Police oppose parole for 'Onion Field' slayer [Updated]

Gregory Powell’s crime, and its complex aftermath, were chronicled a generation ago in Joseph Wambaugh’s bestselling book “The Onion Field.”

Now, as the public’s recollection of the incident begins to fade, the union that represents nearly 10,000 Los Angeles police officers says it is determined to remind people of the March 1963 kidnapping and execution of LAPD Officer Ian Campbell.

Powell, who was convicted of the crime along with an accomplice, is scheduled for a parole hearing Jan. 27.

In a Thursday letter to state corrections officials, L.A. police union President Paul Weber urged the board to deny parole, calling Powell a "vicious murderer who has not yet paid his debt to society."

Powell, 75, received the death penalty for the crime. However, the sentence was later commuted to life in prison with the possibility parole when California briefly outlawed capital punishment.

Weber insists that Powell should be forced to serve the maximum sentence and recounts details of the crime in his letter.

Officer Campbell and his partner Karl Hettinger had stopped a car carrying Powell and accomplice Jimmy Lee Smith as they searched for  a liquor store to rob. During the stop, Powell pulled a gun, stuck it in Campbell’s back, disarmed the officer and forced Hettinger to give up his weapon too. Then they drove north.

“Near Bakersfield, Powell spotted a gravel road and ordered Campbell to pull off the freeway," Weber wrote. “After crossing a series of dirt roads, Officers Campbell and Hettinger were ordered out of the car into a vast field, where they stood still with their arms in the air. Then Powell asked Campbell, ‘Have you ever heard of the Little Lindbergh Law?’ and shot him.”

Hettinger began running through the field and escaped as Powell fired at him. As luck would have it, a cloud blotted out the moon, allowing the fleeing officer to take cover in bushes before he ran four miles to a farmhouse and summoned help.

Powell was captured a short time later driving back to Los Angeles. Smith was arrested the next day in a Bakersfield rooming house. He died in 2007.

Powell's question about the Little Lindbergh Law revealed the basis for the killing. Powell believed, mistakenly, that the law made it a capital offense to kidnap the officers.

Weber said of Hettinger: "The incident haunted him the rest of his life."

[Updated at 7:47 a.m.: A previous version of this post incorrectly identified Gregory Powell as Gary Powell.]

-- Andrew Blankstein

For historical coverage of the "Onion Field" killing, see the Daily Mirror blog.

Comments

[Jennie Vasquez]

I can't believe there is even talk about releasing this guy. He should stay in prison for the rest of his life.

I recommend that everyone read The Onion Field by Joseph Wambaugh. The book is chilling and leaves you heartbroken to know what happened to those 2 officers. This story is important for everyone to know. Officer Hettinger's life and how much he suffered is just tragic.

Is there anywhere that regular citizens like me can write letters to the parole board?

[Carol]

I read the book just a few months ago. No question, keep the guy in prison.

As well, if the LAPD hasn't already, they owe a huge apology for the way they treated Hettinger in the aftermath. It was before psychiatric treatment was routinely available or even recommended for people who'd just suffered traumatic experiences, but the LAPD went one (several) further in blaming him for the incident. They abandoned him, gave him no support through 2 trials.

[DIANNE]

I remember this case well. I also will never forget Wambaugh's terrifying book "The Onion Field". I felt the terror the police officer felt. It was as though I was there. It has been many many years since I read the book. But like in the book "In Cold Blood", it will stay forever in my mind. What the officer went thru, seeing his partner shot in the face, and running thru the fields, trying to get away, was horrible. God Bless him. He was a hero, in spite of how the police dept. treated him.

[Steve]

A prime example that in some cases, where there is undisputable evidence, we should still have a death penalty. This guy has cost us in dollars ever since.

[Carl Johnson]

You think a cops life is worth more than yours? Parole him

[kptrojan]

Although the movie was not as good as the book, the movie (specifically the reenactment of the shooting and Hettinger’s flee) was so very chilling. Like others who have posted, I totally agree that Powell should remain behind walls and bars forever. When you get right down to it, Powell was as mind controlling as another infamous 1960's Southern California murderer.

[Rick]

I agree, there should be no questions about keeping this maniac in prison. He basically killed one officer physically and the other one mentally. Powell milked the court system filing appeal after appeal causing delays in his trial. Officer Hettinger was branded a coward by his superiors for surrending his gun to Powell. He basically was kicked off the force. If you don't want to read the book, watch the movie which is outstanding.

[Andy K]

This is the main reason people why people support the death penalty. Individuals sentenced to life keep finding ways to beat the life sentencence as time dims memories. He should definitely die in jail.

[Ryan]

I too would like to see an official apology from LAPD toward Hettinger. Campbell was at least partly responsible for his fate and it was inexcusable for the inquest following the incident to lay all the blame at the feet of Hettinger for having the poor grace to survive the incident. There is no doubt his memory would have been treated far more kindly than the man had he died as his attackers desired since we are all reluctant to speak ill of the dead.

Ryan

[ddm97]

Any person can submit information to the Board of Parole Hearings and it will be taken into consideration and included in his file. Names/addresses are considered confidential. You should direct your letter to the Classification and Parole Representative for the California Men's Colony (where Powell's hearing will be), PO Box 8101 San Luis Obispo, CA 93409-8101. The hearing is scheduled for Jan 27.

[Duane]

This is a joke, right?

[TKelley1]

For what he did to another human being and a Police Officer, keep him in jail till he dies. He deserves nothing less.

[Phil Wright]

This Evil Scum Should Rot in Prison Then In Hell it doesn't matter how he's changed. if there is a god let him take it up with god when he dies.

[Wain]

If the person this man killed was a grandma or another private citizen, Will the parole board see it in a different light. If he qualifies for parole regardless of whom he killed, then set the man free. I don't thing the fact that he killed a police man will make the crime more heinous. How can we put more value on the life of a police officer, Shame on the system.
Please respect life for what it is.

[Delia]

Oh I seen The Movie based on this story,"The Onion Field" starring James Woods. And I remember thinking what these poor Police officers went thru and how there was some kind of justice with these animals being caught. Now this murderer is up for Parole? No he needs to spend the rest of his life in Prison! I'm sure he's not sorry for what he did. He dont deserve Freedom!

[Lou Bricano]

It isn't a question of a cop's life being morally worth more than someone else's, Johnson. It's the fact that killing a cop is an attack on public order. In this case, Powell should remain in prison because he was a career criminal, and his murder of Officer Campbell was premeditated.

I wish the Times would hire some competent reporters and editors who could give us more information. This is the second consecutive day in which we've read of a notorious imprisoned convict seeking parole, without learning anything about the parole petition itself; yesterday it was "socialite" Betty Broderick. Why can't the Times trouble itself to tell us something about the parole petition?

[Mulligan]

Having known Powell many years ago all I can say is that if anyone deserved the gas chamber it was him. I was so disappointed when his sentence was commuted to life.

Powell is a very dangerous psychopath and should never, ever walk as a free man.

[El Guapo de la ciudad de Los Angeles]

Misread "with the possibility of parole" nevermind

[kenny]

I love how cops downplay their own illegal activity when they get caught but want the maximum when someone harms them. I'm sure when a cop kills an innocent citizen the union is there to make sure he gets prosecuted right?
Hypocrites

[paul]

The parole board could never allow this animal to walk. If ever a case of example for the death penalty.

[Stella]

The fact he was on death row, and his commutation to a life sentence had to do with politics, not because new evidence was found, should preclude him from ever even being considered for parole.

[Mel]

This man has served more than 40 years, I think his debt has been repaid. How many inner city blacks have been murdered by the LAPD since this incident? The LAPD are a bunch of trigger happy thugs that have contributed more to the erosion of life in this city than any criminal could ever dream of. Lets stop glorifying these gorillas in blue.

[Anabelle Rothschild]

Americans - moral cowards then and still today, not to mention absolute hypocrites. The LAPD included. Mr. Powell was convicted of his crime and sentenced to death, but he is still alive and under the LAW the American justice system created and should be a level playing field to all, he is entitled to be paroled. Americans have no one else to blame but themselves for being the pitiful cowards they are and not executing each and every convicted killer within 90 days of their final judicial appeal/review as prescribed by a law that never was. As distasteful as it’s emotional stain is, as barbaric as Mr. Powell’s act was 47 years ago, as morally reprehensible as the entire crime may still be, American justice must live up to it's promises or else becomes an indifferent, vacant, and apathetic nation, just as America has become. Pathetically, Americans have long ago reneged on their Integrity, a sad commentary on a once proud nation.

[Mike Brown]

This guy is a criminal for life. Nothing short of the death penalty for him. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

[Myles]

The proper punishment is based on the nature of the crime. Consequently, it is not a question of whether a police officer's life is held in greater regard than the life of another individual - although I find it absurd to so suggest.

It is really a question of whether we want the punishment to be greater because we want to deter crimes perpetrated against those that protect and serve us in the line of duty, those that place their lives on the line.

However, this sentence has already been handed down based on the sentencing laws in place at the time. It would violate due process to increase the sentence retroactively. Further, some courts have found that you can't find a prisoner ineligible for parole simply because of the gravity of his/her crimes. There has to be some evidence that he/she is still a threat to society.