DA: Lab delays stall indictment of man charged in 8 deaths

BROOKHAVEN, Miss. – A Mississippi prosecutor says grand jurors won’t consider charges this year against a man accused of killing eight people in May.

Lincoln County District Attorney Dee Bates tells The Daily Leader that a shortage of pathologists at the state crime lab means autopsy reports haven’t been finalized.

Bates says he expects to present the case against 35-year-old Willie Godbolt to a grand jury in February or later.

Godbolt has been jailed without bail since his May 28 arrest, shortly after the fatal shootings of a sheriff’s deputy and seven of Godbolt’s relatives or acquaintances.

The killings May 27 and 28 occurred at three homes in and around Brookhaven. They began after a deputy responded to a disturbance call at a home where witnesses say Godbolt was arguing with his estranged wife.

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Information from: The Daily Leader, http://www.dailyleader.com