken off life support.

Epstein’s wife filed for divorce after separating from her husband of 48 years the day after the shootings, according to Cobb court documents.

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East Cobb shooting suspect remains in jail; wife files for divorce

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Larry Joel Epstein, charged in the March 6 shootings of two electrical contractors working at his East Cobb home, remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond after a probable cause hearing on Tuesday.East Cobb shooting suspect, Larry Epstein

Epstein, 69, was arrested after a heavy police presence stemming from the shootings on Wellington Lane, off Johnson Ferry Road.

One of the contractors, Jake Horne, 21, of Kennesaw, died after being shot in the head.

The other worker, Gordon Montcalm, 37, of Buchanan, Ga., was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital after being shot five times and is facing a long recovery, according to family members.

Epstein was charged with one count of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated battery. He has been held at the jail without bond since his arrest, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.

Cobb Police have not indicated a motive for the shootings.

According to Cobb Magistrate Court records, Epstein’s court-appointed attorneys did not pursue a bond request.

Kim Isaza, public information officer for the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, said the next step is to present the case to a grand jury, ideally within a 90-day period.

The quiet neighborhood street in the Kensington subdivision was blocked off by police, including SWAT units and the Cobb Police mobile command unit, after a resident called 911 to report an active shooter.

Other neighbors were asked to stay inside after the shootings, which took place around 2:30 p.m., and as the contractors were wrapping up their work day at Epstein’s home. Police said Epstein was peacefully taken into custody shortly after 3 p.m.

East Cobb News does not publish photographs of crime suspects before their cases have gone through the legal system, and then only if they are convicted or plead guilty and are sentenced.

On Monday, Bonnie Irlyn Epstein, Epstein’s wife since 1971, filed for divorce in Cobb Superior Court, saying the marriage “is irretrievably broken.”

Court documents indicate that Bonnie Epstein separated from her husband on March 7, the day after the shootings, and that her divorce complaint was to be served to him at the jail.

 

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East Cobb shooting survivor recovering; homeowner charged with murder

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Gordon Montcalm, East Cobb shooting survivor

The electrical contractor who survived a shooting allegedly committed by an East Cobb homeowner last week is beginning what appears to be a long recovery, according to information posted with a fundraising appeal for medical and other expenses.

In a GoFundMe page, friends and family of Gordon Montcalm (center, above) said he was shot five times: Once in the face, once in the chest, twice in the arm and once in the back.

Montcalm, 37, of Buchanan, Ga., was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital after he and his apprentice, Jake Horne, 21, of Kennesaw, were shot at the end of their working day at a home on Wellington Lane on Wednesday.

Horne, who was shot in the head, was taken off life support and died on Thursday, according to his family members.

The homeowner, Larry Epstein, 69, of 1963 Wellington Lane, was initially charged with two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of aggravated assault.

After Horne died, Epstein also was charged with one count of felony murder, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office. He remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond, and is scheduled to have a hearing March 26.

Police previously said Montcalm was in serious condition at Kennestone. The fundraising note said the man who’s known as “Donnie” will be out of work indefinitely, his wife is taking off work to care for him and the couple has a daughter in high school: “There is so much financial struggle going on right now. . . . and there are many expenses that go along with that they are not going to be able to afford.”

The fundraising goal is $4,000.

 

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East Cobb shooting victim, 21, has died; family raising funds for funeral

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Jake Horne, East Cobb shooting victim dies
Photo of Jake Horne courtesy Lisa Watkins Godsey

A man who was working on an electrical project at an East Cobb home on Wednesday has died after a double shooting there, Cobb Police said Thursday afternoon.

Lisa Watkins Godsey and Jessica Godsey Smith, the aunt and cousin, respectively, of Jake Allen Horne, 21, of Kennesaw, left messages with East Cobb News earlier Thursday saying that he had died.

(Previous ECN story here.)

Police didn’t initially confirm that information. They said that Horne, who was shot in the head, and his boss, Gordon Montcalm, 37, of Buchanan, Ga., who was shot multiple times, were taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital after the shootings Wednesday afternoon at a residence in East Cobb.

They were listed in serious condition, police previously said.

Larry Epstein, 68, the homeowner of a residence at 1963 Wellington Lane, is being held without bond in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated battery, police said.

In a statement issued around 3:30 p.m. Thursday Cobb Police said the department’s “Crimes Against Persons Unit will be working with the District Attorney’s Office to upgrade the offense appropriately.”

Horne and Montcalm were at Epstein’s home, located in the Kensington neighborhood off Johnson Ferry Road, and had completed work for the day, around 2:25 p.m., when there was an argument between them and the homeowner, according to police.

The argument escalated, and police said Horne and Montcalm were shot by the homeowner. Sgt. Wayne Delk of Cobb Police said they still don’t know what led to the dispute.

Cobb Police sent a heavy presence into the community, located between Sewell Mill Road and Oak Lane, including a SWAT team, mobile command unit and helicopters, after someone called 911 about an active shooter there.

A Wellington Lane resident told East Cobb News the street was blocked off and she and other neighbors were ordered to stay inside for a time.

Epstein was taken into custody around 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon and was booked overnight, according to Cobb Sheriff’s records.

Godsey said Horne was declared brain-dead Wednesday and life support was turned off Thursday morning.

Lisa Godsey, who lives in California and formerly resided in Cherokee County, told East Cobb News that her nephew was an apprentice electrician who was working for Montcalm. He had turned 21 only in January, she said.

“This is a boy that would give you the shirt off of his back. He had a heart of gold,” Godsey said about Horne in a message to East Cobb News. “He thought of everyone else before himself.”

Horne lived for a while in California, Godsey said, and “was best friends with my sons,” and later returned home to Georgia to be near his sister Sadie, who is a few years younger.

“My cousin was one of the victims,” Jessica Godsey Smith said. “Hope the man rots in jail for what he did to him.” She also left Horne a message on her Facebook page Thursday morning:
“We made plans for tomorrow night. My heart hurts so unbelievably much right now. You had such a great heart. You always had a smile on your face, to know you was to love you. And you were truly like a brother to me.”

Friends and family members said the Horne siblings lost their mother and father in recent years, and now Sadie Horne is planning her brother’s funeral.

Lisa Godsey said a Go Fund Me page has been set up for Horne’s funeral expenses.

“This is a very unfair thing,” Godsey said. “We demand Justice for Jake. Please show the world what has been taken. I pray that he is high in the heavens with his new wings.”

Cobb Police said their investigation into the shootings is continuing and that anyone with information should call 770-499-3945.

 

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