Nov 2, 2007 7:28 am US/Eastern
Wendy's Massacre Revisited: A Killer Speaks Out
Craig Godineaux Recalls The Horrific Events From 2000
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Craig Godineaux was sentenced to five life terms behind bars for his part in the Wendy's Massacure of 2000.
CBS
The Wendy's Massacre of 2000 was one of the most gruesome mass murders in New York City history. The two men responsible are now both in prison for life. But for the first time, one of them is speaking out, exclusively to CBS 2.
"Everybody looks at me as a criminal, as a monster," says Craig Godineaux. "I ain't no monster. I'm a human being."
But by the age of 30, Godineaux was a multiple murderer. He and his friend John Taylor robbed the Wendy's in the Flushing section of Queens and shot seven employees execution style.
Five were killed.
"I felt ashamed and disgusted," Godineaux tells CBS 2.
And now, he's doing the hard time -- five life sentences at the notorious Attica prison upstate, where he says he remains torn and tormented by the events of that gruesome night in May of 2000.
"I'm sorry for what I did. If I could change it, I'd change life period," he says.
But that night is etched in stone and on videotape. In surveillance footage obtained exclusively by CBS 2, you see both men inside the fast food restaurant. Unsuspecting employees are lured into the basement by the manager.
Once downstairs, the men duct taped the employees and led them to the freezer.
"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.
Taylor then shoots one other employee before handing the gun over to Godineaux.
"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.
Prosecutors went after Taylor with the death penalty, but the court deemed Godineaux to be mentally retarded, so the death penalty was off the table.
Godineaux has a new lawyer now, and she wants a judge to throw out his plea. She says Godineaux didn't have the capacity to make a plea.
"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.
But Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, who was at the scene and prosecuted the case, disagrees. "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.
And Benjamin Nazario, whose brother Ramon was murdered by Godineaux, isn't buying it either. "He wasn't mentally retarded to pull the trigger. He knew what he was doing," he says.
"I'd like forgiveness, but they're never gonna forgive me, so I'm not looking for no miracle from nobody," Godineaux says.
Nazario tells CBS 2 he won't accept an apology from Godineaux. "Nope. Never! Sorry for what? Sorry he took the life? Sorry doesn't help anything."
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. Godineaux's attorney says she'll file the motion to throw away his sentence early next week.
Stay with wcbstv.com and CBS 2 for the latest in this newly unfolding story.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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