Michael Goodwin guilty of killing Mickey Thompson
 

Man guilty of killing 'Speed King' Mickey Thompson

LOS ANGELES, Jan 4 (Reuters) - More than 18 years after car racing legend Mickey Thompson and his wife were shot to death outside their Los Angeles area home, a former business partner was convicted on Thursday of their murders.

Michael Goodwin, who had long been suspected of orchestrating the March, 1988 killings of Mickey and Trudy Thompson over a business dispute, was found guilty of two counts of murder after a six-week trial.

Goodwin, 61, now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
"It was Goodwin the whole time," Thompson's son, Danny, said after the verdict. "I always thought that. I think that now. And obviously the jury thought that and I thank them."

Mickey Thompson was the first American to travel over 400 miles per hour (644 kph) on land and held some 500 land speed records before turning to race promotion.

He was also credited with bringing off-road racing to stadium events.
Goodwin lost a bitter, two-year court battle to Thompson, 59, just two weeks before the "Speed King" and his 41-year-old wife were shot execution style in the driveway of their home by two young black men who sped away on bicycles.

Prosecutors say Goodwin ordered the hit. The two gunmen have never been found.

Its about time.

The wheels of justice turn very slowly sometimes. How he got away with it for so long is a mistery.

RIP MICKEY THOMPSON

You said it.

Watched a "48 hours" episode all about the case, that was on Saturday.

That guy got totally screwed. No physical evidence at all linking him to the murders. The guys that actually killed Mickey and his wife have never been found, with no leads. And theres absolutly no connection of Goodwin to the actual killers.

I'm not a believer of that at all. There was a enough stuff done to link him to the crime. I honestly believe he was very much involved in the murders.

yea, i dunno about all that either... a little while ago i read a lot of stuff about this, and it seemed like there was more than enough reason to convict him.

What evidence was there to link him to the crime? Not trying to debat, I'd really like to know.

They asked the prosecuting attorney straight up if there was any physical evidence linking him to the crime, and he said "no".

From what I gathered the only new evidece, was someone coming forward after all these years saying Goodwin said he was going to "take him out."

yeah, he does seem like the prime suspect but there is reasonable doubt. If he isn't linked in any way, how did the jury come to that verdict? It is very suspicious that they were killed right after a court battle.

What TV show did you watch? Was it done by his lawyers? The trial was on court TV which I was able to follow a bit of it, and the stuff I caught was pretty damaging stuff. Lot's of people said they heard him say he was going to kill MT. The guy has a mean streak and a distaste for common decency that was well known within the world of motor sports. That alone is nothing, but they were able to piece enough together to convict him and I believe rightfully so.