TN TN - Sean, 25, & Donny Goetcheus, 19, Chattanooga, 9 January 1997

Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information in the high-profile 1997 double-homicide of Chattanooga brothers Sean and Donnie Goetcheus, District Attorney Neal Pinkston annouced Thursday.

Investigators with the county's new cold case division reopened the case last year and have uncovered significant new leads, Pinkson said in December.

The brothers were shot execution-style in their Brainerd home on Jan. 9, 1997. On that night, the killer shot Sean once in the head as he stood in the kitchen of his home on Rosemont Drive, then kicked in the door to a bathroom and shot Donny twice.

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Carroll immediately can perform a mental walk-through of the crime scene and remains convinced that at least one of the brothers knew the killer or killers. "It wasn't like a home invasion, with the door kicked in or anything," he said...

Sean was working at Rick Davis' Brainerd Road gold and diamond store and nearly had finished his certification as a gem specialist.

Donny, who lived with his brother, was scheduled to start classes at Chattanooga State the next week. He had a 14-month-old daughter.

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LaLa72 said:

I really hope they solve these murders soon. My brother was friends with these guys. Their friends and family have waited far too long for justice to be served.

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LaLa72 said:

He feels like it was most likely both. It's rumored that they kept a bit of cash around the house and a lot of people in and out. One or both of them were pretty avid skateboarders as was my brother at the time, so they hung out in the same circles. I've always had my suspicions about the gemologist that the older brother worked for but only because I used to wait on him regularly at a local restaurant and thought him to be one of the creepiest old men I've ever had to deal with. I know that creepy doesn't make a murderer, though he was the one who found the bodies. I'm certain he's been cleared every way to Sunday in the past twenty years however. I have a good feeling that something is going to come to light very soon. A few articles have been written in the past few months in our local newspaper about new tips and leads with one of them mentioning how relationships change over a twenty year period that could lead someone to talk who wasn't willing to before.

http://www.wsmv.com/story/28213054/10000-reward-offered-in-goetcheus-murder-case

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Christopher Jeffre Johnson pleaded guilty on Monday morning to three Chattanooga murders as family members of the victims watched from the front rows of the courtroom.

Johnson, who appeared before Criminal Court Judge Don Poole without an attorney, pleaded guilty to the slaying of Melissa "Missy" Ward in November 1994 and the murder of brothers Sean and Donny Goetcheus in Brainerd in 1997.

Johnson, 52, told family members, "I hope you get some closure. I am sorry for what I did. I truly apologize."

He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in all three cases. Johnson has been in custody for six years serving a 50-year sentence for the kidnapping and rapes of two girls

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Detective Mike Mathis, who was the original detective on the case and now heads up a Cold Case unit, said Johnson stated that he went to the residence where the brothers were living to retrieve a video for Rick Davis, owner of Rick Davis Gold and Jewelry.

He said words were exchanged between Johnson and Sean, then Johnson shot him. The detective said Johnson did not know that anyone else was in the house, but Donny was in the bathroom. He called out, "Hey Bro, what's going on?" Johnson then kicked the bathroom door open and also murdered him, it was stated.

Detective Mathis said earlier, "As for motive, we are still working to determine the specifics but we believe Sean had a videotape of illegal activity involving Rick Davis of Rick Davis’ Gold & Diamonds. On the night of the murders, Chris Johnson took money to Sean to buy the video. During their encounter, Johnson became angry and shot Sean. Upon hearing the gunfire Donny called out to ask what was going on, until that point Johnson had no idea Donny was in the house."

DA Pinkston said Dr. Steven Cogswell of the Medical Examiner's Office reviewed the autopsies of the brothers and said the evidence matches with the account given by Johnson. He said blood splatter evidence is also consistent with his statement, according to an expert who was contacted.

He said Johnson knew that the initial encounter with the older brother was in the kitchen and he described where items like a paper towel holder and two red Solo cups were located.

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