Parole Granted to Last 1976 California School Bus Hijacker

SACRAMENTO, Calif.–The last of three men convicted of hijacking a school bus full of California children 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. Two board members recommended his release in March when previous panels had denied him parole 17 times. The board however affirmed this 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 near Chowchilla. The town is about 125 miles southeast of San Francisco.

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. They were able dig the graves out of their bodies more than one day afterward.

Newsom stated that Woods had “continued in financial-related-misconduct while in prison” and used a contraband cell phone to give advice about running a business, including a dealership, gold mining company and a Christmas tree farm. Woods was not convicted for murder and the governor could not block his release. He can only ask the parole board to look into it.

Woods’ behaviour “continues be about the money,” Madera District Attorney Sally Moreno stated in opposition to his parole.

Moreno stated that after the decision, she felt angry and frustrated because justice had been mocked by Madera County. She also fears for society “if one can kidnap schoolchildren and leave them buried alive to escape prison and still commit that crime.

Woods was not eligible to be present in person Tuesday. He said that he was selfish, immature and needed money for acceptance by his parents during March’s parole hearing. His most recent offenses were meant to help the trust fund that his parents left.

” I didn’t have the money. Woods stated that he wanted the ransom money.

Dominique Banos, Woods’ attorney, stated Wednesday that Woods had “shown a change of character for the better” and that he “remains low-risk, and once released, he poses no threat or danger to the community .”

A trio of former prisoners who were inmates with Woods called for parole officers to release him. Four victims and their families said that Woods’ behavior in prison showed that he is still privileged. Woods has been supported by many of his victims.

Officials remove a moving van buried at a rock quarry in Livermore, Calif., on July 20, 1976. The van held 26 Chowchilla schoolchildren and Ed Ray, their bus driver. (James Palmer/AP Photo)

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 have the option to pick random flashbacks whenever I see a van like the one we were taken in,” she said to the board.

“Insomnia keep me awake all night,” she stated. I do not sleep to avoid having nightmares .”

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 remains evil, and he’s out to get it all,” she said. He should spend life behind bars, as I did a lifetime dealing with PTSD from his entitlement .”

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She said Wednesday her family was disappointed but that it was “time to close the chapter and continue living my blessed life.” She also praised her hostages for being “true survivors” and not “victims .”

An appeals court ordered Richard Schoenfeld released in 2012, and then-Gov. Jerry Brown paroled James Schoenfeld 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. Woods has taken steps in prison to make himself better, he said.

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.

By Don Thompson