Judge denies bail for suspect in slaying of Skowhegan woman By Bruce Hertz Somerset Bureau SKOWHEGAN - Gerald Goodale 29 of Waterville was ordered-held without bail Friday in the slaying of Geraldine Finn 23 of Skowhegan Judge Peter Goranites sitting in 12th District Court said he was denying Goodale bail prior to grand jury indictment because murder “is a substantial crime with substantial risk” Goodale’s attorney James Mitchell of Augusta said the state did not prove probable cause by its evidence and showed no evidence that Goodale would flee or that he was dangerous Finn a certified nurses’ aide who worked at a Skowhegan nursing home disappeared Aug 9 Her body was found Aug 14 in a wooded area off Route 201 south of Skowhegan The probable-cause hearing was combined with a so-called Harnish bail hearing Under the state’s new bail code people charged with capita crimes must have special bail review hearings within five days of arrest Because of scheduling differences Goodale’s bail hearing was postponed for 18 days The Harnish bail hearing procedures Required the presentation of substantive evidence which would allow the denial of bail Four members of Goodale’s family and his girlfriend testified about Gbodale’s activities on the evening of Aug 9 and in the days prior to his arrest Aug 15 Assistant Attorney General Michael Westcott did not call on any police officers or witnesses who saw Finn leave a Waterville bar with Goodale Westcott relied upon affidavits from the witnesses and police investigators Goodale’s mother father brother sister-in-law and his girlfriend Donna McKechnie stated they had nev- Gerald Goodale er seen any viciousness from Goodale According to his mother and father he was at the family home at 27 Water St in Waterville from 5 to 8 pm and from 9 to 9:30 pm on Aug 9 They did not see him again until the following morning His brother and sister-in-law John and Theresa Goodale said Goodale called them at about 2 am on Aug 10 Goodale told his brother that he had been out “four-wheeling” in his vehicle and got stuck in the mud John Goodale couldn’t recall where Goodale said he was stuck and testified that he didn’t find Goodale that night after searching for an hour On Thursday Aug 12 John and Theresa Goodale said the suspect asked them to provide him with an alibi that he had been at their house Tuesday Aug 10 John and Theresa Goodale testified that they would not provide him with that alibi Westcott said the affidavits from witnesses and investigators showed that Finn was strangled and died as the result of a homicide She was last seen alive with Goodale on the evening of Aug 9 getting into his Ford Bronco Witnesses reported that there were beads in the window of the vehicle Finn left in Goodale had similar beads in the window of his car A clerk at the Big Apple store in Skowhegan identified Goodale as the person who made a telephone call at about 2 am on Aug 10 stating that his vehicle was stuck on a tree stump At the murder scene about a mile from the Big Apple store there was a stump with visible damage and evidence of a vehicle being jacked up The tire tracks at the murder scene Westcott said matched the tires on Goodale’s vehicle Westcott said there was evidence that Goodale “hunted out” Finn in the bar If that proved to be tneoase the eventual sentence could be highr er than a minimum murder sen-'' tence “There is no doubt this is a homicide It is not a self-defense manslaughter or involuntary death This is not close to those The risk is so great the temptation is so great that he will flee bail should be denied” Westcott said Mitchell said the state failed to prove probable cause because it did not put its best witnesses the people who saw Goodale and Finn together on the stand According to the witnesses who testified Friday Goodale was questioned by police in the Janet Brochu murder investigation during the spring Brochu's body was found in the Sebasticook River in Pittsfield
