Orrin Monfort Arrested Again

Orrin Monfort, Nancy Pitman and Michael Monfort's youngest son, was arrested yesterday for threatening to kill a 16 year old girl while trying to take her bicycle.  Orrin has a long criminal record dating back 10 years.  He is currently living in Albany Oregon.

You can read the latest article HERE

Nancy Pitman and Michael Monfort were married January 27, 1976.  It was a jailhouse wedding.  All three of their sons were conceived during conjugal visits in prison.  Orrin was born in Napa CA just days after Michael was released from prison, May 4, 1984, for the murders of James Willett in Guerneville CA and Lauren Willett in Stockton CA in late 1972.

Michael Monfort died in prison while serving an 800+ year sentence, July 3, 2005.

There are two previous articles, with video, about the incident involving Orrin Monfort at these links.

http://katu.com/news/local/police-looking-for-man-trying-to-take-girls-bike-outside-albany-store

http://katu.com/news/local/officials-arrest-man-accused-of-threatening-16-year-old-girls-life-in-bike-theft

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.

Nancy Pitman and Michael Monfort After Their Release From Prison For the Willetts Murders

Google Maps

Nancy's parents purchased a home in Napa CA for the couple to live in after Nancy was released from prison.  I spoke to a retired Napa police officer who told me that Duncan and Joanne lived in the home for a while with Nancy's oldest child.  After Nancy's release from serving time for Lauren Willetts murder she eventually established residence there.  

The police officer also told me that he lived on the same street and informally was asked to keep an eye on the Monforts during the time they lived there.  He said that they did not live there under the name of Monfort but were allowed to stay there under an assumed name.  The officer could not remember, or did not want to tell me, the assumed name.

Once Monfort's parole was finished they were out of there and the house was sold. 

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!

Stockton, NOW

Some time ago when Farflung sent Eviliz.com a copy of the Stockton Murders police report, Patty filed away in her mental cabinet some ideas for future posts. Through the magic of Google Earth, she did not have to actually drive from Ballarat to Stockton to show you how close together the West Flora Street house, the liquor store that Goucher and Monfort robbed on 10/30/72, and the liquor store where Squeaky was arrested after calling West Flora to be picked up on 11/12/72 actually are:

The scale of the above map indicates that all three places are within a mile of one another, marker "C" being the West Flora house (you have seen it before, so no photo). Marker "A" is where the Eden Square Liquor Store used to be located at 929 North El Dorado. Monfort and Goucher were apprehended for robbing it, and as you know Monfort was using James Willett's ID which tied them to Willett's murder some weeks earlier near Guerneville. Today it appears to be a church or a worship center of some kind:

Most puzzling to Patty is marker "B", the B&E Liquor store at 939 North Yosemite Street, which is still there today. As you can see in the first image above, B&E is a mere five blocks from the West Flora Street house. Why did Lynette need a ride, then? And why did she tell someone whom she did not know (i.e., "Earl" the police officer) where to find her?

Dang it Farf, the more questions you answer for us, the more questions Patty has to ask! This could keep her busy until she is a very old woman...WOOT!

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.

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.

Michael Monfort Seeks Dismissal

Michael Monfort Transferred

Michael Monfort Charged

The nut don't fall far from the tree

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