Local doctor appeals wrongful death suit
Published on June 21st, 2006
STONEHAM, MA - A Stoneham endocrinologist, who a Middlesex Superior Court jury declared responsible on Friday for the 1993 strangling death of his girlfriend, will ask the civil case’s presiding judge to throw out the $15.1 million award.
According to the attorney for Dr. Timothy Stryker, whose medical practice is located at 106 Main St. in Stoneham, the Middlesex Superior Court judge never ruled on a defense motion for a directed verdict — which would toss the jury’s order aside should it be approved.
“Right now, we’re in the throes of having a hearing about a motion the judge reserved on,” explained Martin Leppo, of Brockton-based law firm Leppo and Leppo.
“I moved for a directed verdict and the judge did not set that aside. So Dr. Stryker will continue to exercise all his rights. And we will get another day in court,” the defense lawyer vowed.
On Oct. 4, 1993, Dr. Linda Goudey’s lifeless body was found abandoned in the back seat of her parked Saab at the former Boston Regional Medical Center hospital site.
Although a subsequent state police investigation did consider Stryker as a suspect in the strangling death of his then 42-year-old girlfriend, an obstetrician at the hospital, the Main Street doctor was never indicted on any charges for the murder.
According to Middlesex District Attorney’s office spokeswoman Emily LaGrassa, the murder case is still open. However, because the investigation into the 1993 strangling is ongoing, LaGrassa declined to comment on specifics.
After emerging victorious in August of 2004 from an Appeals Court battle against the Attorney General’s office — filed in an effort to obtain the crime scene evidence reportedly collected on Stryker — Goudey’s mother, Marguerite Rafuse, plowed ahead with her wrongful death suit against the endocrinologist.
Initially filing the civil suit in 1996, Rafuse’s crusade against the man she holds responsible for her daughter’s murder proved fruitful last Friday, when the Middlesex Superior Court jury ordered Stryker to pay the 72-year-old mother over $15 million for his alleged hand in Gouder’s death.
According to Rafuse’s Boston-based lawyer, Michael Altman of Altman and Altman, the news of the jury’s verdict concluded a difficult and often bittersweet court case for the murdered woman’s family.
“The results of the case left the Rafuse family in a very mixed mood. The trial brought back all the tragedy, the memory of the grotesque manner in which she died,” the mother’s attorney explained. “However, the family has believed since the beginning that Timothy Stryker killed their daughter.”
“I’m not surprised that they’re doing that. But I’m confident that we’ll win on any appeal,” the attorney responded, when asked how he felt about the likelihood that last Friday’s decision would be challenged.
Reached at his Main Street office on Tuesday afternoon, Stryker maintained his innocence.
According to the doctor, he was completely stunned last Friday when the civil jury rendered their decision and he remains confident that the verdict will be set aside.
“Friday afternoon was a nightmare because it was so shocking. I think the jury got caught up in the emotion of it all,” the endocrinologist recalled. “Clearly, we expect this to be thrown out in the future.”
“When you look at the facts, it’s quite clear that I had nothing to do with this, which I didn’t. There are no witnesses. There is no DNA or forensics. And she never came over to my place that night,” Stryker contended.
Disputing the defense’s insistence that the evidence failed to support the verdict at the close of the two-week trial, Rafuse’s lawyer referred to a variety of items that Goudey’s acquaintances reportedly described as being with the obstetrician during the night of her death.
According to Altman, those very same items were later seized by investigators from the home of Stryker.
“The items that were identified as being with Dr. Goudey on Oct. 4 ended up in Dr. Stryker’s house on Oct. 5, when police searched the house,” Altman claimed. “There was a substantial amount of proof we had to meet. And we certainly helped everyone focus on the evidence.”
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!