Mark Goudeau

Serial Killer

Mark Goudeau: The Baseline Killer

Mark Goudeau is an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and armed robber who became known as the "Baseline Killer" for a violent series of crimes in the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area during 2005 and 2006. The nickname developed because some of the earliest attacks associated with the offender occurred near Baseline Road in south Phoenix. Over the course of the investigation, however, police connected crimes spread across a much larger area of Phoenix and nearby Tempe. Goudeau was ultimately convicted of murdering nine people, as well as numerous kidnappings, sexual assaults, robberies, and other violent offenses. The crimes created intense fear throughout the Phoenix area because many of the victims appeared to have been selected while performing ordinary activities. People were approached in parking lots, outside businesses, while leaving work, or while sitting in vehicles. The offender frequently carried a silver-colored handgun, threatened victims at close range, and sometimes told them that he had recently committed a robbery or needed to meet a friend. Several surviving victims described being ordered not to look at him and being forced to travel to secluded areas.

Beginning of the Crime Series

One of the earliest attacks presented at Goudeau's later murder trial occurred on August 6, 2005. Goudeau approached three minors while carrying a silver handgun and forced them behind a church in the Phoenix area. Two of the girls were sexually assaulted. The incident contained several elements that investigators would later recognize in other attacks, particularly the use of a handgun, the movement of victims to an isolated location, and efforts to avoid leaving evidence behind. On September 20, 2005, Goudeau attacked two sisters who were walking home at night. He was later convicted of kidnapping, sexual assault, sexual abuse, and aggravated assault in connection with that attack. Evidence from the case eventually became extremely important to investigators because improved DNA testing helped identify Goudeau. Those convictions were handled separately from the later trial involving the nine murders. Other attacks involved armed robberies followed almost immediately by kidnappings or sexual assaults. On September 28, 2005, for example, Goudeau robbed employees at a restaurant and shortly afterward confronted a mother and her 12-year-old daughter in a nearby vehicle. He forced his way into the vehicle, ordered the mother to drive, demanded money, and sexually assaulted both victims. Similar crimes occurred during November 2005, including restaurant robberies and the abduction and sexual assault of another woman.

The Nine Murder Victims

• Georgia Thompson - September 8, 2005 - Tempe, Arizona: Thompson was killed in the parking lot of her apartment complex at approximately 3730 South Mill Avenue. She was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Neighbors reported hearing a woman screaming shortly before a gunshot. Her murder became the first homicide in the series for which Goudeau was eventually convicted.
• Tina Washington - December 12, 2005 - Phoenix, Arizona: Washington was killed near 40th Street and Southern Avenue, in an alley or driveway behind commercial buildings. A witness who heard gunshots stepped outside and saw Goudeau standing over a body while holding a silver handgun. Goudeau then pointed the weapon toward the witness, but the gun did not fire. Washington had been fatally shot, and jewelry she had been wearing earlier was missing. A personalized gold ring belonging to Washington was later discovered hidden inside a shoe in Goudeau's home.
• Romelia Vargas - February 20, 2006 - Phoenix, Arizona: Vargas was found dead inside the food or snack truck she operated near 91st Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road in west Phoenix. She and another woman working in the truck had both been shot in the head. Vargas's purse and driver's license were not found at the scene.
• Mirna Palma-Roman - February 20, 2006 - Phoenix, Arizona: Palma-Roman was killed in the same attack as Romelia Vargas. The two women were discovered lying inside Vargas's food truck near 91st Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road. Investigators initially had little information explaining the double murder, but forensic evidence eventually connected it with the wider Baseline Killer series.
• Chao Chou - March 14, 2006 - Phoenix, Arizona: Chou left work with co-worker Liliana Sanchez Cabrera after their shift at a restaurant near 24th Street and Indian School Road. The murder date used in the criminal case was March 14, 2006. Evidence showed that Chou and Sanchez were shot inside Chou's vehicle while the killer occupied the rear passenger area. Chou's body was later found in an alley several blocks from the vehicle. His car keys were missing, and investigators found no cash in the victims' wallets.
• Liliana Sanchez Cabrera - March 14, 2006 - Phoenix, Arizona: Sanchez left work with Chao Chou and was killed during the same attack. Her body was found in the front passenger seat of Chou's vehicle near the 24th Street and Indian School Road area. Investigators determined that she had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Ballistics evidence connected the shootings with the weapon used in other murders attributed to Goudeau.
• Kristin Gibbons - March 29, 2006 - Phoenix, Arizona: The murder was dated to March 29 during Goudeau's criminal case. At a commercial property around 2502 North 24th Street, a business owner noticed blood spots and marks leading from a parking area toward storage sheds. Police searched the property but initially failed to locate a body. Five days later, Gibbons's decomposed body was discovered concealed near the storage area. She had suffered a fatal gunshot wound, and her purse and cellphone were missing. Later testing found Gibbons's DNA on a ski mask seized from Goudeau's home.
• Sophia Nunez - April 10, 2006 - West Phoenix, Arizona: Nunez was killed inside her home. Her eight-year-old son returned from school after she failed to pick him up and discovered his mother in an overflowing bathtub. She had been shot at close range. Unlike most of the murder victims, Nunez was personally acquainted with Goudeau. DNA testing later provided an important connection between Goudeau and the crime scene.
• Carmen Miranda - June 29, 2006 - Phoenix, Arizona: Miranda was attacked at a self-service car wash near 29th Street and Thomas Road, approximately 2924 East Thomas Road. Goudeau forced her into her own vehicle and drove away. Her car was located in a nearby secluded area about two hours later, with Miranda dead inside from a gunshot wound. Her murder was the final homicide for which Goudeau was convicted in the Baseline Killer series.

...

Confirmed Victims: (9)

Georgia Thompson Age: (19), Date of Death: September 9, 2005

Mark Goudeau - Wikipedia