goodwin found guilty in mickey thompson murder!

[charleskieffner]

hot off press...........! goodwin has been found guilty in calif. court for the 1st degree murders of mickey thompson and his wife trudy!

justice prevails! hang the bastard or give me the bullet for the firing squad!

probably will get life at the pelican bay country club SMU(special mgmt. unit). which for your info is modeled after arizona dept of corrections SMU in florence, az. we make and pay for really nice prisons here after the TYSON GANG escaped years ago.

DO ARIZONA...............DO TIME!

[Joeaksa]

Glad that finally there is some justice in this. RIP Mickey...

[motion]

That drunk Goodwin used to live in a trailer park down here in Dana Point. I know someone who had to deal with him continuously. Its not like he had a life anyway... now he can rot.

[speeder]

Sweet. My good friend is making the Mickey Thompson bio-pic as we speak.

[pwd72s]

I haven't followed the case other than what's been in the mainstream press. You guys have any inside info that he did it?
I guess the jury believes so...and that's enough. Rest in Peace, Mickey...one hell of a hot rodder!

[motion]

Details, Denis? This must really impact his project, although we all knew this would happen sooner or later.

[speeder]

My friend John Bilecky is directing the documentary feature film, they acquired the rights to his life story from his living relatives, I guess. He has been at the trial almost every day, he met and interviewed Goodwin several times in jail.

I was supposed to tag along w/ him to the trial one day, but I got lazy and didn't follow-up on it. I grew up going to criminal trials to watch my Dad in action, this one did not strike me as very thrilling w/ nothing but circumstantial evidence in it. Oh he is guilty, make no mistake about it; but he nearly pulled off the perfect crime if it wasn't for his big mouth and bigger ego. The shooters got away clean, never got jammed-up in an unrelated murder case and gave him up, etc.., so there was no exciting evidence or witnesses. (They were reportedly Jamaicans brought in specially for the job).

This is the biggest deal that Bilecky has ever done, I used to work for him in production 20 years ago when he was one of the foremost car photographers in the advertising biz. He was just segueing into filming commercials when I met him. He is a great guy, I hope that he hits a homer on this.

Here is the Variety story on it, his company is Bandito Brothers:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117955997.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

[strupgolf]

Micky Thompsom will always be a icon in automotive history in the US. His cars and exploits will last forever in the anals of magazines and books.

[kycarguy 935]

We were going to Mickey Thompson's house the day that happened to pick up a race car that my buddy just bought. We get to Bradbury I think was the name and police are all around the place. It was such sad news especially after getting to know what a good guy Mickey Thompson was. Its a good thing they finally got Goodwin.

I use to go to all the offroad races at the stadiums and one night at Anaheim Stadium 2 of the exhibition dirt dragsters was there to get people excited about a race there next weekend or the next night. They guys windshield was muddy from the offroad cars and Mickey Thompson was standing near me and took the shirt off his back to wipe the guys windshield for him. He was one of the best.

[cashflyer]

Originally posted by charleskieffner
hang the bastard or give me the bullet for the firing squad!

They've announced that they will not seek the death penalty.

[charleskieffner]

there are 3 standout guys in off road racing . mickey thompson who was as we all know, hell bent on winning any venue entered, or breaking down big time.

walt lott who i got to know real well from the MINT 400's and the HDRA race series. he was a big man that really went out of his way to help others anytime anyplace. gave me some shock hoops, brand new, for my class 7 mini pre-runner, out of his garage one day.

and sal fish who has pointed SCORE in the direction of world class racing.

this trial has gone on forever and my friend in baja knew him very well. some of mickeys feats are truly NUTS! he is sorely missed by alot of us. not just for the showmanship but for the un damn real vehicles he came up with to conquor baja. they were all eng. marvels that had everybody thinking out of the box.

[artplumber]

Not saying Goodwin is not guilty, but the evidence reported as presented, sounded pretty spotty for a "beyond reasonable doubt" verdict. Was there some really damning thing? or just the deal gone bad/lawsuit?

[speeder]

He all but took out a billboard saying that he did it, plus there were some damning cell phone records from his boat as the hit went down that somehow were not admitted into evidence.

There was no one else w/ motive, and he had 100% motive plus threatened to do exactly what he did. MT was terrified for his life and anticipated the hit. Unless the real OJ killers did it, Goodwin is guilty.

[notfarnow]

What was the motive?

[Ronbo]

I seem to remember two guys on bicycles were seen leaving the crime scene. The police thought those were the actual trigger-men, with Goodwin contracting the hit. Any word on them?

[cashflyer]

Originally posted by notfarnow
What was the motive?

Motocross promoter Michael Goodwin had ranted to friends and associates that he wanted Thompson dead. Then he plotted the 1988 killings and planned his escape to the Caribbean on a yacht, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson said during his opening statement.

Although Goodwin was known for bravado, two witnesses said he clearly wasn't joking when he made a death threat against Thompson a month before the murders.

Bill Wilson, former general manager of the Rose Bowl and Jack Murphy Stadium, testified that at a dinner party Goodwin said, "F---ing Thompson is killing me. He's destroying me and trying to take everything I've got. I'm going to take him out."

Wilson's wife, Nina, corroborated the statements. The Wilsons testified that Goodwin bragged, "Nobody will pin it on me. I'm too smart for that."

According to Jackson, Thompson won a lawsuit against Goodwin that totaled $793,069 with interest and court costs. Then, when Goodwin filed for bankruptcy, Thompson sued to get his money back. That case was supposed to go to trial two days after the Thompsons were killed.

"Mickey Thompson was crushing Michael Goodwin under the weight of the court system and Michael Goodwin would not tolerate that," Jackson said.

(Taken from a November 2006 article written by Tori Richards)

[speeder]

Originally posted by Ronbo
I seem to remember two guys on bicycles were seen leaving the crime scene. The police thought those were the actual trigger-men, with Goodwin contracting the hit. Any word on them?

Rumored to be contracted off-shore, possibly Jamaicans or other Carribeans A lot smarter than using local gang members who will turn on a dime to save themselves a death sentence in another case, or just brag about the hit to some other lowlife who gives them up in jail, etc...

Like I said, almost the perfect crime if Goodwin wasn't such a loudmouth ass hole. When you want to kill someone, keep your mouth shut! Pretend you're not even mad at them. Apparently he never watched The Godfather Part II.

Goodwin is (was) a big sailboat guy, I'm sure that he met the right people to facilitate that type of contract hit in his travels. He was known for sailing around the sunny parts of the globe and spending a winter or two in Aspen skiing.

The shooters were in the wind the day of the hit, w/o a doubt.

[notfarnow]

What was the Thompson/Goodwin lawsuit about?

I read on one site about Thompson's nephew being killed, whazzupwitdat?

[cashflyer]

Originally posted by notfarnow
What was the Thompson/Goodwin lawsuit about?

http://www.justiceontrial.org/articles/murder_timeline.htm

[URY914]

Here is a story that appeared several months ago that I posted..

http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/murder-on-the-last-turn/14781/