PHOENIX - A man accused of killing nine people in the Baseline Killer case was driven by a "hunger to rape," and the victims who didn't cooperate were shot point-blank in the head, a prosecutor said Monday.
Prosecutor Suzanne Cohen said in her opening trial statement that defendant Mark Goudeau was a wolf who hunted his victims.
"The only thing that matched his hunger to rape was his determination to not get caught and not be sitting in this chair," Cohen said. "Those innocents did nothing wrong but cross his path while he was hunting."
Goudeau, 46, is accused of killing nine people and committing dozens of other crimes, including rape and child molestation. If convicted of the murder charges, he could face the death penalty.
In his opening statement, defense attorney Randall Craig said there was a serious lack of DNA evidence in the case. He also questioned the integrity of the investigation.
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"The Phoenix Police Department suffered from a severe case of tunnel vision," he said. "The key result of all this was they apprehended the wrong guy."
As prosecutors laid out their case against the former construction worker, Goudeau sat quietly, listening closely as the 74 charges were read.
Cohen told the jury to "beware of the predator that comes to you wrapped in sheep's clothing because he is a ravenous wolf. Mark Goudeau is that ravenous wolf, and you shall know him by his deeds."
She said DNA, ballistics and other evidence tied Goudeau to the crimes. For instance, Cohen said police found a ring belonging to murder victim Tina Washington inside one of Goudeau's shoes when they searched his house. The ring had three birthstones and the phrase "We love Mom" inscribed on the side.
Washington, a 39-year-old preschool teacher, was found shot to death in an alley on Dec. 12, 2005. She had been waiting at a bus stop after a Christmas party when her attacker struck.
Later Monday, Cohen called the first witness - an 18-year-old woman whom Goudeau is accused of sexually assaulting along with another girl when they were 12. The Associated Press has a policy of not identifying the victims of sexual abuse.
The young woman cried and wiped her eyes as she told jurors how she and her friend were forced to take off their clothes on Aug. 6, 2005, and how they were sexually assaulted.
She also said the assailant put a gun to her head and threatened to shoot her if she looked at him. When Cohen asked the woman who had assaulted her, she said it was Goudeau.
Under cross-examination by Craig, the woman said she never saw her assailant's face and based her in-court identification of him on a picture of Goudeau that she saw on television when he was arrested.
She said it was dark outside, and the assailant wore a baseball cap and kept his head constantly lowered. The woman said she was able to observe the assailant's mannerisms and physical characteristics, and that she was positive Goudeau was the person who sexually assaulted her.
In opening arguments, Cohen detailed every crime Goudeau is charged with in graphic detail.
She showed the court images of the bodies of the victims - all shot in the head and lying in pools of blood.
Some people attending the trial had to leave the courtroom as the pictures were shown, including that of a 37-year-old woman whose 8-year-old son found her body at home in a tub of water.
Cohen said the boy turned off the water and unsuccessfully tried to pull her out of the tub before attempting to perform CPR on her lifeless body.
The picture showed the woman's arm dangling over the edge of the white tub, with blood running down the side.
Goudeau has pleaded not guilty. His trial is expected to last nine months.
He already is serving a 438-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2007 of 19 counts in a 2005 attack. In that case, police say he raped a woman while pointing a gun at her sister's belly.
The killings started in August 2005 and ended with the murder of Carmen Miranda of Phoenix in what police described as a "blitz attack" on the mother of two on June 29, 2006. She was vacuuming her car and talking on her cellphone at an east Phoenix carwash when a man kidnapped her then shot her in the head and shoved her body in the back seat.
The other eight people who were killed also were attacked while going about daily activities, such as leaving work or cooking lunch.
The victims were shot in the head, and many of the bodies were left with their pants unzipped and partially pulled down. The victims - eight of them women - ranged from 19 to 39 years old.
Defense attorneys contend there are likelier suspects than Goudeau and hope to discredit the DNA tests.
Police named the series of killings and other crimes after Baseline Road in south Phoenix, where many of the earliest attacks happened.
Goudeau lived only a few miles from many of the attack sites, and Miranda was killed just around the corner from his house.
