Five years after man killed in North Naples condo, still no arrest

Warren Godcharles still aches at the thought of what his son must have been feeling the night he was stabbed to death in his North Naples condo five years ago.

“It’s been five years and we still don’t have it narrowed down to one person,” Godcharles said. “It’s saddening. Not every day, but it’ll spring on you all of a sudden, this overwhelming feeling of loss and pain. Time heals, but not every day.”

Joseph Warren Godcharles, 48, was killed in his condo on Key Royal Circle on Aug. 1, 2012. His son Ryan found his dad’s body the next morning when he showed up for their weekly breakfast and called 911. The killer has not been arrested.

More: Three years and no arrests in brutal North Naples slaying

“You never expect that, for your children to predecease you,” Warren Godcharles said. “Much less for it to happen in such a violent way. He never said he was in fear. Never in trouble.

"He was a responsible man working 50 to 60 hours a week and trying to be a good single parent. He had good friends and family who loved him.”

Joseph Godcharles, a former Immokalee Walgreens manager, worked in the chain pharmacy business since his high school years in Clearwater. His father had his own pharmacy in Clearwater, and the two worked together before the younger Godcharles got an opportunity to advance in pharmacy management in the Naples area.

“We were close, especially working in the same business,” Warren Godcharles said. “We talked about work and the pharmacy business, problems and successes.

"I bought a boat and we got our licenses together. He was competitive with me, proud that he got a higher score on the exam. I’d still be hearing about it today if he were alive.”

More: Detectives, family still looking for answers two years after North Naples man's death

Joseph Godcharles’ friends and family remember him as a kind, giving man who worked hard and enjoyed a few trips to Key West every year.

Some of his friends celebrated his birthday in Key West this year, wearing T-shirts with “This one’s for Joe!” printed on them.

His friend, Bonnie Smith, looked high and low for a dollar bill Joseph Godcharles left at a Key West bar with his name on it. She couldn’t find it, but she left one at a bar in his honor.

More: Months after Naples murder, family still waiting for news of a suspect

“I don’t know why, but this year it really hit me,” Smith, a Cape Coral resident, said about her friend’s death. “I was a wreck.”

The two friends shared a favorite song, “Jenny (867-5309),” and it played on the radio while Smith was on her way home from work on the fifth anniversary of her friend’s death.

“I cried the whole way home,” she said.

Smith and Joseph Godcharles met in the early 1990s when they both moved to Southwest Florida to work for Eckerd Pharmacy, now CVS Pharmacy. He eventually switched to work for Walgreens, but they remained close friends.

“We were the same age, both from Florida, enjoyed the same things,” Smith said. “We watched football games together, went to concerts.

"You meet that person once in a lifetime that’s a true friend. I could tell him anything. He would do anything for anybody. It was just the way we were.”

Joseph Godcharles’ family and friends hope the case will be resolved soon and that anyone with information that could lead to an arrest and lend closure will come forward.

Sheriff’s Office Detective William Still inherited the Godcharles case in January when the previous detective investigating the homicide retired.

Still said investigators have a lot of evidence that has been processed in both FBI and Florida Department of Law Enforcement labs. Evidence isn’t the challenge; it’s that investigators believe Godcharles knew his killer and evidence found at the scene could be explained away.

More: North Naples man killed in home; found by son

“A lot of physical evidence we have collected can be explainable,” Still said. “If an associate or family member is our bad guy and they’ve had contact with our victim, they can say, ‘Well, I’ve been to the house a million times.’ ”

By comparison, a suspect who claims not to know the victim would have a more difficult time explaining why evidence shows he or she was at a scene, Still said.

“It’s certainly more damning to that person when they’re claiming they had no idea who the victim was,” Still said.

While five years without a named suspect or arrest has been painful for Godcharles’ family and friends, Still said time is on his side.

“With older cases like these, time is in our favor,” he said. “With these cases that go unresolved for months or years, time becomes an ally to us because people change.

"People sometimes are reluctant to disclose at first. As relationships change and people aren’t as close as they used to be, we go back and talk to these folks and they’re a lot more open about what was going on back then.”

Still said investigators are narrowing the scope of evidence and have excluded some possible suspects.

“Now we need to focus on a few items of DNA, how they got there and how the person will explain that,” Still said. “We’re looking at evidence that the assailant would have a difficult time explaining away in court.”