"Baseline Killer" Suspect Gets 438 Years
A man accused of being the Phoenix Baseline Killer was sentenced to 438 years in prison Friday for the sexual assaults of two sisters.
Mark Goudeau still faces trial for the slayings of eight women and a man in 2005-2006, and faces a possible death sentence if he is convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.
The 43-year-old former construction worker was sentenced for his September conviction on charges of raping one woman and sexually attacking another as they walked home from a park.
During the two-month trial, both sisters identified Goudeau as their attacker. DNA evidence also linked him to the rape.
Goudeau has maintained his innocence, and told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Andrew Klein that what happened to the two young women was horrible, "but I had nothing to do with it."
Klein said before handing down the sentence that Goudeau must have two "diametrically opposed" personalities, one calm and respectful in court and the other sociopathic and brutal.
One of the victims told the judge Friday through an interpreter that she still wakes up crying at times: "I will hope for him to never get out."
During the two-month trial, the sisters testified that Goudeau rushed toward them with a pistol in hand as they left the park. They said he forced them into some bushes, told them to strip, then had sex with the younger sister while pointing the gun at the other sister's pregnant belly, reports CBS News affiliate KPHO-TV.
"I wanted to get up but I thought if I got up he would hurt my sister," the younger of the two sisters testified through a Spanish interpreter.
It took a year to track Goudeau down, prosecutors said, because he took extra steps to conceal his identity, reports KPHO-TV.
The Associated Press has not identified the woman because she is the victim of sexual assault.
Jurors compared Goudeau's face to a sketch the two sisters made after the attack and debated whether the sisters truly recognized him in court.
But when it came to the biological evidence that forensics experts said placed Goudeau at the crime scene, there was little doubt.
"The DNA was really a lynchpin to the case. It was pretty much irrefutable," jury foreman Michael Voda told KPHO-TV.
Goudeau's wife, Wendy Carr, said she felt the judge has been biased and she blamed prosecutors and jurors for convicting Goudeau based on "junk science."
"This is just another freak show of a hearing where they convicted an innocent man," Carr told KPHO-TV after the sentencing.
Prosecutors had said earlier that Goudeau faced a maximum of 285 years in prison. But Deputy County Attorney Suzanne Cohen proved a prior violent record in court Friday that made him eligible for the higher sentences.
Goudeau is suspected of being a serial predator known as the "Baseline Killer," named for the south Phoenix street where many of the early attacks took place.
He is the first of three suspected serial killers to go on trial for a rash of random attacks that terrorized the Phoenix area for more than a year. All three were arrested last year.
Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman were arrested in the so-called "Serial Shooter" case in August 2006 and are expected to go on trial next year. Hausner faces seven murder counts and Dieteman is charged with two. Their trial is expect to begin next year.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Mark Goudeau still faces trial for the slayings of eight women and a man in 2005-2006, and faces a possible death sentence if he is convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.
The 43-year-old former construction worker was sentenced for his September conviction on charges of raping one woman and sexually attacking another as they walked home from a park.
During the two-month trial, both sisters identified Goudeau as their attacker. DNA evidence also linked him to the rape.
Goudeau has maintained his innocence, and told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Andrew Klein that what happened to the two young women was horrible, "but I had nothing to do with it."
Klein said before handing down the sentence that Goudeau must have two "diametrically opposed" personalities, one calm and respectful in court and the other sociopathic and brutal.
One of the victims told the judge Friday through an interpreter that she still wakes up crying at times: "I will hope for him to never get out."
During the two-month trial, the sisters testified that Goudeau rushed toward them with a pistol in hand as they left the park. They said he forced them into some bushes, told them to strip, then had sex with the younger sister while pointing the gun at the other sister's pregnant belly, reports CBS News affiliate KPHO-TV.
"I wanted to get up but I thought if I got up he would hurt my sister," the younger of the two sisters testified through a Spanish interpreter.
It took a year to track Goudeau down, prosecutors said, because he took extra steps to conceal his identity, reports KPHO-TV.
The Associated Press has not identified the woman because she is the victim of sexual assault.
Jurors compared Goudeau's face to a sketch the two sisters made after the attack and debated whether the sisters truly recognized him in court.
But when it came to the biological evidence that forensics experts said placed Goudeau at the crime scene, there was little doubt.
"The DNA was really a lynchpin to the case. It was pretty much irrefutable," jury foreman Michael Voda told KPHO-TV.
Goudeau's wife, Wendy Carr, said she felt the judge has been biased and she blamed prosecutors and jurors for convicting Goudeau based on "junk science."
"This is just another freak show of a hearing where they convicted an innocent man," Carr told KPHO-TV after the sentencing.
Prosecutors had said earlier that Goudeau faced a maximum of 285 years in prison. But Deputy County Attorney Suzanne Cohen proved a prior violent record in court Friday that made him eligible for the higher sentences.
Goudeau is suspected of being a serial predator known as the "Baseline Killer," named for the south Phoenix street where many of the early attacks took place.
He is the first of three suspected serial killers to go on trial for a rash of random attacks that terrorized the Phoenix area for more than a year. All three were arrested last year.
Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman were arrested in the so-called "Serial Shooter" case in August 2006 and are expected to go on trial next year. Hausner faces seven murder counts and Dieteman is charged with two. Their trial is expect to begin next year.
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Phoenix, AZ) A $22,000,000 Notices of Claim was filed today alleging intentional, reckless and grossly negligent conduct by members of the Phoenix Police Department and the Phoenix Crime laboratory that directly lead to 37 year old Romelia Vargas' murder on February 20, 2006 at the hands of the media labeled "Baseline Serial Killer," Mark Goudeau. The Notices of Claim was filed by Attorney Marc Victor on behalf of Alvin Vargas, the husband of Romelia Vargas and five of her six children. No word on whether other injured families are contacting Mr. Victor's Law Office to join in the law suit.
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where racist has entered the conversation. It indeed that such labeling has entered the lexicon, achroistic use of language is destructive. Lets face it, both points of view have merit. As an American I am proud of the accommodation of divergent racial points of view, as I now have more
money in my pocket than ever. Both points of views have some serious deficiencies to them. Liberals tend to feel that "Big Government" is the answer to society''s problems. Conservatives lean heavily on "Big Business" resulting with us, suffering from loss of jobs overseas (started by Bill Clinton) and an indifference to personal needs of the politic (Bush 41 and 43). To Bad, we have a great country, too bad the leaders are so
indifferent to those who struggle to make ends meet and send out jobs overseas.
Posted by watcher269
If you are going to rant and rave on a topic, know what you are talking about. Look up the history of the Republican party for yourself instead of listening to your friends. You will see that the Republican party fought to free the slaves.