Did The Doctor Kill The Doctor?

A 48 Hours Mystery Exclusive

(CBS)  It didn't take long at all for police to start focusing on the man they thought did it: Tim Stryker.

"The cause of death being manual strangulation in combination with a lot of other factors and evidence that we've developed led us to believe and continues to led us to believe that Linda knew her killer," says District Attorney Gerry Leone.

Leone says detectives quickly learned about the problems the couple was having, even that argument witnesses reported about the scuba trip. "The relationship had been described as sometimes rocky, sometimes volatile," Leone says.

"In plain English, was he violent to her?" Schlesinger asks.

"Oh, I don't wanna characterize Timothy Stryker in that way. What we know to be true is that Dr. Stryker and Dr. Goudey, during the course of their relationship, had some physical confrontations. And at times it resulted in some injury to Linda."

Stryker says he and Goudey had the kind of problems many couples have. "There was a time she got very angry in my kitchen because I called her a pea brain. I used the word pea brain and she had a temper tantrum. There was a cup of peas, and a cup of potatoes, and cup of corn, and a cup of this. She was, just picking up can after can of stuff, and just throwing these at the walls, at my paintings. So, that was what led to that incident, where I grabbed her, to pull her away from picking up the next thing to hurl at the wall. And that's when she fell down and hit the floor, and that's when she bruised her ribs," he says.

Goudey never filed a complaint and Stryker says she was the aggressor and that he was just protecting his property. "I was never in any way verbally, physically abusive to her. And I would like for people to talk to my wife, or talk to the girlfriend that I had from 15 years ago, before I started going out with Lin; that has never been me."

Stryker's wife, Micael, was eager to talk: she says she's never been afraid of her husband, and that he's never hit her.

But it took a lot of anger for somebody to do what was done to Goudey, strangling her and stuffing her body in the back seat of her car.

Nothing police found at the crime scene pointed directly to Stryker. It was more what they didn't find: Lin's tote bag, which witnesses saw her carrying when she left the hospital, wasn't in the car; neither was the jacket she was last seen wearing, or the briefcase which some said she never left behind.

Police couldn't find anything, until they visited Stryker. "I cooperated with them by giving them the briefcase that was in my house," he says.

He not only had the briefcase, he also had the tote bag and a jacket he says was his, but was the same color and style as the one witnesses saw Goudey wearing. "I gave them that jacket to facilitate them looking for her jacket, so they knew what they were supposed to be looking for. I was trying to help them. And, they looked at it for blood stains and all that kind of stuff, and obviously that wasn't there," he says.

Stryker was helping police just as he said he was - but he was helping them confirm their suspicions of him. And he didn't help himself any when just one week after the murder he went on that Caribbean vacation alone. He was down there on the day of Goudey's memorial service.

"It actually became an opportunity to actually have some time away and for me to sit in a quiet space and start to deal with the emotions that I had to kind of shut down right after her death, you know. In retrospect I wish I hadn't gone, even though at the time it was therapeutic for me to do that," he explains.

Stryker's sister, Jean, agrees that it was a bad idea. "He did mainly because my mother told him to. Yeah, my mother told him to go on vacation because he was talking with her, you know, about all of the harassment he was getting. She’s like, 'Tim, you need to just go on this vacation.' 'Cause I thought it was not such a great idea."

Asked why she thought it wasn't a good idea, Stryker says, "Well, people were already, you know, knockin' on his door. I mean, here's this good looking, sexy, you know, doctor and, you know, it's very exciting to think that he could possibly have done this. And they were making a lot of it, right? "

"It didn't look good," she adds.

And when Stryker got back from the Caribbean, police were eager to talk to him again. "And they told me that everything about my story was checking out okay. And they just wanted to do a little polygraph, so that they could rule me out as a suspect," he remembers.

[cheryllhorn]

Why did they even bother administering the polygraph? They sure didn't use the results. Also, I'm confused as to why the victim's family had to spend so many years begging in court for evidence-that open investigation excuse was lame. The persistance from the family & civil trial are the ONLY reasons this case might be solved.

[hercule1122]

to Themasses003....
Which law school did you graduate from? Do not denigrate others who disagree with you. I assure you I have probably three more degrees than you, but you are welcome to your deluded opinion. You belong with the jurors on the OJ trial who did not have a clue.

[TheMasses0003]

It's scary all the assumptions made by you people on this man's guilt/innosence having no knowledge of the facts.
Nothing a good waterboarding session wouldn't cure though.
Carry on ....................

[csi-lover]

Here it is. I copied and pasted it from the comments found in the video portion on Dr. Stryker.

Dr. Stryker is a pschopath. His non-chalant demeaner and soft spoken voice is only a cover for his inner demons. Now in prison for perjury, perhaps the police and investigators will find enough evidence to put him away for murdering his girlfriend. How stupid can someone be to lie and make up a story about someone else committing the murder years later. He lied to everyone on tv about this. No evidence found clearly shows how a doctor knew what he was doing; he used surgical gloves to choke her. When someone says they don't want to go on a vacation, get the clue doctor. You can't force anyone to do what you want. With no more control left over her, he kills her and goes off on a vacation by himself anyway. This is what psychopaths are all about; no feelings or remorse for their actions. Did you see him cry on tv at all? Did you see him get mad and determined to find the "real" killer? No, instead we had to listen to his soft, calculating voice and listen to his lies. See how he turns things around during the interview; I didn't say that, they must have said it differently. Even a doctor can make stupid mistakes. But this guy won't be able to lie himself out of this one.

[csi-lover]

Please see my comments with the video portion on Dr. Stryker.

CSI-lover

[aChangeOfIdeas]

I don't believe the psychotherapist wife. I just watched the show where the psychologist got wrapped up in a relationship with a complete control-freak who separated her from her family, convinced her he was a spy and they were going to live in a spy-lighthouse, meanwhile swindling her of all her money and then trying to get her parents money. If a psychologist can be deluded like that, so can this psychotherapist.

[cepe10-2009]

The jury must have been completely brain dead to find him guilty with no evidence whatsoever. A really scary judicial system in the U.S. The guilty are easily convicted with corrupt judges and a jury of complete morons.

[casionova]

But come on, the guy doesnt blink! Surely thats all the proof people need to find him guilty... </sarcasm>

In response to an earlier comment about what kind of person would ask at a strangers car for a condom, a drunk and lusty 18 year old would.

[BriantheHound]

Is anyone else growing tired or rereading old cases posted on here? Come on, there are plenty of cases to write about. How about some FRESH material instead of the typical "this was originally aired/released on such and such a date" This used to be one of my favorite sites. It's boring now. This story is OLD and was already featured on here...........

[jabailo]

This story is repeated so often, it's painful.

The scenario is that of a high strung male, very controlling, who has to deal with a headstrong female. Initially, he may be in control, with his partner infatuated. But when that wears off, and his power over the other person dwindles, he may lash out in a violent and tragic way.

A few notes on forensics. When Dr. Stryker was apprehended, did the police look for marks on his hands or body indicating a struggle during the strangulation? Were there any drugs in the victim's system (such as an anethesic or something to keep her from struggling)?

There was no mention of relationships the woman may have had outside their relationship. That is the kind of trigger that would set off the male in a violent way.

Also, I didn't hear about Stryker's 'alibi'. Where was he on the night of the murder? Any witnesses?

Where did the carpet or material that the body was wrapped in come from? Was it something from Stryker's apartment as well..or something that could have been traced with recipients, or found in a local store?

I thought that the real tragedy may have been the chemistry between two headstrong "beaultiful people"...however, they mentioned that Stryker had a history of violence towards his partners.

[jmfromla]

My gut is wrenching over how smug and absolutely arrogant Dr. Stiker is, It just makes my skin crawl, as is he sat there on national tv and bold faced lied. So unemotional and calm. Tryin to justify going on vaction when his girlfriend was being laid to rest after a brutal murder.. cold cold cold!!! He is such a egotist, he actually believes he is smart enough to get away with murder!
Thank GOD family was persistent and won their civil case, if not he might have actually gotten away with it.
What a snake, just like OJ Simpson!! He had not one once of remorse and neither does this killer!! Nor any intention of paying the family one cent of his judgement. Lucky for the family his greed got the best of him and now he will go to jail! GREED IS EXPENSIVE!! I hope now that he was caught with his pants down, the prosecutor can put a solid case againest him for the murder. It's pretty obvious he killed her.
Did anyone notice how emotional his wife suddenly got when the lawyer was describing how Striker choked the life out of his girlfriend. That lawyer was great!! he was so descriptive and made it so real, that it woke up his wife to the REALITY that he did killed her, that was what made her so emotional and forced her into a emotional breakdown.. Finally she got her head out of the sand!! Now after he lost and won't have any money and of course getting caught trying to conspire and con his way out of paying, is pretty difficult for her to try sugar coat. finally she is divorcing him. WOW, she sure needed a bat to wake her up, jeeze woman..

[jmfromla]

OMG!!! this man is a iceberg!! I have never seen such a cold human being.
He is a liar and of course he murdered his girlfriend. obviously he lost is cool and strangled her. who else would want to? he is a true sociopath, he has the emotion of a fish. Finally he getting his just deserve. I was glad to see he lost his medical license, what a hideous person and too bad his second wife had children with him, she must be one very desperate stupid woman, but it's difficult to put your hed in the sand when the truth i blaring right at you, talk about denial. she is just lucky she did't **** him off..

[hercule1122]

I think the case is absolutely clear and don't understand why so many years were taken to pursue it. The creep flunked the lie detector exam, and then would no longer cooperate. Why is law inforcement so incompetent? It took the family to take him to court to obtain a judgment. Then some scumbag comes forwrad to say , yeah, he saw them 15 years earlier? This so-called doctor is really stupid to set up this scenario. He deserves to rot in jail and be someones bf there for the rest of his life. Small justice...

[carolcape]

This man is a cold blooded killer. I have seen this show previously. He comes along as Mr. Perfect, so articulate, cold and calculating. He did not even blink when telling all these lies. I wonder if there is some medication he took before this interview, like something to keep his eyes from blinking. I never saw anybody in my life that talked as long as he did without blinking. There was just a murder in Kentucky, my cousin was murdered by her husband Dr. Stephen Hall and that was just two weeks ago Friday. His wife had a horrible death. Of course, her mom and dad are devastated and just can't believe that Mr. Hall killed her intentionally. There were witnesses that said he deliberately ran over her with a boat. He pushed her off it and ran over her, he gunned the boat towards her and killed her. It is so very sad for eveyone. Domestic violence is the silent killer and there is so much of it. If you don't feel safe in your relationship, get out, and don't try to put on a good show that everything is just peachy. If you have an abusive man or woman, get out, get a fresh start, life is short enough without living in fear in your own home. He is guilty, Dr. Stryker. There are more Dr. Jekyl's out there then we think.

[Sicariu]

Anyone remember the classic Dr.Murder case? It was a well known book by Thomas? Thompson. The Dr''s name was "Hill"-he was a plastic surgeon who killed his socialite wife and got away with it, until his father in law had him killed. The father in law also got away with murder. (I wonder if he is still alive).
This physician reminded me of Hill.

[belle02474]

The Dr is guilty as sin. It''s too bad you did not up date your story a little more. He and his wife are no longer together. She left him! He has a new girfriend. This creep will stop at nothing to save his butt. He has recked more than one family!!

[calicocat6]

Message for roecoezzz: They were never married.

[roscoezzz]

I can''t believe the good doctor went on that vacation instead of attending his own wife''s funeral. I thought he loved and cared for her so deeply. I guess not.

He won me over. I didn''t think he killed his wife. That is until the end of 48 Hrs. How stupid of him to even think of hiring anyone to lie for him. It shows how manipulative he really is.

His new wife is as blind as a bat too. Who knows what kind of Love it is huh?

[hennighg]

Heck, I''m not even that smart and I can tell where to point the finger. That guy is CREEPY. That soft spoken voice and open eyed eye contact scares me to death. The stuff the victim had with her THAT NIGHT and the sudden witness who wasn''t a witness after all. Shoot me.

[erasmus81]

"And things started to get hot and heavy between him and this girl he picked up. And he walked over to their car to actually ask for a condom..."

And like who is going to believe that?

Who is going to walk up to some strangers car and ask for a condom???

[winnywinny1]

I''m glad I wasn''t the only one to notice that Dr. Stryker rarely blinked during his answers in this interview. That, taken with the tone and cadence of his voice, made me feel as though he was almost assuming another personality to deal with this situation, either by force of personality or through some other means (perhaps medicinal). Something just isn''t right at all.