Wife Shot by Mistress Waits 48 Minutes for Ambulance After 911 Call

Nov. 19, 2002 -- The last words that Patti Godfrey heard before her husband's mistress started shooting at her were "I'll see you in hell."

That was just the start of a story that ended with two dead bodies, and a staggering 48-minute 911 call — the longest 48 minutes of Godfrey's life.

Karen Brand, a woman who had been Glenn Godfrey's mistress, was angry that he had ended the affair to get back together with his wife after the two had been separated. She hid in the Godfrey home, then jumped into view, shooting Glenn Godfrey and Patti before turning the gun on herself.

Patti Godfrey survived the attack and was able to call 911. But because of a computer glitch, it took dispatchers nearly an hour to find her as she lay bleeding from multiple gun shot wounds, nearly dead in her Eagle River, Alaska, home.

Godfrey had been shot four times with a .44-caliber Magnum handgun with hollowpoint bullets, designed to fragment. In spite of her injuries, and her long wait for help, Godfrey survived.

Her son, Gerad Godfrey, told Good Morning America that his mother has already been through two surgeries to repair the damage.

"She has a bullet fragment in her hip and her colon has to be replaced," he said.

Classic Love Triangle

The tragedy that took place on Aug. 3 began with a classic love triangle. Glenn Godfrey was 53, the just-retired "top cop" of Alaska's State Troopers. He had been married to his wife, Patti, for 35 years.

Glenn's mistress was Karen Brand, who was 20 years his junior, and a vice president of Alaska's Chamber of Commerce. She was angered by the break-up of their love affair, which Glenn had later told Patti about.

Police believe that Brand broke into the Godfrey home several days before the murders and took Glenn Godfrey's gun from its case. On the day of the killings, she had left a message on the Godfreys' machine, suggesting that their relationship was still continuing and that Patti "not be kept in the dark any longer."

She was hiding in the closet when the couple got home and heard the message.

Patti Godfrey had never even seen "the other woman" until she stepped out of hiding from a closet in their home, and began shooting. First Brand shot Glenn in the head, then she pumped four bullets into Patti — nearly severing her arm.

Brand was screaming at Patti Godfrey, according to her son, Gerad Godfrey.

"If I can't have him, none of us can," Brand told Patti Godfrey. "We'll all burn in hell."

After shooting Patti, she headed downstairs and shot herself.

Patti Godfrey managed to call 911. A dispatcher responded, saying "911. What's the emergency?"

"I've been shot, please … Please hurry," Godfrey said. "She just shot herself, I believe."

Praying Over the Phone

Waiting for help she thought was just minutes away, Godfrey prayed aloud into the phone. "I'm begging. Oh God. Save Glenn's life. Save Glenn's life," she said. "Lord Jesus, please help us. Save Glenn's life. Give us another chance. Lord Jesus."

Glenn Godfrey was already dead, and Patti seemed close. One bullet had ripped through her stomach, another through her leg. One nearly severed her right arm.

"Please my stomach's hurting," she said into the phone. "Please, please, please, I'm begging you. Oh, God, I can't hold on much longer."

Though Godfrey had given her address, dispatchers took information from their computers and emergency workers were sent to the wrong location. Ignoring protocol, the dispatchers had never asked for directions to her home.

"Please, please, please, please," she cried on the phone. "I'm pleading with you. They should be here by now."

"Hold on," the dispatcher said. "Patricia, I need you to hang on for me. We're coming in the door, OK?"

‘You’re Lying to Me’

But then came a series of questions from the dispatcher that revealed a terrible mistake.

" Is there a motor home in your driveway?" the 911 dispatcher asked.

"What?" Patti Godfrey responded.

"Is there a motor home in your driveway?

"No," Godrey said.

"No?" the dispatcher said. "Is there a flag in your driveway?"

"No. No," Godfrey said. "If you're not here now, you're lying to me."

"We just want to make sure before we go in there we're going into the right house, OK?" the dispatcher said.

A Nonexistent Address

Later, they found out that though Patti Godfrey had given the right address about three times, the dispatcher she spoke to had never taken such a major call. When he went to the computer, it brought up an antiquated address that didn't exist anymore: Eagle Glacier Loop, instead of Eagle River Drive, so that help went to the wrong house, said Valery Hanson, Godfrey's daughter.

Because of the database glitch, the Godfreys' was one of roughly 5,000 properties that doesn't exist on maps or in data systems.

By the time officers arrived, it was 48 minutes after Patti Godfrey first picked up the phone.

The Anchorage Police Department is conducting an internal review, while planning to improve and update its database. The state Office of Crime Victim's Rights is also investigating, focusing on whether the delay was preventable.

Anchorage Police Chief Walt Monegan released this statement:

"A combination of factors melded into a system breakdown in the Godfrey case. Among them were overworked dispatchers, a need for more training, and computer data glitches. The department is conducting an internal review, and plans to have an improved, updated database in place soon."

Three and a half months after the shootings, Patti Godfrey is doing much better, though she still needs two more operations. Though no vital organs were injured, she suffered a ruptured eardrum, a shattered upper bone in her arm, a severed colon, and gunshot wounds to her breasts and left leg.

Gerad Godfrey said he listened to the 911 tape at police headquarters. It was difficult to hear the pain in his mother's voice, when it seemed she felt that she was going to die. But he and his sister are impressed by the strength and faith she expressed during her ordeal.

"We are thankful that she has her faith and to hear her just pray herself through that was very touching for all of us, I think," Hanson said.