Lawyers Testify in Thompson Slay Case

PASADENA, Calif. - Two lawyers testifying in the trial of a man accused of slaying racing legend Mickey Thompson said the court battle over the pair's severed business ties two decades ago was vitriolic.

Philip Bartenetti, an attorney who once represented Thompson, and Dolores Cordell, a bankruptcy lawyer involved in the case, both testified Wednesday at the trial of racing tycoon Michael Goodwin, who is accused of having Thompson and his wife, Trudy, killed over the failed business relationship nearly 19 years ago.

"In all my years of practice .... this was absolutely beyond a doubt the most bitter and contentiously fought lawsuit I've ever been involved in," Cordell said.

Thompson, 59, and his 41-year-old wife were gunned down in the driveway of their home in the gated Los Angeles suburb of Bradbury and the two killers escaped on bicycles. Prosecutors say it was a professional hit.

Thompson, who gained fame in numerous auto sports and set land speed records, had merged his motorcycle racing business with Goodwin's but their association quickly soured and Thompson successfully sued him.

Bartenetti described the lengths to which Goodwin went to try to overturn a judgment that he owed Thompson $793,000. Bartenetti said Goodwin went to an appeals court, which upheld the ruling, then tried to appeal to the California Supreme Court, which refused to consider the case. Goodwin then sued Thompson personally, Bartenetti said.

"It was an expensive case," Bartenetti said.

"Did you ever advise him that it was not worth it?" defense attorney Thomas Summers asked on cross-examination.

"We discussed it," said Bartenetti. "I said, 'What's happening here is obscene because the costs on both sides are exceeding what it's worth.' I said to him, 'The only thing you have on your side, Mickey, is you're right.'"

Goodwin lost the case on March 2, 1988, Bartenetti said. Thompson was killed two weeks later, on March 16.

Goodwin, 61, was brought to trial on murder charges after years of pressure by Thompson's sister. He is charged with two counts of murder with special circumstances and faces life in prison if convicted.

The defense has cited the lack of any physical evidence and contends Goodwin is a victim of false assumptions and of TV shows that created a "folklore" and prompted people to come forward with unsubstantiated accounts.

The court also heard from Barron Wehinger of Durango, Colo., who said Goodwin came to visit his family when he was 16. He said he remembered hearing a conversation about Thompson between his stepfather and Goodwin.

"I heard Mike saying, 'I'll kill him. ... I can get it done for 50 grand.' And my stepfather said, 'I can get it done for 20 grand.' And Mike said, 'I don't want to get you involved.'"

On cross-examination, defense attorney Elena Saris pointed out that Wehinger came forward after a 1999 TV "Unsolved Mysteries" about the case.

"I didn't want to get my family involved and now my mother has passed on and I can say what I really heard," he said.