California: Parole Sought for Three in ’70s Abduction (Chowchilla)

[XemaSab]

Three men who kidnapped and hid a busload of California schoolchildren in a 1976 ransom attempt are up for parole again, and this time, they have the support of the judge, prosecutors and investigators who handled their notorious case. Their supporters held a rally in San Francisco on Wednesday to call for the release of Fred Woods and the brothers Richard and Jim Schoenfeld. The three were convicted of commandeering a bus of 26 children and their driver near Chowchilla, in the San Joaquin Valley, and hiding them underground in a rock quarry. The victims escaped after 36 hours, and none were seriously injured.

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I think these man should rot in prison forever. Who the hell kidnaps a whole school bus full of children and buries it in a gravel pit?

[murielm99]

1. I remember that crap.

That pit could have caved in on the kids and suffocated all of them. Don't let these guys out of jail.

[Luminous Animal]

3. So you think they'll do it again?

[JI7]

10. prison isn't just to keep people from doing something again

[Luminous Animal]

2. Let them out and save the state $150,000-$200,000 a year.

They were rich assholes then and their rich asshole families are willing to support them now.

[Luminous Animal]

4. Link...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/23/MNHV1HT8AJ.DTL

[Rabblevox]

5. I lived 50 miles away, and was in high-school at the time...

This was indeed a shocking crime. It was committed by idiotic rich kids who had gotten into either drug or real estate trouble. (or considering the 70's, probably both)

It was a serious crime, and they deserved to spend a long time in jail. But no one was hurt, nor did they ever plan on hurting anyone.

These are now middle-aged men who made a horribly bad decision, and who have spent most of their adult life locked up. They have admitted guilt, expressed remorse, and spent 35 years in prison for a crime where no one got hurt and they didn't make a dime.

When is enough enough? I fully support paroling them.

ps. they didn't "bury the bus in a gravel pit". They drove the bus into a tunnel in a gravel quarry.

[Luminous Animal]

6. Thank you.

[XemaSab]

7. We're both wrong

They made the kids and the bus driver climb down into a buried moving van.

I knew it was buried because they had to escape through the ceiling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chowchilla,_California#1976_bus_kidnapping

[Luminous Animal]

8. So, do you think they will do it again? Is it worth several million dollars to keep them in

jail for the rest of their lives?

[lunatica]

11. So should Justice get trumped by money again

If it's about the money I think that the state could save far more money by letting pot smokers out. There are way too many real non-victim convictions. The Chowchilla kidnappings were and still are a crime on the books, as it should be. Has anyone asked the victims how they've dealt with what happened to them? They were children and have probably had a hard time dealing with the PTSD.

[XemaSab]

12. They have had a hard time dealing with it, yes

During the 11-hour van ride they were so packed in that urine from one child would run down the legs of the other children nearby.

[Rabblevox]

9. I'll stand corrected on the details of the crime (hey I'm at the age where memory...

starts to fail). My main point remains. They were stupid young men who did a horrible thing. But nobody got hurt, no profit was made. Even the Judge and the DA in the case support parole. (and if you know anything about central California justice, you know that's about as likely as Alabama supporting gay rights).

[JI7]

13. how about the post above,kids were not able to use restroom for 11+ hours

the fear , etc.

[Rabblevox]

15. I'm really not trying to mitigate the crime. Of course it was horrible,...

and of course the kids (and driver) on the bus suffered fear, distress, discomfort, dehydration. The perpetrators absolutely belonged in prison.

Call me a foolish liberal, but I'm uncomfortable with the idea with locking people up for their entire lives for a crime where no
one really got hurt. I'm not trying to minimize the distress and pain of the victims. I'm not saying that these were "innocent kids on a joyride".

I AM saying that these guys have paid their time. It is not in anyone's interest to keep them in prison after 35 years.

[logosoco]

14. I don't really know what to do with people who have minds to think of doing something like this

and then actually do it. That's some pretty disgusting actions, even if no one was actually killed.
But why is it costing the jail so much to keep them? And if they have family assets, why can't that be taken? Did they/do they have some sort of trust fund?
Like I said, I can't really comprehend a mind thinking up stuff like this. Does saying you are sorry change the way you think.
And where do they go from here? Off to enjoy their lives? Should they be required now to really pay back, either with money or doing a service. What ever did happen to the kids that were involved?

These kind of cases never have black and white answers for me.