Wife of Suspect in 'Baseline Killer' Case Stands by Him
Mark Goudeau's wife says she'd stake her life that he's not the Phoenix killer.
July 5, 2007 — -- When police in Phoenix arrested a man they say went on a vicious 13-month crime spree, killing nine and sexually assaulting more than a dozen, the public drew a sigh of relief.
Police believe 42-year-old Mark Goudeau is the so-called "Baseline Killer." He is charged with 94 crimes.
As the first of the Baseline Killer trials gets under way, Goudeau's wife, Wendy Carr, is speaking out in his defense.
"Our life together was perfect," Carr said. "If there is such a thing as perfect, that was our life. It was idyllic."
Carr says Goudeau is literally the nicest man she knows.
"Mark and I have been together 20 years. We have a great relationship, a marriage that people envy," Carr said today on "Good Morning America."
"I don't see anything odd. I don't see anything out of place. I don't see mood swings. I don't see someone missing work. I don't see anything," she said.
The Baseline Killer's crime spree started in August 2005. Over a year, the killer is believed to have committed nine murders and a string of rapes, robberies and violent assaults.
By last summer the city of Phoenix was in a full-blown panic — more women enrolled in self-defense classes, gun sales rose and home-security systems sold out.
The Baseline Killer was known only by a police sketch.
Then on Sept. 6, police arrested Goudeau, and prosecutors say DNA evidence links him to one of the sexual assaults.
Carr insists that's not Goudeau's DNA.
"The police have manipulated the media. They've said horrible things about Mark. People want to believe that they have the right guy," Carr said.
Goudeau has a violent past — he served 13 years for assault and armed robbery.
But Carr says her husband was arrested simply because he fit the profile.
"He's black. He lives in the area — many of the crimes happened near here — and he's on parole," she said. "That's an easy target. That's all they needed."
