Jacksonville police shot and killed a 64-year-old man after he showed up at the home of his estranged wife early Friday morning.
Laura Phillips, 57, called police to her home at 1709 Madden Road around 8:50 a.m., saying her husband, Michael Goodman, was there despite a no-contact court order issued this month after a struggle with him left her with a broken wrist.
When police arrived, Goodman met them at the door of the house. Officers attempted to arrest him for violating the June 3 court order, but Goodman refused to obey commands, according to Jacksonville Police Departmentspokesman Capt. Kenny Boyd.
Goodman “pulled a knife and advanced towards the officers,” and one officer fired, hitting Goodman in the “upper torso,” Boyd said.
Citing the ongoing investigation, Boyd said he couldn’t comment on how many times Goodman was shot, nor could he say where the officers and Goodman were standing at the time of the shooting or when the officer who shot Goodman drew his weapon.
Paramedics took Goodman to the North Metro Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The officer, whom police officials would not identify Friday, was placed on administrative leave. Boyd said investigators have started a criminal and internal investigation into the shooting.
According to court and police records, Phillips and Goodman’s marriage was strained and had resulted in multiple calls to police in recent weeks.
Married in April 2002, the pair separated on May 8, and according to a June 12 divorce complaint filed by Phillips, they were no longer living together.
Phillips’ June 12 filing cited “indignities … to render the plaintiff’s life intolerable.” Property records show Phillips has been the sole owner of the Madden Road home since purchasing it in 2000.
The couple had no children, but did have joint debts and also owned unspecified property together, the divorce petition states. Phillips reported that she had no income to pay divorce costs and asked the judge to award her legal costs,the couple’s home and alimony when the divorce was granted.
Phillips also requested a joint restraining order. The one-page order, issued the day she filed for divorce, barred the couple from harassing or mistreating each other and selling any property or removing it from the court’s jurisdiction.
Michael Anderson Goodman, who would have turned 65 on July 8, responded with his own divorce suit on Monday against Phillips. He denied any wrongdoing and disputed Phillips’ claim that she was destitute. Goodman reported that Phillips had a job and said he should not have to pay her legal expenses.
Goodman asked the judge instead to make her pay his legal fees and costs, along with spousal support, reporting that his sole income was a monthlyunspecified disability payment.
On June 1, weeks into their separation, Phillips came home to find Goodman and several dirty dishes in her kitchen, according to reports. She asked him to clean them up and he didn’t respond, so she went into the living room and turned off the TV and asked him again.
According to police reports, Goodman “began cursing” at Phillips and grabbed a plate out of the dishwasher and told her “I should shove this plate down your damn throat and shoot you in the head.”
They kept arguing, and Goodman grabbed Phillips by the hair and threw her to the tile floor, reports said, leaving Phillips’ wrists “dislocated or broken” and her in “crying, agonizing pain.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 18 on 06/30/2013