Poking a Dung Pile

In late January 1985, the City of Berkeley set aside of plot of land (near the Marina and adjacent to a landfill) on which the homeless could park their vehicles and live for a nominal fee.   The city provided rudimentary facilities such as porta-johns and sinks with running water.   Those who resided on this land  called their encampment Rainbow Village. ‘Deadheads’ claimed a spot in the Village very near the time it was established.   Some Deadheads used it as a kind of haven or stop-over in their travels.   In mid-August of '85, t wenty-two year-old Mary Regina Gioia and eighteen year-old Gregory Allen Kniffin spent a few days in Rainbow Village  on their way to see the Dead perform at Boreal Springs on August 24, 1985 .     During the early morning hours of Friday, August 16, Mary and Greg were brutally beaten and then shot in the head at point-blank range.   Their bodies were dumped in a nearby lagoon.   After a brief investiga...