Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

2 hours ago

US House Republicans Head Toward Final Vote on Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut Bill

3 hours ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

3 hours ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

3 hours ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

3 hours ago

Trump Vowed to Dismantle MS-13. His Deal With Bukele Threatens That Effort.

1 day ago

Ukraine Voices Concern as US Halts Some Missile Shipments

1 day ago

What’s Next for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs After His Sex Trafficking Trial?

1 day ago
Parole Granted to Last Chowchilla Kidnapper Still Behind Bars. Victim Calls Him 'Evil'
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
August 17, 2022

Share

 

The last of three men convicted of hijacking a school bus full of children from Chowchilla for an attempted $5 million ransom in 1976 in what a prosecutor called “the largest mass kidnapping in U.S. history” is being released by the state’s parole board.

Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the board to reconsider its decision to parole Frederick Woods, 70, on Tuesday after two commissioners recommended his release in March when previous panels had denied him parole 17 times. But the board affirmed that decision.

Woods and his two accomplices, brothers Richard and James Schoenfeld, were from wealthy San Francisco Bay Area families when they kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver.

The three buried the children, ages 5 to 14, along with their bus driver in an old moving van east of San Francisco with little ventilation, light, water, food or bathroom supplies. The victims were able to dig their way out more than a day later.

Newsom said Woods “continued to engage in financial related-misconduct in prison,” using a contraband cellphone to offer advice on running a Christmas tree farm, a gold mining business and a car dealership. The governor couldn’t block Woods’ release because he’s not convicted of murder, and could only urge the parole board to take a closer look.

Woods’ behavior “continues to demonstrate that he is about the money,” Madera County District Attorney Sally Moreno said in opposing his parole.

Moreno said after the decision that she was angry and frustrated “because justice has been mocked in Madera County” and she fears for the state of society “if you can kidnap a busload of school children, abandon them buried alive and still get out of prison after committing that crime and spending your time in prison flouting the law.”

Woods wasn’t eligible to attend in person on Tuesday, but said during his parole hearing in March that he felt he needed money to have acceptance from his parents and “was selfish and immature at that time,” while his more recent violations were to benefit the trust fund left him by his late parents.

“I didn’t need the money. I wanted the money,” Woods said of the ransom attempt.

His attorney, Dominique Banos, said Wednesday that the parole board recognized that Woods “has shown a change in character for the good” and “remains a low risk, and once released from prison he poses no danger or threat to the community.”

Three former inmates who served time with Woods urged parole officials to free him, while four victims or their relatives said Woods’ misbehavior in prison shows he still views himself as privileged. Several of Woods’ victims have previously supported his release.

Lynda Carrejo Labendeira, who was 10 at the time, recalled how the children struggled to escape as a flashlight and candles flickered out while “the makeshift, dungeonous coffin was caving in.”

“I don’t get to choose the random flashbacks every time I see a van similar to the one that we were transported in,” she told the board.

“Insomnia keeps me up all hours of the night,” she said. “I don’t sleep so that I don’t have to have any nightmares at all.”

Jennifer Brown Hyde, who was 9 at the time, recalled “the lifetime effects of being buried alive and being driven around in a van for 11 hours with no food, water or a bathroom in over 100-degree weather.”

“His mind is still evil and he is out to get what he wants,” she told the board. “I want him to serve life in prison, just as I served a lifetime of dealing with the PTSD due to his sense of entitlement.”

She said Wednesday that her family is disappointed, but it is “time to close this chapter and continue living the blessed life I have been given.” She praised her fellow hostages as “true survivors and not victims.”

An appeals court ordered Richard released in 2012 and then-Gov. Jerry Brown paroled James in 2015.

Newsom acknowledged that Woods is eligible for consideration both because he was just 24 when he committed the crime and because he is elderly now. He said Woods, who once studied policing at a community college, has also taken steps to improve himself in prison.

The governor’s late father, state Judge William Newsom, was on an appellate panel in 1980 that reduced the men’s life sentences to give them a chance at parole. He pushed for their release in 2011, after he retired, noting that no one was seriously physically injured during the kidnapping.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

House Republicans Say They Expect to Vote Tonight on Trump’s Tax-Cut Bill

DON'T MISS

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to 8,300 Acres, Prompts Evacuations

DON'T MISS

SLO Deputies Fatally Shoot Man in Los Osos Weeks After US Marshal Impersonation Arrest

DON'T MISS

Madera County Deputy Injured, Wanted Felon Arrested After Violent Struggle

DON'T MISS

San Luis Obispo County Wildfire Burns More Than 3,000 Acres. No Containment Yet

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: Why Is State Lawmaker Taking Aim at Rooftop Solar?

DON'T MISS

Two Visalia Men Sentenced in 2021 Motel Killing

DON'T MISS

Ex-Jan. 6 Defendant Gets Life in Prison for Plot to Kill FBI Agents

DON'T MISS

Del Monte Files for Bankruptcy. Gets Nearly $1B to Keep Producing Through Process

DON'T MISS

Who is Running for Fresno Area Offices in 2026? An Updated Look

UP NEXT

SLO Deputies Fatally Shoot Man in Los Osos Weeks After US Marshal Impersonation Arrest

UP NEXT

Madera County Deputy Injured, Wanted Felon Arrested After Violent Struggle

UP NEXT

Two Visalia Men Sentenced in 2021 Motel Killing

UP NEXT

Ex-Jan. 6 Defendant Gets Life in Prison for Plot to Kill FBI Agents

UP NEXT

Del Monte Files for Bankruptcy. Gets Nearly $1B to Keep Producing Through Process

UP NEXT

Who is Running for Fresno Area Offices in 2026? An Updated Look

UP NEXT

Check Out Newest Downtown Mural. It’s a Spectacular Tribute to Fresno Artisans

UP NEXT

Bryan Kohberger to Plead Guilty to Murders of Four Idaho Students

UP NEXT

Valley Children’s Goes Into News Business to Highlight Stories at the Hospital

UP NEXT

Trump Vowed to Dismantle MS-13. His Deal With Bukele Threatens That Effort.

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

2 hours ago

US Paves Way to Resume Ethane Exports to China Amid Trade Truce

2 hours ago

US Supreme Court Won’t Consider Reviving Montana Abortion Parental Consent Law

2 hours ago

US Imposes New Sanctions Targeting Iran Oil Trade, Hezbollah, Treasury Dept Says

2 hours ago

Keep Pets Safe on 4th of July: Fresno County Animal Shelter Offers Tips

2 hours ago

US House Republicans Head Toward Final Vote on Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut Bill

3 hours ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

3 hours ago

Supreme Court’s Conservatives Leaned Into US Culture Wars With Transgender Cases

3 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to 35,000 Acres, More Evacuations Ordered

3 hours ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

3 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Sandra Neredia Jaquez

July 3, 2025 Most Wanted Person of the Day Suspect Name: Sandra Neredia Jaquez Suspects Date of Birth: July 3, 1998 Physical Description: Hi...

1 minute ago

Sandra Neredia Jaquez is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for July 3, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
1 minute ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Sandra Neredia Jaquez

27 minutes ago

Trump Impounds Billions in Education Funding. For Fresno Unified, It’s $7.1 Million

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference following a weekly policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 24, 2025. (Reuters)
1 hour ago

Trump Administration Will Focus on Fed Chair Replacement in Fall, Bessent Says

2 hours ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

U.S. and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken March 20, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

US Paves Way to Resume Ethane Exports to China Amid Trade Truce

A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, U.S., June 1, 2024. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

US Supreme Court Won’t Consider Reviving Montana Abortion Parental Consent Law

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol as Republican lawmakers struggle to pass U.S. President Donald Trump?s sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 27, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

US Imposes New Sanctions Targeting Iran Oil Trade, Hezbollah, Treasury Dept Says

2 hours ago

Keep Pets Safe on 4th of July: Fresno County Animal Shelter Offers Tips

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend