Former Mayor of Ithaca Svante Myrick lived with William “Willie” Marshall, accused in the June ’21 killing of Alan Godfrey. Ithaca Crime has previously documented Myrick’s ties to 416 North Plain street, a home once partially owned by William Marshall and his primary residence. Marshall is now a twice convicted drug trafficker, previously having been sentenced to 15 to Life criminal possession of a controlled substance. Marshall was arrested in 2001 with a 33 ounce brick of cocaine.
An affidavit referencing the search warrant served to Marshall on August 18th, 2021 confirms 416 North Plain street as the location of his arrest. Marshall pled guilty to federal gun and drug charges in February 2022. Following his guilty plea, Marshall was charged with the murder of Alan Godfrey on March 10th, 2022.
The affidavit specifically references the warrant being served on the “Upper” portion of the house, where a large sum of cash, marijuana and a stolen Lorcin .380 pistol were found. It is not known if this pistol was the weapon used in the killing of Alan Godfrey. The affidavit also makes reference to a small amount of suspected cocaine that was found during the service of the search warrant. On November 8th 2020, an inebriated Myrick posted a video celebrating Joe Biden’s electoral victory from the upstairs porch of 416 North Plain street.
In a comment on a Ithaca Voice Facebook post regarding the Voice’s recent article about a potential ethics probe into Myrick‘s handling of the Reimagining Public Safety process, former Ithaca Police Department (IPD) Officer Jamie Williamson claims that Myrick is the subject of both NYS Attorney General and US Department of Justice investigations. Williamson was IPD’s Public Information Officer for a decade. Ithaca Crime reached out to Williamson for clarification and did not receive a response.
By Myrick’s account he was woken up by the Chief of Police at 1:30 AM July 21st, 2021, approximately 45 minutes after Godfrey’s killing. It is not known if Myrick was at 416 North Plain street when he was woken up by the Chief. Myrick appears to have moved out of 416 North Plain street before the warrant was served by IPD on August 18th, 2021. It is not known when Myrick became aware that his friend and roommate was a suspect in Godfrey’s murder. Ithaca Crime has reached out to Myrick for clarification and did not receive a response.