The last of the three men responsible for the 1976 Chowchilla bus kidnapping will now be free.
Frederick Newhall Woods was part of the group of men who, inspired by a plot point in the movie Dirty Harry, kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver in California in 1976. It was the largest mass kidnapping in US history, seeing the 27 victims transported more than 100 miles, put in a moving truck, and buried alive as the kidnappers demanded ransom from the family.
Woods has been eligible for parole since 1982. At his 18th parole hearing at the California Men's Colony, a state prison in San Luis Obispo, the parole board agreed to offer Woods parole.
Fred Woods is no longer a danger to the public, according to Commissioner Patricia Cassady and Deputy Commissioner Keith Stanton. The 75-year-old's parole decision has 120 days to become final. After the 120 days, Governor Gavin Newsom has 30 days to let the decision stand or refer the decision to the full Board of Parole Hearings for a review.
Newsom's father, the late state Judge William Newsom, was on an appellate panel in 1980 that reduced the three men's original sentencing of 27 life sentences without the possibility of parole. Once the judge retired, he advocated for their release. In 2011, he pointed out that no one was seriously physically injured during the kidnapping.
There's more to it than physical harm, however. For those now-adult children, who were between the ages of 5 and 14 when the terrible incident occurred in 1976, they are still coping with the events every day.
"It eases as I get older, but as I had children it got harder," survivor Jennifer Brown Hyde told CNN in 2015.
"As they get older, it's gotten easier. It doesn't ever leave you, it's a matter of how well you cope with circumstances that you are put into."
Woods and his accomplices, Richard and James Schoenfeld, were motivated to commit the crime to get $5 million ransom from the California State Board of Education. They believed putting the children in a life-or-death situation would do the trick. They didn't count on the kids working with their bus driver to free themselves within 16 hours of being buried in the ventilated bunker.
Woods, who was 24 when he engaged in the crime, says that he now sees the error of his ways.
"I've had empathy for the victims which I didn't have then," Woods said at his parole hearing.
"I've had a character change since then. I was 24 years old. Now I fully understand the terror and trauma I caused. I fully take responsibility for this heinous act."
Victims are split on whether or not they believe Woods' words are sincere. Hyde spoke out against Woods' parole at the hearing, noting that he is still from a wealthy background and will leave jail to return to the life of a millionaire.
"He could have done much more," she said.
"Even the settlement paid to some of us survivors was not sufficient. It was enough to pay for some therapy but not enough to buy a house."
Larry Park was among the survivors who were OK with Woods' release, but he also spoke to concerns about money.
"I believe you have served enough time for the crime you committed," Park said, before noting, "I'm concerned about the addiction you may have about money."
