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JOSEPHINE COUNTY Jury will consider death penalty in double-murder case Comment By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted May. 22, 2015 at 4:40 PM Updated May 22, 2015 at 4:41 PM By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted May. 22, 2015 at 4:40 PM Updated May 22, 2015 at 4:41 PM » Social News The Gary Goins double-murder trial has entered the penalty phase, in which jurors will decide whether the defendant should die for the ambush slayings of his brother and sister-in-law nearly four years ago. The same Josephine County jury of eight women and four men that convicted Goins, 62, of aggravated murder and first-degree robbery on Tuesday is taking testimony about the defendant's character and the personal lives of his victims, Dennis and Susan Goins, who were found shot to death at their secluded home in the Hugo area in October 2011. The penalty phase is expected to last at least into next week. The jury is being asked to answer three questions before being allowed to consider the question of whether Goins should face the death penalty. The three questions involve intent, whether Goins constitutes a future danger to others, and whether his conduct — testimony at trial suggested Goins was bitter over money matters — was unreasonable. A death penalty decision would require a unanimous verdict. If any of the 12 jurors answers "no" to any of those three questions, death will be taken off the table as an option. In that event, the presumptive sentence is life in prison without parole. It would take 10 of the 12 jurors to give him the possibility of parole after 30 years. The first person to testify Thursday was Pam Soberanes, office manager at Pacific Veterinary Clinic in Grants Pass where Susan Goins, 53, worked as a receptionist. The couple married in 2010 shortly after moving to Oregon from California's Silicon Valley, where Dennis Goins, 63, had worked as a software executive. Both had adult children from previous relationships. Soberanes described Susan Goins as a warm person who loved other people and was devoted to her family — especially her grandchildren in Florida. She tearfully recalled that after the news broke that the couple had been murdered at their secluded home on Mountain Greens Lane she got a call from a client at the vet. "She says, 'Was that our Susan?' And I said 'Yeah.' And she said, 'That can't happen to our Susan, our Susan was too happy,' " Soberanes said. Another former coworker, Margaret Morgan, called Susan "genuine" and funny. Dennis' nickname for Susan was "Gracie Allen," after the popular 1930s comedienne and wife of George Burns. Morgan said Dennis was often quiet as Susan chatted away, and that he would smile admiringly and watch her as if he were "trying to figure her out." Jurors also heard from neighbor Kris Vandehey, co-owner of the Red Mountain Golf Course, who testified she and her daughter drove a golf cart up to the Goins home to drop off a welcoming gift when Dennis and Susan moved in. "We had not-so-nice neighbors before Dennis and Susan, so we were nervous about meeting them," Vandehey said. Susan greeted them with a warm hello and immediately invited them in, she said. As she got to know Susan, her husband forged a friendship with Dennis. "When you live out in the country, you just kind of want to watch out for each other," she said. Defense attorney Jane Claus told the jury that they are being given the grave responsibility of deciding a man's life. "You're no longer talking about the death penalty over coffee or a couple of beers with friends," she said. "It's real and you have a very serious decision to make." She urged jurors not to let anger or outrage guide their decision. "We will be asking you to impose a moral, reasoned punishment without doing damage to your conscience," she said. Claus noted that Goins is 62, and said he is in poor health. "One way or another, he's going to die behind the (prison) walls, and the only way he's getting out is in a body bag or a pine box," Claus said. By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted May. 22, 2015 at 4:40 PM Updated May 22, 2015 at 4:41 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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