Son Admitted Hiring Friend to Kill Father, Officer Says

A 24-year-old man confessed that he hired a boyhood friend to kill his 45-year-old father, who was shot in the head July 4 at the front door of his Sylmar home, a police officer testified Thursday.

After the slaying, the hired gunman bragged to friends and relatives about killing Raymond Godlewski Sr., according to testimony during a preliminary hearing in San Fernando Municipal Court.

The alleged gunman, Gene Marshall Flack, 23; the victim’s son, Raymond Godlewski Jr., and a third man, Michael Brown, 21, were ordered by Judge Paul Metzler to stand trial on charges that they conspired to kill the elder Godlewski. If found guilty, the three face the possibility of being sentenced to death because of the allegation that murder was committed for financial gain.

Lived Alone

The senior Godlewski, who lived alone in the 13400 block of Trego Street, was shot about 12:30 a.m. Neighbors testified Thursday that they heard a loud boom, which they assumed was a firecracker, and immediately afterward saw a small Toyota hatchback speeding away with its lights off.

The younger Godlewski confessed to authorities July 19 that he proposed paying Flack $5,000 to kill his father, and that he later increased his offer to $7,000, Los Angeles Police Officer Eric Lindquist testified. Godlewski also told police that Flack agreed to commit the murder, that after the killing he reported back on how he had done it, and that Flack’s roommate, Brown, had driven him to and from the scene, Lindquist said.

During the hearing, Tammy Flack, 18, of Natchitoches, La., testified that Gene Flack, her husband’s cousin, admitted shooting Raymond Godlewski Sr. with a 16-gauge sawed-off shotgun.

Gene Flack came to Natchitoches by bus nearly three weeks after the killing and told her that he “was running from the law because he killed a man in Los Angeles,� Tammy Flack said. He told her that Raymond Godlewski Jr., a friend of his since they grew up together in Sylmar, had paid him $5,000 for the killing and still owed him more money, she added.

Before leaving for Louisiana, Gene Flack also told friends in California about the killing, Lindquist said. The first major clue in the slaying was an anonymous phone call notifying authorities that Gene Flack was bragging to friends about his role in a Sylmar murder.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel M. Greller said he believes that the younger Godlewski arranged for his father’s killing because he wanted his house, car and money. Shortly before his death, the elder Godlewski made a videotape naming Raymond Jr., the eldest of his three sons, the sole beneficiary of his possessions in case of his death.

But Deputy Public Defender Kenneth P. Lezin maintains that Raymond Godlewski Jr., who he said suffered a lifetime of physical and mental abuse from his father, was not interested in money. Lezin said Godlewski feared that his father--a violent man with a fondness for guns--was planning to kill him and his stepmother.