Arrests Made in Killings of 5 Fast-Food Workers

Two suspects were arrested Friday in the killings of five employees in the basement of a Wendy’s restaurant.

Both men admitted participating in the crime and both face first- and second-degree murder charges, authorities said. John Taylor and Craig Godineaux were being held pending arraignment this morning.

Taylor had briefly worked at the Wendy’s last year. Police lifted his palm print from a recently delivered box found in the restaurant’s basement.

Taylor, 36, was arrested at his sister-in-law’s house on Long Island by police responding to a bicycle accident in front of the home, First Deputy Police Commissioner Patrick Kelleher said at a news conference.

“He had a weapon in a fanny pack that was in his possession, a .380-caliber semiautomatic,” he said, adding that police believe the weapon may have been used in the crime.

Police got a tip that Taylor may have fled to one of several family locations on Long Island and they had been staking out the sister-in-law’s house, Kelleher said.

By chance, a boy on a bicycle got into a slight accident with a car in front of the home, Kelleher said, and Taylor was standing outside around 4:30 p.m. watching the commotion when police arrested him.

Godineaux, believed to be an accomplice, was arrested in Queens at his job at a men’s clothing store. Taylor and Godineaux, 31, worked together at the clothing store.

Both men face multiple counts of first- and second-degree murder, robbery and weapons charges, said Queens Dist. Atty. Richard A. Brown. The two suspects were expected to be arraigned in Queens Criminal Court.

In Wednesday night’s massacre on bustling Main Street, in the Flushing section of Queens, two gunmen entered the Wendy’s around closing time, bound and gagged the seven employees and shot them, killing five and wounding two. The gunmen made off with about $2,000 and a videotape from the restaurant’s security equipment.

Taylor worked at the Wendy’s briefly in 1999, leaving in October. At the time, Wendy’s suspected him “in a case of missing money,” Kelleher said, but no charges were ever filed.

Taylor was arrested in June for allegedly robbing a McDonald’s in Queens at which he had worked. A warrant was later issued for Taylor after he missed a court appearance. At the time of the McDonald’s robbery, he was on probation for a 1996 robbery of a McDonald’s in Manhattan.

Wendy’s officials and New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced the creation of a fund to help the families of the seven victims. Wendy’s offered a $50,000 reward and the city $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunmen.

One of the two survivors, JaQuione Johnson, 18, underwent surgery Friday and remained in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head.

The other, Patrick Castro, 23, was released from the hospital Thursday and is under police protection. He was shot through both cheeks and is credited with saving Johnson’s life.