One of the three men responsible for the 1976 kidnapping of dozens of children and burying them alive has been approved for parole.
Frederick Woods, 70, was found no longer to be a threat to the public and deemed suitable for parole after spending 44 years in prison. The decision came during Woods’s 18th parole hearing after he pleaded guilty to kidnapping 26 children and their bus driver in Chowchilla, California, and holding them for $5 million ransom in the largest kidnapping in U.S. history. All the victims survived.
“I was 24 years old,” Woods said during his parole hearing on Friday, according to the Washington Post. “Now I fully understand the terror and trauma I caused. I fully take responsibility for this heinous act.”
Woods, Richard Schoenfeld, and brother James Schoenfeld were each given 27 life sentences without the possibility of parole during their initial sentencing. However, an appeals court later ruled in 1980 that the three could have a chance at parole.
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Woods is the last of the three to be released from prison, as he was denied parole in his first 17 panel hearings. Richard and James Schoenfeld were released on parole in 2012 and 2015, respectively.
The three men were found guilty of hijacking a school bus full of children and burying them, along with their driver, in a bunker east of San Francisco. They testified to planning the crime for more than a year and demanded a $5 million ransom from the State Board of Education.
The children and bus driver were able to escape after 16 hours by digging their way out of the bunker while the three men were asleep.
The victims, now adults, were split on the decision to free Woods, with some testifying on his behalf during his Friday hearing.
“I believe you have served enough time for the crime you committed,” survivor Larry Park said during the hearing.
Others said they still suffer from long-term anxiety, arguing Woods hadn’t done enough to earn parole.
“He could have done much more,” Jennifer Brown Hyde 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.”
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The proposal to release Woods on parole will become final within 120 days under state guidelines. After that, California Gov. Gavin Newsom will have 30 days to review the decision.
While Newsom cannot overturn the decision because it’s not a murder conviction, he could recommend it go to the full Board of Parole Hearings for another review.
