Suvechha Sarkar
Sandra Lee Goodman was a video store clerk who was living her life to the fullest when she was brutally killed in the winter of 2001 in Florida. The horrific crime sent shockwaves through the entire community and left her loved ones grief-stricken with the grave loss. A swift investigation revealed that her travel companion, Thomas Albert Hymer, was responsible for her untimely demise. His shocking confession years later regarding the disappearance of Alissa Marie Turney brought him to the forefront. ABC’s ’20/20: Since You’ve Been Gone’ briefly focuses on him and how he claimed to be a “serial killer.” It also features interviews from officials who found his confession to be inconsistent.
Thomas Hymer Turned His Brief Acquaintance With Sandra Into a Deadly Encounter
Thomas Albert Hymer was born on September 25, 1975, and had a troubled record due to his use of drugs. In 2001, he was traveling when he met a 30-year-old video store clerk, Sandra Lee Goodman. They soon became travel companions and stayed at Lamplighter Resort Motel at North Ocean Drive in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Although they had known each other for a short period of time, Thomas strangled and stabbed her in the neck on December 15, 2001. In an attempt to conceal the crime, he hid her remains under the bed. On the same afternoon, a maid who was cleaning the room made the shocking discovery. This led the manager of the motel to contact the authorities immediately. When officials arrived at the scene, they found many signs of significant trauma on Sandra’s remains.
It indicated that Sandra had struggled prior to her death. Upon questioning the occupants of the adjacent rooms, investigators discovered that they had not heard any strange noise or even caught a glimpse of any struggle. They soon found out that she was staying in the room with Thomas. The local law enforcement agencies were notified about the situation, and a search for him immediately began. The following day, a Jones County Deputy spotted Thomas driving a 1996 Honda around 2 am in Gray, Georgia. The car originally belonged to Sandra. As a result, he was arrested and charged with her murder. Thomas was held in custody at Monroe County Jail. However, during his questioning, he did not provide the investigators with any information in relation to his motive for taking Sandra’s life.
Thomas Hymer Has Seemingly Remained Incarcerated Today
The trial of Thomas for the murder of Sandra Goodman began in 2003. The prosecution reportedly presented forensic evidence collected from the crime scene before the court. They also introduced witness testimonies about him staying in the same room as Sandra, further linking him to the murder. Ultimately, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. There are no further public records about any appeals pertaining to the case. For five years, there had been no developments on his front. Shockingly, in 2006, Thomas came across an age progression image regarding the disappearance of 17-year-old Alissa Marie Turney on USA Today. He identified her and confessed to a prison guard that he had killed her.
Alissa was last seen on May 17, 2001, and no intensive homicide investigation was done since officials initially considered it a runaway case. However, Thomas claimed that he met her at a bar and alleged that she was a “heroin addict.” He went on to claim that they had begun an intimate relationship, and one day, during the act, he killed her. Thomas alleged that he then dismembered her remains in a bathtub before disposing of them at a recycling plant. His confession also included details like what shoes she was wearing and what jewelry she had in her possession. Thomas began writing letters to law enforcement officers, claiming that he was a serial killer and even nicknamed himself “psycho.” He alleged that he had killed over 20 women, which also included Jaycee Dugard.
Jaycee had been abducted on June 10, 1991. As investigators began digging deeper, his claims that Alissa was a drug addict completely contradicted how her friends described her. Besides failing a polygraph test for the same, he also changed his accounts. When the officials showed him Alissa’s actual picture, he claimed that he wouldn’t have identified her if he had seen the actual image. Furthermore, Jaycee, whom Thomas had claimed to have killed, was found alive on August 26, 2009. Hence, it turned out that he had provided a false confession. During that time, he was serving his sentence at Florida State Prison in Bradford County, Florida. Though there is little information about his current whereabouts, we believe he is likely serving his sentence in a correctional facility in Florida.
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