By Howard Koplowitz
A Far Rockaway woman was convicted last week in the 2007 killing of her stepfather and for cutting off his penis, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Brigitte Harris, 28, of 436 Beach 69th St. in Far Rockaway, strangled her stepfather, Eric Goodridge, and then castrated him after luring him to her Rockaway apartment from his home on Staten Island.
She then handcuffed him, gagged him with a towel and wrapped the towel around his head secured by duct tape, Brown said.
The DA said the castration was performed after Goodridge was dead.
Harris’ attorney, Arthur Aidala, said Harris had been sexually abused by her stepfather since she was 3.
“The jury’s verdict holds the defendant accountable for a deeply disturbing crime in which her father was killed and his body mutilated,” Brown said in a statement. “Under the circumstances, her actions warrant serious prison time, during which she, hopefully, will receive the counseling she so obviously needs.”
Harris had been held without bail since her Aug. 16, 2007, arrest before she was convicted in a three-week jury trial of manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon Sept. 30, the DA said.
She faces between five and 15 years in prison when she is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 29 before Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman, Brown said.
After the killing, Harris was confined to a psychiatric facility at the Richmond University Medical Center on Staten Island, where she was held for several weeks.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
