Young father hopes for justice after he says ex-wife poisoned him, mom and sisters
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CHUBBUCK — Lung infections, lesions and constant migraines. Loss of hair, skin, fingernails and toenails. Jared Goody was told these symptoms were related to COVID-19.
But after months of suffering, Jared learned he was being poisoned, and the person he says is responsible is his ex-wife, Courtney Goody.
“I was in complete denial,” Jared recalls, battling back tears. “I thought, ‘No, there’s no way she would do this to me.’ I had just gone through so much with her and seen what I thought was so much care and love for her husband and the father of her children. But I was so wrong.”
For the past three years, Jared says he and his family have been fighting with the legal system to get something done. Courtney has been criminally charged, but the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office sealed the case, and details were hidden from the public for months.
Jared provided dozens of pages of court documents, recordings and text messages to EastIdahoNews.com and sat down with us for an in-depth interview with his family. We made multiple attempts to get comment or a statement from Courtney, but her attorney, Curtis Smith, declined, citing current legal proceedings.
This is what Jared says happened.
When it began
Jared’s illness started in June 2020. His mom and two sisters say they began experiencing similar symptoms the following month. As Jared says, everything seemed fine in his marriage. Courtney provided for him and took him to medical appointments.
But no matter how many doctors Jared saw, none could pinpoint what was making him sick. Jared’s sister Amber Hanson, who was dealing with symptoms herself, said it was frustrating.
“We were all just like, ‘Something is going on. What is happening?'” she recalled. “We slowly started to put together pieces and just formulated this crazy idea that, ‘What if (Courtney’s) intentionally making us sick?'”
When the possibility of Courtney poisoning him was first broached, Jared had his doubts.
“Who wants that to be their reality?” he asked rhetorically. “Courtney is the mother of my children, and I did have a lot of love for her. I didn’t want to believe it.”
Jared and Courtney married in 2010 and had two children, but they divorced in 2018. They remarried in 2019 and had a third child.
Tested for poison
In December 2020, after six months of seeing their son suffer, Bryon and Shelley Goody sought out a private lab that would test Jared for poisons.
They found The Carlson Company, a Colorado-based forensic lab. Following the instructions — including enlisting someone not related to the family to assist — they extracted Jared’s hair and sent it in for testing.
The results showed that Jared’s body contained potentially fatal levels of selenium.
Analysis showed a reading of 62,789 micrograms per kilogram (ug/kg) of selenium, according to an affidavit of probable cause. A “high value” of that chemical is 1,370 ug/kg, the affidavit adds.
Jared was told that level of concentration was “far beyond a fatal number.” In fact, when the family doctor learned of the results, the Goodys said he was “shocked” Jared was alive.
Results also showed higher-than-normal levels of rubidium, uranium, aluminum, manganese and especially thallium, a chemical found in rat poison.
The Goody family took that information to Chubbuck police. The Goodys say they were told they needed more evidence to pursue criminal charges, so they began recording their conversations with Courtney.
Recordings
The Goody family provided EastIdahoNews.com with recordings of some of the conversations between Jared and Courtney. Although poisoning is discussed, Courtney never admits to giving poison to her husband. The Goodys also provided a professionally transcribed print version of a recorded conversation they say was between Bryon and Courtney. We have not heard the recording of that conversation.
According to the transcript, Courtney says she has “easy access” to a cattle vaccine containing selenium and thallium. She discussed her understanding of the chemical and how much to give a small cow versus or large cow — comparing the dosage amounts to what she would give to a human.
Again, Courtney’s defense attorney declined to comment.
Investigation and arrest
Now with the recordings to go with the lab tests, the Goody family went back to the Chubbuck police in February 2021. Detectives opened a case, and Courtney was charged in March with a felony for aggravated battery by poisoning.
Jared said that, with the safety of his children in mind, he lived with Courtney for that month — while both knew about the test results and criminal allegations.
“I thought that we were safe at that point. I thought, ‘OK, they’ve got her; they’re going to protect us,” Jared said. “I lived in this hell for a month of trying to muddle through.”
But felony charge was dismissed at a preliminary hearing when a judge said the prosecution did not present a strong enough case. The Goodys blame the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office because, they say, a professional toxicologist was not at the hearing so the case could not be proven.
One week later, the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office filed two misdemeanor charges of battery.
EastIdahoNews.com spoke with Bannock County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Herzog and tried to get clarification regarding the decision to file misdemeanor charges rather than pursuing separate felony charges. Herzog said he was not able to provide any information regarding the case until it was closed and the 42-day appeal window had passed.
The prosecution and defense have since reached a plea deal in which Courtney will plead guilty to one misdemeanor battery charge at a hearing on June 21.
The Goody family is enraged by the perceived failure of the prosecutor. They contend that Courtney should be facing felony charges and a much harsher penalty.
In their opinion, Courtney should be charged with attempted murder, which carries a potential penalty of 15 years, rather than the maximum penalty of six months and $1,000 fine she could face if convicted of the lesser charge.
Court documents
According to the probable cause affidavit provided to EastIdahoNews.com by the Goodys, Courtney told detectives during an interview at the time of her arrest that she was adding liquid poison to Jared’s food and drink. She said she got the idea from a now-deceased family member and took the poison from a stash of cattle vaccine at her parents’ home.
She told police her intention was not to kill Jared, but to keep him sick so he would not leave her, according to the affidavit.
While she was in custody at the Bannock County Jail, Courtney made numerous phone calls. According to the affidavit, officers reviewed 23 of those phone calls — more than 10 hours of conversations.
During one of the calls, Jared and Courtney told each other that they both still loved each other. Jared responded by asking Courtney why she was poisoning him if she loved him.
“I don’t know if I did, Jared,” she responded, according to the affidavit. “I think I did, but I don’t know.”
EastIdahoNews.com worked to obtain a comment from Goody’s defense team regarding the alleged confession and comments made during phone calls but they declined to comment on the case.
Chubbuck police executed search warrants at Courtney and Jared’s home, as well as the home of Courtney’s parents where they found and seized two bottles of cattle vaccinations containing selenium.
Ongoing fear
After the felony charges were dismissed and new misdemeanor charges were filed, Courtney posted $50,000 bond and was released into the custody of court services.
Shelley and two of Jared’s sisters have also tested positive for some of the same poisons found in Jared’s test, though they aren’t listed as victims in court documents.
EastIdahoNews.com hoped Herzog would comment on whether his office intends to file charges on behalf of the three additional victims, but attorneys from both sides declined to comment prior to sentencing.
As treatment for the selenium and thallium poisoning he suffered, Jared says he took Prussian Blue — a CDC-controlled drug that is extremely hard to obtain.
According to the CDC, Prussian Blue “traps” thallium in the intestines, preventing it from being absorbed by the body.
Jared has also been forced to undergo weekly blood treatments to remove heavy metals from his blood — an effect of selenium. His insurance does not cover the medication, and the treatments have cost him thousands of dollars. He is still experiencing some of the symptoms of selenium poisoning and is unsure if he will ever be completely healed.
What’s next
Jared and Courtney are now divorced but involved in a pending custody dispute and civil lawsuit. A judge has given Jared temporary full custody of his three children while permanent custody is sorted through the legal system.
As for criminal charges, Courtney is scheduled to appear in court for a change of plea and sentencing hearing on June 21.
Shelley said she and her family loved Courtney and wished none of this would have happened. Byron said the charge doesn’t fit the crime.
“I look at this and think that three of my children — three of my poor children — someone tried to take their lives,” Bryon said. “And yet … if I walk up and spit in someone’s face, that’s the charge that they’re giving her, and it doesn’t fit.”
The family’s main concern is Jared’s children.
“The only thing that I care about is the safety of my three kids,” Jared said as he fought back tears. “Those kids mean the world to me, they’re the reason that I’m alive — they’re the only reason I’m alive.”
Although Courtney has been charged with a crime, it does not necessarily mean she committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.
Watch our full interview with the Goodys in the video player below.
CORRECTION: EastIdahoNews.com originally reported that court documents in this case were sealed. We have since learned that the documents were sealed by order of the court, but that seal has since expired and the documents are available to the public.