Convicted rapist arrested on suspicion of killing woman whose body was found near a Home Depot

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (TCD) -- State Police detectives arrested a 65-year-old man this week for allegedly killing a woman whose body was found on the side of the road in early September.

On Sept. 5 at 4:11 p.m., South Portland Police Department officers were called to Clark’s Pond Parkway near a Home Depot after someone called to report finding a body on an embankment close to the sidewalk. Police arrived on scene and found a deceased female victim. South Portland Police contacted Maine State Police, who took over the investigation.

Almost exactly two months later, on Nov. 4, Maine State Police announced investigators took Gary Mariner into custody on a murder charge in connection with 52-year-old Danielle Goodwin’s death. State Police did not reveal her cause of death.

According to the Portland Press Herald, Mariner was convicted in 2017 of gross sexual assault while impersonating a police officer. A judge sentenced him to 12 years with all but four suspended. He reportedly took his deceased father’s police badge and used it to pressure a prostitute for free sex. He was also charged with assault in 1978. His father once served as chief of police for the Cape Elizabeth Police Department.

The Maine sex offender registry shows Mariner will be registered as an offender for the rest of his life.

Goodwin reportedly worked with people who had substance abuse addictions. She reportedly relapsed not long before her death.

One of Goodwin’s friends told the Portland Press Herald she "had a way of making anybody feel special just by being in her presence."

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• Suspicious Death Investigation, 9/6/2023 - South Portland State Police
• Convicted rapist charged in murder of Freeport woman - Portland Press Herald
• Maine sex offender registry