May 2022
Kansas Cold Cases: Arthur Goebel
Just after 2 a.m. July 16th, 2017, someone broke into Arthur Goebel's Wichita home. He confronted them, and was fatally shot.
She’s retired now, but told KWCH-TV she’d wanted to be a police officer since she was a little girl, and bonded with her father over that dream.
“I told my dad I wanted to be a cop, so every Saturday we’d watch (the tv show) Cops together,” she said. “The funny thing is I’d been on Cops several times and he’d never seen any of my episodes.”
The last time Kathy saw her dad was in July 2017. It was her birthday, and she brought recordings of her appearances on Cops for them to watch together.''
'' Just after 2:00 A.M. on July 16th, 2017 - Art Goebel and his wife were asleep when someone kicked open the front door. According to Detective Tim Relph, with the Wichita Police Department, just moments later Art was struggling to survive.
“Tt happened so fast. It was in the middle of night,” Det. Relph said. “Art’s main thing was for her (his wife) to get to safety...shots came very fast.”
The intruder fired two shots, both of which struck Art.
Detectives looking for help before cold case grows colder
Awakened in the middle of the night and murdered in his home, Wichita police turn to Factfinder 12 and to the community to help solve the 2017 cold case homicide of Art Goebel.
That, save a few key details that investigators say only the killer will know, is about all that is known about Art Goebel’s case. He and his wife were awakened in the middle of the night by a man kicking open their door. It was dark. It was terrifying. Art’s wife was in the room when he was killed, but could provide little to point detectives to his murderer.
And, while there’s not much known about the murder itself, there is plenty known about Art. Unfortunately, that makes the investigation even more difficult because what is known about Art Goebel shows there is virtually no reason imaginable anyone would want him dead.
“The thing that’s very difficult about this case is Arthur certainly has no enemies. He was, by all accounts, an exceptional man,” Detective Relph said''
Art Goebel was active in his church, he was a Vietnam veteran with a large loving family. He had a wife, children, grandchildren. He was rich in every way except that that might make him a target for robbery, which Detective Relph doesn’t believe is a motive.
“It doesn’t, didn’t make a lot of sense. He certainly, while he had his treasures in life as far as children and stuff like that, he certainly wasn’t a wealthy man by any stretch,” Relph explained. “So it’s not clear why this was this trailer was targeted.”
''The murder occurred just before 2:30 A.M. on July 16, 2017 at the Lamplighter Mobile Home park in Wichita. The suspect is medium build and olive skinned. Anyone who remembers that night or might know something that can help catch this killer is asked to call police at 316-267-2111. Callers can remain anonymous.''
