(Bridgeport, CT) - Bridgeport Judicial District State’s Attorney Joseph T. Corradino announced that Tarik Francis, age 29, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by the Honorable Robin Pavia to life in prison without the possibility of release for the 2021 murders of his girlfriend, Candace Goodwin, and family friend Austin Burgher.
A jury in Bridgeport Superior Court on October 1, 2025 found Francis guilty of two counts of Murder, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-54(a) and Murder with Special Circumstances, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-54b(7) for committing the murder of two or more people at the same time or in the course of the same transaction.
Francis, a convicted felon, also was convicted of Criminal Possession of a Firearm, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-217.
“No sentence is sufficient to redress the loss of two innocent lives, however, the imposition of the most severe sentence in our penal code illustrates the gravity of the crime and the seriousness with which our legislature views them and the commitment with which our office prosecutes them,” Corradino said.
Corradino and Assistant State’s Attorney Jonathan Formichella prosecuted the case with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Iris Villanueva and Inspector Martin Heanue.