Geographic analysis of Guerneville concerning James Willett

Being driven by minutia and trivia I thought some geographic analysis of Guerneville was in order.  After all, California has experienced a blossoming population growth since the end of WWII and many things have changed in a few years.  I gave up trying to convince some younger types that Disneyland was once surrounded by orange groves and Knott's Berry Farm had free admission.  Suggesting what travel was like when Nevada had no speed limits and the Interstate system was just oddly scattered fragments of road, places me in the category of liar or overdue to be processed into some sort of gasoline.  But I'm comfortable with it.

Thanks to the miracle of the internet a person can make a virtual time machine and see into the past.  Well at least on a map.  The USGS has a site that one can download historical maps from various years.  These maps are extremely detailed and include roads, trails and building footprints to name a few features.  So what did Guerneville look like 40 years ago you ask?  Astonishingly similar to today's representation by comparing the same area side by side in the attached file.

This area is over one and a half square miles of terrain south of Guerneville.  This 'should' enclose the murder site of James Willett, if the news articles were remotely accurate.  Virtually every feature on the 1971 map is identical to the modern version today.  One can see the same road network, structures and infrastructure which 'should' limit errors and extra assumptions.

The articles variously called the gravesite an 'old road' and 'trail' about half a mile south of town.  The only road which could meet such a description is Mays Canyon Road which is outlined in blue on the 1971 chart.  Circled in red is the location of Parker's Resort which is on the northwest corner of a square mile section outlined in red to give a sense of distance and scale.

The magenta lines represent un-improved roads which could be characterized as 'old roads' perhaps.  The black squares represent structures which could be storage sheds, garages or occupied dwellings.  This is a resort area and the Willetts and 'friends' were there in the beginning of the off season when the overall population was likely at a low, along with the prices for accommodations.

The only other thing I could imagine being described as an old road or trail could be the easement cut for the power lines which is marked in yellow.  These are the sort of things that easily pass through our visual filters since they are so commonplace, even in the middle of wilderness areas.  This is pure guessing on my part and has been associated with zero reports or articles.

Adding to the possibilities is the road Panamint and Beef Patty researched which appears to lie between the power line and the second unpaved road on Mays Canyon Rd.  Considering the number of structures associated with the other roads would make them less likely, but the actions of Monfort have rarely aligned with intelligence or thought.

The bright yellow 'pipe gate' has a BLM and Forest Service look to it along with the oddly placed 'Jersey barriers' indicate this is the hand of your government hard at work where Patty took her photo.  The fact that trails and water tanks are mapped religiously by the USGS and this road being missed is quite the find and a reflection of the attention to detail which Panamint and company have given this subject.  I for one am impressed and believe the area identified on the blog is an extremely good fit to the description.  At least I can't find many other options.

Contributed by Farflung

Assessor's map of Patty's "Willett" Road

Farflung Writes:

I tried to do the unimaginable and simply check the Sonoma County assessors maps for any information about the road Patty had discovered.  Imagine doing something the easy way.  The mystery is a little thinner as it is a single parcel of some 230 acres where this road winds towards the Russian River and joins Neeley Road.  I would imagine this parcel was just a quiet and removed from the normal traffic of town in 1972 as it is today.

The Parker Resort in Guerneville

When the Pattys were in Guerneville recently investigating the death of James Willett, they tried to determine which of the many local resorts it was in which the group had been living. Mystery solved: on the police report that FARFLUNG just provided, Priscilla Cooper states that some photos introduced into evidence were taken "at the Parker Resort."

Parker's Resort is family owned and operated, and has been for decades. They are dog friendly and offer camping and RVing (cabins like those pictured below are no longer rented to the public). They generally have good reviews on yelp.


The Pattys nearly stayed there, but ended up several miles away instead. The entrance on Neeley Road is barely marked as you can see. In fact, The Pattys almost missed it entirely.

Here also is a great view from Neeley road just a few hundred yards west of Parker's Resort of the thriving metropolis of downtown Guerneville, CA:


You can read Eviliz.com reader Cece's firsthand account of life at Parker's with the Willetts here:http://www.eviliz.com/2011/11/this-is-for-heidi-willett_02.html

Guerneville, CA: In Search of James Willett (Part 5)

Above: headstone of James Willett's parents in Bardstown, Kentucky

Readers: we are coming to the end of our exploration of the murder of James Willett in Guerneville. We saw where his body may have been found, and where it was initially taken to be identified and prepared for burial. James Willett is most certainly dead. Today, however, he lives on in the person of Heidi, who we understand reads the blogs. We wish her the best. This last article pulled from the Press Democrat deals with what became of Heidi when she was not yet a year old:

HEIDI WILLETT: GRANDPARENTS CLAIM HER

STOCKTON, Calif. (UPI) - The tiny daughter of a nomadic young couple gunned down after joining a group of ex-cons and "Manson girls" has been claimed by her grandparents in XXXX.

George XXXX of XXXX, Conn., a general foreman at a plant in New Haven, and his wife, Vera, said Wednesday they would fly here later this week to take custody of eight-month-old Heidi Willett.

The youngster was found Sunday in a house where police discovered the body of her mother, Lauren Olmstead Willett, 19, in the basement and arrested two men and three women for her murder.

The child's father, Marine combat veteran James T. Willett, 26, was shot to death a month ago and buried near the town of Guerneville, 100 miles northewst of here.

Willett's father, distillery president A. Thompson Willett of Bardstown, Ky., sad he and his wife discussed their grand-daughter's future with Lauren's parents and decided the Connecticut couple should adopt her because they had a smaller family.

Willett said his son's lifestyle bordered on "being a hippie," while his daughter-in-law, whom he met once, was a "quiet" girl who ran away from home in a dispute over continuing in school.

Authorities said Mrs. Willett and her daughter apparetly accompanied the three men charged with her husband's death to Stockton after his slaying. They all lived here in a two-bedroom home with three girls invlved in the cult of mass murderer Charles Manson.


And that, dear readers is the end of our story: an oft-overlooked chapter in the history of The Family that is obscure enough by now that today's editor of the Press Democrat for Guerneville was informed of the incident by doing a standard internet search on her town and stumbling upon Eviliz.com earlier this week. James, you are gone, but you are not forgotten. Not here, not on our watch.

Eviliz replaced some names and addresses with "XXXX", out of respect that no one will bother the family of Lauren. If you remember, Heidi did contact us and post in the comments awhile back. She told us she is doing very well in life. We here wish her nothing but the best.

Guerneville, CA: In Search of James Willett (Part 4)

By Wednesday, November 15, 1972 staff writer Bonny Saludes of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat had turned in the following article:

Willett Slayings: Did Wife See Husband Slain?

The slain wife of an ex-Marine whose headless body was found in a shallow grave in Guerneville last Wednesday may have witnessed her husband's killing and agreed to it.

That possibility is being discussed here as investigators evaluate statements of a confidential informant, who was instrumental in the identification of the Guerneville victim and the arrest of suspects in Stockton Sunday.

District Attorney John Hawkes said the ex-Marine, James Willett, 26, allegedly was shot by three members of a armed robbery ring to silence him on October 10.

There is speculation Willett's 19-year-old wife, Laurete (sic), was slain last weekend for a similar purpose.

Three men, Michael Lee Monfort, James Terill Craig, and William Merland Goucher Jr., were charged Monday with first-degree murder in the slaying of Willett, the son of a president of a Kentucky distillery.

Monfort, Craig and three women- Priscilla Copper, Nancy Pitman and Lynette Fromme- are charged with the murder of Mrs. Willett, whose body was unearthed from beneath a Stockton residence early Sunday morning. She reportedly was living in the house with the defendants.

At Hawkes' request at the time he filed the murder complaint, Municipal Court Judge Kiernan Hyland sealed the affidavit which the district attorney filed in support of the complaint.

The document gives details which led to the murder charge. Hawkes' written request to seal the affidavit stated it "contains material which cannot be released to the news media prior to trial of the case."

The Press Democrat has learned that by co-incidence, the confidential informer was reporting a body would be found in Guerneville about the same time an elderly man stumbled upon Willett's shallow grave on a mountain overlooking Guerneville last Wednesday.

About the time of Willett's death, it was learned, Willett reportedly wanted his wife and child disassociated from the alleged robbery ring and wanted her to go to another state.

The wife, however, wanted to continue her associations with the group.

Authorities say they have no evidence other than that indicating Mrs. Willett left the Guerneville area with the suspects on her own volition after her husband's death.

Miss Cooper told Stockton authorities Mrs. Willett was shot by Monfort while he was engaged in a modified version of russian roulette. She said the shooting was "accidental."

Authorities here are skeptical about that story and are wondering if Mrs. Willett was killed to silence her about her husband's death.

According to Hawkes, the robbery ring established headquarters at a Guerneville resort and allegedly went back and forth to Southern California, committing robberies. The four couples reportedly stayed at the resort for about a month.

Monfort, Craig, and Goucher probably will not be prosecuted in Sonoma County for the Willett slaying until well into next year, Hawkes said.

He said San Joaquin County District Attorney Joseph A. Baker told him he intended to prosecute the defendants in Stockton for the wife's murder before releasing them to Sonoma County for trial.

Hawkes said Goucher, who is not charged with the murder of Mrs. Willett, may be brought to Sonoma County sooner than the other two.

He is charged in Stockton with two counts of armed robbery and has already been bound over for trial after a preliminary hearing.

Goucher could be returned here shortly after the first of the year, Hawkes said.

The next scheduled appearance in Stockton for the other defendants is Nov. 28.


Believe it or not Eviliz readers, there is one last part of the Guerneville saga to come. Here's to hoping you are finding this as interesting as Patty does.

Guerneville, CA: In Search of James Willett (Part 3)

The Pattys had learned from the Press Democrat that the body was found about a half mile south of town, near an old road, and on the side of a mountain. It seemed to Patty that the best place to start looking was on the western side of Mays Canyon Road, on the side of Neeley Hill which is the only thing resembling a mountain south of Guerneville. Mr. Patty made note of his odometer and at 0.5, they started to look carefully. Could this be “it?” The metal gate to the old road is covered in scratched-in graffiti and someone had come out and freshly chalked a big peace sign onto a cement barrier. This appears to be a place where, for some reason, people come and linger. Patty ill-advisedly ventured around the gate onto posted private property.
Further up the trail just out of sight of the main road and to the left was a large turnaround containing a rotting mattress. On the right, a carefully bouldered-off wash full of detritus in which a shallow grave could easily have been dug on short notice. Right next to this little wash, the side of Neely Hill jutting up and looking very mountainous, indeed from where Patty stood.


In brief, Patty cannot be sure that this is the exact spot where James Willett was found. If not, it is highly probable that this is the“old road” that the hiker was treading upon that day in 1972. The site was surely close to the road if an elderly man could distinguish a human hand from piles of twigs and sticks that you find in the forest.

If you are not yet convinced, had the Pattys driven much beyond this spot to the south they would have been out of range of the half mile estimate in The Press Democrat. If, however, one were allowed to drive this old road beyond the gate and to the west, it would sweep out a half-mile contour that would closely follow The Pattys' hand drawn map in Part 1 (see http://www.eviliz.com/2011/09/guerneville-ca-in-search-of-james.html ).

For whatever it is worth to you, it felt right to Patty, so she paused a moment to think about the victim and his family. Wouldn't you?

But wait…that’s not all, there is more...seriously! Check back soon for more about the Willetts, The Family, and Guerneville.

Guerneville, CA: In Search of James Willett (Part 2)

It was not long before the authorities realized the Manson connection. The page one headlines of the Press Democrat on November 13, 1972 read:



Manson Family Linked to River Area Slaying



The slaying near Guerneville of a young Marine has touched off the arrest of two men and three female members of the Manson family in Stockton.



San Joaquin County authorities yesterday uncovered the body of Lauren Willett, the 19-year-old wife of James T. Willett, 26, whose body was found on a mountain south of Guerneville last week.



The body of the young woman, shot through the head, was found in a shallow grave in Stockton yesterday.



Sonoma County Attorney John Hawkes said he would file a murder charge today in connection with the Guerneville slaying.



San Joaquin County authorities said those arrested over the weekend in Stockton are being held as suspects in the slaying of the Willetts.



Willett’s body was found by an elderly hiker when the hiker saw the victim’s hand protruding from the ground.



San Joaquin investigators said the Marine’s wife had been buried one day. She had been killed by a .38 bullet through the head.



Authorities said the three women, arrested with the two men at a residence in Stockton yesterday, had scarred crosses on their foreheads – a mark that identified the women in the notorious southern California hippie family of Charles Manson.



Stockton police said they had arrested one of the suspects, Michael Monfort, 24, on Oct. 3 on charges of robbing a liquor store. He identified himself as Willett and later jumped bail.



Officers recaptured him Saturday and questioned him about having Willett’s identification.



Sonoma County detectives, however, were in Stockton Friday investigating certain aspects of Willett’s slaying.



Others arrested at a Stockton apartment were James Craig, 33, Priscilla Cooper, 21; Nancy Pitman, 24, and Lynette Fromme, 24.



Willett’s discharge papers were found in the residence, the officers said.



“These people travel – Los Angeles, Guerneville, Sonoma County, San Francisco, Stockton. The have no address,” said an officer.



DA Hawkes today said the sheriff’s office has placed holds on Monfort, Craig, and a third man, identified as William M. Goucher, 23.



Goucher was arrested with Monfort for the Oct. 3 robbery and has been in jail since.



He said he is withholding issuance of a murder complaint until completion of some last minute investigation in the Guerneville area by a sheriff’s detective.



Meanwhile, an official with the Department of Corrections said today Monfort and Craig are known to be members of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white racist cult of prison inmates which deals in murder contracts for profit.



At the time Monfort was arrested with Willett’s identification and stationwagon, officials said, he was wanted for escape from a state prison work camp.



…



Hawkes said today there is thus far no connection between the three women and the death of Willett in Guerneville.



In Guerneville, The Patties located the old Redwood Chapel at 14045 Mill St., which is now a county building of some sort:



James' body was likely brought to the lower level through these very doors. But, where was he found? Check back soon, there is much more to come.

Guerneville, CA: In Search of James Willett (Part 1)

The idea was to get to the public library in Santa Rosa to view old Press Democrat on fiche by five on Friday. That would give Patty a full hour before closing to find the goods! The traffic gods were not with The Patties however and they arrived a mere fifteen minutes before closing. Due to not yet having eaten for the day, encountering an especially witchy librarian, and being distracted by the lights being switched on and off, Patty’s hands shook so badly she could not even thread the damn thing: it exploded into a puddle on the floor. “Patty needs a drink….NOW” she said to Mr. Patty on her cell.



Patty returned to the library on Saturday morning completely refreshed and relieved to find a much nicer librarian to help her find the following:



Body Found in Shallow Grave Near Guerneville

Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Wednesday, November 8, 1972

A badly decomposed body was found in a shallow grave yesterday atop a mountain about a half-mile south of Guerneville, acconding to Sonoma County Sheriff Don Striepeke.



Striepeke, who had deputies out last weekend digging for possible Hell's Angels' victims, declined to speculate today whether the unidentified body was involved with the motorcycle gang.



"We're not speculating on this at all," he said. "We haven't tied in anything with this body."



But the sheriff pointed out that the body was "clear across the county" from the Sonoma Valley area where deputies hunted unsuccessfully for buried remains last weekend.



Striepeke said his identification people returned to the grave today and were making a careful check of the area around it for evidence. He said deputies secured the area after the body was removed Tuesday night.



The grave was discovered by Robert W. Stevens, 71, who was hiking along an old road in the mountainous area when he saw a hand protruding from the ground, the Sheriff said.



Striepeke said identity of the body, which had apparently been buried several months, had not been established and it was impossible to say this morning whether it was male or female.



The clothing offered the best lead to officials trying to identify the person, he said.



Shortly after Stevens contacted deputies at the Guerneville sheriff's substation, Sgt. Joseph Aleksick went to the spot and confirmed the presence of the body, according to official information released about the discovery.



Striepeke, several members of his staff and Deputy Coroner Don Noriel worked several hours into the night exhuming the body.



It was taken to Guerneville Redwood Chapel where an autopsy will be performed today to determine, if possible, the cause of death, the sheriff said.



The only physical description authorities were able to provide was that the person appeared to be medium height and had dark hair.



Striepeke asked that anyone with information on someone wearing a Marine dress blue jacket to call his office at (redacted).



Over a cold pint of Pliny (the Elder), The Patties took a pencil to a mapquested aerial view of the area south of Guerneville:







And then, they were off. (More later: check back soon!)