More than eight years have passed since Jose Najera Sr. was slashed to death as he lay sleeping in his Garden Grove home, too exhausted to change out of his work clothes. His wife, Elena, was in pink and white pajamas when the killer turned on her as she rushed in, stabbing her more than 20 times before escaping through a bedroom window.

On Wednesday, their son, Jose Najera Jr., now 27, was behind bars, suspected of being the mastermind of a plot to persuade a childhood friend to kill his parents to inherit his family''s money.

Gerald Johnson, a former Mater Dei classmate of Najera Jr.''s, was convicted in 2000 of killing his friend''s parents, a case made largely on DNA evidence found on a ski mask ripped from the killer''s face. He is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.

While Johnson sat behind bars, Najera Jr. - who goes by the nickname "Porky" - lived life, blowing through the few thousand dollars he persuaded his parents to stockpile in a bank safety deposit box in anticipation of the Y2K bug. The money lasted just a few months. He worked construction. He dated women.

He found himself in county jail a few times over the past eight years after run-ins with the law over drug possession. But he managed to escape arrest in the killings of his parents - until Wednesday.

Najera Jr. was arrested at the Garden Grove Police Department after detectives said they wanted to talk about turning over some property, said Garden Grove police Capt. Mike Handfield. But it was killing of his parents, not property, detectives were there to talk about.

Najera Jr.''s arrest - after years of work by Garden Grove police and District Attorney''s Office investigators - may bring an end to a tale of killing and intrigue that shattered two Orange County neighborhoods. Najera Jr. is being held without bail at the Orange County Jail, charged with two counts of murder with sentencing enhancements alleging that multiple murders were committed for financial gain.

He is expected to appear in court Friday.

"This was very personal for us," Handfield said. "We always thought he was behind it, but we just didn''t have enough evidence at the time.

"We never forgot about this case."

It was a friendship forged at Mater Dei High School between a shy, skinny doctor''s son from Villa Park and a burly Garden Grove kid whose father installed portable classrooms. Johnson was quiet, staying behind the scenes at the campus TV station. Jose "Joe" Najera Jr. was outgoing and gregarious.

Authorities believe Najera Jr. plotted the murders, talking his friend into slipping though his open bedroom window and stabbing his parents to death. Najera Jr. made sure he was not at home at the time, Handfield said.

Three days after Christmas, Najera Jr., then 19, slipped out of his bedroom window and headed to the Villa Park home of Johnson''s parents to shoot pool and drink with Johnson and at least two other friends.

In the predawn hours of Dec. 28, 1999, Johnson, then 19, climbed through Najera Jr.''s bedroom window to carry out the plan, police say. They believe Najera Sr. was the first to die, cut along the left side of his face, ear and left arm.

He ripped a black ski mask from the face of his attacker, Handfield said. Investigators believe Johnson searched for the mask but couldn''t find it in the darkness. Najera Sr. was stabbed more than 20 times. Detectives theorize that Elena Najera, asleep in another room, heard the struggle and rushed in. She was stabbed more than 20 times in the chest and died.

Najera Jr. told police he found the bloodied bodies of his parents about 4 a.m. after climbing back into his house, his windowsill now smeared with blood. He called police at 4:36 a.m.

Detectives combed the bloody scene, finding the ski mask behind a couch. Johnson''s hair and saliva was found on the ski cap. Najera Sr.''s DNA was found in a car and in a shower in Johnson''s house.

A few days after the murders, Johnson disappeared from his Villa Park home.

Johnson returned, but was later admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Costa Mesa after a failed suicide attempt. He was arrested at the hospital.

Najera Jr. faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole.