NORTH HAVERHILL — A Lyme man was arraigned and pleaded not guilty on Monday for allegedly shooting and killing his cousin inside her home in Orford over the weekend.

Lance Goodrich, of Pushee Falls Lane in Lyme, is being held without bail at Grafton County jail in North Haverhill from where he appeared via teleconference Monday to face a charge of second-degree murder.

Goodrich, 35, shot his cousin, Brooke Goodrich, in the head at her home on Route 10 on Saturday, according to court documents. Authorities have not yet identified a motive.

The police officer’s affidavit is under seal while the investigation continues.

During the brief video teleconference hearing before Judge Peter Bornstein, Goodrich’s court-appointed public defender, Jamie Brooks, said the defendant is “not contesting the issue of bail, with understanding he’d be able to do (so) at later date” when he has retained a permanent lawyer.

Goodrich, appearing in black and white striped prison garb, did not speak.

Geoffrey Ward, a senior assistant attorney general, verbally asked the judge to prohibit that Goodrich have any contact with his wife, Melina Goodrich, “as well as no contact with the victim’s family, her mother or her brothers.”

Judge Bornstein told him to submit the request in writing, which Ward said he would do.

Lance Goodrich had worked for the town of Lyme as the transfer station supervisor but resigned in 2013 following a closed door non-public session which he had attended, according minutes of the Selectboard.

In recent years he  operated his own contracting business, Goodrich & Sons Handyman Services, advertising “we do everything from light bulbs to roofing to complete renovation,” according to its Facebook page.

On Monday, a member of the Goodrich family said they were trying to understand what led to Saturday’s tragedy but “we don’t know,” said Brooke Goodrich’s mother, Becky Springer, a Florida resident.

Springer said her daughter moved back to the Upper Valley a year ago from Florida where she had come to live following the death of her father in 2005.

Brooke Goodrich’s father, Brian W. Goodrich, a 32-year old salesman at Allard Furniture, died in a vehicle mishap when he and a friend were transporting a rowboat near his home. Goodrich suffered a fatal head injury when he fell out of the bed of the truck driven by his friend and neighbor.

The friend pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and was sentenced to nine months in Grafton County jail.

Brooke Goodrich, who was 25 years old at the time of her death, was 9 years old when her father died.

She lived in Florida for more than 15 years and graduated high school in the central Florida city of Ocala before returning to the Upper Valley, where Goodrich family ties run deep.

“She wanted to be near her brothers and where her father is buried in Lyme,” said Springer, who described her daughter as “kind, caring and loving, a hard worker.”

Indeed, Brooke Goodrich’s Facebook page is filled with memories she shared of her father in pictures and words.

“The heartache of you being gone still feels the same, I try to think about all the good memories we had together when I’m sad but I can’t help but think of all the stuff in my life you have/will miss,” she posted on May 10, the 16th anniversary of her father’s death.

“Since I have moved back up north your on my mind more and more, the smallest things remind me of you, every time I see a father with his daughter I just smile because it reminds me of our bond together and how much I loved being daddy’s spoiled little girl,” she wrote.

“She was a light wherever she went,” her mother Becky Springer said.

Brooke Goodrich worked as a finisher at Pompanoosic Mills in East Thetford, her mother said. Her father and twin brothers, Brian and Brandon Goodrich, also had worked there.

Springer said her daughter was close with her brothers and enjoyed spending time with them along with Brian’s wife, Tessa Rae, in whose wedding in 2019 Brooke was a bridesmaid.

“She was an avid hunter and loved exploring the outdoors,” Becky Springer said, proudly noting that last year her daughter had shot and killed a bear in Lyme.

On Monday, four pumpkins and two potted plants sat on the doorstep of Brooke Goodrich’s home on Route 10 and a vehicle with Florida license plates was parked outside. The property is owned by her grandmother, Linda Goodrich, according to property records.

Her daughter was proud of the “do-it-yourself” fix-up project on the house she had embarked upon while she was living there, Springer said. She shared the home with her two dogs — a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Daisy, 8, which she had since she was a puppy and a 2-year old Catahoula Labrador mix named Peter.

Daisy and Peter’s new homes are now with Brooke Goodrich’s brothers, her mother said.

John Lippman can be reached at jlippman@vnews.com. 

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