Attempted murder?

PALMER — Did a Wasilla man intend to kill when he fired a shotgun through a door into another man’s side or was he acting in self-defense?

A jury was convened Thursday to settle that question in the case of Kenneth Goldsbury, 54, who faces attempted murder and assault charges for the Super Bowl Sunday shooting at the Roadside Inn on the Parks Highway.

According to Assistant District Attorney Kerry Corliss’ opening statements, both Goldsbury and the man he shot, Marvin Long, were living at the motel as more-or-less permanent residents. Long had been there for years. Goldsbury was a more recent arrival. The day of the shooting they were both drunk and had been arguing over drywall supplies, she said.

She said state statutes allow for reasonable actions to defend oneself with deadly force. But she disputed that Goldsbury was in danger and, anyway, pointed out that what Goldsbury did wasn’t reasonable.

“It’s not reasonable for one man to shoot another, unarmed man through a locked metal door,” Corliss said.

In his opening remarks, Goldsbury’s attorney, Sam Westergrin, just urged the jury to keep an open mind. He asked them to pay attention to the type of weapon his client used — a shotgun — and the type of pellets — birdshot.

Also, he said, his client had reason to fear for his safety.

“I suggest to you that more was here than Mr. Long knocking on the door asking about some drywall,” Westergrin said.

After the lawyers gave their statements, Long was the first witness to take the stand. He said he’d known Goldsbury for a year or two.

“There’s something about him and me that just didn’t click from just about the time we met,” Long said of Goldsbury Still, “I would try to be personable,”

He said the two had argued many a time, most notably last spring when some boxes of drywall mud Long had stored in the motel’s furnace room went missing. They argued quite a bit over that. At one point they almost came to blows over it, a fact that came out when Westergrin asked Long if he’d ever threatened injury on someone.

“Yeah, as a matter of fact on him,” Long said, pointing to Goldsbury.

“You threatened injury on him?” Westergrin asked.

“Yeah. He said he was going to kick my ass,” Long replied.

By the time Super Bowl Sunday rolled around, Long said, he’d decided to let that argument die. But he had a new beef: Another box of mud went missing around New Year’s. Long said he’d bought it to do a favor for a friend who’d had some water damage in his home. In the Roadside’s bar at a Super Bowl potluck, after enjoying eight or nine beers and eating dinner, Long said he talked to Goldsbury about the mud and thought Goldsbury had agreed to replace it.

Asked how much the missing mud cost, Long said it runs for about $20 a box then said, “It wasn’t the dollar amount. It was the principle.”

At closing time, Long said he went back to his room, then started thinking about the mud and decided he’d go make sure Goldsbury was planning on replacing it. So he went to Goldsbury’s door, two down from his, and knocked. Goldsbury said something in reply. Long said he didn’t hear what was said so asked for clarification.

“And then what did you hear?” Corliss asked.

“A gun blast,” Long replied.

He said he thought it went through the wall but discovered later that Goldsbury had fired through the door.

At the time, though, “I didn’t stand there and ponder it,” he said.

He went back to his room and assessed his wounds. The shot had struck him in the side. He was bleeding but the wounds weren’t terrible.

“Did you seek medical treatment?” Corliss asked.

“Well, they insisted,” Long replied, referring to the medics and troopers who arrived. He spent about an hour in the hospital getting patched up, he said.

Long seemed surprised when Corliss asked if he’d threatened to kill Goldsbury that night.

“Did I tell him I was going to kill him? No,” Long said. He said he didn’t even make a threat.

A lot of time was spent asking questions that seemed to be directed at establishing how much Goldsbury had to fear. Long was asked how the doors locked — entering from the outside always required a key; how thick they were — about an inch and a half, metal skin over a wood frame.

But, Long said, he had a master key, given to him in case a resident got locked out. None of the owners or employees of the Roadside Inn lived there and in the winter, getting locked out can be serious business.

He testified that he had a gun in his room and didn’t know if Goldsbury was aware of this fact but assumed he probably was, Long said, since most of the motel’s permanent residents have firearms.

“Most of the people that live on that back side have their personal effects and guns are part of it,” Long said. “Most of us are veterans.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.