Convicted Rapist Arrested for Murder of 52-Year-Old Maine Woman

A convicted sex offender has been arrested for the death of a 52-year-old Maine woman found dead in South Portland in early September.

Maine State Police said that Gary Mariner, 65, was charged with murder in the death of Danielle Goodwin, whose body was found off Clark’s Pond Road on September 5, WFXT reported. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the manner of death to be homicide, but the cause of death has not been released.

State police said a team of investigators that included Portland, South Portland, and Saco detectives along with their own investigators and agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, worked the case for eight weeks before arresting Mariner Saturday morning in Saco.

He is expected to make an initial court appearance on Monday in York County District Court.

According to the state’s sex offender registry, Mariner was previously convicted of gross sexual assault. The Portland Press Herald said Mariner was convicted of rape while impersonating a police officer in 2015. Police said he used his dead father’s badge and a gun to coerce a prostitute into having sex with him. His father had been the police chief of Port Elizabeth.

For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.

[Featured image: Gary Mariner/Maine State Police and Danielle Goodwin/handout]