Man Released in Thompson Murder Case

One day after being arrested in his Dana Point home, a suspect in the 1988 slayings of auto racing legend Mickey Thompson and his wife was released from Los Angeles County Jail on Monday.

Michael Goodwin appeared in a police lineup at the jail Monday morning and was released seven hours later, after sheriff’s investigators determined they did not have enough evidence to keep him in custody.

Two witnesses identified Goodwin in the lineup, his attorney said. Despite that, the Los Angeles district attorney’s office does not have immediate plans to file criminal charges against 56-year-old Goodwin, spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.

Sheriff’s officials said the lineup was part of the murder investigation, but would not acknowledge that the witnesses identified Goodwin or explain why the lineup did not lead to charges.

The Thompsons were gunned down in front of their San Gabriel Valley mansion in March 1988. Mickey was shot outside his garage and his wife, Trudy, was killed as she sat in the couple’s Toyota van. Though the killings occurred more than 13 years ago, the case has remained unsolved.

For years, Los Angeles County authorities have suspected Goodwin in a murder-for-hire scheme that ended with the shooting. Goodwin is also the focus of an Orange County Grand Jury investigation into the case.

Goodwin has long maintained his innocence, denying involvement in the slayings and saying there was no reason for him to kill his former business partner.

“This whole thing is a farce and a setup,” Goodwin said as he left the jail Monday evening.

Wearing a white shirt, sandals and blue-jean shorts and holding a Bible, Goodwin emerged just before 6 p.m. “I am innocent,” he said. “This is beyond belief in its absurdity.”

Goodwin’s defense attorney, Jeffrey Benice, said a middle-aged couple picked Goodwin out of a six-person lineup at the jail Monday. Benice, who witnessed the lineup, said the woman witness specifically identified Goodwin as a man she saw with binoculars sitting in an old station wagon with Arizona plates.

Benice said he did not know where the car was--at the scene of the shooting or somewhere else.

Authorities would not confirm Benice’s account of the lineup or say if the couple placed Goodwin at the shooting scene. Investigators have said that witnesses saw two black men speed away from the scene on bicycles, and they have never suggested that Goodwin directly committed the slayings.

Benice said he didn’t believe the new identifications were “worth 10 cents” and insisted that Goodwin was in an Irvine health club at the time of the crime.

“Thirteen years have elapsed and all of a sudden people come out of the woodwork,” Benice said outside the jail Monday. “This stuff is laughable.”

Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives have been trying to get Goodwin to appear in the lineup for months. In March, a Superior Court judge issued an order allowing for the lineup, but it was followed by a state appellate court decision saying that Goodwin could not be forced to participate in a lineup if he was not under arrest.

The appellate justices ruled that there is no California law allowing police to compel a person out of custody to appear at a lineup.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Torribio issued a warrant for Goodwin’s arrest Friday at the request of the Sheriff’s Department. Court papers filed by investigators to establish probable cause were sealed by the judge.

Police arrested Goodwin in connection with the slayings Sunday night just before 7:30 p.m. as he was eating dinner with his family. He was booked at the County Jail’s inmate reception center in downtown Los Angeles.

“There are no tricks in this,” Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Rosenberg said. “We tried to do this another way.”

Benice said he believes that police arrested Goodwin to compel him to appear in a lineup and not because they had enough evidence to file criminal charges. Sheriff’s Capt. Frank Merriman acknowledged that Goodwin was arrested in part for the purpose of a lineup, but he declined to comment on other purposes for the arrest.

One longtime criminal defense attorney, Stanley Greenberg, said the warrant may have been used improperly if the only purpose was to force Goodwin into a lineup.

“Goodwin may have a pretty good argument that . . . this was a sham arrest,” he said. If Goodwin is ever brought to trial, he may be able to exclude any identifications made in Monday’s lineup, Greenberg said.

Sheriff’s officials said that there are no immediate plans to rearrest Goodwin and that they are continuing to follow leads and tips. “I don’t know if we are ever going to file a case against whoever is responsible,” Rosenberg said. “Right now we are still investigating the case.”

The department issued two “special bulletin” fliers Monday seeking more information on the slayings. One flier shows sketches and descriptions of two black men who allegedly fled on 10-speed bicycles after the slayings. The other asks for information on a faded green or blue 1973 Chevrolet Malibu station wagon with Arizona plates.

Thompson and Goodwin had been partners in a business venture to promote stadium motocross events. But the deal soured and ended in court, with Goodwin filing for bankruptcy and owing Thompson $531,000. Goodwin has said he and Thompson worked out a way to settle the debt right before the racing star was killed.

Thompson, the first American to break the 400-mph land speed mark, was a dominant force in off-road racing promotions when he was killed. Though the slayings occurred in Los Angeles County, investigators have involved authorities in Orange County because they believe some of the events in the case occurred there.

Authorities in Orange County have searched Goodwin’s home in Dana Point. And Orange County prosecutors began presenting evidence about the Thompson slayings to a grand jury in March. But the grand jury’s term ended in June without an indictment.

Goodwin has taken an unusually confrontational stance as a murder suspect, challenging Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas’ involvement in the case. Goodwin has accused Rackauckas of having a conflict of interest in the case, noting that the prosecutor previously worked for a law firm that was paid by Thompson’s relatives.

Thompson’s sister, Collene Campbell, said Goodwin’s arrest brought renewed attention to her brother’s case. Campbell, a leader in the state victim’s rights movement, has offered a $1-million reward leading to a killer’s arrest and conviction.

“It’s been crazy around here all day,” said Gary Campbell, Collene’s husband. “It’s not just the media. It’s dozens of people who knew Mickey, who called thinking this was the big news we’d been waiting for. In a sense, this was a false step. But we certainly hope it’s a significant one.”

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Times staff writers Jerry Hicks, Stuart Pfeiffer and Daniel Hernandez contributed to this story.