In the spring of 2006, a shadow of fear had already been cast over Phoenix, Arizona, as a series of brutal and seemingly random attacks plagued the city. On the evening of March 15th, this darkness enveloped the lives of two young restaurant workers. Twenty-year-old Liliana Sanchez-Cabrera, a Hispanic female, had just finished her shift at Yoshi's restaurant. A coworker, 23-year-old George Chou, offered her a ride home, a simple act of kindness that would tragically be their last.
The journey home was violently interrupted, and the two were abducted.
Their bodies were discovered separately the following day, about a mile apart from each other. Liliana's body was found in the parking lot of another fast-food establishment. Both she and George Chou had been fatally shot in the head. The cold and calculated nature of the crime sent a fresh wave of terror through the community, as residents grappled with the reality of a predator in their midst. Investigators with the Phoenix Police Department quickly saw a chilling connection between this double homicide and other recent violent crimes that had been terrorizing the Valley.
The investigation into the murders of Liliana Sanchez-Cabrera and George Chou became part of a much larger and more terrifying picture. Law enforcement was able to link their deaths to a string of homicides, sexual assaults, and robberies that were being attributed to a single individual who would come to be known as the 'Baseline Killer.' For months, this elusive figure had managed to evade capture, leaving a trail of grief and fear.
A break in the case finally came, leading to the arrest of Mark Goudeau in September 2006. As the investigation unfolded, the full scope of his violent crime spree was revealed. Goudeau was subsequently charged with a multitude of offenses, including the murders of Liliana Sanchez-Cabrera and George Chou. In a trial that brought some measure of closure to the victims' families, Goudeau was convicted of numerous crimes and ultimately sentenced to death, bringing an end to his reign of terror over the city of Phoenix.
