Three months to the day that two Cobb Sheriff’s deputies were shot to death, the man charged with their murders pleaded guilty.
Christopher Patrick Golden accepted a plea deal Thursday in Cobb Superior Court and was sentenced to two life terms plus 55 years, without the possibility of parole, by Judge Julie A. Jacobs.
According to Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady, that’s the maximum sentence possible in Georgia short of the death penalty.
His office declared it would be seeking the death penalty against Golden, whom Cobb Police said shot deputies Marshall Ervin and John Koleski with a rifle on Sept. 8.
The deputies were serving a warrant to Christopher Cook, a resident at a home in West Cobb, in the Cheatham Hill area, when gunfire broke out. Ervin, 38, and Koleski, 42, were pronounced dead on the scene.
After a standoff, Golden and Cook were arrested.
Golden was charged with two counts of felony murder and two counts of aggravated assault. Cook was charged with eight counts of theft by deception and theft by receiving stolen property.
Golden was to have had an arraignment hearing on Thursday. But at a press conference after the plea deal, Broady said Golden’s attorneys approached his office about considering life without parole in lieu of seeking capital punishment.
As part of his plea, Golden waived all post-conviction relief, including parole, clemency, or pardon, according to the Cobb DA’s office.
Broady said his office met with the families of Ervin and Koleski and that after lengthy discussions, “we made the mutual decision” to agree to the plea deal.
“Although nothing will ever replace the lives of Marshall and John, this plea today will allow their families to put the case behind them and focus on healing,” he said.
When asked about the reason Golden’s attorneys sought the plea deal, Broady deferred to his deputy chief assistant DA, Jason Sabila, who was assigned to prosecute the case.
Sabila said that based on a second interview with Cobb detectives, Golden “was very cognizant that this was a death penalty case. He referenced it repeatedly . . .
“We certainly don’t know for sure, but my assumption is that he knew where this was headed . . . and what this community was going to do.”
Broady declined to speculate on the motive for the shootings, since Cook still faces charges. Golden said nothing during the plea proceedings in court Thursday.
Cobb Sheriff Craig Owens read a prepared statement at the press conference.
“Today a man was brought to justice for the terror that he brought to our community,” Owens said. “He robbed two women of their loving husbands, and denied two beautiful daughters of having their father play catch, play softball after school.
“That evildoer has stood before God today and acknowledged what he did. Our hearts are still hurting, But tonight we will sleep a little softer knowing this case is behind us.”
Of the slain deputies, the first in Cobb to die in the line of duty in nearly 30 years, Owens said “their memories will be a blessing to us all. We will continue to honor them each and every day when we put on this uniform and serve the people of Cobb County.”
Related:
- Retiring Cobb Solicitor named Magistrate Court judge
- Suspect arrested at Roswell Road apartment after police standoff
- NE Cobb woman arrested for murder at Loch Highland home
- Man arrested after knife threat at East Cobb Wendy’s
- Cobb Sheriff: Deputy killings ‘hurt all of us’
- 3 charged at Chattahoochee NRA Sope Creek after car break-ins
- 2 Cobb sheriff’s deputies killed serving warrant; 2 arrested
- East Cobb man sentenced for child sexual exploitation
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