2nd Man Arrested; 3rd Suspect Sought : Son Held in Slaying of Father in Sylmar

Los Angeles police arrested a 24-year-old man Tuesday in the execution-style murder of his father in Sylmar on July 4. They also arrested an alleged accomplice and are searching for a third man believed to have plotted to kill the victim for financial gain.

Raymond Godlewski Jr. of Montrose was arrested while being questioned at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill station, Lt. Bernard Conine said.

Later Tuesday, police arrested Michael Brown, 21, at his Palmdale apartment. Brown’s roommate, Gene Marshall Flack, 23, was being sought in connection with the murder, Conine said. The three men, believed to be companions from high school, conspired to kill the senior Godlewski to claim the man’s life insurance and other property, Conine said.

Raymond Joseph Godlewski, 45, was shot once in the upper body at the entrance to his home in the 13400 block of Trego Street about 2 a.m. July 4, police said. A gardener discovered the man’s body about six hours later, authorities said. Police said they found a gun believed used in the slaying on the front yard of the house.

Mail-Order Business

Conine said the senior Godlewski, who earned an upper middle-level income, was a machinist and ran a mail-order shipping business from the garage of his two-story home, where he lived by himself. Conine said the man manufactured nylon binding devices with plastic buckles. He said he did not know what the devices were used for.

Police made the arrests after serving search warrants at the suspects’ residences and at two homes in San Fernando, which Conine said the men frequented. He would not elaborate.

Conine said police initially thought that the senior Godlewski might have taken his own life, “but the more we got into it, the more it looked like murder.” Authorities refused to say which of the three they believe shot Godlewski.

The younger Godlewski and Brown were being held at the Foothill Division Jail.

Flack is described as six feet tall and weighing 160 pounds, with blond hair and brown eyes.

Times staff writer Mike Connelly, in Sacramento, contributed to this story.