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Tennis Ref Murder Suspect's Attorney: Charges 'outrageous' and 'unfounded'
Lois Goodman, the 70-year-old professional tennis referee arrested in New York this week for the April murder of her 80-year-old husband, is back in Los Angeles, and ready to fight the accusations she bludgeoned her spouse to death with a coffee mug.
Goodman landed in L.A. last night, and awaited her first--albeit brief--court appearance today in the Van Nuys jail. Today her arraignment was pushed back to next Wednesday, according to City News Service, however her attorney took the time outside the courthouse to chastise local authorities.
"These charges are outrageous, and they are completely unfounded,'' Goodman's lawyer Alison Triessl told reporters outside court. "The Los Angeles Police Department should be utterly ashamed of themselves for arresting a 70-year-old woman in New York when she resides in Los Angeles. She had made herself available to them for this four-month investigation.''
The LAPD spoke with Goodman after the body of her husband, Alan, was found in the couple's Woodland Hills home. Goodman said she thought her husband had fallen down the stairs after suffering a heart attack.
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Sources say Goodman did not act like a grieving widow, but rather spoke to detectives about her work as a pro tennis ref (namedropping players like Andre Agassi), and complained about her dead husband. She soon resumed her work, and has been in New York officiating U.S. Open matches.
The Goodmans have three children, who, according to news reports, say they are standing by their mother.
The LAPD labeled Alan Goodman's death suspicious, however, because they could not rule out foul play. A homicide investigation was launched when a coroner's investigator noticed head wounds on Goodman's body, and subsequent examination noted shards of ceramic in his scalp. Lois Goodman is accused of striking her husband repeatedly with a coffee cup until it broke, then striking him with the broken handle.
Court documents also suggest Lois Goodman was involved in a relationship with another man.
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