Witnesses Testify in Racing Legend's Murder

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=3 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="07700500dvldtc.gif"> <div> witnesses testify in racing legend's murder </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="078d2c00dvldtc.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Law Offices of Jeffrey S. 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Wilson - now San Diego Qualcomm Stadium manager - and from Kathryn Weise, Goodwin's former secretary.</div> <bR> <div> The prosecution's first two of three expected witnesses supported prosecutors' contention that Goodwin masterminded the killings of Mickey and Trudy Thompson, 59 and 41, respectively, over soured business dealings. The couple were gunned down outside their home in Bradbury, 15 miles east of Los Angeles, but unidentified, men who witnesses said they saw flee on bicycles. </div> <bR> <div> "[Goodwin] said, 'Fucking Thompson is killing me,'" Wilson testified, referring to a conversation he had with Goodwin at a dinner in January 1988. '"He's destroying me. He's taking everything I've got. I'm going to take him out.'"</div> <bR> <div> Goodwin's lawyer, Jeffrey S. Benice, asked Wilson why he never reported the conversation to the police. Wilson said he did - though not right away.</div> <bR> <div> Weise, currently serving time in a Texas prison for violating probation on felony bad-check charges, testified that Goodwin complained daily in 1986 about a civil suit in which he was embroiled with Thompson.</div> <bR> <div> Thompson won a $514,000 judgment against Goodwin in the lawsuit, which centered on a management disagreement they had before becoming off-road racing promotional partners. Weise testified that Goodwin believed Thompson owed him a lot of money - and that she overheard two telephone conversations in which Goodwin allegedly said he was going to kill Thompson.</div> <div> "[Goodwin] said, 'For $500 and a motorcycle, I'll have you killed,'" Weise said.</div> <bR> <div> Goodwin, 57, is charged with conspiracy and two counts of murder for the slayings of the Thompsons. The preliminary hearing in Orange County Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno's courtroom is expected to last another day, with the judge deciding at the conclusion whether prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed with the case.</div> <bR> <div> Benice has contended in court documents that Goodwin had nothing to gain from killing Thompson. According to court papers filed by the defense attorney, Goodwin and Thompson had formed a real estate partnership that would have garnered Goodwin $1 million in profits if Thompson hadn't been killed.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="copycat blues"><U><IMG SRC="092bd3e0.jpg" border=0 width="189" height="62" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="copycat blues"><U>Click on Gavel to Continue</U></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=24 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> To Preview Your Selection - Click on any Blue Link (Above)</div> </td> </tr></table></body>