The 1988 slayings of speed-racing legend Mickey Thompson and his wife Trudy at their Bradbury home in March 1988 remains one of the most intriguing murder cases in Southern California – the stuff that television shows are made of.
In fact, “tru TV,” formerly known as Court TV, is airing a one-hour look at the headline-making murders Saturday at 2 p.m., according to Collene Campbell, Mickey’s sister and a former mayor of San Juan Capistrano.
The special is part of a series on tru TV called “Murder by the Book.” The segment will inspect the Thompson murders and the 2007 conviction and sentencing of Michael Goodwin, a former disgruntled partner of Thompson in a racing promotion business.
The show will include a video re-enactment of the crime – when two hooded gunmen surprised the Thompsons as they left their home, and executed them on their driveway before escaping on bicycles.
The re-enactment, Collene told me this morning, is “quite accurate.”
Collene should know. She attended nearly every minute of every court hearing in two counties for nearly two decades before Goodwin was sentenced to two life terms in prison in March 2007.
–Larry Welborn
