Execution Report: Spencer Goodman

Spencer Corey Goodman, 31, was executed by lethal injection on 18 January 2000 in Huntsville, Texas, for carjacking and murdering a 38-year-old woman.

In July 1991, Goodman, then 22, approached Cecile Ham, 38, in a store parking lot in Houston. He knocked her unconscious, pushed her into her car, and drove off. After a while, he stopped and killed Ham by breaking her neck. He then put Ham's body in the trunk and continued driving until he reached a rural area in West Texas. There, he dumped Ham's body. Goodman continued to drive Ham's car and used her credit cards throughout his travels. Goodman was aprehended five weeks later in Colorado, following a high-speed chase with police, in which he wrecked Ham's car.

Cecile Ham was the wife of Bill Ham, the manager of the rock group ZZ Top.

After his arrest, Goodman confessed to Ham's murder. In his written confession, he stated, "I had been walking for a long time and my feet hurt and I wanted some transportation." When he described how he broke Ham's neck, he wrote, "I then used martial arts and broke the lady's neck. I don't know why I did it ... I knew that she was dead when I put her in the trunk because I felt on her pulse."

Goodman was returned to Texas, where he led law enforcement officials to Ham's remains. He also made a videotaped confession that was consistent with his earlier written statement.

At his trial, Goodman admitted knocking Ham unconscious and stealing her car, but he denied breaking her neck and said that he did not intend to kill her.

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