Michael Frank Goodwin will stand trial for the murders of Mickey and Trudy Thompson, an Orange County judge has determined.
After a preliminary hearing held April 15-18 in Orange County Superior Court, Judge Frank Briseno declared there was sufficient evidence to try Mr. Goodwin, who is scheduled to be arraigned April 30. He is charged with two counts of murder, including conspiracy to commit murder and special circumstances, such as lying in wait for the victims.
Mr. Goodwin, 56, was arrested Dec. 14, 2001, and subsequently charged in the 14-year-old case. He is being held without bail. He was once known as the ``Father of Supercross'' for his 1980s dirt bike competitions at California's Anaheim Stadium.
Mr. Thompson, co-founder of Stow, Ohio-based Max-Trac Tire Co., and his wife were shot to death March 16, 1988, in the driveway of their Bradbury, Calif., home as they were leaving for work. Authorities had ruled out robbery as a motive after finding $70,000 in jewelry and cash untouched inside the house.
Mr. Goodwin is a former business partner of Mr. Thompson's. Their partnership ended in a bitter breakup and a $514,000 court judgment in Mr. Thompson's favor. Mr. Goodwin later filed for bankruptcy.
According to police, the two actual gunmen in the case are still unidentified. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has circulated a wanted poster with sketches of the two suspects ``as seen March 1988.'' The case also has been featured on the ``America's Most Wanted'' TV show, and the Thompson family has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the killers' arrests.