March 16, 1988, Thompson and his wife Trudy were murdered in Bradbury, California. Murder On March 16, 1988, Thompson and his wife Trudy were killed by two hooded gunmen outside their home in Bradbury, California, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. On the morning of the murder, a pair of unknown assailants waited outside the Thompson home for the couple to leave for the day. Mickey opened the garage door for his wife to pull out in her vehicle, and as he headed for his own car, the gunmen attacked. He was shot and wounded, then dragged out into the driveway while one of the attackers went after Trudy as she backed out. Killing her, the gunman then came back up the driveway, where the other gunman was watching over Mickey and shot him fatally in the head. The attackers then made their escape on the bicycles they had ridden to the Thompson residence. Expensive jewelry and a large amount of cash were found on the Thompsons' bodies, eliminating robbery as a likely motive. An intense police investigation initially failed to uncover either the identity of the mystery gunmen, or a motive for the crime. Police were interested in Thompson's former business partner Michael Frank Goodwin who repeatedly refused to pay a more than $768,000 settlement he owed Thompson. Goodwin and his wife bought $275,000 worth of gold coins two months before the Thompsons were murdered and wired $400,000 to banks on the island Grand Turk and Caicos. Goodwin and his wife then left the country five months after the murder on their yacht and did not return for more than two years. The case remained unsolved until 2001, when Goodwin was charged in Orange County, California with the murders. Before a trial could be completed, it was ended on jurisdictional grounds by the California District Court of Appeal. On June 8, 2004, Goodwin was formally charged with the murders in Pasadena, in Los Angeles County. In October 2006, a Pasadena Superior Court judge ordered Goodwin to stand trial. During the trial, a long series of witnesses reported hearing Goodwin threaten to kill the Thompsons. “I’m going to kill that son of a bitch. I’m going to kill that motherfucker. I’m going to take out Mickey. I’m too smart to get caught. I’ll have him wasted. He’ll never see a nickel. I’ll kill him first. Mickey doesn’t know