Buses

What potential leads could Chaffee and his team have picked up just by reading clips from the local newspapers—e.g. the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, and the Oakland Tribune?  To answer this question, let's look at three stories published a few days after the murders.  The first one is "2nd body found in the bay area near Berkeley Marina" by Benny Evangelista (Oakland Tribune, 08.18.85).  The second is "Execution killings in Berkeley:  2 Grateful Dead followers shot, dumped in Bay near bus camp" by Walt Gibbs (San Francisco Examiner, 08.18.85).  The last is "Hunt for Clues in Berkeley Killings" by Rick DelVecchio (San Francisco Chronicle, 08.19.85)

Oakland Tribune.  Evangelista's story in the Tribune leads off with this paragraph: "The body of a man who was visiting friends living in a Rainbow Village bus was found yesterday in San Francisco Bay near the spot where a woman's body was found Friday, police said."  The first bit of useful information might have been that Greg was visiting friends living in a Rainbow Village bus.  The next bit of information might have been found on page 5: "The residents [of Rainbow Village] talked of holding a memorial service for the victims, who had been visiting friends on a bus police said was nicknamed 'Dead On,' although [Harry] Shorman said it was called the 'Blunder Bus.'"  Chaffee might have learned that Greg and Mary may have both been visiting friends living in a bus known as "Dead On" or another bus named "Blunder Bus." Also, Harry Shorman probably knew more about the buses and who was staying on them than the police did.  Shorman gave Evangelista some more useful information:  "The man lived there [i.e. on one of the buses] for about one week while Gioia stayed only the last two days..."  And there's this last note related to the buses: "A man inside the 'Dead On' and other village residents refused to talk about the victims."  And with all of this Chaffee may have had questions like:  Who were these friends of Greg and Mary?  In what bus(es) did they in fact stay?  Did Harry Shorman know who owned those buses?  (It's likely he did as one of them seems to have been parked at the Village since early February.)  What might these friends have known about the tall, blond man that Vivian Cercy saw the night of the murders?    

San Francisco Examiner.  Reading Walt Gibbs's story may have been a challenge because Gibbs mostly relays information given to him by an unnamed resident who claimed that Mary and Greg "had been living with him since returning from Ventura."  The Ventura shows took place in the middle of July, so this account would’ve conflicted with Evangelista's reporting that Greg had only been in the Village a week and Mary only a few days before they were killed.  The resident also claimed that Greg had stayed in the Village occasionally for several months and Gioia only arrived after the Ventura shows.  The only bus mentioned in Gibbs's story is the "Dead On":  "Several days ago, [the resident said] the victims had gone with other Rainbow Villagers to a Grateful Dead concert in a converted school bus dubbed the 'Dead On.'"  Finally, there may have been one useful takeaway from this story. Gibbs reported that Berkeley police spokesman, Marc Garcia, said that Greg and Mary had "apparently met each other recently in Berkeley."  In light of what Evangelista reported regarding Mary's arrival at the Village, this suggests that the two had just met in Berkeley (perhaps in People's Park).

San Francisco Chronicle.  Rick DelVecchio's story in the Chronicle appeared the day after the other two stories were published.  The picture of 'Dan Reynolds' (Dan Adams) "sitting next to one of the two buses" used by [Deadheads] accompanied it.  (Comparing this photo with another photo I believe the Chronicle published in February '85, it appears that the one Dan's sitting next to, is probably the Blunder Bus.) In the body of the story we of course learn that 'Dan Reynolds' was "an acquaintance at the village" who "knew Greg from Wilton, Conn., where their families attended the same church." Next, a reader's told that, "Rainbow Village, established six months ago as a community for the city's homeless, makes two buses available for traveling devotees of the Grateful Dead--known as 'Deadheads'.  Greg checked into a the camp a week ago after a concert in Ventura County.  He planned to attend the band's next appearance, set for this Saturday near Lake Tahoe."  All three stories mention the is last bit of information--the Ventura shows--and I think that the writers meant to emphasize the lengths (approximately 400 miles between Ventura and Berkeley) to which Deadheads would go to get to shows. 

What connections might Chaffee have made, given the information in these stories?  Greg arrived at Rainbow Village sometime around August 8, and he may have been visiting friends who were staying on one or both of the buses parked at Rainbow Village.  Mary probably didn't arrive at the Village until  August 13.  Like Greg, Mary may also have been visiting friends.  DelVecchio talked to a person named Dan Reynolds who knew Greg in some way, and he may have been one of the friends Greg was visiting.  He'd have had a photograph (or could have obtained a better photograph from the Chronicle) of Dan Reynolds.  Harry Shorman would have known something about the buses used by the Deadheads, specifically who owned them.  He'd have known that one of the buses had a license plate with "'Dead On" on it.  He'd probably have known on which bus(es) Greg and Mary were staying that night.  He may have known Dan Reynolds and how to get ahold of him.

In Re Ralph International Thomas on Habeas Corpus tells us that:  "According to the referee [of the evidentiary hearing, Almeda County Superior Court Judge Philip Sarkisian], of the witnesses upon whose testimony Thomas now relies, Chaffee knew or could have discovered the existence of four: Claus von Wendel, Jong Cheol Cho, Lee Andersen, and Randy Turley. Of these, Chaffee contacted only von Wendel." (p. 11)  Untrue.  Chaffee could easily have known of the existence of 'Dan Reynolds' as someone who knew Greg, as someone who was among those gathered outside of Jim Prew's van on the night of the murders, and as someone who may have been one of the friends Greg was visiting.

You know, when you take into consideration the amount of information that three stories from local newspapers offered (some of it misleading, to be sure), and adds this information to that contained in the police reports (remember the police talked to Jong Cheol Cho who'd stayed on one of the buses the night of the murders) one wonders what Chaffee and his team could have discovered and how this might have corroborated Cercy's story.