U.S. Open Referee Charged With Killing Husband With Coffee Cup

Tennis referee Lois Goodman is shown while officiating a CIF tennis tournament in 2008. (David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News/AP Photo)

A 70-year-old tennis referee was arrested today, charged with murdering her husband with a coffee cup last April in Los Angeles.

Lois Ann Goodman was in New York City this week to officiate at the U.S. Open when the Los Angeles Police Department homicide detectives made the arrest, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The arrest follows an investigation that lasted several months.

Goodman called police on April 17 and told officers she arrived home and found her 80-year-old husband, Alan, dead at the bottom of the stairs, said Lt. David Storaker, the chief of detectives at the LAPD's Topanga station.

"She surmised that he must have had a heart attack and fallen down the stairs," Storaker told ABCNews.com.

David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News/AP Photo

Tennis referee Lois Goodman is shown while... View Full Size

David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News/AP Photo

Tennis referee Lois Goodman is shown while officiating a CIF tennis tournament in 2008.

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Officers concluded that there was no sign of forced entry, and the statements Goodman was making seemed suspicious, so they investigated further, Storaker said.

On Aug. 2, the Los Angeles Country Coroner ruled Alan's death a homicide.

The cause of death was multiple injuries to the head, Storaker said. According to the arrest warrant, the murder weapon was a coffee cup.

Although LAPD detectives said they think they know the motive, Storaker said they weren't sharing it because it will affect the case.

"We're trying to retrace the steps of both Goodmans that day to see if there was any strain in their relationship or arguments occurred," he said. "We don't want to taint any other memories."

If convicted, Goodman could face life in state prison, according to the LA County District Attorney's office. Prosecutors recommended bail at $1 million.

Representatives of the U.S. Open said they did not have information on Goodman's history with the tournament. They said she is an independent contractor.