Craig Godineaux

Case record: Craig Godineaux (Wendy's Massacre)

Background

Craig Godineaux was accused of entering a Wendy's in Flushing, Queens, and taking part in the robbery and execution-style slayings of seven employees at the restaurant in a basement walk-in refrigerator. The killings took place at 40-12 Main Street in Flushing, Queens, New York, on May 24, 2000.

Craig Godineaux was 30 at the time of his guilty plea referenced as January 22, 2001, and 31 at the time of his sentencing referenced as February 22, 2001. Craig Godineaux and John Taylor carried out the killings, with Taylor described as a former employee of the restaurant.

The offence

The Wendy's robbery and killings were carried out at the Wendy's fast-food restaurant in Flushing, Queens. John Taylor summoned the entire staff to the basement on the pretense of having a meeting.

Once in the basement, John Taylor and Craig Godineaux bound and gagged seven employees at gunpoint. The employees were shot each in the head at point-blank range with a Bryco-Jennings Model J38 .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol. All but two of the employees died.

During the attack, one of the survivors dialed 9-1-1, and police arrived to find the victims. Police discovered $2,400 missing from the safe.

Another account in the case materials described that $3,200 was stolen from the eatery.

Investigation

Police arrested John Taylor and Craig Godineaux less than 48 hours after the killings.

Evidence was described as including eyewitness testimony, ballistics, and fingerprints. Investigators said John Taylor had a .380-caliber pistol—the same caliber as the gun used in the shootings—in a belt pack when he was seized. The weapon was turned over to the Police Department laboratory for ballistics tests to determine if it was the gun used in the killings.

Investigators said that the suspects made statements implicating each other. Each acknowledged that they had robbed the Wendy's restaurant, but John Taylor said Craig Godineaux had shot the employees, and Craig Godineaux said John Taylor had done the shooting.

Investigators said John Taylor’s palm print was found on a box in the blood-spattered refrigerator. Investigators also said a witness identified one of two men who emerged from the Wendy's on Main Street in Flushing at about 11:45 p.m. minutes after the shootings. The witness described one suspect as tall and the other as short. Craig Godineaux was described as 6 feet 4 inches tall, while John Taylor was described as 5 feet 5 inches tall.

Arrest

On May 27, 2000, police seized John B. Taylor, 36, outside a relative’s house in Brentwood, Suffolk County. Detectives in Queens then took into custody a second man, Craig Godineaux, 30, described as a security guard who lived in South Jamaica, where he was seized at the SCR Clothing store at 89-74 165th Street, Jamaica.

The case materials described that after arresting John Taylor, investigators searched his sister-in-law’s house and found cash, in a canvas bag, believed to have been stolen from Wendy's, and a videotape taken from the restaurant’s surveillance camera at the time of the killings.

Investigators described the robberies as being carried out to eliminate witnesses to the robbery. Commissioner Patrick E. Kelleher noted that John Taylor had been dismissed from his job at Wendy's last October, though he did not cite that as a motive for the shootings.

Trial

Craig Godineaux pleaded guilty on January 22, 2001, to murdering three people and wounding two others during a May 24, 2000 robbery that left seven dead.

The case materials also described testimony by Patrick Castro in the trial of John Taylor. Patrick Castro, 24, testified about waking up in a walk-in refrigerator with his head covered in a plastic garbage bag, his eyes and mouth stuck shut with duct tape, and his wrists bound tightly together behind his back. He testified about the silence afterward and about being surrounded by bodies.

Patrick Castro described a speakerphone call and an order that “Come downstairs.” He recalled walking single file down to the basement, where a man described as “the chunky man” held a gun at his hip, and where there were statements about bullets: “There are no more bullets.” He recalled multiple gunshots and the cashier screaming: “What happened? What happened?” He later recalled asking: “Is everybody O.K.?” “Is everybody O.K.?”

Patrick Castro also testified that he was thinking someone would come back and finish him off and that, after waiting, he heard another noise and saw that it was Jaquione Johnson inside the refrigerator. He recalled carrying Jaquione Johnson out.

Patrick Castro’s testimony included statements and quotations not limited to those cited above, including: “I’ve never been so happy to see the police in my life.” The materials also described that he had been shot in his right cheek, just below his ear, and had survived with minor wounds.

The materials described that lawyers for John Taylor argued that he was guilty only of killing Jean Dumel Auguste, 27, the Wendy’s manager, and that an accomplice, Craig Godineaux, killed the other four employees. The materials also described that prosecutors said the pair got away with $2,400.

Sentencing

On February 22, 2001, Justice Steven W. Fisher imposed the maximum penalty of life in prison without parole on Craig Godineaux.

Craig Godineaux was sentenced to life in prison without parole on February 22, 2001, and the case status states that he was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences without parole, February 21, 2001.

The materials described that Craig Godineaux was spared the possibility of a death sentence because prosecutors agreed with his lawyers that he was mentally retarded and therefore could not face capital punishment under state law.

Craig Godineaux spoke at sentencing and said:

"I know my apologies to the families will never bring their loved ones back," he said after a long pause.
"I do deserve what I get. I don't expect nobody to accept my apology."
"What I did was wrong."

Justice Steven W. Fisher described Craig Godineaux’s role and sentenced him, saying:

"condemned himself to spend the rest of his life caged in a prison"
and: "a monstrous, vicious and senseless crime."
and: "He ended the promising lives of five young people"
and: "causing untold sorrow and grief to their families and to all who knew and loved them."

The case materials described that it took at least 15 minutes for Justice Fisher to read the sentences for each of the 47 counts against Craig Godineaux, and that the defendant waived his right to appeal as a condition of the prosecution accepting his guilty plea.

Appeals

The case materials described that on October 23, 2007, the Court of Appeals of the State of New York vacated the death penalty portion of the verdict in John Taylor’s case.

On November 29, 2007, John Taylor was re-sentenced to life without parole for the five murders. The materials stated that Craig Godineaux’s waiver of his right to appeal occurred at his sentencing in 2001, and that Craig Godineaux pleaded guilty in 2001.

Outcome

Craig Godineaux pleaded guilty on January 22, 2001. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole on February 22, 2001, with the case status stating five consecutive life sentences without parole.

John Taylor was convicted on 20 counts of murder and attempted murder and was sentenced to death on November 26, 2002. The death penalty portion of the verdict was vacated on October 23, 2007, and he was re-sentenced to life without parole for the five murders on November 29, 2007.

Victims

The materials listed the following victims killed in the massacre:

• Jean Auguste, 27
• Ali Ibadat, 40
• Jeremy Mele, 19
• Ramon Nazario, 44
• Anita Smith, 23

The materials also described serious injuries:

• Jaquione Johnson, 18
• Patricio (Patrick) Castro, 23

Additional names appearing in the case materials as victims killed included:

• Jean Dumel Auguste, 27 (described as the Wendy's night manager) and one account described another victim killed as:
• Jeremy Mele, 18, identified as “Jeremy Mele” and also listed as “Jeremy Mele, 18” in the arrests account.

Other details

Statements and quotes attributed to Craig Godineaux

Craig Godineaux said in an interview included in the case materials:

"Everybody looks at me as a criminal, as a monster," says Craig Godineaux. "I ain't no monster. I'm a human being."

At sentencing-related discussion, Craig Godineaux told the court:

"I know my apologies to the families will never bring their loved ones back," he said at his sentencing hearing on February 22.

The case materials quoted Craig Godineaux in the interview as saying:

"I felt ashamed and disgusted," Godineaux tells CBS 2. and: "I'm sorry for what I did. If I could change it, I'd change life period," he says.

Craig Godineaux was described as recalling parts of the events from “that night” with quotations included:

"I ain't no monster. I'm a human being." and: "As he escorted people in, the manager broke free. Once I knocked him down, John stood over him and shot him in the head. So I started screaming," Godineaux recalls. and: "He put it in my hands and told me, 'Just close your eyes.' And I closed my eyes. And once I closed my eyes, everything landed," he says.

The case materials included quotations attributed to Craig Godineaux in remarks to police:

"nobody was going to be left." and: "This is that fat bastard's [Taylor's] fault," Godineaux allegedly said. and: "I only shot the survivors." and: "I shot five of them. I didn't shoot the girl. That fat bastard shot Anita [Smith]. I liked her. I put a coat on her before she went into the freezer."

In the interview portion, Craig Godineaux said:

"I'd like forgiveness, but they're never gonna forgive me, so I'm not looking for no miracle from nobody," Godineaux says.

Craig Godineaux also explained why he did not shoot John Taylor himself by describing his fear about missing:

For those who wondered why Godineaux just didn't shoot Taylor himself at the time, he says he had never shot a gun before and was afraid that if he missed, he'd end up dead.

Mentioned people in the case materials

The materials named several people connected to victims, prosecutors, or witnesses:

• Susan Betzjitomir (described as a lawyer for Craig Godineaux in relation to a motion)
• Richard A. Brown (Queens district attorney; referenced in relation to the case)
• Benjamin Nazario (brother of Ramon Nazario; referenced in relation to mental retardation dispute)
• Susan Betzjitomir (described as wanting a judge to throw out the plea)
• Susan Betzjitomir’s quoted attorney statement:

• Richard A. Brown quoted statement:

• Benjamin Nazario quoted statement:

• Rinkel Bhasin (described as a person adding daisies to a memorial)
• George Gross (described as a neighbor who did John Taylor’s tax returns)
• Patrick E. Kelleher (first deputy police commissioner; referenced in the arrests account)
• Officer Michael F. Garcia (referenced in the John Taylor burglary/robbery history account)
• Judge Pauline Mullins (referenced in an arraignment in the John Taylor burglary/robbery history account)
• David Bookstaver (spokesman for the State Office of Court Administration; referenced in the bail discussion account)
• Mary de Bourbon (spokeswoman for Richard A. Brown; referenced in the bail and mental retardation discussion)
• Colleen Brady (lawyer mentioned in the mental retardation discussion)

"He wasn't mentally retarded to pull the trigger. He knew what he was doing," he says.

"There's no way that neither I or Judge Fischer would have accepted his plea if there were any doubt in our minds he was competent," Brown says.

"He has a guardian so he's essentially a lifelong child, and he was at the time he made the plea," says his attorney, Susan Betzjitomir.

Prior history and related criminal history mentioned for John Taylor and Craig Godineaux

The case materials described John Taylor’s prior burglary conviction:

• On July 12, 1996, he pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary.
• He was sentenced to five years of probation as a first offender.

The case materials also described prior fast-food robberies attributed to John Taylor in the arrests account, including robberies at Burger King and McDonald's restaurants, with bail, fugitive status, and a bench warrant being described in the same account.

For Craig Godineaux, the case materials stated that he had a record of two convictions for selling drugs and one for robbery and had served three state prison terms—10 months, two years, and three years—in the past decade.

Legal and mental status details

The materials described the prosecutors’ decision not to seek death in Craig Godineaux’s case while investigating whether he was mentally retarded. It described New York’s legal framework for capital punishment and mental retardation and included a lawyer quote from Colleen Brady:

"Craig Godineaux is mentally retarded," said his lawyer, Colleen Brady, of the Capital Division of the Legal Aid Society. and: "Under New York law, that means that in a case like this, he could not receive the death penalty. We are grateful that the district attorney has extended the time in which to consider this matter and investigate it further."

The materials included a description of evaluation plans and that experts would classify people as mentally retarded if I.Q.'s were below about 70 and there was an inability to adapt to daily life, with behavioral problems and evidence before age 18 discussed in the same mental status portion.

Sentencing appeal waiver

At Craig Godineaux’s sentencing in 2001, the materials stated that he waived his right to appeal as a condition of the prosecution accepting his guilty plea.