Chowchilla kidnapper, former Atherton resident, to be paroled soon

Was the younger Schoenfeld brother released back to Atherton? Will the older brother be released here, too? Do they still have family in the area?

Richard Schoenfeld (the younger brother) was released and apparently moved in with his mother in Mountain View. The media quickly determined which apartment complex he was residing at (it was Willow Park Apartments, 555 W Middlefield Road at the corner of Moffett Boulevard): Web Link

I remember the TV trucks that day as I live in that area.

I do not know if either one still resides at that location.

Is Fred Woods up for parole soon? I heard that this property in Portola Valley was seized and is now part of the Open Space preserve, does anyone know if this is true?

@Carolyn S.

The property is indeed now a part of the Open Space. However it was not seized. It was willed by the incarcerated Fred Woods' father, Frederick N. Woods III who died in 2008.

Here is the Almanac News story: Web Link

I remember the Woods property in Portola Valley, and the huge number of old cars Fred Woods had parked on his parents' acreage. I also remember the Schoenfeld family - the father was a podiatrist in Menlo, and the family lived on Stockbridge not far from the Alameda de las Pulgas. Regarding the sentence: I'm reminded of the very light (2 years?) sentence Dan White got for killing two people (Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk) in 1978. It doesn't seem just or correct that these boys got so many decades in prison, considering the fact that they never intended to hurt or kill these children - and to my knowledge - none of them was physically harmed at all. So my question is: Why was Dan White given such a light sentence just a few years after the Chowchilla kidnapping, and these boys given nearly 30 years each? It doesn't seem fair, does it? It shows us that money can't necessarily buy a light sentence. And didn't Dan White give himself 'Capital Punishment' after being freed and allowed to go back to SF and live with his wife in their home? Didn't White use the vacuum cleaner hose attached to his car to end his life? He was probably without friends, and unemployable after he murdered two people and served a very, very short sentence.

I believe the court system behaved correctly in the Chowchilla kidnapping incident and meted out the correct punishment.

The Dan White case was far more complex and his light sentence was rooted in a number of extenuating factors. He was at the time a city supervisor who had just resigned, as well as a former SF cop, fireman and Vietnam veteran. He was also a former health food junkie who had recently slipped into eating junk food which was seem as symptomatic of a larger condition of depression. It was the condition of depression that the prosecution successfully used to convince the jury that Dan White was incapable of premeditated violence.

Dan White served five years of a seven year sentence (voluntary manslaughter) and committed suicide two years after his release. He did try to reconnect with his wife and family, but the marriage failed. The cause of death was carbon monoxide asphyxiation from his car's exhaust pipe via a garden hose.

Humans run courts and sometimes there are failures. It is up to you whether the judicial system stumbled with Dan White. One positive outcome of the Dan White judicial case was the eventual elimination of California's "diminished capacity" law.

Note that the judicial system is particularly harsh with adults who threaten children. In the Chowchilla case, the victims weren't old or strong enough to repel their captors. Remember that the Chowchilla children are alive only because they found a way to escape. They were left by the kidnappers to die. The fact that they didn't doesn't indicate any benevolence on the part of their captors. They were lucky to dig themselves out.

Personally, I think the judicial system acted correctly with the Chowchilla kidnappers, but failed with Dan White. White should have back-to-back life sentences for the murders of Moscone and Milk.

The SJ Mercury News just posted an article about the Chowchilla kidnapping and the motives behind it (money): Web Link

The newspaper notes that Richard Schoenfeld takes care of his 92-year-old mother in Mountain View and runs a motorcycle shop in San Carlos. His soon-to-be-released older brother James plans on working with him at the shop.

James Schoenfeld and Richard (Rick) Schoenfeld might also live with their older brother John in a house that is located between the Notre Dame de Namur campus and El Camino Real in Belmont. John Schoenfeld owns Peninsula Motorsports in San Carlos, where James and Richard apparently repair motorcycles.

The Schoenfelds and Dan White should never have been paroled. Kidnapping and murder are despicable crimes.