The last time Geraldine Turner saw 30-year-old Jacqueline Goodwin was Sunday when Goodwin spent the night in her home, which used to be an assisted living center.
“She would go and come and go and come and go,” Turner said.
She said for 14 years, she was like a mother to Goodwin, who didn’t have a family. But she said she knew something was wrong the last time she hugged her.
“I don’t know what it was, but I knew something was gonna happen to Jacquie, because that hug that she gave me, it was like a death grip,” Turner explained.
Turner would later learn Anchorage police found Goodwin’s body in a Subaru after it crashed into a light pole on Debarr Road and that they charged the driver, 34-year-old Benjamin Wilkins, with murder, kidnapping, sexual assault, tampering with evidence and DUI.
“The injuries were profound enough that it was clear that they had been suffered prior to the crash,” said police spokesperson Renee Oistad. She said they’re still investigating and serving search warrants, and don’t know how long Wilkins had been driving around with the body.
Turner said Goodwin had a good heart, and would never hurt anybody, but she struggled with her own demons. Turner said Goodwin’s past was riddled with abuse, and convictions related to drugs and prostitution.
“Nobody wins in situations like this. Nobody does. I think Jacquie is the winner though, because she’s in heaven,” Turner said. “She doesn’t have to hear the demons and she doesn’t have to go through the torment that people would take her through. I just hope that she didn’t suffer.”
Wilkins is being held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex awaiting arraignment. He has a history of charges for driving violations and some drug charges, but court records show he was only convicted of the driving violations.
KTVA 11′s Daniella Rivera can be reached via email or on Facebook and Twitter.
