The family of a professional tennis umpire accused of bludgeoning her 80-year-old husband to death with a coffee mug has set up a fund with the hope of raising the $40,000 needed to bail her out of jail, the family’s lawyer confirmed on Friday.
Family members of Lois Goodman, 70, who faces a murder charge in the death of her husband, Alan Goodman, have established a website and Facebook page asking for support.
The website, Lois Goodman Defense Fund, shows pictures of Goodman with her husband and a photo with her grandchildren around a Christmas tree.
“Can you see yourself ever being wrongfully accused of murder?” the website reads. “Can you imagine being thrust into the media where YOU are suddenly the headline news on a global scale?
“‘LoLo’ is one of the most selfless, generous and giving people you’d ever want to meet, always there for anyone in need, loved and respected by all who know her.”
The Lois Goodman Facebook page had 101 likes as of noontime on Friday.
Friends of Goodman in the tennis community have offered to put up their homes as collateral, said the defendant's attorney Alison Triessl.
"They are confident that she will appear in court and they believe in her," Triessl said.
Robert Sheahen, another attorney for Goodman, said Friday he didn’t know how much money had been raised so far. Triessl also did not know the fund's current total.
Goodman was being held at a Los Angeles County jail facility in lieu of $500,000 bail. A Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner approved the reduced bail amount and ordered electronic home monitoring, citing her lack of criminal record and support in the community.
In order to be released from custody, Goodman has to come up with at least 8 percent of the total bail amount scheduled, according to information released during Goodman’s bail reduction hearing. Sheahen said he anticipated Goodman would remain in custody through Labor Day Weekend.
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Prosecutors accuse Goodman of stabbing her husband 10 times, using a mug as an improvised knife.
Goodman’s attorneys claim the police botched the investigation and argued that Goodman was not physically capable of committing the murder.
The case began when Goodman called 911 on April 17 and told authorities that she found a trail of blood leading to the body of her husband. Authorities discovered Alan Goodman’s body in a blood soaked bed and a broken and bloodied coffee mug in the Woodland Hills home, police said.
Officers ruled the death suspicious, because they initially couldn’t determine if foul play was involved, according to an LAPD press release.
But after launching a full homicide investigation and working closely with the L.A. County Coroner’s Office, detectives determined on Aug. 2 that Alan Goodman was killed and they named his wife as the prime suspect, the LAPD said.
A warrant was issued for Lois Goodman’s arrest on Aug. 14. She was arrested seven days later in New York where she was officiating tennis matches at the U.S. Open, police said.
Goodman, who has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge, is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 3.
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