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6 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, December 21,1994 Section Two More Max HAINES Crime Flashback trees were pruned in California orchards S trange and unusual murders are remembered remembered for many reasons, but nothing makes violent violent crime more newsworthy newsworthy than a large number of victims. victims. Few have surpassed the killing spree of Juan Corona, a transplanted Mexican who made his living as a labor contractor near Yuma City in northern California. One of Corona's clients was Goro Kagehiro, who owned and operated a successful peach orchard. Kagehiro took pride in his orchard, which he had nurtured for 21 years. As he walked along the straight lines of peach trees, he mused to himself that Corona's seven-man crew was doing a good pruning job. When he came across a large hole between the trees, he couldn't couldn't help but wonder why such a hole had been dug. It was big -- three feet deep, over two feet wide and about six feet in length. He would inquire about it later. In the meantime there was work to be done. That evening, Goro made a point to check on the hole in his orchard. He was surprised to find that it was filled in. That night, he couldn't get the incident out of his mind. Next morning, he decided to inform the sheriff's office. A deputy was dispatched to the peach orchard. Goro and the deputy figured figured someone had buried garbage on his property. property. The two men turned over the soil covering the hole. Within five minutes they uncovered a human foot. On that Thursday morning of May 20,1971, they had no way of knowing they had discovered the first of 25 bodies that were to establish the record for the largest number of murder victims attributed to one person in the U.S. up to that time. P olice knew the murder victim. He was Kenneth Whitacre, one of the thousands of transient laborers who follow California's vegetable and fruit harvests. Many work a few days or weeks, stock up on cheap wine and move on to the next town. Whitacre had been stabbed in the chest and had been struck with five vicious blows to the head, which the coroner thought might have been inflicted inflicted by a machete. For four days, police invests gated Whitacre's murder. In the course of their inquiries, they came in contact with labor contractor contractor Juan Corona, who was rather well-known in the area. Corona provided the labor for many of the ranches in the lush fruit belt, including Goro Kagehiro's orchard. On the fourth day after Whitacre's body was found, a HARVEST of worker on the huge Sullivan ranch nearby noticed an indentation indentation in the ; ground. Because of the recent murder, murder, he immediately immediately became suspicious suspicious and reported : his find to police. Sure enough, the body of another transient laborer was found buried on the Sullivan ranch. The unfortunate man had been stabbed in the chest and slashed about the head with a machete. Due to the similarities similarities of the victims and the identical wounds on the two bodies, detectives felt that they were looking for one killer. Once again, the name Juan Corona entered the investigation. He had also contracted labor for the Sullivan ranch. Police learned that months earlier, Juan had been involved in an altercation in a restaurant where he reportedly wielded a machete. Witnesses said he had a hair-trigger temper. And so Juan Corona became an early suspect in the case, but other matters occupied investigators. The Sullivan ranch stretched for miles along the Feather River. Could there be more bodies? Police searched for graves in the orchard. Several suspicious indentations indentations in the earth were uncovered. All contained bodies of transient workers. During the ensuing days, a further 23 bodies were found, making a total of 25 victims. Each had been killed in the same manner. News of the multiple murders flashed around the world. The most prolific mass murderer murderer in U.S. history had killed in wholesale lots in the lush agricultural section of California. Apparently no one had inquired after the missing men. They were lost souls, who had led a life without friends or family. family. Later, most were identified identified as men with troubled pasts made tolerable by alcohol. Many had long jail records for vagrancy and drunkeness. Several have never been identified. Juan Corona's past was Jobs for laborers on California farms, 25 of them ended up hacked to death. Instigated. It $ learned that lad spent some e in a mental tution 15 years er. Juan had igrated from ïjaco and, by the R ""t of his brow, succeeded in ping a lucra- | business as a %r contractor. ; California's |cultural belt, •hers don't look |nd hire their part-time They employ the services services of a labor contractor. Juan was known to the laborers and ranchers alike as an honest, reliable broker. He prospered, but now the married father of four children was in serious trouble. Juan's truck and home were searched. Police confiscated confiscated a bloodstained machete. They also found a ledger containing nine of the victims' names on a list of 34 transient workers. A plaster impression of a tire track found near one of the graves matched one taken from Corona's pickup truck. Witnesses volunteered that they had seen Corona in the little-travelled area where most of the bodies were found. J uan Corona was arrested and charged with 25 murders. The entire case against him was circumstantial. circumstantial. The prosecution was criticized for the manner in which they presented their case. Despite these flaws, Juan was found guilty of all the murders and received 25 sentences of life imprisonment; imprisonment; It was specified that the sentences were to run consecutively. So sure was Corona's lawyer that his client could not be convicted on the available evidence evidence that he called no defence witnesses. He was wrong. A successful appeal was launched, enabling Corona to stand trial for a second time after he had served 11 years in prison. This second trial lasted seven months and cost the state of California in excess of $5 million. Juan was not the same man. The years had taken their toll. He had suffered three heart attacks while serving his time. In addition, he had lost an eye when he had been attacked by a fellow prisoner. The prosecution produced one new witness, a Mexican official, Jesus Rodriquez Novarro, who had visited Juan in 1978 between the two trials. In a private private interview, Corona told Novarro, 'Yes, I did it, but I am a sick man and a sick man cannot be judged by the same standards as other men.' Once more, the accused man was found guilty and again received 25 sentences of life imprisonment. On Saturday, Dec. 17, Max will be signing copies of his new book, Multiple Murderers, at Eaton's in Bramalea City Centre from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.