John Goodwin, a 75-year-old White male, died on Friday, April 24, 2015, following a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Brentwood, New Hampshire. The longtime piano instructor from Atkinson had been on trial, facing six counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault. The charges stemmed from allegations made by a former student regarding incidents that occurred more than a decade prior.
The trial was held at the Rockingham County Superior Courthouse in Brentwood.
On that Friday morning, the jury began deliberations in his case. About two hours into their deliberations, Goodwin went to his car in the courthouse parking lot and shot himself. He was then airlifted to a hospital in Massachusetts, where he died later that night.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the judge in Goodwin's case declared a mistrial after the jurors reported that they were unable to come to a unanimous verdict. Because his death was a suicide, there were no suspects or arrests in the case. He was a thirty-year resident of Atkinson and was survived by his wife of forty-eight years.
