Essex Jail hostage situation ends quickly

MIDDLETON – An inmate at the Essex County Jail is facing additional charges after he held a teacher at the facility hostage for 15-20 minutes Tuesday morning, according to Sheriff Frank Cousins.The inmate, William Goddard, 42, used a pen that he had fashioned into a “sharp object,” and held it “against the teacher?s chin and neck area,” Cousins said during a telephone interview on Tuesday.The jail?s trained hostage negotiator, Rick Smith, convinced Goddard to release the hostage and drop the weapon, Cousins said.?The situation ended peacefully and nobody was hurt,” Cousins said.Goddard is facing a murder charge out of Worcester County, Cousins said.The 42-year-old Goddard is charged with murder in connection with the Jan. 28, 2008 shooting death of 30-year-old Kelly Brackley at the auto parts store where she worked in Webster, according to an Associated Press report.The new charges Goddard faces because of the incident on Tuesday are hostage taking by a prisoner, assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and kidnapping, according to Maurice Pratt, spokesperson for the Essex County Sheriff?s Office.The sheriff?s mental health staff evaluated Goddard after the incident, according to Pratt, who said the murder suspect was then placed in segregation.He is expected to be arraigned today on the charges, but the sheriff?s department does not have a location yet, according to Pratt.Cousins said Goddard has been held at the Essex County Jail for more than a year without incident until he took the teacher hostage on Tuesday.?He said he didn?t want to hurt him,” Cousins said. “He dropped the weapon.”Cousins credited both Smith and David Cammarata, who assisted Smith, with working to peacefully end a serious situation.It?s not uncommon for suspects in high-profile cases from other counties to be held at the jail in Middleton, Cousins said Tuesday.?We take difficult inmates quite often,” Cousins said. “We took him from Worcester County because he had some problem with an inappropriate relationship with a social worker.”The teacher involved in the incident told Cousins he believed that Goddard had “some sort of a breakdown” before the incident.Jeff McMenemy can be reached at [email protected].