Dr. Stryker faces perjury charge in girlfriend's death

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

WOBURN -- Dr. Timothy Stryker was charged today in an elaborate perjury scheme in which he allegedly promised thousands of dollars in cash and funneled prescription drugs to two men who are accused of concocting testimony to exonerate the doctor in the 1993 strangulation of his girlfriend.

One of the men came forward as an allegedly bogus witness in 2006 after a civil jury ruled that Stryker was responsible for killing Dr. Linda Goudey and ordered him to pay $15.1 million to her mother. No one has ever been charged criminally with Goudey's death.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. alleged today that Stryker perpetrated a "continuous scheme of ongoing criminal activity" that included "fraud, deceit, and a lie … in the worst way."

Stryker stood impassively as he pleaded not guilty in Middlesex Superior Court to one count of willfully misleading a police officer, three counts of conveying something of value to a witness, one count of conspiracy to commit perjury, and seven counts of subornation of perjury. The endocrinologist was arrested at his office in Stoneham at 11 a.m. and held on $100,000 cash bail.

Prosecutors accused Stryker of conspiring with a longtime friend and patient, Richard Chambers, a handyman whom the doctor allegedly fed a steady stream of OxyContin and other drugs. Chambers also pleaded not guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit perjury, three counts of subornation of perjury, four counts of perjury, three counts of willfully misleading a police officer, and two counts of conveying something of value to a witness.

Chambers is accused of enlisting Craig Pizzano, who came forward as a witness in 2006 asserting that he was the last person to see Goudey alive. Prosecutors allege that Pizzano was looking for "easy money" and was promised tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for testimony he gave in a sworn deposition and to a grand jury. Pizzano has not been charged with a crime.

Pizzano testified that he saw Goudey in the early hours of Oct. 1, 1993, with a man in her silver Saab in the parking lot of New England Memorial Hospital. Pizzano said the 43-year-old obstetrician was with a man who appeared to weigh more than 200 pounds and had blond hair. Stryker is thin and has brown hair. As the woman started to leave the Saab, the man pulled her back inside, Pizzano testified.

Authorities said they were skeptical of Pizzano's story from the start. The alleged scheme unraveled when investigators linked the three men with financial statements, medical histories, and phone records. The three men allegedly bought prepaid cellular phones so they could speak without being detected by police. At one point, they spoke by phone as many as 60 times a day, Leone said.

When Pizzano got nervous about the alleged scheme, Stryker allegedly gave him Effexor, an antianxiety drug, and told him to "double up on it," Leone said. Stryker allegedly told Pizzano: "We're all in this together. Remember you were there. Just remember the facts and details."
Stryker's wife, Michal Stryker, defended her husband, saying that he "knew absolutely nothing" about the alleged conspiracy between Chambers and Pizzano.

"It's devastating, of course," Michal Stryker said of the charges.

Timothy Stryker has remained a suspect since the body of Goudey was found in her Saab at the Stoneham hospital where she worked. Michal Stryker said her husband had not let the cloud of a homicide investigation ruin his life.

"His practice has continued to thrive despite all this, thanks to his stable and dedicated personality," Michal Stryker said. "He was able to maintain stability and sanity and to be an outstanding doctor."

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