HOME AIDE BUSTED IN SLAY

Charged with killing her 83-year-old patient

A Long Island home health care aide was arrested for killing her 83-year-old patient inside his suburban house, cops said Wednesday.

Gail Godwin, 63, was led from the Garden City residence in handcuffs and charged with manslaughter after police arrived at the home of John Busch to find the octogenarian, who used a wheelchair, dead with a deep head wound on Monday night, according to Nassau County police.

Godwin (photo) allegedly struck him with a wooden object — and blood thinners Busch took caused him to bleed out, a law enforcement source said.

Busch, who was suffering from dementia, received round-theclock care from a pair of health care workers, with Godwin calling her colleague to claim she found the senior citizen unresponsive during her shift, a neighbor told the Daily News. The other woman advised Godwin to call 911 and then drove to the victim’s home.

By the time the second health care worker arrived, Godwin was already in handcuffs, said longtime neighbor John Falabella.

“It was like an episode of ‘48 Hours,’” said Falabella, 66, referring to the popular investigative television show. “The circumstances are peculiar.”

Godwin, a resident of Bay Shore, was ordered held without bail during her arraignment in Nassau County Criminal Court on Wednesday. She is charged with manslaughter, tampering with physical evidence and endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, cops said.

Busch, a retired TWA ticket agent described by Falabella as a “loner,” was never married and had no children. The neighbor recalled seeing only a handful of visitors at the home across the decades, including one man who came to buy a car from Busch.

“We’ve been here 25 years and were never really close,” said Falabella. “I haven’t really seen him in a long time. He was OK, wheelchair-bound.”

The neighbor recounted how their street filled with more than a dozen police vehicles, with one parked in the driveway for the past three days.

Falabella recalled his wife asking one of the officers on the scene if Busch was still alive.

“And he, in police jargon, said, ‘Take a look around, Lady. What do you think?’ ” said Falabella.