Parole denied for Chowchilla busnapper

AP - Bakersfield Californian ^ | 4/10/06 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

One of the men who kidnapped and buried a busload of school children 30 years ago was once again denied parole Monday.

Richard Allen Schoenfeld won't be eligible for parole again until 2008, state Board of Parole Hearings spokesman Tip Kindel said

Schoenfeld, his brother James Schoenfeld, and Frederick Newhall Woods, were sentenced to life in prison for the crime.

The men, all scions of wealthy San Francisco Peninsula families, commandeered the bus on July 15, 1976, near Chowchilla in the San Joaquin Valley.

They transferred their hostages to two vans, drove about 100 miles north and put them in a moving van they had buried in a quarry owned by the Woods family in Livermore.

While they were trying to arrange for the ransom, bus driver Ed Ray and some of the older boys dug their way out of the truck and summoned help.

Richard Schoenfeld turned himself in six days after the kidnapping.

The men, who are serving their sentences at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo County, have been repeatedly denied parole.

[gondramB]

Or why we now have life with no chance for parole - cases like this.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Death penalty - cheaper, punishes well. Must be sped up...

[Nateman]

I say put these guys to work. Put a radio collar on them which will kill them at the push of a button and then use them in Iraq to pick up suspected bombs or drive by areas where bombs are suspected. Since Iraqi insurgents choose not to openly wear uniforms but hide behind men and women use them the same way.

[Choose Ye This Day]

Oh, yeah...I remember hearing about this. I was eight way back then. It freaked me out.

[Prost1]

I was there at the site and saw the bus drive away. I was with a friend and we followed it to the County Jail where the FBI head from SF eventually came out and held a press conference. This was around 11:00 pm or about 6 hours after the kids were found, cold, hungry, frightened but otherwise physically uninjured.
All kids were to be checked out and debriefed!

Yep, I was there.

[Choose Ye This Day]

I wonder what those kids remember of the experience...and how it has affected them since.

[goldstategop]

The hostages were buried ALIVE. That's precisely why the kidnappers should never see a day of freedom. They deserve to die behind bars.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Bubbatuck]

Good. I remember that crime quite well - it was horrifying. They don't deserve to be out of prison. Maybe when they're 90...

[Conan the Librarian]

Nutbag should just stay in Jail (or under the Jail as it were)


Chowchilla....wasn't that the name of the big hairy guy in Star Wars? Or was that Hardware Wars? :)

[Uncle Hal]

My brother is an acquaintance of the Schoenfeld brothers father. Evidently the fathers one mission in life is to get his sons paroled before he dies. He is consumed by this. A tragedy all around.

[DesignerChick]

I don't really remember this ....what was the motive, if they were from wealthy families, to ransom a group of children?

[Professional Engineer]

Good!