SAN FERNANDO : 1991 Slaying Suspect Pleads No Contest

Rather than face a trial at which his mother and brother would be the key witnesses against him, a former Canoga Park man pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter Monday in the June, 1991, stabbing death of his girlfriend.

Under terms of his plea agreement, David Joseph Goodman faces the maximum term--12 years in state prison--when San Fernando Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen sentences him Oct. 18.

According to court records, Goodman, a Jaguar mechanic who was born in Liverpool, England, and has lived in the United States since 1981, had violently abused victim Beth Hollander, 32, during a stormy, eight-year relationship.

Before her death, Goodman had attempted to reconcile with Hollander and gave her an $800 engagement ring. But Hollander told a friend the night before she died that she planned to give back the ring, court records say. The friend described her demeanor during an earlier hearing as “really bummed” about the failed relationship.

Hollander’s body was found early the morning of June 20, 1991, behind a dumpster in the 21500 block of Prairie Street. She had been beaten, strangled and stabbed.

Police received a break in the case 16 months later when they received a tip from Hilda Goodman, the defendant’s mother. She said Goodman admitted the killing to her, and that she had tried to persuade him to surrender to police.

Court documents say Goodman told his mother and brother that he stabbed Hollander in self-defense during a quarrel.