2 in Chowchilla Kidnaping Again Denied Parole
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SAN LUIS OBISPO — Parole has again been denied to two brothers who abducted a busload of 26 children and their driver 10 years ago in a bizarre $5-million bid for ransom.
A three-member state parole hearing panel found Wednesday that James Schoenfeld, 35, and his brother, Richard, 32, require further psychiatric therapy before they can be considered for release from prison.
The Schoenfelds of Atherton and Frederick Woods IV of Portola Valley are serving life terms for the July 15, 1976, kidnaping of 26 children and their bus driver in the San Joaquin Valley farming community of Chowchilla.
In denying parole, the Board of Prison Terms officers mentioned the “extremely bizarre” nature of the crime and psychiatric reports.
It was the third parole hearing for James Schoenfeld and the fifth for his brother. Richard Schoenfeld will be eligible for another parole hearing in a year and James Schoenfeld in two years, the panel decided. Woods, 35, was denied parole in 1983 and will be eligible for another hearing in 1987.
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