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Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (Spencer Goodman)

Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Texas Attorney General Media Advisory

AUSTIN - Friday, January 14, 2000 - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on Spencer Corey Goodman who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m., Tuesday, January 18th:

FACTS OF THE CRIME

Cecile Ham left her Houston residence at approximately 1:20 p.m., July 2, 1991. A friend at the residence expected her to return, but she did not return, and she was reported missing the next day. At the time of her disappearance, Ham was 48 years old, approximately five feet three inches in height, and approximately 130 pounds in weight. She owned a red 1991 Cadillac automobile.

On August 7, 1991, a deputy sheriff in Eagle County, Colorado, arrested Spencer Corey Goodman after a high-speed automobile chase through the Colorado mountains. Goodman surrendered to the deputy only after driving Ham's Cadillac over a low cliff and wrecking it. Shortly thereafter, Goodman gave a written statement, which read in relevant part:

On July 1, 1991, I was released from the old Bexar County Jail where I was being held [at a ] Wackenhut Parole Violators Facility. I was given a bus ride back to Houston, Texas by Wackenhut and dropped off on the east side of town at 9:30 a.m. I was given my papers to report to Texas House at 5:30 p.m. that night. Instead of going to the halfway house I started walking west. I walked most of the night. . . . . I laid down for a while along the side of the railroad tracks but I kept getting eat up by mosquitos so I could not sleep. During the day on Tuesday, July 2, 1991, I started walking out Memorial Drive. During the mid-afternoon it started raining. I walked up into a Walgreens parking lot maybe about 4:00 p.m. and just hung around the parking lot for about 20 to 30 minutes. I saw a white female drive up in a 1991 red Cadillac. She pulled up in the firelane along the blind side of the parking lot and then went into the Walgreens store. At that time I was not really watching her, but I don't think that she stayed inside the drug store very long. When the lady came out of the store she opened the driver's door and started getting into the car. I decided at that point that I wanted to take her car from her. I had been walking for a long time and my feet hurt and I wanted some transportation. I ran up behind her while the driver's door was still open. She was sitting behind the wheel, and I shoved her over with one hand and punched her just under the left ear, to knock her out. She fell over to the passenger's side and was knocked unconscious. I got into the driver's seat. I think that I may have hit her in the back of the neck to make sure that she was unconscious. I think that the keys to the car were in her hand because they fell to the floor. I picked them up and started the car and then looked around to see if anyone had seen what happened. It was raining, and there was nobody around the parking lot. I first pulled out of the parking lot and turned right on Memorial going west, but there was a subdivision down that way, so I turned around and went to the Dairy Ashford for a ways and then turned off towards the west. I know that I was near a high school off of Dairy Ashford. I pulled off the main road and parked on a side road off behind this little building. I then used martial arts and broke the lady's neck. I don't know why I did it, but I know that I was lost. I then put her in the trunk of the car. I did not have on a shirt because my shirt was wet from the rain. I was also wearing jogging pants. After I put her in the trunk, I drove down this road. I was right by this high school when I saw this guy in a truck. I then asked him how to get to I-10. . . . I followed the guy's direction. As I was driving I went through the lady's purse and got out her wallet. I found about $20.00 and some change in her purse and some credit cards. I saw an Exxon gas station at HWY 6 and Westheimer so I stopped and filled up with gas. I used the Exxon gas card and signed the name on the card. I then got on I-10 and headed west. . . . . . . I knew that she was dead when I put her in the trunk because I felt on her pulse. . . .

On August 8, 1991, Goodman, after being returned to Texas, led law enforcement officials to the remains of his victim's body, which he had dumped in an open field near Uvalde. An autopsy of the remains confirmed that they were those of Ham and revealed that the cause of her death had been "blunt trauma to [her] head and neck." On August 9, 1991, at a Houston police station, Goodman gave a videotaped statement, which was consistent with his earlier written statement. The videotape showed that Goodman was an adult male approximately twenty years of age, apparently healthy and strong, and approximately six feet in height and 200 pounds in weight.

Goodman testified in his defense and admitted that, while in the Walgreens parking lot in Houston on July 2, 1991, he struck Ham in the head and neck with his fist in order to steal her car, but he denied breaking her neck or intending to cause her death.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On January 13, 1992, Goodman was indicted in Fort Bend County, Texas, with the capital offense of the intentional murder of Cecile Ham in the course of robbery or kidnapping. A jury found Goodman guilty of the capital offense on May 26, 1992. A separate punishment hearing ensued, and, on June 1, 1992, the jury answered affirmatively the two special issues submitted to them and in accordance with state law, the trial court assessed punishment at death.

Appeal was automatic to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed the conviction and sentence on April 10, 1996, and denied a motion for rehearing on May 15, 1996. Goodman did not seek certiorari review to the United States Supreme Court. Goodman next filed an application for state writ of habeas corpus with the convicting court on April 24, 1997. The trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending that habeas relief be denied, and these findings were adopted by the Court of Criminal Appeals on October 8, 1997. Goodman did not seek certiorari review to the Supreme Court.

Goodman next filed a federal habeas petition in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, on November 4, 1997, and an amended petition on April 27, 1998. However, on May 29, 1998, prior to the State filing a response to the petition, Goodman unilaterally dismissed his federal action. Several days later, on June 1, 1998, Goodman filed a second application for state writ of habeas corpus with the convicting court. The Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed the second application as an abuse of the writ under statutory provisions on July 1, 1998. Goodman did not seek certiorari review to the Supreme Court. On July 13, 1998, returned to the federal district court by filing a second federal habeas petition. Goodman filed an amended petition on October 5, 1998. The State responded to the merits of the claims raised in the petition and also argued that the second petition was not timely filed under the controlling federal habeas statute. On February 22, 1999, the district court entered an order dismissing the petition as time barred and denying Goodman permission to appeal. On March 23, 1999, and April 7, 1999, the district court entered orders denying several post-judgment motions filed by Goodman. On September 16, 1999, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit similarly denied Goodman permission to appeal. Goodman then filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, which is pending before the Court.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

At the punishment phase of trial, the State presented evidence of Goodman's significant criminal record. On January 10, 1989, in Harris County, Goodman was convicted of the felony offense of burglary of a building and sentenced to imprisonment for two years. On March 6, 1989, in Runnels County, Goodman received seven years deferred-adjudication probation on a felony charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. On August 27, 1990, Goodman's deferred-adjudication probation was revoked and he was convicted of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and sentenced to imprisonment for five years. He was paroled in December 1990, but he soon violated the conditions of his parole and was sent to the Wackenhut Parole Violators Facility in Bexar County. He was paroled from Wackenhut on July 1, 1991, but he immediately violated the conditions of his parole again by not reporting to the Texas House, a "halfway house," in Houston. The very next day, he murdered Cecile Ham.

Several prosecution witnesses also testified regarding Goodman's character. Houston Police Department Sergeant J.W. Belk testified that, based on his experience in more than 100 homicide investigations, he believed Goodman had the "psychological profile" of a "cold-blooded murderer." Sociologist James W. Marquart testified that an individual with appellant's background would pose "a risk" of future acts of criminal violence. Gregory Eric Holmes testified that Goodman once told him that he (i.e., Goodman) had been a gang member while in prison and had engaged in gang violence. Finally, David William Carleton testified that Goodman had threatened his life during an encounter they had several days after Goodman committed the instant offense.

DRUGS AND/OR ALCOHOL - There was no evidence of drug or alcohol use connected with the instant offense.

ProDeathPenalty.com

Spencer Corey Goodman had been on parole less than 24 hours when he abducted 48-year-old Cecile Ham, the wife of Bill Ham, manager of the rock group ZZ Top. He kidnapped her from the parking lot of a drugstore because he was tired of walking and wanted her red Cadillac. Goodman appealed his conviction saying that there was insufficient evidence to prove that he intentionally killed Ham and that he posed a future danger - elements that must be proved in a capital murder case. The court disagreed, and pointed in particular to the confession he made after he was arrested in Eagle County, Colo., where authorities spotted him driving Ham's car more than a month after her disappearance.

In his confession, Goodman told police that rather than reporting to a parole halfway house in Houston when he was released from prison, he walked the streets of Houston for hours. He said he saw his victim leave a drugstore. "I decided at that point that I wanted to take her car from her," his confession states. "I had been walking for a long time and my feet hurt." Goodman knocked Ham unconscious by striking her in the back of the head and later "used martial arts and broke the lady's neck," according to court records. He then stuffed the body in the trunk of her car, and drove to Colorado, using the woman's credit cards to buy beer and cigarettes. He dumped the body in a remote area; after his arrest, Goodman led authorities to the body.

The jury deliberated only 3 hours before sentencing Goodman to death. Cecile's husband Bill and her mother, Louella Autrey of Waxahachie, were present when the sentence was read and released a written statement before leaving the courthouse. "The goodness that was Cecile will never again touch our lives," the statement read. "The sweetness of her smile and humor in adversity will never strengthen us again except as a memory. Every good and gracious trait that was Cecile is gone but will never be forgotten." The statement thanked law enforcement officers and prosecutors and challenged the community to work for a system that "considers the rights of victims to be of supreme importance. In memory of our beloved Cecile, the charge is to work toward a system dedicated to the freedom to live our lives unharmed and safe."

The trial lasted two weeks and included the testimony of dozens of witnesses. Goodman's adoptive father, Barnard Goodman Sr., 62, testified that his immediate family fears the defendant -- who, at his own request, remained outside the courtroom during his father's testimony. Under cross-examination by Rosen, the father said he placed the decision of life in prison or death in the jury's hands. "At this point, he's broken the heart of our family, and we would rather not be any further involved in this than we have to," he said. In a letter, the elder Goodman told his son the whole family loved him when he was taken in at age 1. "I tried so hard when you were young to turn you around," the letter read. "We couldn't turn you around and you continued to do things that were against our laws, God's laws and the laws of society." The father and other family members left the courtroom after his testimony. Assistant District Attorney Fred Felcman, in closing arguments, called the defendant "society's worst nightmare." He reminded jurors of Goodman's courtroom conduct when he tried to leave during testimony. "Even then, for some reason, he feels he has the right to leave whenever he wants to," Felcman said. Prosecutors reminded jurors that the two-time ex-con received countless chances from his family and from the criminal justice system. "Time and time again, leniency has been extended to this man through our criminal justice system. Just as often, this man has spit in the face of society."

Fight the Death Penalty in the USA

Spencer Corey Goodman, 31, 00-01-18, Texas

Spencer Corey Goodman was executed by injection Tuesday night for snapping the neck of a Houston woman after knocking her unconscious and stealing her car. Minutes before the execution, a witness turned to the victim's husband, Bill Ham, manager of rock group ZZ Top, and asked how he was doing. "Great," Ham replied.

Goodman, meanwhile, strapped to the death chamber gurney, expressed love for his family and a woman named Kami in a final statement. Then he said, "That's it, warden. Thank you, chaplain." Goodman gulped 3 times, sputtered loudly about a half dozen times and then fell into unconsciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m., 9 minutes after the flow of lethal drugs began. Goodman, 31, was the 2nd Texas death row inmate executed this year and the 201st since capital punishment resumed in the state in 1982. Texas has 5 more executions scheduled this month.

Eight years ago, Goodman was 23 years old, a twice-convicted felon and footsore from a long walk without a destination. He was just a day out of a San Antonio parole center on July 2, 1991, and already overdue at a Houston halfway house when he decided to steal Ham's car. After being dropped off in Houston along with a busload of other parolees, Goodman headed west on Interstate 10 and spent a restless night by the train tracks. He walked throughout the next hot and rainy day until he came upon Ham's Cadillac parked at a pharmacy in west Houston. "I was going to get out of Houston and say, `I'm starting over,' just get away from Houston," Goodman said recently. "Like a dummy, I didn't think about reporting again."

When the 48-year-old Ham returned to her car and stepped into the driver's seat, Goodman slammed his fist into her neck, knocked her unconscious and pushed her limp body to the floor. After driving a few miles, Goodman later told investigators, he "used martial arts and broke the lady's neck." His victim's body in the trunk and her credit cards in his wallet, Goodman took off for a month before police captured him in Colorado on Aug. 7, 1991, and solved what had been until then a missing person's case. A Fort Bend County jury convicted him and sentenced him to death on June 1, 1992. While testifying, Goodman admitted knocking out Ham, but denied breaking her neck or planning to kill her. "He broke a woman's neck with his bare hands because he didn't feel like walking," said Fred Felcman, an assistant district attorney who helped prosecute Goodman. "And then he stuffs her into the trunk, and drives away and visits friends, gives away the presents that she had bought that day, uses her credit cards."

Goodman headed back toward San Antonio, leaving behind a trail of nearly 60 credit card transactions for detectives to follow. Deputies in Eagle County, Colo., arrested Goodman after a 32-mile chase that climaxed when he drove the Cadillac over a low cliff. Soon afterward, Goodman told police he killed Ham and dumped her body in a field near Pearsall, south of San Antonio. "People make mistakes, and I made a bad one," Goodman said recently. "I don't blame nobody."

(Source: Houston Chronicle)

ABOLISH Archives (Reuters & Rick Halperin)

01-18-00 - TEXAS EXECUTION:

Texas executed a 31-year-old man Tuesday night for murdering the wife of rock group ZZ Top's manager. Spencer Goodman was pronounced dead 9 minutes after he was given the lethal injection, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Larry Fitzgerald said.

In a final statement, Goodman told his family that he loved them. His relatives were not present at the execution though they had visited him in the preceding days. ZZ Top manager Bill Ham and a brother of his late wife, Cecile, were among the witnesses in attendance.

According to a summary of the case prepared by the Texas Attorney General's office, Goodman knocked his victim out and stole her red Cadillac while she was shopping in Houston on July 2, 1991. Later he broke Ham's neck and left her body in a field. Police tracked Goodman down through his use of Ham's credit cards and he was eventually arrested after a high-speed chase in Colorado on Aug. 7, 1991.

Goodman becomes the 2nd condemned prisoner to be put to death this year in Texas and the 201st overall since the state resumed capital punishment on Dec. 7, 1982. Goodman also becomes the 7th condemned prisoner to be put to death this year in the USA and the 605th overall since America resumed executions on Jan. 17, 1977.

Abilene Reporter-News

"Condemned Killer Faces Needle for Murder of ZZ Top Manager's Wife," by C. Bryson Hill.

(Wednesday, January 19, 2000) HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Spencer Corey Goodman heads to the death chamber Tuesday night for snapping the neck of a Houston woman after knocking her unconscious and stealing her car. Twenty-three hours into his last parole violation and footsore from a long walk with no destination in 1991, Goodman saw in Cecile Ham's red Cadillac a clean break from his past. Instead, the choice Goodman made more than eight years ago led him to a sentence of death by lethal injection for killing Mrs. Ham, 48, the wife of ZZ top manager Bill Ham.

Goodman, 31, would be the second Texas death row inmate executed this year and the 201st since capital punishment resumed in the state in 1982. Tuesday's execution is also the second of seven scheduled for January, the busiest month since May and June 1997, when eight inmates each were killed. His appeal and a request to stay the execution are pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Goodman, then 23 and a twice-convicted felon, was just a day out of a San Antonio parole center on July 2, 1991, and already overdue at a Houston halfway house when he decided to steal Mrs. Ham's car. After being dropped off in Houston along with a busload of other parolees, Goodman had headed west on Interstate 10 and spent a restless night by the train tracks. He walked all the next day, which was hot and rainy, until he came upon Mrs. Ham's Cadillac parked at a pharmacy in west Houston. “I was going to get out of Houston and say, 'I'm starting over,' just get away from Houston,” Goodman said recently. “Like a dummy, I didn't think about reporting again.” When she returned to her car and stepped into the driver's seat, Goodman slammed his fist into her neck, knocked her unconscious and pushed her limp body to the floor. After driving a few miles, Goodman later told investigators, he “then used martial arts and broke the lady's neck.” His victim's body in the trunk and her credit cards in his wallet, Goodman took off for a month before police captured him in Colorado on Aug. 7, 1991, and solved what had until then been Mrs. Ham's disappearance.

A Fort Bend County jury convicted him and sentenced him to death on June 1, 1992. While testifying at his trial, Goodman admitted knocking out Mrs. Ham, but denied breaking her neck or planning to kill her. “He broke a woman's neck with his bare hands because he didn't feel like walking,” said Fred Felcman, an assistant district attorney who helped prosecute Goodman. “And then he stuffs her into the trunk, and drives away and visits friends, gives away the presents that she had bought that day, uses her credit cards.” Goodman headed back toward San Antonio, leaving behind a trail of nearly 60 credit card transactions for detectives to follow, one of which was captured on a surveillance videotape. It was enough evidence to charge Goodman with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Acting on that warrant, deputies in Eagle County, Colo., arrested Goodman after a 32-mile chase which climaxed when he crashed Mrs. Ham's Cadillac after driving it over a low cliff. Soon afterward, Goodman told police he killed Mrs. Ham and that he dumped her body in a field near Pearsall, south of San Antonio. “People make mistakes, and I made a bad one. I don't blame nobody,” Goodman said recently.

Texas leads all states in executions since the U.S. Supreme Court effectively reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Virginia is second with 72.

www.deathrow.at

Spencer Goodman: Executed on January 18, 2000

Megan Goodman:

I used to think that anyone on death row had to be a monster, including my own Uncle Spencer. I listened to what people said about him and I looked at what he had done without ever stopping to think that there might be more to the story...more that I didn't know.

When I was 19, I was living on my own and thinking a lot about my Uncle who was sitting on Death Row. His crime was not something that was talked about in my family and frankly he was never talked about either.

I decided that I wanted to know the whole story about what he had done and who exactly he was. So, without telling anyone in my family, I wrote him a letter telling him that I wanted to talk to him. He wrote back and said that he would love to see me. I prepared myself to go and visit a monster. I was sure that that was what he was.

I remember when I went to see him I was shaking as I walked down the row of cages full of people waiting to die. I sat down and talked to my Uncle for the first time since I was in third grade. We talked about his crime, about the rumours going around the family and about things that we used to do together. By the end of our two hour visit I had completely changed my opinion of him. I realized that he wasn't this monster that I needed to be scared of but he was still my Uncle who loved me and I still loved him. Over the next year and a half I visited with him on a regular basis and we became very close. He was like my older brother more than my Uncle. At the time of his execution I was closer to him than anyone else in my life.

There is not a day that goes by that I don't miss him. He taught me so much about myself and life. The most important thing that he taught me was to search for my own truth, don't just take one persons point of view as truth, because the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. My Uncle did a horrible thing in his life but that doesn't mean that he was horrible. I believe that it was Ghandi that said, "If we all took an eye for an eye then the whole world would be blind."

My Uncle was the most loving person that I have ever known and I was lucky that I got the chance to get to know the man that I did.