Billy Goucher's Grand Jury Testimony

                                                       Billy Goucher and Maria Alonzo

These are the pages from the grand jury testimony that Billy Goucher gave prior to testifying against Michael Monfort and James Craig for the murder of James Willett in Guerneville CA in 1972.

The newspaper articles about the trial are HERE.

Color Footage of Monfort, Pitman, Craig, Fromme and Cooper's Stockton Arrest

This is some recently released film of those arrested for Lauren and James Willett's murders.  It's from San Francisco Bay Area television station, KPIX.  It's kind of cool that it is in color and you can tell exactly where the newspaper pictures came from.  There is also some footage of the exterior of the house on Flora St.

Spider Squashers

Recently, Eviliz.com posted a question from a reader as to what ever happened to James Craig? You can see that post here: http://www.eviliz.com/2013/03/q-on-james-craig.html You may also want to check out this thread: http://www.eviliz.com/2012/02/discovery-park-murders-info-from.html and this one: http://www.eviliz.com/2011/08/discovery-park-murders-death-of-james.html

Above is another copy of the article describing how Robert Chrisman turned himself in in 1978 regarding the murder of James Craig. Farf further filled us in as follows:

"On the same day Craig died, just across the river in Yolo County on Interstate 80, two CHP officers were killed. Roy Blecher and William Freeman were shot by Luis Valenzuela Rodriguez, who was accompanied by his girlfriend Margaret Klaess. At the time they were living in the Bel Air Motel in West Sacramento, CA (still in operation). While stealing two cars, robbing three people and consuming cocaine and drinking, they managed to murder two police officers. Margaret Klaess was given no more than a three year sentence and immunity from all crimes, if she testified fully and truthfully in the Rodriguez murder trial. She must have been somewhat credible since the jury found him guilty and dropped the death penalty in his lap. During the trial, Margaret Klaess testified that around October 1978, she along with Rodriguez, were teamed with Barabas and Craig. Their collective mission was to rip off a “North Area” cocaine dealer. Are the two crimes related? I don’t know, but if the testimony of Klaess was good enough for a murder conviction, then I would give some weight to what she said about Barabas and Craig. But no definitive conclusion."

Thanks again Farf, for your excellent knowledge of the minutiae. Here's a little gift for you from Patty.

PS: The owner is a kind, petite, eagle-eyed Indian woman who wanted to know what Patty was looking for? This is the first time anyone has ever asked her what she was doing while photographing a Manson related site. Patty told her that "someone famous" used to stay here in the 1970's. Her smile was so big that Patty did not have the heart to tell her who...

Q&A on James Craig

From our curious German friends-

Why do you think AB member Craig was murdered?

The Trial For James Willett's Murder

Michael Monfort and James Craig ultimately pleaded guilty for James Willett's murder but a jury was picked and the trial did open before a plea deal was reached.  The articles begin with Billy Goucher in June of 1973 pleading guilty to second degree murder in the death of James Willett.  Goucher agreed to the plea to reduce his charge from first degree murder and therefore do less prison time.  He also had to become a state's witness in the upcoming trial of Monfort and Craig in order for that plea to stand.

Almost six months later the trial for Monfort and Craig was ready to get underway.  Nancy Pitman and Priscilla Cooper were brought from Frontera to testify as witnesses.  There were the usual motions and protests voiced by the defense attorneys.  Along the way there were a couple of surprising twists and turns before the deal was done.

Touching Kodak Moments

 

A tender image of Billy Goucher & Maria Alonzo under their Nazi flag.

Awwwwe...

A tender image of Michael Monfort & James Craig.
Reminds me a little bit of Midnight Cowboy...

Thanks to Ole JC for the pics!

The Guns

There were several weapons recovered from the Flora Street house in Stockton according to the police reports so generously donated by Farflung. Among them:

1. The murder weapon, a .38 six shot revolver Rohm RG, blue steel with brown plastic grips:


2. A .38 taurus-brasil, blue steel with wood grips:


3. A .32 special Harrington Richardson brand, chrome:


4. A sawed off 20 gauge shotgun Stevens brand, Model 940E, blue steel with wood grips:


5. A 12 gauge full choke sawed off Champion brand shotgun, Iver Johnson arm and cycle works with a drawing of the AB cloverleaf on its butt:

Armed to the teeth? Hell yeah.

Discovery Park Murders Info from an Eviliz.com Reader

FARFLUNG recently wrote in to Eviliz.com:

"Greetings Eviliz,

I enjoy the blog and was always flummoxed by the bizarre web which included Fromme and some AB types who ended up in Sacramento. According to the ‘California Death Index’, James Teurrill Craig (DOB 08/23/1939) lasted till 22 Dec 1978 which is just over a month after Robert Harry Chrisman turned himself into the police. I suppose he thought that Craig would ID him anyway and gave up.

At least this offers a couple possibilities as to who the ‘she’s dangerous’ woman may have been. I thought the fact that Craig’s car was found less than two blocks from Fromme’s former attic apartment was some possible message to Squeaky, but appears to be just a coincidence. That part of town in the mid 70’s wasn’t the best of areas...Any other information about this double homicide has been difficult to find. At least for me."
So, does Farflung mean that the "She's Dangerous" comment made by Craig in the UCDMC ER referred to Della Hunt or Donna Bierer? And, why did Chrisman turn himself in in Ventura County instead of Sacramento? Were these people once "friendly" with the Manson Family?

Some questions answered, but so many more remain!

Why they married

http://www.sonomasheriff.org/about_history.php

Left- Nancy and baby Eric

In October of 1972, The Press Democrat headline read “Manson Link to River Slaying.” Aryan Brotherhood members Michael Monfort and James Craig, along with notorious Manson family members Pricilla Cooper, Stacy Pitman and Lynnette Fromme (a.k.a. “Squeaky,” and who incidentally, attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975) were arrested in connection to the murder of United States Marine James T. Willett. Willett was shot through the head with a .38 caliber weapon and buried in a shallow grave on a mountain south of Guerneville. His wife, Lauren Willett, was also found murdered and buried in a similar grave in Stockton. Monfort was the first to be linked to the murders. He used James Willett’s identification after being arrested for robbing a liquor store. He later jumped bail. His recapture was shortly followed by the arrest of the other four suspects at a Stockton apartment, where officers located Willett’s discharge papers. The prosecution subpoenaed Cooper and Pittman to testify against Monfort and Craig. In an attempt to mock the law, Monfort and Craig managed to marry the women before the trial, making it illegal for the women to testify against their husbands. Nevertheless, Monfort and Craig were both convicted and served time for their crimes. After being paroled, Craig was shot numerous times, his body was stuffed in the trunk of a car and the car was set on fire on a Sacramento street.

The nut don't fall far from the tree

Click to expand

Folsom Prison

Then...

...And Now


Folsom Prison was home to Charles Manson from October 1972 to May of 1976, and to James Terrell "Spider" Craig from 1973 until 1978. Today, there are two prisons in the town of Represa, CA 95671: Folsom State Prison, and California State Prison, Sacramento which was initially meant to be an addition to the main building. The word "represa" in Spanish means "dam," because as you can see the prison sits adjacent to the Folsom Dam which forms Folsom Lake.



Notice that just across the waters lies the extremely expensive community of Granite Bay, CA. Patty finds it ironic that both society's unwanted and those who have aspired to the top of the American Dream are both distanced from the rest of us, yet so very close together: It was in Granite Bay that NBA player "Meta World Peace" (formerly Ron Artest) was arrested for animal cruelty. It was also in Granite Bay where 15 year old Tylar Witt and her boyfriend killed her mom Joanne Witt in her sleep, having drugged her first. And just this week, it was discovered that a lead psychologist at Represa, Laurie Ann Martinez, has been arrested for making fake rape and burglary charges at home to get her husband to move to a nicer neighborhood (like, Granite Bay, maybe?)

And they asked him why he wears black...


above: Johnny Cash plays Folsom Prison, 1968. Below: Cash givin' it to The Man

This is for Heidi Willett...

On February 5, Liz posted photos of  "Lauren & Heidi Willet with Frenemies". You can re-read it here:
 http://www.eviliz.com/2011/02/lauren-heidi-willet-with-frenemies.html 

Last night Cece, who knew the Willets and stayed in a nearby cabin at the Russian River resort posted the following message for Heidi. First-hand insight - the kind of stuff that makes this blog so worth it. Thank you, Cece. We hope Heidi still reads regularly. 

This is for Heidi Willett...

Heidi, I met both your mother and father while living next door to them in one of the cabins at the resort up in Guerneville, which were the cabins right on the banks of the Russian River.
I never in a million years would have suspected that they were part of a robbery gang, they seemed like such a loving couple.

Your mom used to carry you around in her arms and you were getting pretty heavy, so I gave her my baby backpack since I was using a new stroller instead for my little girl who was too heavy to be carried in a backpack.

Your mom was very shy and looked quite frightened most of the times I saw her and wouldn't talk with me. Your dad seemed so nice and loving to her and you that I couldn't figure out why she looked so worried. Now I know.

Your dad was a very friendly person, calm, easy going and was very kind to my elementary school age son and loved to take him catfishing at night on the river. My son adored your father and never had a bad word to say about him. They caught catfish using a lantern and I had to learn how to cook the one my son brought home. Shake'N'Bake for fish did the trick.

I was living up there with my two young children and my friend who I had met through my religion, the Baha'i Faith. We used to hold Baha'i meetings in our cabin on Saturday nights and sometimes your dad would ask if he could come in and listen to what we were talking about.

He wouldn't come into the main room where we were all sitting around, instead he would sit out in the kitchen at our wooden picnic table and listen all by himself.

One night when he was sitting there listening, we heard someone pounding on our door, opened it and were startled to see "Spider" Craig holding a large commercial size mayonaise jar full of Tarantulas. "Spider" looked past us at your dad and then said "here's a present for you girls." We said "no thank you", he turned away smiling and we closed the door.

We didn't even know "Spider" knew your father. We had just heard some really scary stories about "Spider's" violent behavior around town, so we tried to steer clear of him.

A few days later we heard that your dad's body was found. And then later that your mother's body was found in Stockton. My friends and I were very sad about this, but my young son was very upset.

One night shortly after your parents' deaths my friend and I decided to say prayers for your mom and dad. After we were done, I asked my friend what she thought they were thinking because I had some feelings that I wanted to verify. She said that she felt at first that they were both annoyed and mad at us for praying, that they felt we didn't know them well enough to pray for them, but then as we continued to say prayers out loud for them, they became calm and then happy and grateful we were praying for them.

Those was exactly the same feelings I picked up while saying the prayers...anger, then calming down then gratitude.

I certainly hope both your parents are blessed and can rest in peace.

I've always wondered if perhaps your dad's contact with my Baha'i friends caused him to try and back out of the robbery gang. That makes me sad to think this but at the same time happy that perhaps he and your mom are blessed because of what he attempted to do to protect you and your mom.

Wishing you every happiness and peace Heidi...you were a darling, sweet-faced baby girl and very loved by both your parents.

Cece

Discovery Park Murders: the Death of James "Spider" Craig

above: the only spot off the pavement big enough for a car west of Truxel on Sacramento's Garden Highway. In 1978 this would have been a relatively isolated place.

James Terrell “Spider” Craig's woman was Priscilla “Tuffy” Cooper. They were living with Nancy Pitman, Michael “Redeye” Monfort, Billy Goucher and Maria “Crystal” Alonzo in Guerneville when the three men decided to take James Willett out into the woods and kill him on or about October 17, 1972.

By 1978, Spider was out of prison and running with other Aryan Brotherhood fellas. One of them was 27 year old Ed Barabas, who had just finished serving a three year term at nearby Folsom Prison for armed robbery. Inevitably, something they were doing in Sacramento went horribly wrong. At about 4am on the morning of Wednesday, November 15th, police found Spider and Barabas with shotgun wounds to their faces and stuffed into the trunk of a burning 1967 gold colored Dodge near Discovery Park, Sacramento. The car was stolen about five miles south in a community called Hood, and reportedly parked just off the pavement west of Truxel on the Garden Highway.

above: A 1967 gold- colored Dodge (not "the" Dodge, for illustration purposes only.)

Barabas was positioned closest to the back seat and was pronounced dead on the scene. However, Spider was taken to nearby U. C. Davis Medical Center where he survived in the burn unit until his death on December 22. Legend has it that his last words before a medically induced coma set in were “She’s dangerous!” Spider's car was later found parked downtown at 17th and Q.

Above is the U.C. Davis Medical Center’s old ED where Spider was likely deposited by paramedics. It was vacated in late 2010 and is scheduled for demolition within the next two years.