San Luis Obispo – The California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation’s Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) denied parole today for
convicted kidnapper Fred Woods, 61, during his 13th subsequent parole
consideration hearing at the California Men’s Colony (CMC). Woods was
one of three crime partners involved in the Chowchilla School Bus
Kidnapping case in July 1976.
Woods appeared and spoke before the panel today.
Woods was sent to state prison on February 17, 1978, with a
7-years-to-life sentence from Alameda County with 27 concurrent
convictions for kidnapping. The minimum parole date set by the court for
Woods was August 21, 1980. Accordingly, his initial parole hearing was
in 1982.
The youngest of the kidnapping crime partners, Richard Schoenfeld, was
released to parole June 20, 2012 after an appeals court ordered his
release.
His brother, James Schoenfeld, who is also serving time for this crime
at CMC, is due for his next parole consideration hearing in March 2013.
The BPH hearing transcript will serve as the official record and is expected to be transcribed in approximately 30 days.
Press release from CDCR.
