Baseline Killer
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The Baseline Killer (or Baseline Rapist) is one of the serial killers that operated in the Phoenix area between 2004 and 2006 (the other being the Serial Shooter). The Baseline Killer is believed to have committed nine murders during this period in addition to a number of sexual assaults and armed robberies. On December 7th, 2006, police submitted numerous reports requesting that Mark Goudeau be charged with several crimes relating to the Baseline Killer.
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[edit] Crimes
Most of the Baseline Killer's offenses were committed within a block of Baseline Road, hence the name the "Baseline Killer". Baseline Road is a long stretch of road (Phoenix is based on a grid system) running west to east through Southern Phoenix, Tempe, and most of Mesa. The remainder of the crimes were committed within a nine-block radius of East Thomas Road and 30th Street in the city. In contrast, the geographical spread of the Serial Shooter's offenses was exclusively north of the Salt River.
[edit] Sample of Alleged Offenses [1]
- On 3 November 2005 at 8:01pm, a robbery occurred on North 32nd Street. A man with dreadlocks and a fisherman's hat walked into a lingerie shop in North 32nd Street and used a gun to rob the store of $720. Less than 10 minutes later, he abducted a woman from outside a grocery store across the street and sexually assaulted her in her car.
- The suspect committed a string of robberies on North 39th Street on November 7, 2005. He robbed four people at gunpoint inside Las Brasas, a Mexican restaurant. He then went next door to a Little Caesar’s Pizza restaurant and robbed three people inside. He later robbed four people outside on the street. He reportedly stole $463 and fired a round into the air as he fled.
- On December 12, 2005 at 6:55pm there was a homicide on South 40th Street. Tina Washington, 39, was on her way home from a preschool where she worked. A witness spotted a man with a drawn gun standing over her body behind a fast food restaurant. She had been shot in the head.
- On December 13, 2005 at 8:00pm, a woman was robbed on East South Mountain Avenue.
- On February 20, 2006 at 7:38am, the bodies of 38-year-old Romelia Vargas and 34-year-old Mirna Palma-Roman were found shot to death inside their snack truck at 91st Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road. Initially, police did not connect this crime to the Baseline Killer and believed that the murders were drug-related. The murders were officially linked by police in July 2006.
- On March 1, 2006 at 9:00pm, a double homicide was discovered on North 24th Street. Two employees of Yoshi’s restaurant at 24th Street and Indian School Road were on their way home in the same vehicle. Liliana Sanchez-Cabrera, age 20, was found dead in the parking lot of another fast-food restaurant with the body of Chao Chou was discovered about a mile away. Both victims were shot in the head.
- On March 9, 2006, a body was discovered on North 14th Street. Eight days after the previous killings, a local businessman noticed streaks of blood on the gravel of a parking lot. The police were called, but a search of the area turned up nothing of real value. A week later, the businessman discovered the badly decomposed body of Kristin Nicole Gibbons as he was investigating a horrible odor in the area. Kristin had been shot in the head.
- On 1 May 2006 at 9:00pm, there was a sexual assault on North 32nd Street. A man in a latex Halloween mask abducted a woman in a car and sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. She was taken from outside the same restaurants where the 7 November 2005 crimes occurred.
- On May 5, 2006, Phoenix police went public with a list of 18 crimes that they believed were the work of the Baseline Killer. This number has since risen to 23, as of August 2, 2006.
- On June 29, 2006 at 8:30pm, a homicide occurred on East Thomas Road. Carmen Miranda, 37, was abducted from a carwash while she was on her cellular phone. She was found dead from a gunshot to the head behind a barbershop about 100 yards away. The attack was captured on CCTV.
[edit] False confession
While being interviewed by police in Kentucky on a burglary case, James Dewayne Mullins claimed responsibility for the murder of Georgia Thompson on September 8, 2005. Mullins told police he shot Thompson as she attempted to rob him outside the strip club in Scottsdale where she worked. However, Thompson's body was found almost 10 miles away in Tempe at her apartment complex. Police do not believe she was killed elsewhere.
Mullins changed his story when police definitively linked the homicide to the Baseline Killer. Since then, he has told police that he was not in Arizona. Mullins denies any involvement in Thompson's death. On August 3rd, 2006, murder charges against Mullins were dropped. Authorities stated that Mullins had caused a significant diversion of resources during the hunt for the genuine killer. [2]
[edit] Suspect Arrested
On September 4, 2006, Phoenix police announced an arrest in connection with a sexual assault previously linked to the Baseline Killer while serving a search warrant at 28th Street and Pinchot Avenue.[3]
Mark Goudeau, a 42-year-old construction worker, was arrested and accused of attacking two sisters, ages 21 and 24, in September 2005 while they were walking in a Phoenix park at night. [4]
Goudeau’s wife, Wendy Carr, told The Associated Press that police arrested the wrong man;
“My husband is innocent,” Carr reportedly said in a telephone interview. “This is a huge miscarriage of justice. And they have an innocent man in prison. This is all a mistake. He shouldn’t be in prison for something he didn’t do.” [5]
According to Arizona prison officials, Goudeau is an ex-convict who served 13 years for aggravated assault and Armed Robbery out of a 21 year sentence. It should be noted that Goudeau plead down to the charge of aggravated assault, but he had originally had also been charged with rape and kidnapping as well, crimes strikingly similar to the Baseline Killer.
On December 7th, 2006, three months after Mark Goudeau was arrested and accused of a sexual assault linked to the "Baseline Killer" cases, Phoenix police say they are confident he was responsible for the full series of murders, rapes and robberies that terrorized the city for 13 months. Goudeau is believed to have committed nine murders, one more than originally attributed to the Baseline Killer (the murder of Sophia Nunez on April 10th, 2006). Police say ballistics, DNA and circumstantial evidence prove that Goudeau is/was the Baseline Killer. They are recommending that prosecutors charge Goudeau with 74 crimes, which include: 9 counts of first-degree murder, 5 counts of sexual assault, 3 counts of attempted sexual assault, 10 counts of kidnapping, 12 counts of armed robbery, 4 counts of attempted armed robbery, 3 counts of sexual abuse, 9 counts of sexual conduct with a minor, 13 counts of aggravated assault, and 3 counts of indecent exposure. [6]
