World of Hurt

Victims' advocate Rita Zagarri adds that police officers who are subject to full orders of protection aren't allowed to carry guns off-duty, which restricts potential income from security-guard jobs.

Goodrich also applied for a protective order this past summer against his estranged wife on behalf of the couple's three children. Mokwa, Goodrich alleged, was dependent on prescription drugs and had overdosed more than once, leaving the children unattended. Additionally, Goodrich cited an incident in July 2003 in which police were summoned to a Des Peres Walgreens store after Mokwa, who left her children in a car outside with a friend, allegedly attempted to obtain drugs without a valid prescription. According to the incident report, Des Peres police referred the matter to the St. Louis County Prosecutor's Office, classifying it as a felony case of obtaining prescription drugs by fraud. (Judge Mullen denied the request, according to court records, but he did appoint a guardian for the children and ultimately assigned custody to the paternal grandparents.) In his divorce petition, Goodrich repeats claims that his wife is a drug addict. Alan Weber, another of Mokwa's attorneys, disputes that, although he declined to comment in detail.

Aimie Mokwa also got into a scrape in September 2002, when she drove into two parked cars near the intersection of Tholozan and Macklind avenues. According to a report filed by St. Louis police, the impact flipped the Dodge Neon she was driving; the car came to rest on its roof in the roadway with its airbag deployed. Officers at the scene attributed the accident -- which took place at 12:30 a.m. on a clear night on a stretch of dry, well-lighted pavement -- to "inattention." But although Mokwa had no insurance and the out-of-state license plates on the Neon were expired, she received no citation. The couple that owned the two cars sued Mokwa, claiming $11,000 in damages. This past fall, she agreed to pay them $9,000 at the rate of $200 per month.

Mokwa and Goodrich could not be reached for comment for this story. Their attorneys say their clients have not received any special treatment. "If the question is, was there something done by the police department, and I guess because her last name is Mokwa, was there something done by her father, the answer is no," says Neil Bruntrager, Mokwa's attorney.

Goodrich's lawyer, Nels C. Moss Jr., says the same thing. "The chief is hands-off on this thing," he asserts.

Aimie Mokwa holds a state peace officer's license but is not currently employed by a police agency, according to the state Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission. Goodrich, too, is in good standing, according to the POST commission. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department refuses to divulge what, if any, discipline Goodrich has faced as a result of domestic-violence allegations against him, saying the department considers such information a personnel matter.

As for the couple's divorce proceedings, Goodrich's attorney sees light at the end of the tunnel.

"These two people have been yanking each other's chain forever. These are just two people who never should have gotten married and just don't get along," Moss says. "They're getting to the point where they're going to get divorced and everything will be fine. You'd be surprised how typical this is on these kinds of cases."