Lookout Pleads Guilty in Brentwood Slayings

A 27-year-old Las Vegas man pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of first-degree murder for his role as a lookout in the alleged contract slaying of a Brentwood couple, who were shot to death last fall in the underground garage of their condominium.

As a condition of his guilty plea in Los Angeles Municipal Court, Michael Lee Dominguez agreed to testify against his co-defendants in the murders of Gerald Woodman, 67, and his wife Vera, 63.

Prosecutors allege that the couple’s sons, Neil Woodman, 42, of Encino, and Stewart, 41, of Hidden Hills, arranged to have their parents killed after a post-Yom Kippur dinner in order to collect on a $500,000 insurance policy and rescue their collapsing plastics company.

Dominguez “indicates he never met the Woodman brothers,” Deputy Dist. Atty. John Krayniak said, but has already implicated three other defendants, Steven M. Homick, 45, his brother Robert Homick, 35, and Anthony (Sunny) Majoy, 47, in the killings.

Las Vegas Murders

In another development Friday, Steven Homick, a former Los Angeles police officer, was indicted in the murders of three Las Vegas residents who were killed last December in the course of a robbery.

The Clark County Grand Jury indicted Homick for burglary, robbery and three counts of murder in the Dec. 11 deaths of socialite Bobbie Jean Tipton, 50, deliveryman James R. Myers, 31, and Marie Bullock, a 40-year-old maid.

Authorities there believe the motive was robbery since $100,000 in jewelry was missing from the Tipton home in the exclusive Paradise Valley section.

Steven Homick and Dominguez are also under investigation for the June 27 murder and robbery of another Las Vegas resident, Metro Police Cmdr. Jerry Cunningham said. Raymond Godfrey, 71, suffered a fatal heart attack after allegedly being beaten and having his fingers smashed, according to Cunningham.

Cunningham said prosecutors in Las Vegas will seek to have Homick extradited to stand trial in the Tipton case before he is tried for the Woodman murders.

Faces 26-Year Terms

In the Los Angeles case, prosecutor Krayniak said that in exchange for Dominguez’s plea, authorities dropped allegations that could have resulted in the death penalty or life in prison without possibility of parole. Instead, he faces two sentences of 26 years to life in prison, the prosecutor said.

Krayniak said there is a “good possibility” he will recommend leniency for Dominguez if his testimony is truthful.

The prosecutor said there was an additional reason Dominguez decided to enter a plea. “I think he didn’t want to be branded as the one who pulled the trigger,” Krayniak said. “He did suffer--and is suffering--some remorse.”

According to court documents, Dominguez told police that Steven Homick paid him $5,000 to watch for the Woodmans on the night of Sept. 25 and alert others that they were arriving home. He was aware that the couple would be killed, the affidavit said.

A preliminary hearing for the remaining five defendants is scheduled to begin Monday.

Staff writer Paul Feldman contributed to this story.