After 9-month wait, suspect indicted in fatal Orford shooting from November

By JOHN LIPPMAN

Valley News Staff Writer

Published: 08-24-2022 11:30 PM

NORTH HAVERHILL — Nearly nine months after Brooke Goodrich was shot dead in her Orford home, a Grafton County grand jury has returned indictments against her cousin, Lance Goodrich, charging him with two counts of murder.

Lance Goodrich, of Lyme, was indicted by the grand jury on Aug. 19, on one count of first-degree murder in purposely causing Brooke Goodrich’s death by shooting her, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office announced on Wednesday.

The jury also indicted Lance Goodrich on an alternative count of second-degree murder for recklessly causing his cousin’s death under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life by shooting her, the Attorney’s General Office said.

Lance Goodrich, 36, was initially charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree for allegedly shooting his 25-year-old cousin in the head at her home on Nov. 20 and was arrested later that day in Newport.

Goodrich, who entered a plea of not guilty during his arraignment in Grafton Superior Court on Nov. 22, remains incarcerated on preventive detention or a formal bail hearing.

Prosecutors have yet to detail any motivation for the crime, and most of the court docket remains under seal, including the probable cause affidavit that would shed light on the circumstances of the shooting and police response.

In New Hampshire, if no indictment has been handed up within 90 days after a complaint has been filed, the court is required to dismiss the charges unless an extension is granted. In Goodrich’s case, prosecutors sought and were granted three times extensions in both seeking an indictment and extending the seal.

On the third and most recent extension application to the court on June 16 — which would have expired Sept. 15 — Geoffrey W.R. Ward, senior assistant attorney general, wrote the extension was required because “the state is still awaiting testing results on various pieces of evidence that may impact charging decisions.”

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Ward also noted that “the parties continue to engage in discussions regarding a potential pre-indictment resolution.”

Generally, homicide cases are prosecuted in superior court by the state Attorney General’s Office, while county attorney’s offices will handle lesser charges such as manslaughter.

Michael Garrity, a spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office, said that although he couldn’t comment specifically on the Goodrich case, indictment deadline extensions are not uncommon, especially in homicide cases.

“Grounds for such extensions may involve, by way of examples, the nature of the ongoing investigation, the pendency of forensic testing, or ongoing resolution discussions between the parties,” Garrity said via email on Wednesday, noting that the deadline in Goodrich’s case was agreed on by all parties.

In any case, barring a change in plea agreement, it will be well into next year before Goodrich faces trial.

The deadline for the prosecution and defense to depose witnesses is June 1, and the deadline for pre-trial motions and to present trial witness lists is June 15. No trial date has been set.

At the time of her death, Brooke Goodrich worked as a finisher at Pompanoosuc Mills in East Thetford, where her twin brothers and late father had also worked. Born in Lebanon, she had spent much of her teenage and young adult years in Florida near her mother but in 2020 was pulled back to the Upper Valley, where her family has longtime ties, to live closer to her brothers and where her father, who was killed in a vehicle mishap when Brooke was 9 years old, is buried.

Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.

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