May 27, 2025 • 19 mins
Mickey Thompson had a love of wheels, and worked to become one of the fastest racers in the world. Did a bad business deal take all that and more away?
Thank you The Los Angeles Times, People.com, The Press Telegram, The Salt Lake Tribune, Motor Trend, the Regular and Roman YouTube Channel, and Wikipedia for information contributing to today’s story.
Written by Frederick Crook - check out our other collaboration WRAITHWORKS - Wraithworks at Amazon https://www.amzn.com/dp/B07HXNCW4L (audiobook narrated by John Lordan) Also avaible on iTunes: https://apple.co/2OFXb8L
This is not intended to act as a means of proving or disproving anything related to the investigation or potential charges associated to the investigation. It is a conversation about the current known facts and theories being discussed. Please do not contact people you are suspicious of or attempt to harass, threaten or intimidate them in any way. Do not release information that can be used to do the same, or join in attacks being conducted by others.
Everyone directly or indirectly referred to is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
LordanArts 2025
Thank you The Los Angeles Times, People.com, The Press Telegram, The Salt Lake Tribune, Motor Trend, the Regular and Roman YouTube Channel, and Wikipedia for information contributing to today’s story.
Written by Frederick Crook - check out our other collaboration WRAITHWORKS - Wraithworks at Amazon https://www.amzn.com/dp/B07HXNCW4L (audiobook narrated by John Lordan) Also avaible on iTunes: https://apple.co/2OFXb8L
This is not intended to act as a means of proving or disproving anything related to the investigation or potential charges associated to the investigation. It is a conversation about the current known facts and theories being discussed. Please do not contact people you are suspicious of or attempt to harass, threaten or intimidate them in any way. Do not release information that can be used to do the same, or join in attacks being conducted by others.
Everyone directly or indirectly referred to is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
LordanArts 2025
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Born on December eighth, nineteen twenty eight, Marion Lee Thompson
came into the world in Alhambra, California. His parents noticed
that their young son gravitated toward a particular type of toys,
the ones with wheels. As he grew he adopted the
nickname Mickey because, as John Wayne also knew, the name
(00:40):
Marion was a bit uncool for boys at the time.
Mickey tinkered with cars as an adolescent, and by the
age of fourteen, was allowed to buy his first car,
a nineteen twenty seven Chevrolet. He was a natural mechanic
and driver, always looking for ways to improve the performance
of a vehicle. As cars took a stronger hold on
American society and drag racing came to fruition in the
(01:03):
nineteen fifties, Mickey found a path that he knew he
was going to take for the rest of his life,
going down it as fast as he possibly could. However,
that life would also get to the finish line before
many others in a hail of bullets, and give his
family a wait for justice that one may find seriously mysterious.
(01:23):
This is the story of a true life in the
fast lane. The murder of Mickey Thompson and his wife.
Mickey Thompson married Judy Creech as he began earning a
living as a mechanic. They had a son, Danny, born
October twenty eighth, nineteen forty eight. Danny followed in his
father's footsteps, growing up around cars and racing. Mickey would
(01:45):
prove to be a bit of an overprotective father, perhaps
aware that his own obsession was dangerous. As Danny got older,
he took part in quarter midget drag racing, miniaturized race
cars for children and teens. Danny would have his car
taken away by his father when another driver suffered a
crash that had broken his back. Young Danny was every
bit as independent and stubborn as Mickey, however, and would
(02:08):
eventually return to the racetrack, winning a quarter midget drag
racing championship at the age of nine. As for Judy Creech,
she found Mickey to be a good husband and father,
though his competitiveness and deep contemplations over racing performance improvements
led to many sleepless nights. In nineteen forty nine, Mickey
purchased a nineteen thirty six Forward coup and it became
(02:30):
his next project. He tore the machine apart and added
modified parts to the engine, transmission, brakes, wheels, all to
achieve better acceleration and a higher top speed. To make
ends meet, he lent his mechanical genius to people needing
work on their cars, and also worked as a type
setter for the La Times newspaper. But the money he
(02:51):
made went right into his cars, and his cars went
right to the track. Throughout the nineteen fifties, he expanded
his mechanical and driving skill, competing in drag races and
creating cars to run on the Bonneville Salt Flats, setting
many speed records. Mickey would return there time and time
again throughout his life. He also competed in road races,
(03:13):
entering into Mexico's La Carrera Panamerica in nineteen fifty three.
This loosely regulated automobile race was inherently dangerous. The races
were held on regular highways which were not intended for
race cars. In the annual event's five year stint, twenty
seven people were killed. Mickey Thompson entered the fourth La
Carrera pan America with his nineteen fifty two Ford. The
(03:36):
event covered the country separated into eight segments, and with
the course being set on a highway, there were a
lot of opportunities for full throttle open road racing. Mickey's
car was capable of achieving over one hundred and fifty
miles per hour, so obviously familiarizing oneself with the many
curves of the highways is a must. One particular turn
(03:57):
at the banks of the Twantepec River was known to
be extremely difficult. Here, an American team consisting of driver
Bob Christie and his mechanic Kenneth Wood, had gone right
off the track, landing on the river bank below. A
group of spectators watched as Christie was helping Wood up
the bank, and along came Mickey Thompson, traveling at over
(04:18):
one hundred and forty miles per hour in his ford.
He braked for the bend, but a child had wandered
into the road. Mickey reacted quickly to avoid the little girl,
but the ford rolled several times into the mass of
people watching Christian Wood down below. Six people were struck
and killed. Mickey suffered broken ribs and was out of
(04:39):
the race. Of course, the injuries weren't only physical. Once
he learned of the death toll Still, he returned to
compete in the race the following year, only to suffer
a broken steering mechanism that resulted in yet another crash.
Mickey went on to build the sling Shot Dragster, an
otherwise unwieldy looking car which he had designed. It places
(04:59):
the driver's seat in a cage behind the giant rear wheels. Effectively,
the driver and the encompassing cage were a counterbalance for
the rest of the machine, and an impressive weight distribution
was achieved. With this configuration, acceleration and top speed were
greatly improved, creating a whole new class of drag racing machines.
Mickey called the strange car the Panorama City Special. He
(05:23):
drove the car in the nineteen fifty five inaugural nhra
US Nationals, where it set a speed record of over
one hundred and fifty one miles per hour, which stood
for sixteen years. His projects continued. He would design and
build a twin engine dragster with another engineer, Fritz Voit.
The engines were Chrysler HEMI V eights, with each being
(05:43):
responsible for an axle, making it an all wheel drive,
called the five to fifty five streamlined. It could move
along at a tooth shattering two hundred and ninety four
miles per hour, and this was back in nineteen fifty eight.
The five fifty five was soon outdone by Mickey's Challenger
one project. With four Pontiac viates, he literally doubled his efforts.
(06:05):
The machine would hit four hundred and six miles per
hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Unfortunately, for an official time,
Mickey had to repeat the run, but one of the
four transmissions failed, keeping it out of the record books. Still,
Mickey Thompson's name and feet was publicized nationwide, and he
became known as the first American to surpass four hundred
miles per hour on land. Mickey tried unsuccessfully to take
(06:29):
his love of speed to the water, racing hydroplanes, but
he suffered a back injury when rough water threw him
from a boat. Mickey was out of action for more
than two years while he learned to walk again, but
nothing could keep Mickey stopped for long, well, almost nothing.
(06:58):
Once he recovered, Mickey Thompson turned to indie racing and
busied himself by drag racing, trying to set up more
speed records. At the Salt Flats, all the while continuing
to build his reputation as one of the fastest men
in the world, and with that reputation he saw new opportunities.
In the early nineteen sixties, he started the Mickey Thompson
Equipment Company and began to manufacture bolt on performance parts
(07:21):
for cars built by the Big three GM, Ford and Chrysler.
In nineteen sixty three, Mickey created Mickey Thompson Performance Tires
and soon the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group or MTEG, would
organize racing events for the off road community. Thompson's businesses
and his brand were expanding on all fronts, but Mickey
(07:42):
Thompson was not perfect. His commitment to auto sports took
him away from his home often, which destroyed his marriage
to Judy. They divorced in nineteen seventy one and Mickey
was remarried to Gertrude Feller, known as Trudy to her friends.
She had been a secretary working at hot Rod Magazine
when they met together, they put their efforts into promoting
(08:03):
racing events. This required a lot of time on the
telephones or traveling, negotiating contracts and scheduling events. For Trudy,
this became a grueling experience. To alleviate this, Mickey decided
that MTEG needed a partner to handle these duties. He
thought that the creator of Supercross, an indoor off road
(08:25):
motorcycle series of racing events, Michael Goodwin, would be ideal
for this partnership. Mickey's colleagues warned him that Goodwin was
a poor choice, stating that Goodwin's hot temper rivaled Mickey's.
While Mickey would regale his friends with the tales of
his racing experiences with the dirt still on his face,
Michael would strut around in fur coats, expensive watches, and suits,
(08:49):
bragging about a big deal he had just made. The
two were mavericks and at the top of their games,
but they were playing on different boards. Despite the warnings,
Mickey decided to to agree to a merger, linking MTEG
with Goodwin Stadium Motorsports Corporation. On April first, nineteen eighty four.
Indoor racing events were arranged and promoted on an epic scale,
(09:12):
putting off road racers in NFL stadiums. Events like this
cost money, with Mickey himself footing the bills. In their entirety.
He had entered into the partnership with Goodwin on the
understanding that the two men would have a seventy thirty
split in both profits from the events and the upfront costs.
When confronted about this, Goodwin flatly refused to pay the expenses,
(09:34):
indicating that he was the promoter, the face of the events,
and that he had no obligation to pay those expenses.
This did not sit well with Thompson, who immediately took
Goodwin to court. The union between the two companies was
dissolved and a no compete clause was introduced. In short,
this meant that only motorcycles could run on events held
(09:55):
by Goodwin's company, and only cars and trucks could run
in Thompson's events. It's said that Goodwin violated this clause first,
and Thompson added motorcycles to his events afterward. Back to
court they went, and the bad blood between them was
at a boiling point. Mickey Thompson won the lawsuit in
nineteen eighty six and was awarded seven hundred and fifty
(10:16):
thousand dollars. Thompson would not see this payout, however, the
sly Goodwin dodged the court's judgment by having Stadium Motorsports
Corps file for bankruptcy. Then, another partner of Goodwin's and
Goodwin's own wife, purchased the assets of the company and
formed a new corporation. The corporation then hired Michael Goodwin
(10:38):
and they were back in business. Mickey Thompson forged ahead,
booking large events in big league stadiums, while Goodwin's company
just didn't have the financial backing to compete. Goodwin decided
to bring a lawsuit against Thompson, this time claiming that
Thompson had created an unplayed playing field. Goodwin would lose again.
It was January nineteen eighty eight and Goodwin had shot
(11:01):
his last era. The new company was in financial crisis,
as the lawsuit had cost over a million dollars. Goodwin
began making threats to Mickey Thompson over the phone, threatening
to kill him in a rage. This wild temper of
Goodwin's was known to many of his employees, who had
witnessed or even been the direct target of verbal assaults.
(11:22):
This bullying manner did not do Goodwin any favors. The
company continued to fail, and he never faced criminal charges
for the death threats. The legal battles continued until the
morning of March sixteenth, nineteen eighty eight. Mickey Thompson and
his wife Trudy lived in Bradbury, California. At that time,
their home, within a gated community, was thought to be
(11:43):
relatively safe. That morning, at around six a m. Neighbors
heard screaming coming from the Thompson home. Then a rapid
series of pops followed. The neighbors across the street. Allison
Trearcy and her mother raced to the windows facing the
street saw Trudy crawling along towards the end of their driveway,
(12:03):
where her minivan was parked. Mickey was standing at the garage,
but between them were two armed men. Allison then heard
Mickey shout, please don't kill my wife. This plea was ignored,
and the Thompsons were brutally shot multiple times. Without a
thought for her own safety, Allison ran from her home
(12:24):
and headed towards Trudy, whom she hoped was still alive.
She had just a moment to see Trudy's fatal wounds
before more gunshots pierce the air. Allison's mother pulled her
back to safety behind a concrete wall. The two watched
as the assassins rode away from the scene on ten
speed bicycles. Another neighbor witnessed the horrifying scene from a
different vantage point. Lance Johnson was awakened by the screaming
(12:47):
and gunfire and had retrieved his own firearm, racing to
the windows at the front of his house. He also
saw the two strangers pedaling away from the Thompson home,
but they were headed in his direction. Incredibly, the neighbor
decided to confront the two cyclists, ordering them to stop.
They pedaled faster and Lance fired at them. Two motorists
(13:09):
claimed to have almost hit the two bicyclists, who recklessly
weave through the streets on their escape. The witness accounts
described the two men as African Americans wearing dark hoodies.
Police later discovered a gap in the gated community's fence
that the two assailants used to gain access to the neighborhood.
Word of a shooting at the Thompson residence somehow made
it to the offices of MTEG, but there was little
(13:32):
else known. Bill Marcel, the VP of Operations, made the
decision to investigate the rumors himself, and he drove to
Thompson's home. There, he found the area surrounded by police cars.
As he walked up to the residents, he saw both
Mickey and Trudy motionless on their driveway. A detective asked
Marcel who he was, and he identified himself. The detective
(13:54):
then asked if he knew anyone that would want to
see the Thompson's dead. Marcel could only think of one name,
Michael Goodwin. Investigators decided to speak to Goodwin. The only
problem was that he was suddenly nowhere to be found.
While he was a likely suspect considering the known threats
against Thompson, there was certainly no evidence to put him
(14:15):
at the scene. Colleagues of both men felt certain that
Goodwin wouldn't have taken part in the murders, at least personally.
It was noted that neither Trudy nor Mickey were robbed
of any of their personal items. Watches, jewelry, and money
were all still present on their bodies, and with that,
a murder for hire theory seemed to be the most
(14:35):
likely scenario. Detectives took reports from witnesses who had seemingly
identified Michael Goodwin from photographs. They stated that he was
one of two men who had been seen sitting in
a parked car and watching the Thompson residents through binoculars
in the days leading up to the assassination. After the murders,
Goodwin left the country on a trip to the Caribbean.
(14:58):
Other circumstantial evidence came in over the years as forensic
technology progressed and pressure from the Thompson family persisted. Ballistic
evidence recovered from the murder scene revealed that one of
the firearms used was a Smith and Wesson nine millimeter
semi automatic pistol, a model for sixty nine to be precise.
This same model of pistol was proven to have been
(15:18):
purchased by Michael Goodwin before and after the murders. Could
this mean that he gave this handgun to one of
the murderers and bought the second one to replace the first.
It's a fairly common handgun, so that may be a reach,
but it is possible. Unbelievably, Michael Goodwin would not face
any charges for over a decade. In December of two
(15:40):
thousand and one, an incredible thirteen years after the double murder,
the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office would finally issue a warrant.
Michael Goodwin was charged with two counts of first degree murder.
Goodwin's defense attorneys went to work attacking the ballistics report
and the eyewitness accounts, and having some success in creating doubt.
(16:00):
They went after the claims that the bike riding gunman
had been identified as being black, citing that the early
witness accounts indicated that they were actually white. Goodwin went
on to make various claims that Mexican drug lords had
murdered Mickey and Trudy, implicating that one of the Thompson
sponsored race events in Mexico had actually been a cover
for a drug trafficking operation. This was an almost unbelievable
(16:24):
accusation and did not really help Goodwin's case. The defense
also attempted to highlight that robbery could have actually been
the motive. They found a witness who had been visiting
the Thompson home the night before the murders, Eric Miller,
who stated that Mickey had told him that he had
recently taken possession of a nearly priceless item, though he
didn't state exactly what that item was. The defense pounced
(16:48):
on this idea and pointed to witness accounts that described
one of the two shooters as being seen with a
bag strapped to his person as he peddled away. Could
this mystery item have been the main objective sturing this
theories The fact that the safe inside the home had
shown signs of being broken into. The door was scratched
and the handle bent. Thinking back to Alison Triarci's testimony
(17:11):
that she had rushed outside and saw Trudy after the
woman had been gunned down, one has to consider the
location of the shooters at that point. Allison's mother arrived
to get her daughter and herself back to the safety
of the stone wall when gunfire continued, So where exactly
were the two men at that time inside the home
seems like a reasonable answer. With all these twists and
(17:34):
traps the Goodwin defense attorneys introduced to the case, the
trial stretched on for years. It would be until January
of two thousand and seven that we would learn the outcome,
and that outcome was a conviction by jury. This may
be shocking considering the lack of physical evidence, but it
may have actually been Goodwin's own words that sunk his case.
(17:55):
He had repeatedly threatened to kill Thompson. Goodwin was sentenced
to two executive life terms in prison. His appeals so
far have failed, and he remains in prison to this day.
The Thompson family is satisfied that justice is done. Danny Thompson,
Mickey's son, is convinced that Goodwin was the catalyst behind
the double murder. This is despite the fact that the
(18:17):
men who actually pulled the triggers, whether they're white or black,
have never been found, and one has to ask the question,
if Goodwin truly had anything to do with the deaths
of Mickey and Trudy Thompson, would he not have given
up their names for a lesser sentence? Perhaps or perhaps not.
The truth of what happened on that day in nineteen
(18:39):
eighty eight is still seriously mysterious. Do you have any
comments or a case you'd like to suggest. You'll find
a comment form and case submission link at lord Narts
dot com. Thank you the Los Angeles Times, People dot com,
the Press Telegram, the Salt Lake Tribune, Motor Trend, the
Regular and Roman YouTube channel, and wikiped for information contributing
(19:01):
to today's story. This episode was written by Frederick Crook,
is edited by John Lordon, and produced by lord En Arts.
If you appreciate it today's episode, please check out the
novel Wraithworks, another collaboration between Frederick Crook and myself. It's
available in hard copy or audiobook format. You can find
more information about Wraithworks at Lordnarts dot com or by
(19:22):
searching for it on Amazon. Thank you to our audience
here for the live recording session hosted on the YouTube
channel Lord Art's Studio two special thanks to seriously Mysterious
financial supporters Candy Bishop, Mel Stephen Gen four seventeen, Robert
Martin and Mike. Most of all, thank you for listening.
I'm John Lordon. Please join me again next week for
(19:44):
a story I know you'll find seriously mysterious
Born on December eighth, nineteen twenty eight, Marion Lee Thompson
came into the world in Alhambra, California. His parents noticed
that their young son gravitated toward a particular type of toys,
the ones with wheels. As he grew he adopted the
nickname Mickey because, as John Wayne also knew, the name
(00:40):
Marion was a bit uncool for boys at the time.
Mickey tinkered with cars as an adolescent, and by the
age of fourteen, was allowed to buy his first car,
a nineteen twenty seven Chevrolet. He was a natural mechanic
and driver, always looking for ways to improve the performance
of a vehicle. As cars took a stronger hold on
American society and drag racing came to fruition in the
(01:03):
nineteen fifties, Mickey found a path that he knew he
was going to take for the rest of his life,
going down it as fast as he possibly could. However,
that life would also get to the finish line before
many others in a hail of bullets, and give his
family a wait for justice that one may find seriously mysterious.
(01:23):
This is the story of a true life in the
fast lane. The murder of Mickey Thompson and his wife.
Mickey Thompson married Judy Creech as he began earning a
living as a mechanic. They had a son, Danny, born
October twenty eighth, nineteen forty eight. Danny followed in his
father's footsteps, growing up around cars and racing. Mickey would
(01:45):
prove to be a bit of an overprotective father, perhaps
aware that his own obsession was dangerous. As Danny got older,
he took part in quarter midget drag racing, miniaturized race
cars for children and teens. Danny would have his car
taken away by his father when another driver suffered a
crash that had broken his back. Young Danny was every
bit as independent and stubborn as Mickey, however, and would
(02:08):
eventually return to the racetrack, winning a quarter midget drag
racing championship at the age of nine. As for Judy Creech,
she found Mickey to be a good husband and father,
though his competitiveness and deep contemplations over racing performance improvements
led to many sleepless nights. In nineteen forty nine, Mickey
purchased a nineteen thirty six Forward coup and it became
(02:30):
his next project. He tore the machine apart and added
modified parts to the engine, transmission, brakes, wheels, all to
achieve better acceleration and a higher top speed. To make
ends meet, he lent his mechanical genius to people needing
work on their cars, and also worked as a type
setter for the La Times newspaper. But the money he
(02:51):
made went right into his cars, and his cars went
right to the track. Throughout the nineteen fifties, he expanded
his mechanical and driving skill, competing in drag races and
creating cars to run on the Bonneville Salt Flats, setting
many speed records. Mickey would return there time and time
again throughout his life. He also competed in road races,
(03:13):
entering into Mexico's La Carrera Panamerica in nineteen fifty three.
This loosely regulated automobile race was inherently dangerous. The races
were held on regular highways which were not intended for
race cars. In the annual event's five year stint, twenty
seven people were killed. Mickey Thompson entered the fourth La
Carrera pan America with his nineteen fifty two Ford. The
(03:36):
event covered the country separated into eight segments, and with
the course being set on a highway, there were a
lot of opportunities for full throttle open road racing. Mickey's
car was capable of achieving over one hundred and fifty
miles per hour, so obviously familiarizing oneself with the many
curves of the highways is a must. One particular turn
(03:57):
at the banks of the Twantepec River was known to
be extremely difficult. Here, an American team consisting of driver
Bob Christie and his mechanic Kenneth Wood, had gone right
off the track, landing on the river bank below. A
group of spectators watched as Christie was helping Wood up
the bank, and along came Mickey Thompson, traveling at over
(04:18):
one hundred and forty miles per hour in his ford.
He braked for the bend, but a child had wandered
into the road. Mickey reacted quickly to avoid the little girl,
but the ford rolled several times into the mass of
people watching Christian Wood down below. Six people were struck
and killed. Mickey suffered broken ribs and was out of
(04:39):
the race. Of course, the injuries weren't only physical. Once
he learned of the death toll Still, he returned to
compete in the race the following year, only to suffer
a broken steering mechanism that resulted in yet another crash.
Mickey went on to build the sling Shot Dragster, an
otherwise unwieldy looking car which he had designed. It places
(04:59):
the driver's seat in a cage behind the giant rear wheels. Effectively,
the driver and the encompassing cage were a counterbalance for
the rest of the machine, and an impressive weight distribution
was achieved. With this configuration, acceleration and top speed were
greatly improved, creating a whole new class of drag racing machines.
Mickey called the strange car the Panorama City Special. He
(05:23):
drove the car in the nineteen fifty five inaugural nhra
US Nationals, where it set a speed record of over
one hundred and fifty one miles per hour, which stood
for sixteen years. His projects continued. He would design and
build a twin engine dragster with another engineer, Fritz Voit.
The engines were Chrysler HEMI V eights, with each being
(05:43):
responsible for an axle, making it an all wheel drive,
called the five to fifty five streamlined. It could move
along at a tooth shattering two hundred and ninety four
miles per hour, and this was back in nineteen fifty eight.
The five fifty five was soon outdone by Mickey's Challenger
one project. With four Pontiac viates, he literally doubled his efforts.
(06:05):
The machine would hit four hundred and six miles per
hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Unfortunately, for an official time,
Mickey had to repeat the run, but one of the
four transmissions failed, keeping it out of the record books. Still,
Mickey Thompson's name and feet was publicized nationwide, and he
became known as the first American to surpass four hundred
miles per hour on land. Mickey tried unsuccessfully to take
(06:29):
his love of speed to the water, racing hydroplanes, but
he suffered a back injury when rough water threw him
from a boat. Mickey was out of action for more
than two years while he learned to walk again, but
nothing could keep Mickey stopped for long, well, almost nothing.
(06:58):
Once he recovered, Mickey Thompson turned to indie racing and
busied himself by drag racing, trying to set up more
speed records. At the Salt Flats, all the while continuing
to build his reputation as one of the fastest men
in the world, and with that reputation he saw new opportunities.
In the early nineteen sixties, he started the Mickey Thompson
Equipment Company and began to manufacture bolt on performance parts
(07:21):
for cars built by the Big three GM, Ford and Chrysler.
In nineteen sixty three, Mickey created Mickey Thompson Performance Tires
and soon the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group or MTEG, would
organize racing events for the off road community. Thompson's businesses
and his brand were expanding on all fronts, but Mickey
(07:42):
Thompson was not perfect. His commitment to auto sports took
him away from his home often, which destroyed his marriage
to Judy. They divorced in nineteen seventy one and Mickey
was remarried to Gertrude Feller, known as Trudy to her friends.
She had been a secretary working at hot Rod Magazine
when they met together, they put their efforts into promoting
(08:03):
racing events. This required a lot of time on the
telephones or traveling, negotiating contracts and scheduling events. For Trudy,
this became a grueling experience. To alleviate this, Mickey decided
that MTEG needed a partner to handle these duties. He
thought that the creator of Supercross, an indoor off road
(08:25):
motorcycle series of racing events, Michael Goodwin, would be ideal
for this partnership. Mickey's colleagues warned him that Goodwin was
a poor choice, stating that Goodwin's hot temper rivaled Mickey's.
While Mickey would regale his friends with the tales of
his racing experiences with the dirt still on his face,
Michael would strut around in fur coats, expensive watches, and suits,
(08:49):
bragging about a big deal he had just made. The
two were mavericks and at the top of their games,
but they were playing on different boards. Despite the warnings,
Mickey decided to to agree to a merger, linking MTEG
with Goodwin Stadium Motorsports Corporation. On April first, nineteen eighty four.
Indoor racing events were arranged and promoted on an epic scale,
(09:12):
putting off road racers in NFL stadiums. Events like this
cost money, with Mickey himself footing the bills. In their entirety.
He had entered into the partnership with Goodwin on the
understanding that the two men would have a seventy thirty
split in both profits from the events and the upfront costs.
When confronted about this, Goodwin flatly refused to pay the expenses,
(09:34):
indicating that he was the promoter, the face of the events,
and that he had no obligation to pay those expenses.
This did not sit well with Thompson, who immediately took
Goodwin to court. The union between the two companies was
dissolved and a no compete clause was introduced. In short,
this meant that only motorcycles could run on events held
(09:55):
by Goodwin's company, and only cars and trucks could run
in Thompson's events. It's said that Goodwin violated this clause first,
and Thompson added motorcycles to his events afterward. Back to
court they went, and the bad blood between them was
at a boiling point. Mickey Thompson won the lawsuit in
nineteen eighty six and was awarded seven hundred and fifty
(10:16):
thousand dollars. Thompson would not see this payout, however, the
sly Goodwin dodged the court's judgment by having Stadium Motorsports
Corps file for bankruptcy. Then, another partner of Goodwin's and
Goodwin's own wife, purchased the assets of the company and
formed a new corporation. The corporation then hired Michael Goodwin
(10:38):
and they were back in business. Mickey Thompson forged ahead,
booking large events in big league stadiums, while Goodwin's company
just didn't have the financial backing to compete. Goodwin decided
to bring a lawsuit against Thompson, this time claiming that
Thompson had created an unplayed playing field. Goodwin would lose again.
It was January nineteen eighty eight and Goodwin had shot
(11:01):
his last era. The new company was in financial crisis,
as the lawsuit had cost over a million dollars. Goodwin
began making threats to Mickey Thompson over the phone, threatening
to kill him in a rage. This wild temper of
Goodwin's was known to many of his employees, who had
witnessed or even been the direct target of verbal assaults.
(11:22):
This bullying manner did not do Goodwin any favors. The
company continued to fail, and he never faced criminal charges
for the death threats. The legal battles continued until the
morning of March sixteenth, nineteen eighty eight. Mickey Thompson and
his wife Trudy lived in Bradbury, California. At that time,
their home, within a gated community, was thought to be
(11:43):
relatively safe. That morning, at around six a m. Neighbors
heard screaming coming from the Thompson home. Then a rapid
series of pops followed. The neighbors across the street. Allison
Trearcy and her mother raced to the windows facing the
street saw Trudy crawling along towards the end of their driveway,
(12:03):
where her minivan was parked. Mickey was standing at the garage,
but between them were two armed men. Allison then heard
Mickey shout, please don't kill my wife. This plea was ignored,
and the Thompsons were brutally shot multiple times. Without a
thought for her own safety, Allison ran from her home
(12:24):
and headed towards Trudy, whom she hoped was still alive.
She had just a moment to see Trudy's fatal wounds
before more gunshots pierce the air. Allison's mother pulled her
back to safety behind a concrete wall. The two watched
as the assassins rode away from the scene on ten
speed bicycles. Another neighbor witnessed the horrifying scene from a
different vantage point. Lance Johnson was awakened by the screaming
(12:47):
and gunfire and had retrieved his own firearm, racing to
the windows at the front of his house. He also
saw the two strangers pedaling away from the Thompson home,
but they were headed in his direction. Incredibly, the neighbor
decided to confront the two cyclists, ordering them to stop.
They pedaled faster and Lance fired at them. Two motorists
(13:09):
claimed to have almost hit the two bicyclists, who recklessly
weave through the streets on their escape. The witness accounts
described the two men as African Americans wearing dark hoodies.
Police later discovered a gap in the gated community's fence
that the two assailants used to gain access to the neighborhood.
Word of a shooting at the Thompson residence somehow made
it to the offices of MTEG, but there was little
(13:32):
else known. Bill Marcel, the VP of Operations, made the
decision to investigate the rumors himself, and he drove to
Thompson's home. There, he found the area surrounded by police cars.
As he walked up to the residents, he saw both
Mickey and Trudy motionless on their driveway. A detective asked
Marcel who he was, and he identified himself. The detective
(13:54):
then asked if he knew anyone that would want to
see the Thompson's dead. Marcel could only think of one name,
Michael Goodwin. Investigators decided to speak to Goodwin. The only
problem was that he was suddenly nowhere to be found.
While he was a likely suspect considering the known threats
against Thompson, there was certainly no evidence to put him
(14:15):
at the scene. Colleagues of both men felt certain that
Goodwin wouldn't have taken part in the murders, at least personally.
It was noted that neither Trudy nor Mickey were robbed
of any of their personal items. Watches, jewelry, and money
were all still present on their bodies, and with that,
a murder for hire theory seemed to be the most
(14:35):
likely scenario. Detectives took reports from witnesses who had seemingly
identified Michael Goodwin from photographs. They stated that he was
one of two men who had been seen sitting in
a parked car and watching the Thompson residents through binoculars
in the days leading up to the assassination. After the murders,
Goodwin left the country on a trip to the Caribbean.
(14:58):
Other circumstantial evidence came in over the years as forensic
technology progressed and pressure from the Thompson family persisted. Ballistic
evidence recovered from the murder scene revealed that one of
the firearms used was a Smith and Wesson nine millimeter
semi automatic pistol, a model for sixty nine to be precise.
This same model of pistol was proven to have been
(15:18):
purchased by Michael Goodwin before and after the murders. Could
this mean that he gave this handgun to one of
the murderers and bought the second one to replace the first.
It's a fairly common handgun, so that may be a reach,
but it is possible. Unbelievably, Michael Goodwin would not face
any charges for over a decade. In December of two
(15:40):
thousand and one, an incredible thirteen years after the double murder,
the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office would finally issue a warrant.
Michael Goodwin was charged with two counts of first degree murder.
Goodwin's defense attorneys went to work attacking the ballistics report
and the eyewitness accounts, and having some success in creating doubt.
(16:00):
They went after the claims that the bike riding gunman
had been identified as being black, citing that the early
witness accounts indicated that they were actually white. Goodwin went
on to make various claims that Mexican drug lords had
murdered Mickey and Trudy, implicating that one of the Thompson
sponsored race events in Mexico had actually been a cover
for a drug trafficking operation. This was an almost unbelievable
(16:24):
accusation and did not really help Goodwin's case. The defense
also attempted to highlight that robbery could have actually been
the motive. They found a witness who had been visiting
the Thompson home the night before the murders, Eric Miller,
who stated that Mickey had told him that he had
recently taken possession of a nearly priceless item, though he
didn't state exactly what that item was. The defense pounced
(16:48):
on this idea and pointed to witness accounts that described
one of the two shooters as being seen with a
bag strapped to his person as he peddled away. Could
this mystery item have been the main objective sturing this
theories The fact that the safe inside the home had
shown signs of being broken into. The door was scratched
and the handle bent. Thinking back to Alison Triarci's testimony
(17:11):
that she had rushed outside and saw Trudy after the
woman had been gunned down, one has to consider the
location of the shooters at that point. Allison's mother arrived
to get her daughter and herself back to the safety
of the stone wall when gunfire continued, So where exactly
were the two men at that time inside the home
seems like a reasonable answer. With all these twists and
(17:34):
traps the Goodwin defense attorneys introduced to the case, the
trial stretched on for years. It would be until January
of two thousand and seven that we would learn the outcome,
and that outcome was a conviction by jury. This may
be shocking considering the lack of physical evidence, but it
may have actually been Goodwin's own words that sunk his case.
(17:55):
He had repeatedly threatened to kill Thompson. Goodwin was sentenced
to two executive life terms in prison. His appeals so
far have failed, and he remains in prison to this day.
The Thompson family is satisfied that justice is done. Danny Thompson,
Mickey's son, is convinced that Goodwin was the catalyst behind
the double murder. This is despite the fact that the
(18:17):
men who actually pulled the triggers, whether they're white or black,
have never been found, and one has to ask the question,
if Goodwin truly had anything to do with the deaths
of Mickey and Trudy Thompson, would he not have given
up their names for a lesser sentence? Perhaps or perhaps not.
The truth of what happened on that day in nineteen
(18:39):
eighty eight is still seriously mysterious. Do you have any
comments or a case you'd like to suggest. You'll find
a comment form and case submission link at lord Narts
dot com. Thank you the Los Angeles Times, People dot com,
the Press Telegram, the Salt Lake Tribune, Motor Trend, the
Regular and Roman YouTube channel, and wikiped for information contributing
(19:01):
to today's story. This episode was written by Frederick Crook,
is edited by John Lordon, and produced by lord En Arts.
If you appreciate it today's episode, please check out the
novel Wraithworks, another collaboration between Frederick Crook and myself. It's
available in hard copy or audiobook format. You can find
more information about Wraithworks at Lordnarts dot com or by
(19:22):
searching for it on Amazon. Thank you to our audience
here for the live recording session hosted on the YouTube
channel Lord Art's Studio two special thanks to seriously Mysterious
financial supporters Candy Bishop, Mel Stephen Gen four seventeen, Robert
Martin and Mike. Most of all, thank you for listening.
I'm John Lordon. Please join me again next week for
(19:44):
a story I know you'll find seriously mysterious
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