SUPPOSED CRIME SHOCKS TENNIS ON EVE OF OPEN
This story relates a bit to coffee and tennis. But it has nothing to do with Starbuck’s “Serena” blend or the fact that Andre Agassi once praised Brad Gilbert for upgrading his tastes in coffee. It’s far more serious then that.
This story relates to a U.S. Open linesperson and death. But it has nothing at all to do with the official who suffered a fatal heart attack as he was trying to avoid a Stefan Edberg serve at the Open.
This is not a fictional tale of murder and tennis, like the compelling movies “Strangers on a Train” where a tennis pro gets caught up in a murder scheme or Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “Dial M For Murder.”
This is a grim story about crime and tennis. Not the many crimes committed by former Wimbledon finalist Roscoe Tanner, but rather the alleged crime of a kind of “Little Old Lady from Pasadena” – the longtime tennis linesperson Lois Ann Goodman. The 70-year old mother of three, who is actually from Woodland Hills, was arrested at the Sheraton Hotel on New York’s East side in her Ralph Lauren tennis warm-up after a warrant was issued for her arrest.
She was accused of killing her 80-year old husband Alan with a coffee cup on April 17. They had been married for decades. According to a report in the New York Times, she claimed that her husband fell down the stairs of their home when she was out playing tennis. But police reportedly found blood throughout their home and there was evidence of “multiple sharp forced injuries.” Goodman has hired an attorney and after a hearing in New York, agreed to return to California.
Longtime Southern California Tennis Association official Annette Buck told the L.A. Times, “I’ve worked with her for years and I don’t believe any of this.” Goodman was scheduled to work the U.S. Open and its qualifying tournament.
