Mark Goudeau

The Baseline Killer is the moniker applied to a serial killer, serial rapist and robber active in Arizona from 2005-2006, coinciding with another case of serial killings in the area.

Case History
The first crime attributed to the Baseline Killer took place on August 6, 2005. The perpetrator forced three teenage girls behind a church and molested two of them. He is believed to have committed his first murder a month later. Over the course of the following 11 months, he committed several robberies, sexual assaults and a total of eight additional murders. One murder, that of Sophia Nunez on April 10, 2006, wasn't attributed to the Baseline Killer until the ballistic evidence was compared to that of the other Baseline Killer victims, all of whom were shot with the same gun. On September 4, 2006, Phoenix police announced that they had arrested a suspect, Mark Goudeau, for a double rape committed on September 20, 2005 attributed to the Baseline Killer. He was proven guilty of the crime through DNA evidence, tried for all 19 counts related to the attack and sentenced to 438 years. He has, according to Phoenix police, been proven guilty for the other Baseline Killer crimes through DNA, ballistic and circumstantial evidence and is due to stand trial for all charges in the future.

Suspects

 * Mark Goudeau
 * Construction worker
 * Married to one Wendy Carr
 * Has served 13 years out of a 21-year sentence for aggravated assault, having attacked an elderly woman with a barbell and committed an armed robbery.
 * Has been found guilty of a double sexual assault attributed to the Baseline Killer
 * Will stand trial for the other Baseline Killer crimes
 * Terry Wayne Smith
 * A friend of the Goudeau family
 * Convicted of aggravated assault and armed robbery
 * Was a suspect in two unrelated murder cases
 * Was released from prison shortly before the Baseline Killer attacks began
 * Currently imprisoned for allegedly holding his family at gunpoint. Is eligible for parole in 2011.
 * Has, according to Phoenix police, been dismissed as a suspect in the Baseline Killers, having been in jail at the time of one of the murders

Modus Operandi
The Baseline Killer's targets, when he wasn't financially motivated, were women (except for Chao Chou, whose death appears to have been incidental). When he killed, the victims were typically snatched from a public corner, taken to some secluded nearby place (with the exception of Sophia Nunez, who was killed in her home) and shot in the head. The killer apparently used some kind of disguise and/or ruse while committing some crimes, such as wearing a Halloween mask to conceal his identity, approaching his victims asking for a ride or even pretending to be a homeless man or a drug addict. He appears to have been able to change his appearance simply by changing hairstyle or wearing different hats.

Murders

 * September 8, 2005: Georgia Thompson, 19
 * December 12, 2005: Tina Washington, 39
 * February 20, 2006:
 * Romelia Vargas, 38
 * Mirna Palma-Roman, 34
 * March 15, 2006:
 * Liliana Sanchez-Cabrera, 20
 * Chao Chou, 23
 * March 29, 2006: Kristin Nicole Gibbons, 26
 * April 10, 2006: Sophia Nunez
 * June 29, 2006: Carmen Miranda, 37

Rapes

 * August 6, 2005: Two unnamed teenage girls
 * August 14, 2005: One unnamed victim
 * September 15, 2005: One unnamed victim
 * September 20, 2005: Two unnamed sisters
 * September 28, 2005: One unnamed victim
 * November 3, 2005: Unnamed woman
 * May 1, 2006: Unnamed woman

Robberies

 * September 28, 2005: 1425 West Baseline Road, Tempe
 * November 3, 2005: Cupid's Toy Box, a lingerie shop
 * November 7, 2005: Three separate robberies
 * Las Brasas, a Mexican restaurant
 * Little Caesar's Pizza restaurant
 * Four unnamed people robbed in the street
 * December 13, 2005: Unnamed woman

On Criminal Minds
The Baseline Killer was mentioned, though not by name, in the episode The Last Word as an example of when two independent serial killers have been active in the same area at the same time, the other being a set of murders attributed to Dale Shawn Houser and Samuel John Dieteman, collectively known as the "Serial Shooter".