The Mickey Thompson Murder Mystery

A car racing legend and his wife are cur down in a haunting daylight attack in their driveway in what police and prosecutors call a well executed and choreographed execution. The idea was to kill Trudy first where Mickey could watch his wife being killed before he is killed. With all the evidence left behind and the number of witnesses the Investigators thought they would have this case wrapped up by dinner. Little did they know it would take twenty years to catch the mastermind and the identity of the shooters would remain a mystery forever. This is an unforgettable tale of life and death in the fast lane.

On March 16th 1988 at around 6:00 in an exclusive gated community in Los Angeles California Racing Legend Mickey Thompson wake to the sound of a horrifying attack. A little neighbor named Allison Triarsi hears high pitched awful screams. Her Mom runs into the athroom and grabs her and puts her down in front of the dining room sliding glass door and tells her to stay down. From the sliding glass door she has a view of the Thompson's house and watched the following events transpire.

Mickey and Trudy normally leave their house around 6:00 in the morning and today was no different. They had somehow lost their garage door opener. So the van was backed out by Trudy while Mickey stayed in the garage waiting for her to back out. After Trudy got the Van out of the garage, Mickey closed the garage door and came out a side door. As he was walking out of the door he was confronted by one suspect and simultaneous Trudy was confronted by another suspect. Mickey is shot and wounded as he exits the garage. Trudy is hit while backing out the van. Neighbors urgently call 911.

But for now all they can do is watch as the attack plays out. Leaving the van in panic she hits the gas while screaming and the van rolls into the back wall. The impact forces Trudy onto the ground. She then trips trying to escape down the steep driveway. Her fingernails were at the scene where she had broken them while crawling on her hands and knees in an effort to escape. The entire way she is begging for her life. One of the gunman follows Trudy. She actually raised up her hands and said "please, please don't kill me". Mickey is down on the ground at the same time at the top of the driveway wounded from a shot to the abdomen and obviously in great pain.

At that point another neighbor named Lance Johnson jumped up and thought my God what's going on? He leans out the window after getting his gun and all of a sudden the gunshots stopped and he could see the attack as well. With the help of his attacker, Mickey struggles to his feet. He was able to stand but was rocking back and forth. The idea was to allow Mickey to watch his wife being killed to punish Mickey further. While he watched on of the gunman walked right up to Trudy Thompson and shot her point blank in the head. The same gunman then walked up the driveway and Mickey was and screaming his head off and puts the gun to Mickeys left ear and puts on bullet into Mickey Thompson's head.

Allison's parents were at the top of the hill screaming at the top of their lungs at the two gunman that they have called the cops and to stop. Needless to say the gunman paid them no mind. Neighbor Lance Johnson sees two men flee on racing bikes and yells at them to stop as loud as he could but they paid him no attention either. So he fires his 357 magnum at them but misses. Johnson chases the shooters down the hill. At the end of the road where they live is a security gate so Johnson thinks they will have to stop. But Johnson is wrong. By the time he gets to the gate itself, the shooters have vanished.

Within minutes police are on the scene. When the officer they have a van, still running, whose windows have been shot out, they have Trudy Thompson lying in a gutter with lots of blood, and they have Mickey Thompson about eighty feet away at the top of the driveway laying dead also with lots of blood. At first the cops think it is a robbery gone bad or a robbery gone bad. Witnesses describe the suspects as black males in their 20s or 30s, 6' to 6'2", clean cut looking with average to good builds wearing jogging suites. Some witnesses who saw them fairly close up said they had a Caribbean or Jamaican appearance to them. And they made their escape on racing bikes. Officers fan out from the crime scene nut the manhunt goes nowhere. And soon the neighborhood is filled with TV crews.

Mickey Thompson was bigger than life. He was an innovator and a visionary when it came to motor sports. He was 59 years old when he was killed and Trudy was in her 40s. She was real good as a sidekick to him as well as a wife. Mickey was the front man who was out and about coming up with the ideas and he would bring those ideas home and she would help implement those ideas.

Back at the crime scene the Thompson's grieving family gathers. As the family lingers in disbelief the forensics unit documents the scene. The main event occurred on the a very sloped driveway. Trudy Thompson is lying at the bottom of the driveway just at street level. Halfway up the drive, the Thompson's van is against the retaining wall. Mickey Thompson was lying closer to the house right in front and a little bit aside from the garage. You could tell that the incident happened in stages and it wasn't a quick scene, there was movement in the scene. Scattered around the bodies and the van Investigators find eight spent and four live cartridges. There was a lot of gunfire used. Whether that indicates they had done something like that before or not is debatable.

As the coroner examines the bodies it is pretty clear robbery was not the motive. Trudy was wearing some very expensive jewelery and was something that could have easily been taken were robbery the motive. As Mickey Thompson lay in the driveway his wallet was lying next to him face up with $4000 in it. So robbery was clearly not the motive. Leaving valuables like that behind indicates that it is either a vengeance type of crime or just a straight up execution. Expanding their search, Investigators find evidence that the suspects hid out before ambushing their victims. There were fresh orange peels found behind some hedges in a perfect spot for a gunman to lie in wait. In the same bushes a battery operated stun gun is found. The police speculate that was brought along by the killers in case the Thompson's dog was loose and they didn't know it was in the house.

Following the killers escape route investigators figure out how the shooters evade the security gate. That particular day the gate wasn't working properly so all the killers had to do was push the gate open by hand. Prosecutor Alan Jackson thinks there is only one reason for that.. Someone had prior knowledge that the gate wasn't working properly. According to Alan Jackson this is a well choreographed, methodically execution. With all the evidence pointing to a contract killing, Investigators are stumped. The question is who wanted Mickey and Trudy Thompson dead?

Although the Detectives on the case are stumped they do several interviews which lead nowhere. To make matter worse they don't have a motive. Detectives first look into similar killings. One in nearby Santa Ana. They looked at the Horace McKenna case which was an Orange County case who was killed by two men in his driveway by two men with the same caliber weapon. It happened at the same time as the Thompson case and that too was a contract murder but they are never able to make a link to these or any other murders.

Investigators also consider the possibility that it was a case of mistaken identity. But that didn't seem to be the case either. At the same time Detectives look for trouble in the couples relationship but to no avail. There was simple never an indication that their was an affair going on and no one has ever heard Mickey say a cross word to Trudy. Their just isn't much to go on. They were very unlikely targets. Employees and business associates describe Mickey as fair but hard nosed. Mickey was a business man who delivered a product to millions of people worldwide and it is fair to say that some people weren't happy with that either as a consumer or as a competitor.

Then just twelve hours after the murder Detectives receive the first solid lead. A man named Mike Goodwin called the Laguna Beach police. He says he's worried he's the killers next target. In the early 80's when Mickey was putting on stadium shows with off road trucks and dune buggies, Mike was doing the same with motorcycles. Mickey sensed an opportunity. He saw a businessman who was successful who was putting people in stadiums who complicated his own needs. Mickey approached Goodwin and they agreed to join forces. They had decided to combine their operation and use the course on one weekend day for trucks and dune buggies and then change the track a little bit an use it the next day for motorcycles. By doing that they would save a huge amount of setup time and expense for the dirt. Under their agreement, Mickey fronted most of the money and Goodwin ran the day to day operations.

Mike Goodwin and Mickey Thompson on paper were the perfect match. But in practice it was a combustible combination. According to Alan Jackson, Mike Goodwin was obsessive, compulsive, demanding, and methodical. Mickey Thompson was the kind of guy you wanted to have a beer with. Mike Goodwin was the kind of guy that made you want to throw your beer in his face. Not only was their personal relationship suffering but their business relationship was tanking too. Mickey and Mikes first few events lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bills were not being paid that were supposed to be paid and Mike was the one who was supposed to be paying them.

Finally, Mickey confronted Goodwin. Mike Goodwin's response was don't worry about it, I'm taking care of the money, you mind your business, I know what's going on, you just add the money in and let me run the business. Instead Thompson secretly audited the books and discovered the books and discovered that his partner had been stealing from the company. Mickey called his sister and told her that Mike Goodwin was a crook. Trudy went ballistic when she found out as Mickey had a reputation to protect and that kind of performance would surely ruin it. Mickey dissolved the partnership and sued Goodwin for almost $1,000,000. Civil trials can be every bit emotional as criminal trials but was this nasty breakup motive for murder? Cops were a long way from finding out.

After three years of litigation Mickey Thompson won judgements of almost $800,000 but before he could collect he was gunned down in his driveway. According to Alan Jackson, it wasn't the money that upset Mike Goodwin so much it was the principle of the thing. Mike Goodwin hated to lose and he certainly wasn't going to lose to some redneck who builds cars for a living. At this point Mike Goodwin becomes a person of great interest to the police. But before Detectives can track him down, he reaches out to them in a panic. He had been calling the station and in fact had come in demanding protection saying that they had killed Mickey now they are going to come after me. He is telling the police that he is the one in danger, that a hit man is on the loose and the next bullet has his name on it.

Investigators set up a meeting with Goodwin and his attorney. At the meeting the attorney tells Investigators that he has talked to Mike and I don't think it would be in his best interest to talk to you. With the conversation closed at least for now, cops start questioning Goodwin's associates. A private eye who once worked for Goodwin describes some strange behavior a few months before the murders. Goodwin was furious that Mickey wouldn't drop the $800,000 civil judgement. He then said he was going to get even with that sonofabitch.

Another witness, a sheriff's Marshal remembers Goodwin threatening to kill Thompson. As a part of the civil judgement Mickey was able to get his hands on Goodwin's prized Mercedes Benz two door coupe. When Marshals went to repossess the car, Goodwin exploded. He tells a uniformed officer "that guy" meaning Mickey Thompson "doesn't know who he is messing with, he's dead". Detectives are eager to confront Goodwin but their prime suspect is already one step ahead of them. In a suspicious move, Goodwin and his wife have sold their home and all their assets, borrowed $400,000 to buy a yacht and set sail for the Caribbean.

Three years after the murder it seems Mike Goodwin may have gotten away with the perfect murder. But then his money runs out. His yacht is repossessed and inexplicably he returns to the US. The first thing he does is visit his lawyer. He is under the mistaken impression that with Mickey dead he no longer is required to pay the money he owes Mickey. His lawyer straightens him out on that point as he still owes the money to Mickey's estate. He also has to attend court for failure to make payments on his boat loan. When he went into the courthouse the police were waiting for him and they arrest Mike Goodwin for bank fraud. Goodwin and his wife are convicted of bank fraud and sentenced to 30 months in prison. It didn't help any with the Investigation but it got him off the street for a while.

Goodwin's voluntary to return to the US perplexed everyone following the case. Just what was Goodwin thinking. Why not escape to Bolivia like Butch and Sundance? It seemed like such a boneheaded move, or was it. Cops were still a long way from making an arrest. Like the detectives, the family is frustrated but they know that Investigators are doing everything they can.

Ten years go by and Goodwin is out of prison continuing to claim his innocence regarding the Thompson murders. Convinced a guilty man is walking free, Mickeys family posts a $1,000,000 for information leading to an arrest. This is of course a last ditch effort to solve a ten year old case. The reward and all the publicity generate a new lead. A new witness comes forward who says he say the gunman just minutes after the shooting. He saw two black males on racing bicycles came into the back of a business. The two men put the bikes into the back of a rental van then sped away. Investigators contact van rental companies in the area. They spend hundreds of man hours looking through records of
budget rental cars looking for the van the perpetrators used to make their getaway. But the Detectives are too late. Most of the old records have been discarded or destroyed. If the man had called when the crime had occurred they probably located that van.

When the new lead goes cold the investigation stalls once again. The facts all point in Mike Goodwin's direction but Detectives just can't put a case together. Meanwhile Detectives do manage to link Goodwin to a stun gun similar to the one found at the crime scene. They found a witness who at one time been a housekeeper for him and she said she had come across a similar stun gun in his home. They also get a statement from Goodwin's wife at the time that they had owned a stun gun similar to the one that had been found at the scene. It's an interesting clue but hardly enough to support a murder charge but Investigators were by no means giving up. After 13 years it is starting to look like this case will never be solved. That is until a witness comes out of the woodwork with a stunning allegation and Investigators finally get the chance to talk with Mike Goodwin himself.

In early 2001, almost 13 years after the double murder of Mickey and Trudy Thompson Detectives get a critical new lead from a man named Rod Stevens, one of Mickeys neighbors. He had came home early from work one day three or four days prior to the murder and his wife alerted him to a suspicious car parked out in front of their house with two men in it. He asks his wife how long had they been there and she said five or ten minutes. The driver was a big man with reddish colored hair with a stocking cap on. He says he really didn't get that good a look but he says he is 99.9% sure it was a black man in the passenger seat. There was an elementary school nearby and they were worried about sexual predators. he tells his wife to go call the police while he was going to go down and find out what they were doing. As soon as Stevens gets close to him the driver turns towards him and says can I help you and then puts the car into gear and speeds away.

Detectives show Stevens a group of photos one of which is Mike Goodwin and he picks him out immediately. Finally they have a bead on their elusive suspect but to be sure thay haul Goodwin down to the station to see if Stevens can ID him in person. He recognizes Goodwin right away. Stevens revolution may have come very late in the game but it provides a critical piece of the puzzle. Mike Goodwin lives 60 miles away from Mickey Thompson's house. So why was he sitting just down the street from Thompson's house that day. Alan Jackson thinks he was scoping out escape routes and familiarizing himself and his passenger with the murder scene.

Fourteen year after the murder Investigators arrest Mike Goodwin. But Detectives are hoping for a confession from him. But they are in for a huge shock thinking Mike is going down with out a fight. Detective Mark Lilyfield handles the interrogation. He starts out by saying he knows Mike Goodwin isn't going to talk to him but he wants to talk to Mike. Mike tells the detectives he doesn't know anything about the murder and that he can't be the only one who knows he is innocent. And if they think he is going to tell them who the two shooters are they are sadly mistaken. Investigators formally charge Mike Goodwin with two counts of first degree murder along with the special circumstance of lying in wait.

Despite Goodwin's obstinance it finally seems investigators finally have the upper hand. But the fight is far from over. Goodwin's attorneys file dozens of motions which delay the trial for five more years. It's not until November of 2006 that Mike Goodwin finally faces a Jury. But without any hard evidence connecting Mike to the mysterious shooters prosecutors know the odds are stacked against them.

On November 6th 2006 Mike Goodwin finally goes on trial for masterminding the contract killing of Mickey and Trudy Thompson. Mike Goodwin doesn't seem nervous in the least. Prosecutors go into a trial with the evidence to build a house. In this case they had a good blueprint but they were woefully short of building materials. The prosecution divides it's case into three parts. They start with Goodwin's threats to kill Mickey over the $800,000 civil judgement. There were secretaries in Goodwin's office who overheard Goodwin saying he would waste Mickey and see him dead. When Mickey refused to back down, prosecutor Alan Jackson alleges that Goodwin threatened his family.

Mickey's sister says that three days before he died Mickey had called her and told her that he was afraid that Goodwin was going to hurt his baby meaning Trudy. Witnesses also testify that Goodwin boasted of an escape plan saying that he could have Mickey Thompson wasted and they will never touch me because I'll sail off to Bermuda and they will never find me. Next they lay out their theory of how the killings took place. First they place Goodwin in Mickey's neighborhood just three days before the killings take place. The prosecution argues the attack was pre-planned. Finally the prosecution concentrates on Goodwin's behavior just before and just after the murders. He immediately sold all of his belonging after the murder and went on a vacation. If anything was going to sink the defendant it was his ill timed pleasure cruise.

The prosecution seems solid but without any proof of a conspiracy or the conspirators there still a long way from a conviction. After seven weeks of testimony and 45 witnesses the prosecution rests their case against Mike Goodwin. The defense team points the finger at drug lords, Mafia hit men, and even disgruntled Saudis who had been sold defective tires. Jurors sift thru the facts for an agonizing six and a half days before reaching a verdict. Almost 19 years after the slayings the Jury announces it's verdict: Guilty. Before his sentence gives a statement to the court proclaiming his innocence. Goodwin is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. Alan Jackson says Mike Goodwin's downfall was not that he was stupid, it's that he thought the authorities were.

Even now some twenty one years later, the sense of loss is overwhelming. Investigators are still searching for the two hired hit men who were never caught. There was a rumor that one of the shooters was dead and in a fifty gallon drum somewhere in Jamaica but nobody is sure. The one million dollar reward still stands. Detectives believe the shooters are career criminals from New York or south Florida, or possibly from one of the Caribbean Islands. You would think that if they had given Mike some incentive, like a reduced sentence, for telling them he might have talked.. That is if he knows.. which is what makes this a mystery.