William “Willie” Marshall, arrested for the murder of Alan Godfrey, owned the home former Mayor Svante Myrick lived in. Ithaca Crime has investigated claims on social media that Myrick was roommates with William Marshall at a house owned by Marshall at 416 North Plain Street. This claim been partially verified using public records, social media posts, Myrick’s own statements and the firsthand accounts of two individuals familiar with both William Marshall and the property at 416 North Plain Street.
Myrick and Marshall also share a connection through the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP.) Marshall sat on the board of directors of CPEP until July of 2019. Myrick was a guest lecturer at CPEP in November of 2014. A representative of CPEP confirmed that the William Marshall accused in the murder of Alan Godfrey is the same William Marshall that sat on CPEP’s board of directors. Myrick and Marshall have known each other socially since at least 2013.
It is unclear when Myrick moved into 416 North Plain Street. In an Instagram post from 2015, Myrick expressed a need for new roommates following the marriage of his then roommate, former Common Councilperson Nate Shinagawa.
On November 8, 2020, Myrick posted a video to Instagram from the second floor porch of 416 North Plain Street overlooking GIAC’s Markels Flats Park. Two individuals confirmed to Ithaca Crime that William Marshall lived in the upstairs portion of the home.
Ithaca Crime first became aware of Myrick’s association with 416 North Plain Street following a demonstration at that address by the Ithaca Pantheras on December 6, 2020. Ithaca Pantheras members Genevieve Rand, Rochelle Matthews, Kaylee Smith and others staged a protest outside of 416 North Plain. The Ithaca Pantheras members affixed a banner to the fence of the property and loudly protested. Rand and Smith went on to post photographs of the banner affixed to Myrick’s residence to social media. Myrick would later acknowledge this protest occurring at his “apartment,” referring to 416 North Plain as “my property” and “my house,” “where the people I love and care about are.”
It is not known if Myrick was living at Marshall’s 416 North Plain Street address at the time of Alan Godfrey’s murder on July 20, 2021.
According to a Justice Department press release, Marshall’s “Ithaca residence” was served with a search warrant on August 18, 2021, approximately one month after the killing of Alan Godfrey. He was found to be in possession of a stolen Lorcin .380, for which he would later plead guilty for possessing on February 16, 2022. It is not known if this was the firearm used in the murder of Alan Godfrey.
Ithaca Crime’s attempts to contact Myrick for comment met with no response. Similarly, Marshall’s lawyers also did not respond to a request for comment regarding the nature of Marshall’s and Myrick’s relationship.
