A 70-year-old American man jailed for kidnapping a bus full of children in 1976 has been granted parole, according to a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Frederick Newhall Woods, 70, was one of three men who abducted 26 children and their bus driver in Chowchilla, a small town in Northern California, more than 45 years ago.
They carried out the largest mass kidnapping in US history, reports CNN.
All 27 prisoners were taken to Livermore, more than a hundred miles from the kidnapping site. There, the children and the bus driver were placed in a moving car and buried alive in a quarry owned by Woods’ father.
The kidnappers then demanded five million dollars (43 million Norwegian kroner) in ransom to release the victims.
After 16 hours underground, the driver and children dug themselves out and escaped while the kidnappers slept.
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Last again
Woods and his accomplices, brothers Richard and James Schoenfeld, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and were given 27 life sentences each without the possibility of parole.
However, a court of appeal overturned the verdict about ten years ago and ruled that the three should be given the chance of parole.
Richard Schoenfeld was released on probation in 2012, and James Schoenfeld remained the same in 2015.
Woods is the last of the three still in prison, but now he gets the opportunity to be released.
Killed while the children were at school
Woods’ 18th parole hearing was held Friday last week in the California Men’s Colony, a state prison in San Luis Obispo.
The proposal for parole from the consultation panel will be final within 120 days.
After the decision on parole is final, the governor of California has 30 days to review the decision. He can either let the decision apply or refer the case to a whole new committee for another assessment.
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Inspired by “Dirty Harry”
As previously mentioned, the Woods and Schoenfeld brothers carried out the largest mass kidnapping in US history.
They have since said that they decided to perform the action after being inspired by the plot in the film “Dirty Harry” from 1972.
The film classic, starring Clint Eastwood, is about a serial killer who extortes money from San Francisco.
In the film, desperate politicians pay thousands of dollars to avert his acts of violence. The city is thus “held hostage” until the serial killer meets Dirty Harry, who takes matters into his own hands.
In grief: – It hurts
Victims spoke out
Several victims of the kidnapping, now adults, said CNN in 2015 that they still had anxiety and nightmares from the incident.
Darla Neal, who was ten years old at the time, said her extreme anxiety made it impossible to live normally. She got the mental problems as a result of the kidnapping.
– I get so overwhelmed that I have to leave work at times. I tell myself that I should be able to shake this off and deal with it. But here I am, completely out of my mind, she told CNN in 2015.
It now remains to be seen whether Woods’ parole will be completed in 120 days.
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