Wife Charged With Attempted Murder For September Shooting

By Mike Perleberg Penny L. Goddard. Photo by Switzerland County Sheriff's Office. (Switzerland County, Ind.) - A Switzerland County woman is charged with attempted murder after she allegedly shot her husband in an argument over prescription pills. Authorities responded to the home of Bruce and Penny Goddard on Devers Road on September 11 after a man, presumably Bruce Goddard, placed a call stating he was the victim of a shooting. A sheriff’s deputy arrived to find Bruce Goddard standing in the driveway suffering from a gunshot wound to his lower back, according to a court affidavit. Penny Goddard was found unconscious in some nearby woods with a loaded .22 caliber handgun next to her, but no she had no signs of being shot. Bruce Goddard was flown to an area hospital. Penny Goddard was taken the hospital by ambulance. According to the court affidavit, Switzerland County Sheriff’s Office investigators later went to the hospital to interview Bruce, who told them that Penny was arguing with him about driving to Cincinnati to pick up a prescription. When Bruce refused, Penny allegedly shot him in the back with a rifle as he was walking out of the home. “According to Bruce, the next thing he could recall was Penny standing over him still yelling at him about her prescriptions. Bruce advised he was stunned and confused by what had just happened and didn’t realize he had been shot until he noticed a rifle laying on the floor just inside the front door,” the affidavit states. After the shooting, Penny had called her son, who arrived just prior to police. He stated that his mother told him that she had shot Bruce in self-defense during a physical altercation. A detective met with Penny Goddard as she was recovering at the hospital. She told police she wanted to speak with an attorney before making a statement. The investigator did observe that Goddard had no apparent injuries to her face, arms, or hands. Penny Goddard is charged with Attempted Murder (level 1 felony) and Aggravated Battery (level 3 felony) in Switzerland County. She is currently in jail in Dearborn County on unrelated charges of OWI, Possession of a Legend Drug, and Resisting Law Enforcement filed in 2013. Chief Deputy Brian Morton said she will be transferred to Switzerland County to face the new charges after the Dearborn County court case is resolved. Morton said that Bruce Goddard has since been released from the hospital. He does not face any charges. RELATED STORIES: Two Hospitalized Following Reported Shooting In Switzerland Co.