Boyfriend guilty in woman’s stabbing death

A Clark County jury Wednesday found Marvin Richard guilty of second-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon in the 2009 slaying of his girlfriend.

Authorities said Richard, 30, stabbed Loreal Goodwin on Jan. 16, 2009, after the two argued about infidelities. She later died of her wounds.

Richard testified during the weeklong trial and claimed the stabbing was done in self-defense.

Richard said Goodwin, 20, came at him with a kitchen knife. He said he was able to take it away from her and then stabbed her twice in the neck.

Police found Richard in bloody clothes with the knife outside the couple's apartment on Sandhill Road, near Owens Avenue. He initially told authorities several different stories, including that Goodwin had fallen on the knife and that she had stabbed herself.

Two police officers at the scene asked Goodwin whether Richard had stabbed her, and she nodded yes, according to court records.

During closing arguments, defense attorney Bret Whipple said that Goodwin was the aggressor and that she would have said so had she lived. That is what happened in a previous domestic violence incident between the two, he said.

Whipple said his client was holding the knife to show paramedics and help them diagnose the severity of her wound. Prosecutors suggested that Richard's testimony about acting in self-defense wasn't believable because he had changed his story four times.

After the jury's verdict was read, prosecutor Danielle Pieper said she was pleased with the decision. "We think the jury did the right thing."

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 4 before Judge Ken Cory. Richard faces a sentence of 10 years to life in prison.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@
reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.