| At about 11 p.m. on September 12, 1989, 45-year-old Andrew Golden and his wife, Ardelle, 46, went for a drive to Lake Hartridge in Winter Haven, Florida. When they returned to their home, Ardelle said she had misplaced her cigarette case and was going to drive back to the lake to look for it. Golden, who usually went to bed before his wife, showered and went to bed.
When he awoke at 6 a.m., Ardelle was not in bed. Her car was not at home. Their son, Darin drove around the neighborhood, but saw no sign of her. Darin went to school and Golden called police to report his wife missing.
By that time, police had already discovered Ardelle’s body in the lake, floating about 10 feet from shore. The car she was driving was found about 40 feet further into the lake. A medical examiner conducted an autopsy and concluded she had drowned.
Police interviewed Golden the same day her body was found, and again on September 20, 1989. During both interviews, he said he had no insurance on her. During a third interview, on October 3, 1989, Golden said there was one policy that was through her employer, Presbyterian Nursing home in Lakeland, Florida.
Investigators discovered however that Golden had signed an insurance form for that policy two days after his wife’s body was discovered. In that statement, Golden said he wanted to have sex with Ardell on the boat dock, but she refused. He said he dove into the water, and asked her to wade in to kiss. He acknowledged that she did not swim well.
When she refused, Golden said he took a short jog and went home. He said after she came home, she left to buy a pack of cigarettes and to retrieve her cigarette case from the dock.
Ardelle’s purse contained a new pack of cigarettes, her cigarette case and her eyeglasses.
When investigators dug into Golden’s financial affairs, they discovered he had not worked for two years and was about $250,000 in debt. Apartments he owned were being condemned, two of the family’s three cars were in foreclosure. Records showed he had taken out four insurance policies for about $350,000 on his wife’s life five months before her death.
On April 17, 1990, Golden, who had moved to Minnesota, was arrested and charged with capital murder. Police believed that he had drowned his wife to collect on the insurance.
In October 1991, Golden went to trial in Polk County Circuit Court. The prosecution presented his various statements and stressed that he had initially claimed there were no insurance policies on his wife.
The medical examiner testified that there were no signs of a struggle and concluded the death was accidental. He did concede that if someone had held her head under water until she drowned, there might not have been any visible injuries.
Golden’s defense attorney contended that Ardelle had accidentally driven into the lake. Before she left the car to try to escape, she put her glasses into her purse, the defense argued. The defense contended that Golden had lied about the insurance policies because he feared that her death would be classified as a suicide.
Golden’s sons testified that Golden and Ardelle were very close.
The defense failed to present evidence that the was a coffee cup under the brake of the car, which may have prevented the car from stopping. The defense did not present evidence that Ardelle’s father had recently died and several copies of his death notice were in the car. Although the prosecution claimed that Golden had shoved his wife off the dock and let her drown, the defense also did not present evidence that the water at the dock was only three feet deep, shallow enough for even a non-swimmer to survive.
On October 25, 1991, the jury convicted Golden of capital murder. On October 28, 1991, the jury voted 8 to 4 to impose the death penalty.
On November 10, 1993, the Florida Supreme Court reversed the conviction and ordered the case dismissed for insufficient evidence. During the appeal, Golden’s defense lawyers argued that his lawyer had failed to present evidence that suggested Ardelle’s death was an accident or possibly a suicide.
The prosecution sought leave to appeal, but that was denied on January 5, 1994. Golden was released the following day.
In 1999, Golden pled guilty in Dallas, Texas to three counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. He died in May 2015.
– Maurice Possley
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