SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The governor of California on Thursday allowed parole for one of three men convicted in the 1976 kidnapping of 26 children and their school bus driver who were held captive in a buried trailer.
Gov. Jerry Brown had until midnight Thursday to decide whether to approve parole for 63-year-old James Schoenfeld or send the case back to the board that recommended his release. The governor chose not to act, which allowed the parole board’s decision to stand.
Schoenfeld, his brother, Richard, and a friend, Fred Woods — all from wealthy families in the San Francisco Bay Area — were convicted in 1976.