This article contains discussions of murder and SPOILERS for Homicide: Los Angeles.
Summary
Homicide: Los Angelesepisode 2, “The Racecar Killer” outlines one of the most perplexing homicides on the show, that of the 1988 death of Mickey and Trudy Thompson. In 1960,Mickey Thompson became internationally known as the first American to drive faster than 400 miles per hour. In the next decade, the racer went on to win many championships. He and his wife Trudy eventually settled in Bradbury, California, around 24 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
In 1988, the pair would become famous for an entirely different reason – their murders. The murder of Mickey and Trudy Thompson became a significant Los Angeles cold case, and, as theNetflix true crime documentaryexplains,only one of the three suspected murderers was ever caught and convicted.The remaining unanswered questions make this case one that’s still bewildering almost four decades later.
Mickey Thompson & His Wife Were Killed In 1988 But The Case Was Unsolved Until 2007
Mickey And Trudy Thompson Were Killed Outside Their California Home
On July 26, 2025, racecar icon Mickey Thompson and his wife Trudy Thompson were shot in their driveway.When the police found them, Trudy had $70,000 worth of jewelry, and the pair carried $4000 in cash, eliminating the possibility of robbery gone wrong. Before his death, Thompson had received death threats, making it more likely that this was planned. One neighbor heard the murder and witnessed two Black men between the ages of 20 and 30, around 6 feet tall, on bikes pedaling away from the scene of the crime, who were labeled suspects (viaUnsolved Mysteries).
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According toHomicide: Los Angeles, police didn’t discover there was another witness until the case aired on thetrue crime showAmerica’s Most Wantedin 2001. At this point, they learned that the couple saw two men in a car watching the Thompsons' house with binoculars four days before the murder.The person in the driver’s seat perfectly matched the description of Michael Goodwin,Mickey Thompson’s former business partner who had a grudge against him. The police arrested him to put him in the lineup, then released him without filing charges. The witnesses picked him out in the lineup (viaCar and Driver).
Mickey Thompson’s murder became subject of thetrue crime booksKilling of a Legend: Mickey Thompson Double Murdersby Ronald E. Bowers andMickey Thompson: The Fast Life and Tragic Death of a Racing Legendby Erik Arneson (the latter of which is part biography and part true crime).
Michael Goodwin Was Eventually Charged For Murdering Mickey & Trudy Thompson
Michael Goodwin Was Found Guilty in 2007, Six Years After Being Identified By Witnesses
Though he was suspected from early on, Michael Goodwin wasn’t identified as being at the crime scene until 2001. That year, the prosecutors submitted a case against Goodwin to the Orange County grand jury, which decides whether there is enough evidence to indict a suspect (viaCar and Driver). They chose not to indict Goodwin. At the end of 2006, he was finally indicted and went to trial on two counts of murder (viaESPN).
Significant pieces of evidence against Goodwin were the eyewitness identification and his possible motive. Michael Goodwin and Mickey Thompson went through a legal battle that went in Thomson’s favor. Two weeks before the murders, the California Supreme Court upheld the ruling, giving Goodwin a reason to kill Thompson. The prosecution also suggested that Goodwin hired the two men on bikes to murder Mickey Thompson. On August 14, 2025,the jury found him guilty of two counts of first-degree murder with two aggravating circumstances,that he lied in wait and committed multiple murders (viaTire Business).
Sources:Unsolved Mysteries,Car and Driver,ESPN, andTire Business
