Police Say Woman Killed Pregnant Pal, Took Fetus

HOLDENVILLE, Okla. — A woman who convinced her husband she was pregnant -- and was even thrown a baby shower -- killed a pregnant acquaintance and cut the fetus from her womb, authorities said Monday.

Effie Goodson, 37, faces two first-degree murder charges and a kidnapping count in the slaying of Carolyn Simpson, 21, who was six months pregnant, and the fetus. Goodson is scheduled to appear in court today.

A hunter found Simpson’s body in a field near Lamar, about 100 miles from Oklahoma City, on Friday. She had been shot in the head, authorities said.

Simpson was last seen Dec. 22, leaving a tribal casino in Okemah, where she worked and Goodson was a patron, Hughes County Sheriff Houston Yeager said. Investigators believe the two left the casino together.

The next day, officials said Goodson brought a dead fetus that had reached six months’ gestation to a Holdenville hospital. Goodson claimed to be the mother, but investigators determined she could not have given birth, and she was taken into custody, authorities said.

Goodson had falsely told people she was pregnant, going back as far as 10 months, Yeager said, adding that her husband believed she was expecting, and a shower was thrown for her.

“I think anybody would agree she wanted a baby,” Yeager said. “She already had baby items.”

However, investigators have not yet settled on a motive in the slaying, the sheriff said.

Oklahoma courts have ruled that murder charges can be filed in the killing of a fetus if the fetus was viable. Under the state’s abortion law, a fetus is presumed viable after the 24th week.