Sept. 7, 2006, 10:36PM
Two men charged in slaying of disabled vet
By CINDY HORSWELL
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Two Baytown men have been charged with capital murder in the death of Barney Goodman, a disabled Vietnam veteran who was robbed and beaten with a baseball bat.

Kenneth Dollery, 22, and Hollis B. Buckley, 21, both unemployed, were arrested at a mobile home park in Baytown Thursday.

Both have given statements admitting their involvement in Goodman's death, said Liberty County Sheriff Greg Arthur.

Goodman, 57, who had served a stint in Vietnam in the U.S. Marines, lost both his legs last year to diabetes, said his brother, Richard Ford.

"My brother had just learned to walk again with artificial legs," Ford said. Goodman also recently survived cancer.

Before his health deteriorated, Goodman had been striving to become a country music singer.

As for the two suspects charged in the killing, Ford said, "They didn't have to do it. He had no legs. They just didn't want a witness left behind."

Arthur said the two suspects, who are cousins, told authorities they were angry with Goodman and "wanted to teach him a lesson" because he owed Buckley's mother a month's rent. Goodman and the suspects were living in the same mobile home with Buckley's mother, said Liberty County Sheriff's Capt. Chip Fairchild.

Goodman died Saturday at a Houston hospital from internal injuries after being beaten on Friday. According to investigators, Goodman agreed to go with the suspects in their car without realizing their intent.

Investigators say the suspects drove Goodman from Baytown to a bridge on FM 2090 just over the Liberty County line. Arthur said they beat him underneath the bridge, threw his artificial legs into the San Jacinto River, and left him there.

Goodman took several hours to claw his way up a 40-foot riverbank and waited until a motorist stopped to render aid. Taken to the hospital, he identified himself and gave a vague account of an attack by two men before passing out. He was unable to be interviewed by investigators before he died.

A capital murder conviction carries a possible death sentence. Goodman was buried Thursday in Baytown.

cindy.horswell@chron.com

Ellie