Jury Convicts Brothers in Murder of Couple

Two brothers were convicted Monday in the execution-style slaying of a Brentwood couple, but the jury deadlocked on murder charges against the couple’s son, who was accused of hiring the hit men.

The jury also found Steven Homick guilty of conspiracy to commit the murders and of the special circumstances of carrying out the crime for financial gain and lying in wait for the victims. The jury deadlocked on the conspiracy charge and on the special circumstances charges for Robert Homick. One defense attorney said that because of the special circumstances, Steven Homick--whose sentencing phase begins May 6--could face the death penalty.

The jury found the brothers guilty of first-degree murder in the slayings of Gerald and Vera Woodman, killed as they parked their Mercedes in their underground garage after coming home from a Yom Kippur dinner in September, 1985.

Superior Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper declared a mistrial in the case of Neil Woodman when the jury deadlocked Monday afternoon after deliberating 17 days. Woodman was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The jury had voted 7 to 5 in favor of convicting Woodman.

“We were truly believing that (jurors) could come in with an innocent (verdict),” said the defendant’s wife, Maxine Woodman. “But I’m relieved that there are people who believe he was truly innocent.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Pat Dixon said that while he will push for a retrial of Woodman, he is pleased with guilty verdicts against two out of the three defendants.

“After all, the federal prosecutors across the street were happy with two out of four,” Dixon said with a smile, referring to Saturday’s federal court verdicts against two police officers accused of violating Rodney G. King’s civil rights.

Prosecutors contended that Woodman, 49, along with his 43-year-old brother, Stewart, had their parents killed because they hated their father and wanted the proceeds from their mother’s $500,000 insurance policy, of which they were beneficiaries. The Woodman brothers also had been embroiled in a long-standing feud with their parents over control of the family-owned plastics firm, prosecutors said.

Stewart Woodman, who once was a successful Hidden Hills businessman with a penchant for gambling, was convicted of murder in March, 1990. But just as the penalty phase of his trial was to begin, he agreed to testify against his brother, Neil, to avoid the death penalty. In January, Stewart testified that he and his brother hired the assassins--testimony that prosecutors hoped would seal the case against Neil.

Dixon, even after the judge declared a mistrial against Neil Woodman, said he did not regret the deal he struck with Stewart. He said that Stewart, scheduled to be sentenced in July, probably will be imprisoned for life without the possibility of parole.

“We didn’t really give up very much,” he said. “I wouldn’t do anything differently.”

Attorneys for Neil Woodman had questioned Stewart’s credibility from the beginning. “Stewart had a clear motive to save himself,” attorney Michael Yamamoto said. “The only direct evidence against Neil was Stewart’s testimony.”

Prosecutors also had presented evidence that Neil Woodman had talked publicly about his hatred of his father and had transferred $28,000 from his bank account to Steven Homick’s.

Last month, the Woodman story aired as a television movie, “Bloodlines” with Elliott Gould playing Stewart Woodman. The rights to the movie were sold by Stewart Woodman’s wife, Melody Woodman.

Although jurors did not find Neil Woodman guilty of hiring the assassins, they found that Steven Homick, a former Los Angeles police officer, murdered the couple for financial gain.

The jury had been deliberating since March 26. But two weeks ago, the original jury foreman walked out during a morning break and did not return, leaving only a note with the judge that he could not agree with the other jurors. An alternate was appointed and another juror was selected as foreman.