Son Convicted in Contract Killing of His Father : Courts: The jury reaches an acrimonious verdict, finding Raymond Godlewski Jr. guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder.

After three days of apparently heated debate, a San Fernando Superior Court jury Thursday convicted Raymond Godlewski Jr. of Montrose of second-degree murder for hiring a boyhood friend to slay Godlewski’s father.

The jury deliberated for three days before finding that Godlewski, 24, had committed second-degree murder by hiring Gene Marshall Flack, 24, to kill Raymond Godlewski Sr.

The verdict means that Godlewski, who planned the murder, was convicted on a lesser charge, and faces a lesser penalty, than the two men he hired to carry it out.

After the verdict was announced, one juror, who refused to identify himself, said the verdict had been “an acrimonious decision and nobody is happy about it.” He refused to elaborate, saying that the jurors had agreed among themselves not to discuss the case with reporters.

Prosecutors sought to convict Godlewski of first-degree murder with the special circumstance that the murder was committed for financial gain, which would have made Godlewski eligible for a sentence of life in prison without parole. During the trial, Deputy Dist. Atty. Craig Richman argued that the younger Godlewski arranged the murder so he could collect a $280,000 inheritance from his father.

But juror Dean Later of Valencia told reporters that the prosecution had not produced enough evidence to prove to him that the motive was money.

Deputy Public Defender Kenneth Lezin argued that Godlewski wanted his father dead because his father was so violent that the son feared for his life.

Another jury Wednesday convicted Flack and his roommate, Michael Brown, 22, both of Palmdale, of first-degree murder for their roles in the killing.

Flack shot the senior Godlewski, 45, once in the head on July 4, 1989, at the front door of Godlewski’s Sylmar home, and Brown drove the car in which Flack escaped.

Flack and the younger Godlewski had been friends since childhood. Prosecutors said the younger Godlewski originally offered Flack $5,000 to kill his father and later increased the offer to $7,000. According to court testimony, Godlewski paid Flack at least $5,000.

Flack was also convicted of the special circumstance of murder for financial gain. He faces a maximum punishment of life in prison without possibility of parole when he is sentenced onNov. 2.

Brown faces 26 years to life in prison. Godlewski faces 16 years to life.