Privy Council Denies Goodman “Last Chance Appeal”

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Convicted child killer Kofhe Goodman’s fight for his freedom has come to an end: the country’s highest  court has denied him a last chance appeal against his conviction and 55-year sentence for the murder of 11-year-old Marco Archer. 

The Privy Council dismissed Goodman’s application because “the proposed appeal is devoid of merit and has no prospect of success.”

Goodman, 47,  has been tried twice for Marco’s murder.

Marco was last seen alive on September  23, 2011 when he left his home at Brougham Street to go to a shop in his neighbourhood.

A search for the missing child ended tragically on September 28 when Marco’s badly decomposed body was found behind Number 121 Yorkshire Street, the townhouse complex where Goodman lived.

Marco’s naked body was wrapped in a floral flat sheet that matched the fitted sheet found on the bed in Goodman’s room. His clothing,  underwear, and slippers were found in a garbage in front of the complex.

Marco’s and Goodman’s DNA were found on the clothing.

Prosecutors argued that Goodman kidnapped Marco with the intention of sexually abusing him, and he killed him with a blow to the back of the head when Marco resisted.

Goodman was first convicted of Marco’s murder in August 2013 and sentenced to death in October of the same year.

However, in September 2016, the Court of Appeal overturned the  conviction and sentence due to pre-trial publicity and the conduct of defense counsel.

Goodman was convicted for a second time on May 30, 2017.

At a sentencing hearing on May 7, 2018, Goodman was sentenced to 55 years in prison.

The sentence however, was reduced to 48 years after taking into account the seven years that Goodman had spent on remand.

The Court of Appeal dismissed Goodman’s challenge to his conviction and sentence on June 14, 2021.