Glen Stewart Godwin (born June 26, 1958) is an American

fugitive A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...

and convicted murderer who was added to the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

's Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on December 7, 1996, nine years after he escaped from

Folsom State Prison Folsom State Prison (FSP) is a California State Prison in Folsom, California, U.S., approximately northeast of the state capital of Sacramento. It is one of 34 adult institutions operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabi ...

Folsom, California Folsom is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is commonly known for Folsom State Prison, the song "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash, as well as for Folsom Lake. The population was 80,454 at the 2020 census. Folsom is pa ...

where he was serving a 26-years-to-life sentence. He replaced O'Neil Vassell on the list. However, he was dropped from the list on May 19, 2016.

Early years

Glen Godwin was born June 26, 1958 in Miami, Florida. In the 1960s, his family moved to California and resided in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Godwin attended

Palm Springs High School Palm Springs High School is a public high school for grades 9 through 12 located in Palm Springs, California as part of the Palm Springs Unified School District. It was built in 1938 in an effort led by city pioneer Nellie Coffman. Athletics P ...

, which he graduated in 1975. Godwin did well at school and played on

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

for many years in the school brass band.

Murder of Kim LeValley

In 1980, Godwin was living in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

, working as a self-employed tool salesman, a mechanic, and a construction worker, with no discernible criminal history. Godwin and his roommate, Frank Soto, Jr., planned to rob a drug dealer and pilot, Kim Robert LeValley, who was once a friend of theirs. Godwin and Soto lured LeValley back to their

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

where Soto held him, Godwin punched and kicked him, tried to strangle him, then ultimately stabbed LeValley 26 times with his butcher knife (during the trial, however, the prosecution said that Godwin used a serrated-edge knife ⁠ ⁠— a butcher's knife was not mentioned). After the murder, Godwin and Soto loaded the body into a truck and set off for the desert. Godwin tried to blow up the evidence by using homemade explosives strapped to the body. The explosion was intended to disguise the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

of LeValley. On August 3, 1980, some Eagle Mountain residents found a blown-up pickup truck with remains of a human body inside of it abandoned in the desert. Later, police identified the body and charged Godwin with first-degree murder. Although Soto testified against Godwin, Soto was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder in 1982. Godwin was sentenced for the murder and robbery to 26 years to life in prison in 1983.

Escape from Folsom State Prison

In 1987, Godwin attempted to escape during his incarceration at

Deuel Vocational Institute Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI) was a state prison located in unincorporated San Joaquin County, California, near Tracy. The prison closed on September 30, 2021. Facilities DVI opened in 1953 and named for California state senator Charle ...

in California, and he was moved to

, a maximum-security prison. Authorities believe Godwin's wife Shelly Rose Godwin and his former cellmate in Deuel, Lorenz Karlic, helped to plan his escape. A

hacksaw A hacksaw is a fine-toothed saw, originally and mainly made for cutting metal. The equivalent saw for cutting wood is usually called a bow saw. Most hacksaws are hand saws with a C-shaped walking frame that holds a blade under tension. Such h ...

and other tools had been smuggled into the prison for Godwin. On June 5, 1987, he cut a hole through fence wire and escaped into a

storm drain A storm drain, storm sewer (United Kingdom, United States, U.S. and Canada), surface water drain/sewer (United Kingdom), or stormwater drain (Australia and New Zealand) is infrastructure designed to Drainage, drain excess rain and ground water ...

that emptied into the

American River , name_etymology = , image = American River CA.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = The American River at Folsom , map = Americanrivermap.png , map_size = 300 , map_caption ...

. Godwin dropped through a manhole and crawled through the pitch-black drain. An accomplice, suspected to be either Godwin's wife or Karlic, had left a

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrel ...

that Godwin used to float down the river, following painted arrows on rocks that directed him where to go. In June 1987, Karlic was arrested in

Hesperia, California Hesperia is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is located north of downtown San Bernardino in Victor Valley and surrounded by the Mojave Desert. Because of its relatively high elevation and the unique and moderate we ...

and convicted for aiding Godwin's escape. Karlic died by suicide on February 12, 2002 while in custody at

Men's Central Jail Men's Central Jail is a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department county jail for men in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States. Built in 1963, it is one of the oldest county jails in California. The Men's Central Jail is located ...

in Los Angeles, California. He had previously been arrested after a foot chase with deputies from the

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...

. He had been convicted in January 2002 of eight charges related to the pursuit which took place in

La Crescenta La Crescenta-Montrose () is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The community is bordered by Glendale to the south and west, La Cañada Flintridge to the east, and Angeles National Forest to the north. Accor ...

in April 2001. Karlic was scheduled to be sentenced on February 25, 2002. In January 1988, Shelly Godwin was classified as a federal fugitive for her role in her husband's escape. She was captured by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

on February 7, 1990.

Capture and escape

Godwin fled to Mexico, where he unsuccessfully participated in the

illegal drug trade The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...

. He was arrested in

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadala ...

, later convicted for drug trafficking in

Guadalajara, Mexico Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaja ...

and sentenced to seven years and six months to Puente Grande prison in 1991. While American authorities were working on Godwin's

extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...

proceedings, he allegedly killed a member of a Mexican drug cartel in prison. The new murder allegation delayed his extradition, which gave Godwin more time to execute another escape, which occurred in September 1991. Godwin is currently believed to be involved in the illicit drug trade somewhere in Latin America, having possibly used aliases such as Dennis Harold McWilliams, Nigel Lopez and Miguel Carrera. He is considered to be armed and extremely dangerous, and an obvious flight risk. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to Godwin's capture. He was removed from the Most Wanted List in May 2016 with the FBI director declaring that "We think the payoff from the publicity has diminished over time".

In popular culture

On March 15, 2021, Godwin was featured on the first episode of the revival of ''

America's Most Wanted ''America's Most Wanted'' (often abbreviated as ''AMW'') is an American television program whose first run was produced by 20th Television, and second run is under the Fox Alternative Entertainment division of Fox Corporation. At the time of i ...

''.

References

External links

Godwin's FBI Most Wanted Fugitive AlertGodwin's profile on ''America's Most Wanted''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godwin, Glen Stewart 1958 births 1980 murders in the United States 1991 murders in Mexico American drug traffickers American emigrants to Mexico American escapees American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment American salespeople American robbers Criminals from Florida Escapees from California detention Escapees from Mexican detention FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Fugitives Fugitives wanted by Mexico Fugitives wanted on murder charges Living people People convicted of murder by California People from Miami People from Palm Springs, California Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California Murder in Riverside County, California