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California man, 70, imprisoned for kidnapping a bus full of children in 1976 then burying them alive in ventilated bunker and demanding $5 million ransom before they escaped has been approved for parole
Daily Mail UK ^ | March 29, 2022 | Natasha Anderson

Posted on 03/29/2022 7:11:53 PM PDT by Morgana

A 70-year-old man convicted of hijacking a school bus full of children and holding them and their driver for $5 million ransom in 1976 has been approved for parole.

Frederick Newhall Woods was found suitable for parole at a hearing Friday, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesperson Joe Orlando confirmed to CNN on Tuesday.

Parole commissioners reportedly decided Woods no longer is a danger to the public.

Woods masterminded the kidnapping plot after being inspired by the 1971 Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry. His accomplices, brothers Richard and James Schoenfeld, were freed years ago. An appeals court ordered Richard Schoenfeld released in 2012, and former Gov. Jerry Brown paroled James Schoenfeld in 2015.

All three were from wealthy San Francisco Bay Area families when they kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver near Chowchilla.

They buried the children, who were between the ages of 5 to 14, along with their bus driver in a ventilated underground bunker east of San Francisco. After 16 hours, the victims were able to dig their way out and escape as the kidnappers were asleep.

Woods became eligible for parole in 1982 but was previously denied release 17 times.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: california; chowchilla; crime; doyouremember
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why?
1 posted on 03/29/2022 7:11:53 PM PDT by Morgana
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To: Morgana
why?

The answer is in the story:

" wealthy San Francisco Bay Area families"

2 posted on 03/29/2022 7:14:25 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: Morgana

Maybe he’s sorry?


3 posted on 03/29/2022 7:16:38 PM PDT by rey
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To: Morgana

What could possibly go wrong?


4 posted on 03/29/2022 7:16:44 PM PDT by SaveFerris (The Lord, The Christ and The Messiah: Jesus Christ of Nazareth - http://www.BiblicalJesusChrist.Com/)
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To: Morgana

Also...

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4050731/posts


5 posted on 03/29/2022 7:18:12 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (The best things in life aren't things.)
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To: SaveFerris
What could possibly go wrong?

One of the "kids" decides to look him up and share reminisces?
6 posted on 03/29/2022 7:27:27 PM PDT by wbarmy (Trying to do better.)
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To: Morgana

Kidnapping used to carry the death penalty long ago.


7 posted on 03/29/2022 7:28:05 PM PDT by dainbramaged (Use it up, wear it out. Make it do or do without.)
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To: Morgana

“Woods and the Schoenfelds planned their crime for more than a year and, in 1976, all pleaded guilty to kidnapping. They were each given 27 life sentences WITHOUT the possibility of parole.”

An appellate panel, which included the governor’s late father, state Judge William Newsom, REDUCED the kidnappers’ sentences in 1980, giving them the chance at parole.”

Read the above again. That’s why I support the Death Penalty. There is simply NO SUCH THING as ‘throwing away the key’, as a future judge can do whatever he pleases (or whatever Soros asks of him). This is a PERFECT example, although I’m glad he did a decent amount of time, this time.


8 posted on 03/29/2022 7:29:41 PM PDT by BobL (I eat at McDonald's and shop at Walmart, I just don't tell anyone.)
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To: BobL

We have no death penalty. They put them in the can and let them out at best. This guy should be dead with his head on somebody’s fence.


9 posted on 03/29/2022 7:33:03 PM PDT by Luke21
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To: Morgana

San Francisco’s next mayor.


10 posted on 03/29/2022 7:39:24 PM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: Morgana

Absolute ghoul. Doesn’t even look human.


11 posted on 03/29/2022 7:56:09 PM PDT by sumuam
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To: Morgana

Oh dear God.

CA govs already freed the others.

I wasn’t even expecting any living perps for this. They must’ve only been around 25 or so.

Insane.


12 posted on 03/29/2022 8:00:49 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMVd)
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To: Morgana

<< Woods masterminded the kidnapping plot after being inspired by the 1971 Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry. >>

Right, because things worked out so well for Scorpio.


13 posted on 03/29/2022 8:01:01 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
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To: Morgana

I remember that. Complete horror show. I could not imagine what those kids went through then and still can’t imagine now. He deserves no parole.


14 posted on 03/29/2022 8:06:15 PM PDT by Karliner (Heb 4:12 Rom 8:28 Rev 3, "...This is the end of the beginning." Churchill)
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To: dainbramaged

“Kidnapping used to carry the death penalty long ago.”

Problem with that is kidnappers figuring they have nothing to lose if they offed the witness - the kidnap victim - since either they get the death penalty.


15 posted on 03/29/2022 8:14:14 PM PDT by LouieFisk
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To: Morgana

I remember this story. Had no idea the guy was still alive.


16 posted on 03/29/2022 8:24:04 PM PDT by nuconvert ( Warning: Accused of being a radical militarist. Approach with caution.)
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To: Morgana

Not sure what this had to do with Dirty Harry...but there was a movie about it, starring Karl Malden.


17 posted on 03/29/2022 8:24:49 PM PDT by Buttons12 ( )
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To: wbarmy

Heh.

He shouldn’t have ever been let go IMHO.


18 posted on 03/29/2022 9:16:24 PM PDT by SaveFerris (The Lord, The Christ and The Messiah: Jesus Christ of Nazareth - http://www.BiblicalJesusChrist.Com/)
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To: Morgana
1976 Chowchilla kidnapping.

"In 2016, a worker's compensation lawsuit filed against Woods also revealed that he had been running several businesses, including a gold mine and a car dealership, from behind bars without notifying prison authorities as required. The heir to two wealthy California families, the Newhalls and the Woodses, he inherited a trust fund from his parents that was described in one court filing as being worth $100 million (equivalent to $108 million in 2020), although Woods' lawyer disputed that amount. He has married three times while in prison and has purchased a mansion about 30 minutes away from the prison."

...

"In 2016, the 25 surviving kidnapped children settled a lawsuit they had filed against their kidnappers. The money they received was paid out of Frederick Woods' trust fund, and although the exact settlement amount was not disclosed, one survivor stated that they had each received "enough to pay for some serious therapy — but not enough for a house."

Woods lived behind bars like a millionaire, on the state dollar, for the last forty years. Cases like this are why the late, great Seattle PI and Times columnist Emmett Watson loved hating California.

19 posted on 03/29/2022 9:34:32 PM PDT by Widget Jr
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To: Morgana

Woods needs a dirt nap!


20 posted on 03/29/2022 10:03:58 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative ( )
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