Tennis Ref Accused of Murder Pleads Not Guilty

A 70-year-old tennis umpire pleaded not guilty Wednesday to fatally bludgeoning her husband of 50 years with a coffee mug at their Woodland Hills home, then leaving her husband to die while she got a manicure.

Lois Goodman was arrested last week at her hotel in Manhattan, where she was preparing to officiate U.S. Open tennis matches. After she waived her right to an extradition hearing, she was flown to Los Angeles to face the murder charge.

During an arraignment hearing, Van Nuys Superior Court Commissioner Mitchell Block agreed to lower her bail from $1 million to $500,000, citing her age and ties to the community.

If she does post bail, she will be subject to electronic monitoring and restricted to her home, which she will be allowed to leave only for religious services or medical appointments.

Despite the lowered bail amount, her attorneys said it would be difficult for her family to raise the money.

Goodman is due back in court Oct. 3, when a date is expected to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for her to stand trial.

Goodman is accused of killing Alan Frederick Goodman on April 17.

Police called to the couple's home found a blood trail leading to the 80- year-old man's body and noted severe wounds on his head. But officers accepted a theory advanced by his wife that he had fallen down the stairs before crawling into bed, according to court papers.

In court Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney Lisa Tanner said the victim had multiple lacerations on his head and slivers of porcelain in his skull. She also alleged that after Lois Goodman bludgeoned her husband, she left the home to get her nails done.

Tanner called the killing a "very violent and heinous crime.''

Two Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics pronounced Alan Goodman dead and told police about an oddly shaped cut to the right side of his head, but after learning of the octogenarian's various ailments and consulting with the coroner's office, police concluded there was no crime and allowed Lois Goodman to transfer the body to a mortuary without an autopsy, according to an affidavit.

It was at Heritage Crematory on April 20 that a coroner's investigator who had been sent to sign the death certificate noted multiple cuts on Alan Goodman's head and ears — observations that resulted in a homicide investigation, officials said.

Court papers suggested that Lois Goodman may have been in a relationship with another man, an allegation that defense attorneys strongly denied.

Prosecutors declined to discuss a possible motive for the crime.

Goodman is facing a murder charge with an allegation that she personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon — the coffee cup. If convicted, she faces up to life in prison, prosecutors said.

Defense attorney Alison Triessl told reporters outside court that Goodman's family is "adamant that their mother did not do it,'' adding that nobody has ever seen "an aggressive act'' committed by the woman.

Triessl said her client "doesn't know what happened, and unfortunately either do the police.''