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Mark GOUDEAU
A.K.A.:
"The Baseline Killer"
Classification:
Serial killer
Characteristics:
Rape - Robberies
Number of victims: 9
Date of murders: 2005
- 2006
Date
of arrest:September 7,
2006
Date of birth:
September 6,
1964
Victims profile: 8
women and 1 man
Method of murder:
Shooting
Location: Phoenix,
Arizona, USA
Status:
Sentenced
to 438 years in prison on December 14, 2007
Mark Goudeau
is a suspected serial killer from Phoenix, Arizona
charged in the Baseline Killer attacks that terrorized
the Phoenix metropolitan area between September 2005 and
June 2006.
Arrest
and sexual assault conviction
Goudeau was arrested on September 7,
2006 and accused of sexually assaulting two sisters, one
visibly pregnant, on September 20, 2005. At the time of
his arrest, Goudeau was returning to his home on 28th
street, near the location of the last abduction, rape
and killing attributed to the Baseline Killer.
On September 7, 2007, Goudeau was convicted in
Maricopa County Superior Court on all 19 counts related to the
sexual assault. Testimony was given over 7½ weeks with a verdict
taking less than a day to reach.
Further
charges
Goudeau was charged with 94 crimes in
all, including nine counts of first-degree murder, 15
counts of sexual assault and 11 counts of kidnapping. He
pleaded not guilty.
Goudeau’s wife, Wendy Carr, told The Associated
Press that police have arrested the wrong man: "My husband is
innocent. This is a huge miscarriage of justice. And they have an
innocent man in prison. This is all a mistake. He shouldn’t be in
prison for something he didn’t do."
According to Arizona prison officials, Goudeau is
an ex-convict who served 13 years for aggravated assault, a charge
he pleaded down from the original one of rape and kidnapping. The
victim, who suffered a fractured skull, would later tell police that
the attack began in Goudeau's apartment, where he hit her in the
head with a barbell, tried to force cocaine up her nose, raped her
and tried to drown her in the bathtub.
Goudeau was sentenced to 21 years in 1991, amid
warnings from the court investigator that his chances of a repeat
performance "appear to be great".
Goudeau's charges related to all 'Baseline Killer'
crimes
On December 7, 2006, Phoenix police
formally charged Goudeau with all the crimes that have
been associated with the Baseline Killer. Goudeau has
been charged with 74 counts related to the case,
including nine murders, five sexual assaults, and 12
armed robberies.
On March 16, 2007, Maricopa County Attorney
Andrew Thomas announced that his office would seek the death penalty
against Goudeau. The decision was based on the fact that Goudeau is
accused of committing multiple murders and other serious crimes and
allegedly carried out the acts in a cruel manner.
Goudeau's 2007 rape trial
On September 7, 2007, Mark Goudeau
was found guilty on 19 charges including 1 narcotics
charge. He was sentenced to Mark Goudeau was sentenced
to 438 years in prison on December 14, 2007.
Wikipedia.org
The Baseline Killer
(or Baseline Rapist) was one of the two
simultaneously occurring serial killer cases (the other
being the "Serial Shooter") which terrorized the Phoenix
metro area, between August 2005 and June 2006.
The crimes were referred to as the Baseline
Killer since the first crimes began around Baseline Road in South
Phoenix, Arizona. The crimes later spread north, primarily in the
North Central area of Phoenix.
The Baseline Killer is believed to have committed
nine counts of first degree murder (8 women, 1 man), in addition to
15 sexual assaults on women and young girls, 11 counts of kidnapping,
plus a number of armed robberies.
Although not initially linked, the
crimes were distinguished by having no apparent motive, and the
murders were particularly brutal, with the killer often shooting the
victims in the head. The criminal was often described wearing
various disguises such as a Halloween mask as well as attempting to
impersonate a homeless man or drug addict.
Police say that the shell casings found at each
of the crime scenes all came from the same gun.
Phoenix police spent thousands of hours
patrolling and following up on hundreds of tips during the summer of
2006. As residents of Phoenix became increasingly alarmed by the
random nature of the violent crimes, community meetings were called
by the police to distribute a sketch based on the description given
by the surviving victims. Frustration and fear blanketed the city as
posters and billboards displayed the sketch of the Baseline Killer,
offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. It
took the police over a year to finally come up with a viable suspect.
Mark Goudeau was at the time on Community
Supervision (PAROLE) with the Arizona Department of Corrections and
supervised out of the Northeast Parole Office. In August 2006,
Parole Officers in the Northeast Parole Office provided information
to the Phoenix Police Department task force suggesting that Mark
Goudeau matched the sketch of the Baseline Killer. Parole Officers
searched Mark Goudeau's residence and found a ski mask and a
realistic "toy" handgun. Police used this information to obtain a
search warrant for Mark Goudeau's residence and found additional
items that linked Mark Goudeau to crimes committed by the Baseline
Killer.
On September 4, 2006, Mark Goudeau was arrested
in connection to the sexual assault of two Phoenix sisters, an
attack which was tied to the Baseline Killer investigation. The
sisters, one of whom was visibly pregnant, were assaulted in a
Phoenix city park on September 20, 2005. Goudeau was linked to the
attack by DNA evidence collected shortly following the time of the
crime.
On September 7, 2007, Goudeau was tried and
convicted of all 19 charges relating to the attack on the two
sisters. He was sentenced on December 14, 2007 to 438 years in
prison for the sexual assault charges. Currently he is still
awaiting trial for the 74 other criminal charges attributed to the
Baseline Killer.
Timeline
On August 6, 2005, sexual assault,
9:45 pm, 7202 S. 48th Street, Phoenix. Police say
Goudeau forced three teenagers behind a church near
Baseline Road, and molested two of the girls.
August 14, 2005 combined sexual assault and
robbery, 4:10 am, 2425 E. Thomas Rd, Phoenix.
September 8, 2005, homicide, 1:00 am, 3730 S.
Mill Ave, Tempe.
September 15, 2005, sexual assault, 9:40 am,
4512 N. 40th St, Phoenix.
September 20, 2005, sexual assault,
10:30 pm, 3100 W. Vineyard Rd, Phoenix. While walking home from a
Phoenix city park at night, two sisters (one of whom was clearly
pregnant), were approached by Goudeau who was armed with a gun. He
sexually assaulted one of the sisters while pushing the gun into
the other sister's pregnant belly. He was arrested, one year later,
when DNA evidence found on the women matched his profile. This was
the breakthrough that led to the arrest in the Baseline Killer
investigation.
September 28, 2005, robbery, 1425 W. Baseline
Rd, Tempe.
September 28, 2005, combined sexual assault and
robbery, 9:30 pm, 7202 S. Central Ave, Phoenix.
November 3, 2005, separate robbery at 8:01 pm,
4019 N. 32nd St, Phoenix, then sexual assault at 8:10 pm, 3131 E.
Indian School (across street of robbery), Phoenix. A robbery
occurred on North 32nd Street. A man with dreadlocks and a
fisherman's hat walked into a shop and robbed it at gunpoint for
$720. Less than 10 minutes later, he abducted a woman placing
items in a parking lot donation receptacle, across the street. He
sexually assaulted her in her car and demanded she drive him to
the corner because he just committed a robbery. The victim said he
wore a Halloween costume and black plastic glasses.
On November 7, 2005, three separate robberies,
8:08 pm, 2950 N. 32nd St, Phoenix. A string of robberies occurred
starting with four people at gunpoint inside Las Brasas, a Mexican
restaurant. He then went next door to a Little Caesar’s Pizza
restaurant and robbed three people inside. Immediately proceeding
the pizza restaurant, he robbed four people outside on the street.
He reportedly stole $463 and fired a round into the air as he fled.
On December 12, 2005 at 6:55 pm there was a
homicide on 6005 S. 40th Street, Phoenix. Tina Washington, 39, was
on her way home from a preschool where she worked. A witness
spotted a man with a drawn gun standing over her body behind a
fast food restaurant. She had been shot in the head.
December 13, 2005, robbery, 4:00 pm, a woman
was robbed at 700 E. South Mountain Avenue, Phoenix.
On February 20, 2006, homicide, 7:38 am, the
bodies of 38-year-old Romelia Vargas and 34-year-old Mirna Palma-Roman
were found shot to death inside their snack truck at 91st Avenue
and Lower Buckeye Road. Initially, police did not connect this
crime to the Baseline Killer and believed that the murders were
drug-related. The murders were officially linked by police in July
2006.
On March 15, 2006 at 9:00 pm, a double homicide
was discovered on 4102 N. 24th Street, Phoenix. Two employees of
Yoshi’s restaurant at 24th Street and Indian School Road were on
their way home in the same vehicle. Liliana Sanchez-Cabrera, age
20, was found dead in the parking lot of another fast-food
restaurant while the body of Chao Chou was discovered about a mile
away. Both victims were shot in the head.
March 29, 2006, homicide, 12:00 am, 2502 N.
24th St, Phoenix. A body was discovered on North 24th Street. A
local businessman noticed streaks of blood on the gravel of a
parking lot. The police were called, but a search of the area
turned up nothing of real value. A week later, the businessman
discovered the badly decomposed body of Kristin Nicole Gibbons as
he was investigating a horrible odor in the area. She had been
shot in the head.
May 1, 2006 at 9:00 pm, 2950 N. 32nd St,
Phoenix. A man in a latex Halloween mask abducted a woman in a car
and sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. She was taken from outside
the same restaurants where the November 7, 2005 crimes occurred.
May 5, 2006, Phoenix police went public with a
list of 18 crimes that they believed were the work of the Baseline
Killer. This number has since risen to 23, as of August 2, 2006.
June 29, 2006 at 9:30 pm, a homicide occurred
on 2924 E. Thomas Rd, Phoenix. Carmen Miranda, 37, was abducted
from a self-serve carwash, located half block from May 1 and
November 7 crimes, while she was on her cellular phone. She was
found dead from a gunshot to the head behind a barbershop about
100 yards (91 m) away. The attack was captured on closed-circuit
television. This is the last crime attributed to the Baseline
Killer.
Documents
Phoenix police have released hundreds
of pages of documents that detail their investigation
into the Baseline Killer. The paperwork obtained by
ABC15 News reveals that police have at least 10 names of
possible suspects that they have looked into, and have
ruled out some of those people. The 20,000 pages of
police reports are primarily of other suspects with very
little mention of Mark Goudeau. The documents reveal
information on nine cases ranging from a double homicide
to sexual assaults, robberies and kidnappings. The new
information includes police reports and narratives that
describe where and who police are looking at in the
investigation. They also discuss investigative leads;
however, much of the information was redacted.
According to the documents, the Baseline Killer
posed as a homeless person in one incident, pushing a shopping cart
toward a woman in a parking lot near 32nd Street and Thomas Road. He
forced himself into her car and told her to perform oral sex upon
him or he would kill her. She fought him off, the records said. In
that incident, the man believed to be the Baseline Killer was
wearing gloves, a mask and clothing that covered his entire body.
The records show police have worked to obtain partial hand prints,
DNA and ballistics reports to build their case; but those results
were blacked out on the paperwork.
False confession
While being interviewed by police in
Kentucky on a burglary case, James Dewayne Mullins
claimed responsibility for the murder of Georgia
Thompson on September 8, 2005. Mullins told police he
shot Thompson as she attempted to rob him outside the
Scottsdale strip club where she worked. However,
Thompson's body was found almost 10 miles (16 km) away
in Tempe at her apartment complex. Police do not believe
she was killed elsewhere.
Mullins changed his story when police
definitively linked the homicide to the Baseline Killer. Since then,
he has told police that he was not in Arizona. Mullins denies any
involvement in Thompson's death. On August 3, 2006, murder charges
against Mullins were dropped. Authorities stated that Mullins had
caused a significant diversion of resources during the hunt for the
genuine killer.
Arrest of Goudeau as suspect
On September 4, 2006, Phoenix police
announced an arrest in connection with a sexual assault
previously linked to the Baseline Killer while serving a
search warrant at 28th Street and Pinchot Avenue.
42-year-old construction worker Mark Goudeau was
arrested and charged with attacking two sisters on September 20,
2005 while they were walking home from a Phoenix city park at night.
Goudeau was linked to the attack by matching DNA evidence found on
the victims. He was tried and convicted on all 19 counts connected
to the assault and sentenced to 438 years in prison. Goudeau is
still awaiting trial on 74 criminal charges linked to the Baseline
Killer investigation.
During the trial, the two sisters gave testimony
that Goudeau suddenly approached them with a gun in his hand. They
were forced into nearby bushes and told to remove their clothing.
The victims said Goudeau sexually assaulted the younger sister as he
pointed his gun at the other sister's pregnant abdomen. Prosecutors
said Goudeau warned the women not to look at his face during the
assault. They also stated he rubbed dirt on one of the women to
remove saliva traces, and wore a condom during the assault on one of
the sisters.
Maricopa County Attourney Andrew Thomas stated he
would seek the death penalty on Goudeau if he is convicted in the
murder trial.
Goudeau’s wife, Wendy Carr, told The Associated
Press that police arrested the wrong man; “My husband is innocent,”
Carr reportedly said in a telephone interview. “This is a huge
miscarriage of justice. And they have an innocent man in prison.
This is all a mistake. He shouldn’t be in prison for something he
didn’t do.” Goudeau is described as a loving husband and
exceptionally friendly neighbor who took meticulous care of his lawn.
Friends and family deny any possibility that Goudeau could be the
Baseline Killer, saying he was framed by Phoenix police who were
desperate for a suspect.
According to Arizona prison officials, Goudeau is
an ex-convict who served 13 years of a 21-year sentence for
aggravated assault, including beating a woman's head with a barbell,
and armed robbery. Goudeau pleaded down to the charge of aggravated
assault, but he had also originally been charged with rape and
kidnapping. The rape charge was dropped, as there was no physical
evidence of rape.
On December 7, 2006, three months after Goudeau
was arrested, Phoenix police said they were confident he was
responsible for the full series of murders, rapes and robberies that
terrorized the city for 13 months. Goudeau is believed to have
committed nine murders, one more than originally attributed to the
Baseline Killer (the murder of Sophia Nunez on April 10, 2006).
Police say ballistics, DNA and circumstantial evidence prove that
Goudeau is the Baseline Killer. They are recommending that
prosecutors charge Goudeau with 74 crimes, including nine counts of
first-degree murder, five counts of sexual assault, three counts of
attempted sexual assault, 10 counts of kidnapping, 12 counts of
armed robbery, four counts of attempted armed robbery, three counts
of sexual abuse, nine counts of sexual conduct with a minor, 13
counts of aggravated assault, and three counts of indecent exposure.
Mishandling of evidence
In April 2009, the Times Publications,
a chain of publications in the Phoenix metro area,
published a story revealing that the Phoenix Police
Department had possessed the key DNA evidence that was
eventually used to crack the Baseline Killer case nine
months before the arrest, but failed to timely analyze
it.
Another suspect
In June 2009, a leaked police report
indicates another suspect had been questioned in
connection to the Vargas and Roman lunch truck murder in
February 2006. Terry Wayne Smith, a friend of the
Goudeau family, has a long, violent history of crime in
California and Arizona. Smiths' criminal history
includes aggravated assault and armed robbery, plus he
was a suspect in two homicide cases.
Smith was released from prison shortly before the
Baseline Killer attacks began, and he was arrested a few days after
Goudeau. Smith is currently imprisoned for 4 years after allegedly
holding his family at gunpoint the night before his arrest. He will
be eligible for parole in 2011.
Police officer Rusty Stuart complied 166 page
suggesting that Smith may have been involved in some of the Baseline
murders. However, police spokesmen say that Smith had been properly
questioned and dismissed as a suspect, and state that Smith was in
jail at the time of one of the murders.
Wikipedia.org
The "Baseline
Killer" Mark Goudeau Has Been Sentenced to 438 Years
By Melissa Hincha-Ownby -
Associatedcontent.com
December 14, 2007
The "Baseline Killer" kept Phoenix
area residents gripped with fear in 2005 and 2006. Mark
Goudeau, dubbed the "Baseline Killer" because of the
proximity of his crimes to Baseline Road, was first
apprehended in September of
2006. It wasn't until January of 2007 that Goudeau was
officially indicted; the indictment came down with 74
charges ranging from kidnapping to sexual assault to
nine charges for murder. Jury selection was completed in
July 2007 and the trial began shortly thereafter. The
trial centered on the rape and sexual assault of two
sisters at a south Phoenix park. One of the two sisters
was very visibly pregnant at the time of the brutal
attack.
Goudeau was convicted in September of this year and
today, December 14, 2007, he was officially sentenced to
438 years in prison despite his claims of innocence. In
a televised report by KTVK Channel 3, the judge in the
case went so far as to state he feels that Goudeau has
split personalities and disregarded his claims. Goudeau
is still awaiting trial for the remaining counts,
including the nine murder charges. The trial for these
is not scheduled to begin until August 2008.
Goudeau is a former construction worker who is also a
convicted felon having served 13 years for an aggravated
assault conviction. Goudeau was originally charged with
rape and kidnapping but pleaded down to the sexual
assault charge; Goudeau was released from prison in
2004. Goudeau's crime spree in Phoenix was even featured
on America's Most Wanted (AMW). The AMW website now
proudly proclaims that Goudeau was captured.
The 2005 crimes that are linked to Goudeau are two
sexual assaults and a robbery in August 2005; a murder,
two robberies, and three sexual assaults in September
2005; one sexual assault and four robberies in November
2005; a murder and a robbery in December 2005; a double
murder on March 15, 2006 as well as an additional murder
on March 29, 2006; a sexual assault in May 2006; and a
murder in June of 2006. More crimes have been linked to
Goudeau including an additional three murder cases.
Goudeau and his wife,
Wendy Carr, vehemently deny that Goudeau was involved in
any of these crimes. Unfortunately for them, there is
strong DNA evidence that not only linked him to the
crimes he was just tried for but that also link him to
the crimes he is awaiting trial.
Carr feels that Goudeau has been
railroaded and that he won't be able to receive a fair
trial here in Arizona.
Man
charged with nine murders in 'Baseline killer' case
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
PHOENIX — A man suspected of being the area's serial "Baseline Killer"
has been indicted on charges including nine counts of first-degree
murder, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
The 74
charges against Mark Goudeau, which also include 15 counts of
sexual assault and 11 counts of kidnapping, stem from crimes committed
between August 2005 and June 2006 throughout the Phoenix area.
"The
reign of terror has ended. The quest for justice has just begun,"
prosecutor Andrew Thomas said.
Goudeau
has yet to enter a plea. The indictment was issued Friday.
Police
announced last month that the man they believed to be the Baseline
Killer was in custody and recommended that Goudeau be charged with
murder and other crimes.
Goudeau,
an ex-convict, has been in jail since September, when he was arrested in
two sexual assaults attributed to the Baseline Killer. At the time,
police stopped short of pronouncing Goudeau the Baseline Killer while
they built a case against him.
But last
month, police said that investigators had collected forensic evidence —
including DNA and ballistics — and other evidence implicating Goudeau in
the killings.
The
Baseline Killer case originally included eight killings. A ninth was
publicly revealed in December. Most of the victims, all but one of them
women, were killed going about their daily activities, such as leaving
work, washing a car or waiting at a bus stop.
Police
have said the killer usually struck at night and wore disguises,
including a wig of dreadlocks and a fisherman's hat. The name Baseline
Killer came from the Phoenix street where some of the earliest crimes
were committed.
About
half of the Baseline Killer attacks occurred within three miles of the
Phoenix home Goudeau shared with his wife. One woman was killed just
around the corner.
Goudeau
had previously served 13 1/2 years in prison for three aggravated
assaults, armed robbery and kidnapping before being paroled in 2004. He
once blamed his history of violence on a weakness for crack cocaine.
The
Baseline Killer was one of two serial killer cases that spread fear
across the Phoenix area in recent months.
In
August, police arrested two roommates in what was dubbed the Serial
Shooter case. The two men are accused of driving around the city and its
suburbs at night, firing at people randomly from a car. Seven people were
killed.
The defendants are
awaiting trial.
The 2 sides of Goudeau add to 'Baseline'
puzzle
Michael Kiefer - The
Arizona Republic
Sept. 10, 2006
Mark Goudeau may be a model citizen
living in a house on a tree-lined street with a wife of nearly 20
years and a steady job.
Or he may be a rapist, maybe even a
killer, who never escaped his violent past.
Goudeau, the man arrested in
connection with two sexual assaults linked to the "Baseline Killer,"
held a job with a large construction company that has offices in
three states. His wife strongly defends him, claiming that her
husband is incapable of violence.
His neighbors and siblings say his
arrest was a mistake. They say he would not have committed sexual
assault or any of the attacks from the Baseline Killer file, 23 in
all, including rapes, robberies and eight murders.
Police have not accused Goudeau of
being the Baseline Killer, but they haven't excluded him either.
Goudeau, who was arrested Wednesday,
his 42nd birthday, has been charged with two counts each of
aggravated assault, sexual abuse, sexual assault and kidnapping
stemming from a September 2005 attack on two sisters as they were
walking home from a park near Baseline Road and 31st Avenue in
Phoenix.
But even if evidence from the sexual
assaults points to Goudeau, the evidence from the other crimes
attributed to the Baseline Killer case does not.
It's a paradox: Police insist the 23
attacks are linked, but they can link Goudeau to only one of them.
"People are assuming that whoever
committed this crime is the same person who committed all of these
murders," said Goudeau's attorney, Corwin Townsend.
"Let's be clear: They have not
connected him, nor do they have any evidence whatsoever connecting
him, to any murder.
"So if people are getting the false
impression that they've solved the crime, it seems to me the jury's
still out on that. It seems to me the person is possibly still out
there. And more likely is still out there."
History of family trouble
Court records paint Goudeau as a
younger child in a family plagued by drug and alcohol abuse, a
family in which at least six of 13 children are felons and at least
four have done prison time. One remains in prison, and another had
his probation revoked last month.
Goudeau was born Sept. 6, 1964, to
Willie and Alberta and grew up in a Phoenix neighborhood near 12th
Street and Southern Avenue.
His mother was a maid, his father a
lot attendant for car dealers on Camelback Road.
According to court records, they
divorced. An older brother said Alberta died in 1976, when Goudeau
was 12, and the 13 children - seven boys and six girls - watched
over each other. Goudeau was the second-youngest.
He and younger brother Marvin excelled
at sports. Both played football for Corona del Sol High School in
Tempe. Marvin went on to play college ball, but Mark never graduated
from high school because he failed to complete all the credits
needed.
Older brother Oscar told The
Republic that their upbringing was uneventful, at times idyllic.
There was no violence in the house growing up, he said, although he
admitted that their father was a strict disciplinarian.
But court records for several of the
Goudeau brothers and sisters tell a different story.
One quotes an older sister as saying
that alcoholism ran in the family and that the children were
verbally abused.
And drugs have come up repeatedly in
the siblings' court records, both as charges and as the reason
things went wrong.
Accusation of rape
Trouble began for Mark Goudeau in
1982, when he was 18. He and one of his brothers were accused of
raping a young woman. The brothers were never charged because the
victim did not want to go forward with the prosecution.
He was charged with trespassing for a
bar argument in 1987 and with driving while intoxicated in 1988.
In August 1989, again according to
court records, Goudeau was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault
and aggravated assault in the beating of a woman with a shotgun and
the chasing of two witnesses at the scene at 28th Street and Osborn
Road.
The woman said Goudeau raped her and
tried to force cocaine up her nose, that he beat her first with a
barbell and the shotgun, threw her in the bathtub, then beat her
again in the parking lot.
Goudeau said she had willingly
performed oral sex on him and that they were about to take a bath
when two people knocked at the door: a man who beat her up and
another who held a gun on Goudeau.
Goudeau was allowed to plead no
contest to three counts of aggravated assault.
In August 1990, before he had been
sentenced, he pulled a gun on a cashier at a Fry's supermarket at
30th Street and Thomas Road and robbed her of about $850, then
forced employees to follow him out of the store. He told a probation
officer that he needed money for his crack cocaine addiction.
Long prison term
Goudeau was sentenced to 15 years in
prison for the assaults and 21 years for the robbery.
And after serving 13 years as a model
prisoner, he was paroled in 2004 by the Arizona Executive Clemency
Board.
Friends and relatives had written
letters of support to the Clemency Board.
"Mark's transformation from a young,
sad boy to a mature, remorseful, ambitious and introspective man has
been inspiring," one wrote. "Although Mark could have fallen in to
the abyss of bitterness and anger, he has chosen to see the positive
side of life and the many possibilities it offers."
Goudeau told the Clemency Board that
he had changed and hoped to work in construction.
Board members said they had no reason
not to take him at his word.
At the time of his arrest Wednesday,
Goudeau was working for a company called SelectBuild.
Company officials would not comment on
his performance.
A company executive, Gary Burleson,
said, "We are cooperating with authorities in any way requested. We
will let the justice system take care of what it needs to do."
Liked by neighbors
After Goudeau got out of prison, he
moved into the house that his wife, Wendy Carr, bought in 1995. It's
on Pinchot Street, just a long block north of Thomas Road, where the
Baseline Killer committed many of his crimes.
Goudeau's neighbors knew he had been
in prison, but they liked him so much that they didn't care.
He had even confided to his next-door
neighbor that police were questioning him in the Baseline Killer
case, but she didn't believe it.
"He's a sweet, sweet guy," said Sue-Ellen
Bennett. "He was always home or with Wendy. He was a very hard
worker."
Another neighbor, Burt Lewin, said he
would see Goudeau doing yard work and they would talk or wave.
"I would never suspect him of hurting
somebody," Lewin said.
Goudeau's sister Wilma said her
brother liked to spend time with his wife.
"They hiked and biked. They were
almost always doing something together," Wilma said, adding that she
doesn't believe the accusations.
"I cannot see him doing something like
that," she added.
Oscar Goudeau said that he and his
sister Monica had visited Goudeau in Phoenix in April.
"It was like being born again," Oscar
said of his brother.
Those don't sound like descriptions of
a man who would shove a gun into the side of a pregnant young woman
and rape her as she pleads for her life and the life of her unborn
baby.
They don't make him sound like a man
who would threaten to kill the woman and her younger sister, then
drag them into the bushes and assault them repeatedly.
That's what Goudeau is accused of.
Whether he's a good man or a bad man
is no longer the question.
It will be up to the court to decide
whether he's innocent or guilty.
