NEWS
Emotions ran high in Lansing’s 30th Circuit Court on Tuesday as the trial of Lansing resident Benjamin French for the March 2010 shootings of MSU student Darren Brown and roommate Owen Goodenow nears its close.
During his closing statement Ingham County Assistant Prosecutor Bill Crino said French and his alleged coconspirator, David Marion Jr., were consumed by greed and the thought of easy money in the home of Brown and Goodenow on the 3200 block of Glasgow Street.
He said the pair conceived a plan to steal a safe in Goodenow’s room, containing marijuana and a substantial amount of money, and said killing Goodenow was part of the plan.
“He knew that Owen Goodenow was going to die,” Crino said.
French has been charged with two counts of first degree murder for the deaths of Brown and Goodenow, as well as counts of armed robbery, felony and conspiracy to commit murder.
In interviews with police, French denied ever entering the home, and said Marion was the shooter who “made the call” to kill Brown and Goodenow.
Regardless of whether or not French went into the home or directly killed Brown and Goodenow, Crino argued he still could be held accountable for the murders under the concept of aiding and abetting, or directly assisting, the person who committed the crimes.
“He was the driver there, the armed guard and the getaway driver,” Crino said.
It took six months of investigation for police on local and state levels to procure suspects for the deaths of Brown and Goodenow in their home on the 3200 block of Glasgow Street in Lansing.
G.
