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California Department of Corrections
Richard Schoenfeld, the convicted kidnapper who took 26 schoolchildren and their bus driver in Chowchilla, Calif., 36 years ago, is expected to be released from prison within the next week.
Richard Schoenfeld, the convicted kidnapper who took 26 schoolchildren and their bus driver in Chowchilla, Calif., and buried them alive in a rock quarry 36 years ago, is expected to be released from prison within the next week, NBC Bay Area has learned.
That is a big change from the 2021 parole date that Schoenfeld was last given.
But in a statement Friday to NBCBayArea.com, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Luis Patino said: "Schoenfeld will be released to an undisclosed location during the second half of the month of June 2012. As this is a developing situation, no other details are available at this time.”
See the original story at NBCBayArea.com
Patino added that the prison body has "been informed that the California Supreme Court has declined to review an appellate court's earlier decision granting immediate parole to Richard Schoenfeld. As such CDCR does not have any legal option other than to release inmate Shoenfeld and will do so."
Schoenfeld, his brother, James Schoenfeld, and Frederick Woods kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver on July 15, 1976, buried them alive in a rock quarry in Livermore, Calif., and then planned to demand a $5 million ransom. The victims miraculously escaped.
Frank Edward Ray, the school bus driver hailed as a hero for helping lead the children to safety after 16 hours underground, died May 17 at the age of 91 in Chowchilla.
In March, the First District Court ruled that California's Board of Parolee Hearings improperly calculated Schoenfeld's release date after determining in 2008 that he could be safely paroled.
James Schoenfeld and Woods never have been found suitable for parole by the state board.
The trio, who were in their mid-20s at the time of the kidnapping, said they had fallen into debt because of a failed real estate deal and hatched the elaborate kidnapping as a way to rid themselves of financial worry, The Associated Press reported.
Laws in effect in 1977 when the three pleaded guilty made Richard Schoenfeld, and who hailed from a wealthy family in upscale Atherton, Calif., eligible for parole after only six months, but like the others, his parole was routinely denied, largely because of the seriousness of his crimes.
There have been a series of significant dates in Schoenfeld's legal case:
In 2008, the parole board ruled that Schoenfeld "would not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to society or a threat to public safety if released from prison."
But in August 2009, a second panel decided against granting parole to Schoenfeld, saying that a third panel should consider whether granting parole would be "improvident."
On April 5, 2011, the third panel held its hearing on the matter at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, where all three kidnappers are being held, and it ruled that parole would be appropriate for Schoenfeld.
But the panel said that based on its calculations Schoenfeld should not be released until November 2021.
However, the First District Court of Appeal said the parole panel "erred" because it violated its own rules and lacked authority to increase Schoenfeld's sentence after finding him suitable for parole.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
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More insanity from the looney left. Coddle the criminals, punish the victims. Gov. Moonbeam and California deserve each other. What a joke!
I beleave that anyone who has the mind set to harm children in that fashion should die in prison i read someone say he did his time. i think you should get allot more time for more the 20 counts of kidnapping
I hear a lot of people on here being judge jury and executioner. The bottom line is that we do have due process, like it or not and for that I am grateful. No lynch mobs, no kangaroo courts etc. This man served his time, end of story.I remember this case very well and yes, it was horrid but...I read one commenter compare this to the Charlie Manson's crew. You need to read about those murders before making a comparison. Also heard someone say we do not execute people in Ca. I live close to San Quentin and yes we do. just do not execute innocent people like Tx. Due process....In the constitution remember?
Unbelievable he could EVER be rehabilitated.....the reason those children lived was due to the heriocs of the bus driver....and if these 3 had got their ransom, do you honestly believe they would have released those children?? California, you have truly escaped your mind.....bring back the death penalty and for heinous crimes, USE IT !!!!
It was 26 children and one bus driver.. and nobody died thankfully !
Frank Edward Ray, the school bus driver hailed as a hero for helping lead the children to safety after 16 hours underground,
You didn't really read the story did you granny ? Many don't around here before bearing down with their lynch mob mentality. Good thing nobody actually gives them control over buttons switches or syringes .
I had an aunt who was an irritating Gossip .. only she always got the info wrong.
Someone could say..
look there is a fly in the room
but what she heard was ..
Look someone died in the room.
I read all these posts and I picture the towns people with their pitch forks and torches coming after the Frankenstein monster. Aren't we a scared little bunch. You all talk about this man, but listen to the hatred and violence in your own words.
What, he's NOT an illegal?
LOL..
the trolls are swinging on the Vines .
These people don't care about this old case.. They are here to troll say things that get a rise out of others and make them waste their time pointing out how retarded what they just said was.. most of them never see the comment you wasted your time typing because trolls usually have reply turned off under their comments.
I assume I'm the troll you're talking about because I'm the only one who hasn't called out for someone to be killed. I don't think pointing out the hatred and violence called for in these posts make me a troll. Just scroll back through the last 10 pages and tell me what you see. By the way, monkeys swing in trees, trolls live under bridges.
Regardless of the amout of time served or any other factor, it is wrong to release a psychopath back into society. When let out of prison, they need to be placed into an mental institution for the criminally insane for the rest of their life.
How do you know this man is a psychopath? Whats the clinical definition of a psychopath? Please tell me. So many experts on line today.
Okey, minnsurveyor, regale us from your extensive psychological wisdom. Just how would you classify a man that would bury ALIVE 27 people , most of which were children? That's not considered rational thinking, not even among most Progressives!
No it's not rational thinking. No crime is! I don't know the clinical definition of psychopath. Do you? I ask the question again. That requires an answer. Not a smart(pun intended) remark!
Due process.End of story. I remember this case and it was horrid but,,,take a law class folks.
These stories do nothing but entice trolls to post responses. I get so fed up reading about what posters would do to someone, if only that someone would be released in his area, walk across his yard, live next door to his mother.
The law is the law, and if a criminal serves his/her time under the law that was offended by his/her actions, then he/she has served the penalty. Far too many on these boards can't tolerate that. They want blood. I keep wondering if these same people ever realize they might be happier in another part of the world, where people do not have the good fortune to live in a civilized country.
The people I see as trolls here just don't understand what they are espousing.
Yea,even in cali,he won't last long...but,then again california...he's rehabibalated...rehabobbleheaded...
Has this puke been rehabilitated? I bet he found God too while in prison. His crime was horrendous and I'll bet all those children have felt somewhat safe for the last 36 years but now have to relive what he did to them and will be looking over their shoulder all the time. What kind of people are on these parole boards and just how does one go about getting appointed to one? I would love to volunteer my time to decide the extended fate of these criminals. I guess now instead of paying for his room and board in prison we'll get to pay for a nice little apartment and utilities and groceries for this felon, I'd rather pay for his upkeep behind bars, Maybe someone will give him good old fashioned justice easier on the outside, may just work out after all.
Hey Billie Mazza - try reading the story - not one person died
Hey justme! Not one person died because the bus driver got all the kids out! So, because no one died, this was "not so bad"? Yikes! Let's bury your child alive and see how "lesser the crime is" to you!
Hey justme-1425428,
Maybe you should keep your idiotic liberal thoughts to "Just me!" You are the reason this country, not only Ca. under pelosi, is going down the drain. Give him a break? I will, a ten second head start before I start firing at a person that Kidnapped a busload of children and buried them alive. He stands NO CHANCE in my court of law or the popular court also. Get off of your liberal rant bias crap and see the truth for once please!!
Why not let Charles Manson out? He actually had no personal involvement or hands on role in the Sharon Tate Murders and all of the rest that were attributed to his cult, and by evidence, convicted of! He didn't hurt anyone, by your reasoning!
OMGosh, why would they let him out? Then CA needs to keep the mofo in their state!
He burried 26 children alive and he is still breathing my air. Way too many scumbags out there. Watch out for your own family and yourself, the courts, the government even the police will not.
I have my own court, Judge Colt and his 6 Jurors! Come to my house and be ajudicated!
I think he should have gotten at least a life term for each of the children he buried alive. I understand that they all survived but the fact of the trauma they suffered as well as the attempted murder whether in the first or second degree of innocent children should not be taken lightly. WOW! He is lucky to have survived prison for attempting to cause harm to children. This is truly a sad article.
all of them should have been buried in an old school bus the next day and left to rot...
California- you reap what you sow. Your the most liberal State in the Country and now look what you get. Want to bet he'll apply for another bus driving job again? And some liberal group will support his " second" chance. I can not understand why 1/2 of my family lives in that sewer.
We have got to stop letting these scumbags out. Now, he also will want revenge for being in jail. Great! Who will his next victim(s) be? Watch for news article soon!
Why don't they just free Manson too while they are at it... No biggie, he only tried to kill 26 children...oh well. Why not put a word in to free Tex Watson too, why not, he served his time...and he belongs to a church and sings a lot... : D
Yes, I am being facetious, for all you morons...
what clowns r running the legal system in CA?? those kids could have all died and all they thought he should get is 6 months??. I am ready 2 pop a valve each time I hear such insanity.
And they keep voting for pelosi, and put Jerry brown back in also. The United States of America needs to pray to GOD that this cesspool(california) breaks off of our country and floats away!!! Can we be so lucky?