Court records show family’s struggle with son before his father was killed in Manchester

Goedde, 41, was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and paranoia, and he frightened his parents on previous occasions to the point that his father obtained a restraining order and his mother tried to have him admitted to a mental hospital.

Those details are included in an emergency court action from January that allowed Goedde’s mother to be designated temporarily as his guardian.

The son had been physically aggressive and tried forcing his parents, long divorced, out of their homes in Manchester and south of Fenton, his mother told a judge a year ago in Jefferson County. The son had been in and out of mental health facilities, mostly on 96-hour holds, and those brief hospitalizations did not ultimately help him, according to a court filing.

Goedde’s 75-year-old father, Edward Goedde Jr., was discovered dead Dec. 18 in his Manchester condominium on Baxter Heights Court. Police sent to check on his well-being crawled through an unlocked basement window to gain access to the two-bedroom condo. They smelled a strong odor of bleach, then found Ed Goedde face down on the kitchen floor. An autopsy revealed injuries in addition to the dozens of stab wounds: strangulation and broken bones, among them.

“I made a mistake,” Jeffrey Goedde told deputies after turning himself in, according to a probable cause statement.

St. Louis County prosecutors charged Jeffrey Goedde with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. He is being held without bond at the St. Louis County jail.

Authorities have not publicly speculated on a motive for the killing. Jeffrey Goedde’s mother could not be reached for this article, and Jeffrey’s brother told a reporter by phone that the family declined to comment. A neighbor described Ed Goedde as a retiree known for his kindness and willingness to help.

“You don’t know how sad this is,” the neighbor said. “One of the saddest things ever.”

Multiple calls for help

Manchester police and the courts in Jefferson, St. Charles and St. Louis counties had Jeffrey Goedde on their radar, and files from a handful of previous cases tell part of the story.

On Jan. 19, 2023, Jeffrey Goedde became angry when the father asked Jeffrey if he was off his medication. Jeffrey assaulted his father, who managed to escape to a neighbor’s home for help, Manchester police Chief Edward Skaggs said. Jeffrey was taken into custody and transported to a hospital for a psychological exam. The police chief released that information to the Post-Dispatch in response to a request for details about police “calls for service” to the home the last two years. This was the first of three.

Officers sought assault charges, but the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office refused to file charges. Christopher King, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, said there wasn’t enough evidence for state charges, and the case was referred to municipal court.

A day after the assault, Ed Goedde got a temporary restraining order in St. Louis County. It became a full order of protection on Feb. 6, 2023, good for one year. The judge said Ed Goedde had exclusive possession of the condo in Manchester, and Jeffrey Goedde was ordered to stay 100 feet away from his father.

Mental health services are mostly voluntary in Missouri. To commit someone to a hospital involuntarily, a judge or law enforcement can send the person to a psychiatric facility for evaluation if there is reason to believe the person is at risk of self-harm or harm to others, and even then the hospital can typically only hold them for up to 96 hours. Another option is setting up a guardianship for a person with mental illness, but that requires a probate court hearing and an order designating the guardian as the decision-making authority.

In trying to become his guardian, Jeffrey Goedde’s mother, Jovita Dugan, contended in a Jefferson County court petition that her son was unable to take care of his own food, clothing and shelter “such that serious injury, illness or disease is likely to occur.” His “behavior in the year 2023 has been erratic and posed substantial harm to himself and others,” the filing added.

One crime cited in the guardianship paperwork was property damage in Wentzville. It happened on Dec. 13, 2023, shortly after Jeffrey Goedde’s mother took him to a psychiatric facility because she feared for her own safety; and when that facility refused to admit him, police in St. Charles took him to a hospital, which wouldn’t hold him either, court records said.

Jeffrey Goedde left that hospital and immediately went to Clement Hyundai car dealership in Wentzville where, police say, he hurled rocks and scratched vehicles, damaging 10 cars and two windows at the dealership. He approached an employee to tell her what he had done, authorities said. Police arrested him and said he readily admitted doing it.

“He just wanted to get off the streets,” Wentzville police Officer Michael Lamb said in a probable cause statement. Lamb said Goedde was homeless.

Dugan sent a handwritten note to a public defender, saying, “My son has had a mental illness since he was 15 yrs. old.”

Christmas in jail

A St. Charles County judge set bond at $20,000 cash in the property-damage case, checking a box indicating Jeffrey Goedde was a danger. He spent two weeks in jail, including Christmas Day 2023. Goedde, unmarried and with no job, said all he owned was a car. Days later, he was released from jail — not using cash for bail, but on his promise to show up in court. Conditions of his release required he live with his mom in the Fenton area and download an app on a cellphone that would provide court reminders.

Around that time, on Jan. 3, 2024, Jefferson County judge Katherine Hardy-Senkel signed paperwork appointing the mother temporary guardian and said Jeffrey Goedde should be “placed in the least restrictive alternative living situation” the guardian selected. After securing a temporary designation, the next step in Missouri could be permanent guardianship if a judge is convinced there is a need for ongoing oversight. The mother was seeking permanent guardianship but she ultimately decided not to pursue it and the case was dismissed. Dugan’s attorney, Stanley Schnaare, confirmed that to a reporter but declined to talk further about the case without Dugan’s consent.

It’s not clear from court files how Jeffrey Goedde spent January, February and March of this year, but by early April he had ended up again at his father’s home on the tidy block of Baxter Heights Court in Manchester. The street is a circle drive of two dozen condos, just off Baxter Road. The previous order of protection his father secured had expired.

Manchester’s police chief said that on April 4, 2024, Jeffrey Goedde tried to kill himself at his father’s home by stabbing himself in the abdomen. Medics took Jeffrey Goedde to a hospital for psychological exam.

On Dec. 2, 2024, Ed Goedde called police for help removing his son from the home on Baxter Heights Court. “Jeffrey refused to leave when asked, and no physical altercation was reported,” Skaggs said. “Edward was provided information about obtaining ex-parte and mental health warrants and advised of local programs that might help address Jeffrey’s needs,” the chief added.

Sixteen days later, Ed Goedde would be dead. On Dec. 18, in the afternoon, Jeffrey Goedde walked into the lobby of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Hillsboro, some 30 miles away from Manchester. He told deputies he may have used a kitchen knife, as well as his hands, to injure his father but he couldn’t remember, court records said.

“(Jeffrey) Goedde said he knows he was not free to leave because he accidentally killed someone,” Manchester police Detective Jeff Lang said in court papers.

It was the first homicide of the year in Manchester.

Behind bars again, Goedde was supposed to go before a St. Louis County judge Dec. 20 for an initial court appearance in the murder case, but he refused to be brought into court, according to a docket summary. He had no attorney, so Associate Circuit Judge Natalie Warner referred Goedde to the public defender’s office to see if he qualifies for their services.

The Kutis Funeral Home in Affton is handling arrangements for Ed Goedde’s funeral. Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 29, at the Kutis Affton Chapel, 10151 Gravois Road. A private service will be held for family and friends only.

A native of St. Louis, Ed Goedde graduated from the University of Missouri at St. Louis and served in the U.S. Air Force as a weapons systems officer in the F-4 Phantom II of the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing. He served overseas during the Vietnam War. Years later, he retired as a major in the Missouri Air National Guard. He was a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense, the funeral home said. Throughout his life, Ed Goedde liked to keep busy by skiing, playing golf, basketball, pickleball and softball, and traveling with friends and family, his obituary said.

The obituary described Ed Goede as “a loving caring father of three children.” It lists several survivors by name, including a son Brian and daughter Laura, but not Jeffrey.

Dialing or texting 988 directs anyone with a potential mental health situation to the 24-hour “988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.” People can speak to a trained crisis counselor and be connected to resources related to mental health, emotional distress, grief or substance issues for themselves or a loved one.