'Ghost Adventures' star Aaron Goodwin cries as ex-wife sentenced in plot to kill him
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TikTok influencer Valeria Marquez shot while livestreaming in Mexico
A man fatally shot a 23-year-old Mexican TikTok influencer, Valeria Marquez, while she was livestreaming.
Victoria Goodwin, the ex-wife of "Ghost Adventures" star Aaron Goodwin, is heading to prison for helping orchestrate a murder-for-hire plot to kill him.
Goodwin's lawyers confirmed to USA TODAY Thursday, June 5, that she had been sentenced to 36-90 months in prison following a guilty plea in April.
At the sentencing hearing, cameras for CourtTV captured a clearly distraught Goodwin awaiting her sentencing, listening on as lawyers for her husband recounted the plot in which she is accused of hiring a hitman to kill him rather than ask for a divorce.
"Firstly and most importantly, I would like to apologize to Aaron," Goodwin said, through a shaky voice, reading a statement during the hearing. "I'm so immensely sorry for the pain and anxiety I have caused you and the betrayal you undoubtedly and rightfully feel by my actions.
"I'm sorry I broke us, and I'm consumed with regret every day," she continued, vowing to bow out of his life forever and adding she was "ashamed" and "disappointed" with herself.
Goodwin's lawyers, arguing that she had never been in any previous legal trouble and had by November abandoned the plot to kill, urged for a shorter sentence. Aaron Goodwin then delivered a statement, speaking through tears about his "fear."
"This has led me to fear for my life," he said of discovering that his wife had put a hit out on him. "I can't trust anything anymore. I cry every day, I feel so alone. She turned me into a person I never was."
Goodwin was originally arrested in March on suspicion of two felony charges: solicitation to commit murder and conspiring to commit murder, according to county court records.
According to the criminal complaint, Goodwin hired, commanded or otherwise solicited up to two people to "commit the murder of Aaron Goodwin." They say she conspired with a man via cell phone communications to have her husband "killed by a third party by providing the location of the victim and providing funds to pay for the murder."
Investigators uncovered the alleged plot through Victoria Goodwin's text and Facebook message communications with an inmate in Florida, discovered on his phone when it was seized by correction officers in October.
During an interview with detectives before her arrest, Goodwin revealed she had become aware of the Florida inmate "through a true crime documentary and began writing to him."
"Victoria explained at the time of the text messages," with the inmate, "she and Aaron were going through problems in their marriage. She further described being lonely and began connecting" with the Florida inmate, the report states. When asked about "texts soliciting and conspiring to murder Aaron," police said "she denied wanting her husband to be killed" and denied remembering those specific messages.
Who are Victoria and Aaron Goodwin?
Aaron Goodwin is a camera operator and star of the Discovery+ paranormal and reality TV series "Ghost Adventures" led by paranormal investigator Zak Bagans. The hit series has been on air since 2008.
Aaron and Victoria Goodwin were married in August 2022 and divorced in March.
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, KiMi Robinson
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