John Taylor, the mastermind behind the massacre, still remains on Death Row.
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Five Killed, Two Survive Grisly Ordeal
By LIZ GOFF
FLUSHING-JAN. 8, 2001: A Queens jury today handed down a death sentence for the man dubbed the mastermind of the May 2000 Wendy’s Massacre.
The decision would make John Taylor the first person to face death by lethal injection since the death penalty was reinstated in New York State in 1994.
Taylor, with his accomplice Craig Godineaux, walked into the Wendy’s Restaurant at 39-10 Main St. in Flushing just before midnight on May 24, 2000, armed with a fully loaded pistol, ammunition and a roll of duct tape.
Taylor, a former employee at the restaurant, waited until the last customer left and the doors were locked before heading to the basement to speak with manager, Jean Auguste, 27. Godineaux stayed upstairs, where six workers were cleaning up for the night.
Once in the basement, Taylor pulled the gun and ordered Auguste to get his workers downstairs.
Godineaux followed the workers to the basement, where he and Taylor bound and gagged them with the duct tape. One by one they were led into a walk-in freezer in the basement, where Godineaux pulled black trash bags over their heads and forced them to lay face down on the floor.
The Bloodbath Begins
While Taylor and Godineaux argued over who would be the first to shoot the victims, Auguste managed to slip out of the freezer. Taylor spotted Auguste sitting against the freezer door – and the manager took the first round.
Taylor then walked into the freezer, where he confronted Anita Smith, 22 – the only female in the group. Smith, sobbing softly, was pleading for her life when Taylor pumped one round into the back of her head. The young woman, who was scheduled to start college that fall, died instantly.
Taylor handed the gun to Godineaux and ordered him to “do the rest.” Godineaux systematically shot and killed Jeremy Mele, 18, Ramon Nazario, 44 and Ali Ibadat, 51. He shot Patricio Castro, 23 and Jaquione Johnson, 18 – but both lived to testify at Taylor’s capital murder trial.
Cops arrested Taylor a few days later. Sitting in handcuffs, it didn’t take him long to finger Godineaux as his accomplice.
Godineaux, 34, was ruled mildly retarded, and by law could not face the death penalty. He is serving five sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
After his sentencing, Taylor was settled into a cell in the Unit for Condemned Persons at the Clinton Correctional Facility, located near the Canadian border in upstate New York.
Death Row Debate
The state’s highest court ruled on June 24, 2004 that a central provision of the death penalty statute was flawed, and ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in New York State. Taylor is now the only remaining inmate on death row.
Queens DA Richard Brown has refused to re-sentence Taylor to life without parole, arguing that the judge in his death penalty case realized the potential for a problem with the provision – and took appropriate measures to correct the flaw.
Motions were filed in February in Taylor’s appeal, which is scheduled for a hearing before the state panel in early 2007.
