Former officer sentenced for shooting wife
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on February 19, 2008 1:51 PM
A former Goldsboro police captain will spend six months in jail after a jury convicted him of shooting and injuring his wife in 2006, court records show.
Judge Benjamin G. Alford sentenced retired former Capt. J.D. Cogdell to 20 months in prison, 14 months of which are a suspended sentence.
The most time Cogdell could spend in prison is 33 months, court records show.
Cogdell was convicted by a jury of shooting wife Mary Cogdell, 56, while standing at a bedroom door in the couple's former home in the 100 block of Woodsmill Drive in July 2006.
Mrs. Cogdell was treated and released at Wayne Memorial Hospital, hospital spokespeople reported in 2006.
Cogdell told the agents of the State Bureau of Investigation that the gun fired accidentally, but a Wayne County jury disagreed.
Cogdell was convicted of the sole charge against him, assault with a deadly weapon, court records show.
Goldsboro police Chief Tim Bell has said the SBI was contacted to investigate the case to avoid a conflict of interest for Goldsboro investigators who had worked with the captain.
Cogdell retired about a year before the incident. He joined the department in 1993 as a patrol officer.
Before becoming a patrolman, Cogdell served with the U.S. Air Force. He was promoted to investigator in 1997 and then to captain of Goldsboro's C-shift in 2002.
According to a Sentencing Service Program document in court records, Cogdell was held in jail for two days in July following the shooting.
Cogdell was born in Wayne County to parents James and Julia Cogdell, court records show.
His father was self-employed at a fish market before dying of cancer in 1971, according to court records.
Cogdell and his wife finalized their divorce last November after 30 years of marriage, court records show. The couple have two children, records show.
The former police captain said his wife had refused to participate in treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder recommended by a psychiatrist, the records show.
Cogdell said the relationship between him and Mrs. Cogdell had been "unstable for many years" before the incident, records show.
Cogdell was also sentenced to 60 months probation and will pay a total of $4,888 for court costs, fines, restitution and a community service fee, court records show.
Cogdell's attorney, Geoffrey Hulse, was not immediately available for comment this morning.