Murder Suspect Beaten by Inmates

One of two brothers charged with ordering the murders of their elderly parents in Brentwood has been beaten in jail in an attack his lawyer says may have been ordered by someone who feared the man’s future testimony.

Stewart Woodman, 39, was punched and kicked by two fellow inmates who called him a “rat”--a jailhouse term for one who testifies against another defendant, according to Woodman’s attorney, Jay Jaffe.

Stewart Woodman, his 45-year-old brother, Neil, and three alleged hit men have been charged in the 1985 slayings of Gerald Woodman, 67, and Vera Woodman, 63, who were shot to death after returning to their Brentwood home from dinner.

Jaffe has proclaimed Stewart Woodman’s innocence in the case. Jaffe said the person who ordered the attack may have implied from his remarks that Stewart Woodman was going to testify against him.

Prosecutors say they are not certain who was behind the Aug. 24 attack on Stewart Woodman.

Meanwhile Wednesday, Los Angeles Municipal Judge David Horowitz ruled that one of the alleged triggerman in the murders, former Los Angeles policeman Steven Homick, 49, had been legally extradited in the case from Nevada’s Death Row, where he was awaiting execution after conviction in an unrelated triple murder.