Guilty Verdict in Murder of Auto Racer
Friday, January 5, 2007 3:37 AM EST
The Associated Press
By LINDA DEUTSCH
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — After nearly 19 years of pursuing justice for her slain racing star brother and his wife, Collene Campbell walked out of a courthouse and waved a checkered flag.
Campbell, 74, waved the victory banner Thursday on behalf of Mickey and Trudy Thompson after a jury convicted the racer's former business partner, Michael Goodwin, of murder. Jurors also agreed with prosecutors' allegations of special circumstance of lying in wait and multiple murder.
"I was the one that everybody called the pain in the butt that wouldn't let go of it," Campbell said.
When the verdict was read, Goodwin, 61, only shook his head slightly. He faces life in prison at his sentencing March 1.
Public Defender Elena Saris said she would appeal.
"We don't believe justice was served," Saris said. "We believe passion controlled and there was a Hollywood version of events."
Thompson pursued land-speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, drove everything from dragsters and funny cars to midgets, and popularized off-road contests. He had gotten into a business partnership with Goodwin that ended in a bitter legal battle.
The Thompsons were gunned down in 1988 and it seemed to become the ultimate "cold case."
But Campbell, a former mayor of San Juan Capistrano with wide political connections, wouldn't let it die, insisting for nearly two decades that investigators pursue Goodwin.
Prosecutors built a case accusing Goodwin of having two hit men carry out the slayings.
Two unknown assailants on bicycles penetrated the gated confines of Thompson's home, shot him and his wife as they left for work, then escaped through a wooded area, they said.
Neighbors described hearing screams and seeing two men pedaling away. One neighbor tried to shoot at them but was too far away. The men were never seen again.
Witness identifications didn't help much. The only witness to see the killings was a 14-year-old girl who testified at the trial. As an adult she claimed her memory of events was good, but defense attorneys questioned that.
A couple who claimed to have seen Goodwin casing the area with binoculars before the killings did not come forward until 13 years after the crime, when they saw a TV show about it that they said triggered their memories.
During the six-week trial, Goodwin's attorney presented testimony from a psychologist who said memories fade quickly and suggested that a 13-year-old identification would not be trustworthy.
Lacking direct evidence, prosecutors put on a strong circumstantial case. They alleged that Goodwin arranged the March 16, 1988, slayings of Thompson, 59, and his 41-year-old wife as revenge for a soured business deal. They showed that Goodwin and Thompson entered into a partnership to stage motocross racing events — a business that failed.
The partnership disintegrated and Thompson, who claimed he was cheated, won a legal judgment of more than $700,000 against Goodwin.
Prosecutors showed that Goodwin liquidated his assets around the time of the killings, bought a $400,000 yacht and sailed off with his then-wife to spend three years in the Caribbean and elsewhere. He was arrested in 2001 when he returned to the United States.
The defense argued that the killings happened during a robbery attempt and that Goodwin was a victim of false assumptions and of TV shows that created a "folklore" surrounding the case that prompted people to come forward with unsubstantiated accounts.
But numerous witnesses gave accounts of Goodwin threatening to kill Thompson, saying he confided in them that he planned to see him dead before he would pay him a dime.
One witness reported hearing Goodwin say: "I'll kill him. ... I can get it done for 50 grand."
Goodwin's attorney said his client may have been "a jerk," but he was not a killer.
