MARSHVILLE, NC — Two murders, separated by 24 years. The cases baffled investigators, until they found a common thread. Now a Union County man is behind bars, accused of both killings. It’s a story of anger, jealousy and finally justice.
“My family has been waiting on this for a long time, because it’s my brother-in-law’s brother was the one that got murdered,” says Marshville resident Ronald Horne.
Marshville residents are relieved, and shocked at the same time, by the arrest of one of their own, Eddie “Clyde” Helms.
WCCB Charlotte was there as investigators searched his property on Fountain Hill Church Road, and took weapons from a shed.
Helms is accused of shooting Charles Godwin in the back with a shotgun at his home on Holly School Road in 2012. The case ran cold for two years.
“To know that he was living here, and that it took so long kind of to figure out that this is where he was, and that that’s who that is,” says Marshville resident Carolina Trawick.
Working with the SBI and Anson County, Union County deputies discovered links between Godwin’s death and the unsolved murder of John Griffin in Anson County in 1988.
“Both shot from ambush. Both shot from hidden positions,” says Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey.
“He had been up on the roof of a house, working on a TV antenna I think, and at that time was shot actually off the roof of the house and fell,” says Anson County Sheriff Tommy Allen.
The two sheriffs couldn’t release all the details on the case, but say both men were killed with a 12-gauge shotgun. And both victims had ties to Helms, who authorities say had a history of stalking women.
“We’ve developed a pattern of stalking by Mr. Helms over a period of years. And that led to further this investigation and to tie it all in together,” says Cathey.
Eddie Helms is scheduled to appear in court September 30th on the murder charges. Charles Godwin’s family filed a wrongful death law suit against Helms in civil court Tuesday.
