SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Police have arrested a woman who allegedly cut a doctor’s throat at St. John’s Hospital the morning of Dec. 23.
Police said 48-year-old Tamara Goodwin attacked the doctor, a cardiologist whose name has been withheld, outside the intensive care unit on the fourth floor of the hospital. The motive for the attack is still being investigated, but according to Springfield Police Lt. Clay Dowis, Goodwin had a prior history with one of the doctor’s patients who died in October.
The woman managed to flee the hospital soon after the attack, despite the fact that the hospital was put on lock down with Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies stationed at all entrances and exits. The next day Adams County sheriff’s deputies found the woman inside her truck in the garage of her Ursa home, 95 miles west of Springfield. The garage doors were closed and the truck was running, leading police to believe she was attempting to commit suicide.
She was taken to Blessing Hospital in Quincy and treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. According to the hospital, she is in stable condition. Dowis said as soon as Goodwin recovers she will be booked into the Sangamon County jail on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated battery. Her bail has been set at $500,000.
The doctor who was attacked was treated and released the same night of the incident.
St. John’s spokesman Brian Reardon said the hospital would review its security policy. Nevertheless, he claims, the attack was an isolated incident.
