Phoenix-area ‘Baseline Killer’ sentenced to death for 9 slayings
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A man convicted of carrying out a string of murders and rapes that terrorized the Phoenix area and earned him the nickname ‘Baseline Killer’ was sentenced to death Wednesday by Arizona jurors.
Mark Goudeau, 47, is already serving a 438-year sentence for raping a woman and threatening her pregnant sister. But he didn’t become eligible for the death penalty until his conviction in October for nine slayings and on 58 other charges, the Associated Press reported.
During the sentencing portion of his trial, Goudeau told jurors that prosecutors had ‘assassinated my character,’ the AP said.
‘I am no monster,’ he said. ‘I could look in each and every one of your eyes today and tell you Mark Goudeau is no wolf in sheep’s clothing. ... I do pray that one day you guys learn the truth about this case.’
The Baseline Killer was described by Phoenix New Times as “an in-your-face murderer who interacted verbally with his victims before abruptly ending their lives with his potent .38.’
Prosecutors had strong DNA evidence linking Goudeau, a former construction worker, to the crimes. They also had compelling testimony, including that of a 31-year-old Phoenix woman who escaped the killer. The woman was carjacked at gunpoint in a strip mall and forced to disrobe.
‘He said he was going to blow my brains out in the car and my parents were going to read about it in the newspaper the next day,” the woman testified, according to Phoenix New Times. “He pulled the trigger and there was a loud clinking noise. I realized that I wasn’t dead, and so I got out of my vehicle and ran.”
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