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Davis Enterprise, The (CA)
Suspect in 1980 Davis murders fights extradition to California
Joel Davis/Special to The Enterprise
Published: September 23, 2004
The suspect linked by DNA to the 1980 murders of UC Davis sweethearts
John Riggins and Sabrina Gonsalves is delaying his arrest by fighting
extradition.
Richard J. Hirschfield, 55, has an extradition hearing Friday
in Washington state, where he is serving a prison sentence for
molesting two girls at a public swimming pool in 1995.
Hirschfield
was linked to the Davis murders via a DNA match made in August 2002.
Authorities have been trying to build a case against him since.
Other than asking for attorneys, Hirschfield
has declined to speak with investigators. Authorities continue to hope
that, despite the passage of nearly a quarter-century since the most
notorious crime in Davis history, new witnesses may come forward
putting Hirschfield in Davis on or around Dec. 20, 1980, when the couple were kidnapped.
Authorities also are investigating the possible involvement in the crime of Hirschfield's younger brother, the late Joseph Hirschfield.
A well-liked auto mechanic with no notable criminal record, Joseph Hirschfield,
47, committed suicide at his rural Oregon home on Nov. 21, 2003, the
day after he met with Sacramento detectives to discuss the killings.
The
Davis couple's bodies were found on Dec. 22, 1980, in a ravine near
Aerojet Road in Sacramento after Riggins' van was discovered nearby.
Riggins was beaten and Gonsalves was raped, though Gonsalves' rape was
not confirmed until DNA forensics became common investigative tools
years after the brutal murders.
At one time, Joseph Hirschfield
lived in Rancho Cordova near the site where the bodies were found and
likely knew the area, authorities said. He implicated himself in the
murders with a brief suicide note left in the car in which he killed
himself with carbon monoxide poisoning.
It
is routine for suspects to waive extradition when they are wanted in
another state. But befitting this case's long and strange history, one
that has been agonizing for friends and family of the victims, Richard Hirschfield is fighting extradition based on identification: He is, in effect, requiring authorities to prove he is Richard Hirschfield, something authorities view more as a nuisance than anything else.
"He
wants to fight his way back, although it's not a matter of if he will
return, just when," noted Sacramento prosecutor Anne Marie-Schubert,
who is in charge of Sacramento County's "cold hit" program, which
reopened the case in the summer of 2002.
While this appears to be a delay tactic, one of Hirschfield's
attorneys - he has public defenders both in Washington and Sacramento -
is concerned that the length of time between DNA match and arrest puts
the defense at a disadvantage.
"Why
is it that (prosecutors) have had a DNA match for two years and have
they waited so long to get things going?" asked Linda Parisi, Hirschfield's court-appointed Sacramento attorney.
Authorities
in charge of the case said the delays were caused by a combination of
being sidetracked by fresh cases, having the luxury of Hirschfield being in prison until 2010 and the desire to put together a thorough case that will be tricky to prosecute.
Had Hirschfield
been arrested as soon as the DNA match was made, he could have invoked
his right to a speedy trial, noted one prosecutor familiar with the
case. That might have caught prosecutors unprepared. They've spent
considerable time sifting through boxes of documents all over Northern
California.
Part
of the preparation was investigating and ultimately eliminating the
original four suspects arrested in connection with the murders in 1989.
The four - David and Suellen Hunt, Douglas Lainer and Richard Thompson
- were suspected by Yolo County authorities of killing the couple as
part of a copycat killing ordered by sex slave serial killer Gerald
Gallego.
Gallego
and his then-wife were convicted of abducting and killing a Sacramento
State University couple at a Sacramento shopping center in November
1980.
A
cash-strapped Yolo County spent several years and millions of dollars
prosecuting the Hunt group for the murders from 1989 until 1992, when
the DNA - four semen stains found on a blanket in Riggins' van -
undermined a case built almost entirely on circumstantial evidence.
Although Hirschfield
and David Hunt had enough things in common - namely that they were in
the same prison for a brief time in the mid-1970s and also were paroled
to the same county in 1980 - the Hunts are not considered suspects.
David
Hunt is scheduled to be paroled from federal prison in 2005, where he
is serving time for a 1984 Washington state kidnapping involving a van,
a young couple and duct tape - elements common with the Davis murders
and which first led Yolo County to believe Hunt committed them.
Because Richard Hirschfield
was apparently at liberty between the time the murders occurred and his
child molestation arrest in 1995, many connected to the case are
wondering if he is suspected of other serious crimes, including murder,
during the 15-year period. So, far, authorities, say, the answer is no.
Among
the curious are the victims' families, who favor the death penalty,
which in this case could take up to a decade or more to invoke when
factoring in appeals. Parisi said because it has taken the prosecution
two years and running to arrest her client, it follows that she would
need at least that amount of time to prepare a defense.
There
have been whispers that the best outcome for this case would be for the
culprit to make a plea bargain - telling just what went on the foggy
night of Dec. 20, 1980 - in exchange for life in prison without parole.
But
not so fast, says Sabrina's father, retired Army Lt. Col. George
Gonsalves, who ironically, has worked as a prison counselor.
"Details
on the killing of John and Sabrina are important," Gonsalves said
Tuesday. "However, it's more important that we demonstrate that taking
two lives are too important to be dismissed with just sentencing to
prison time."
A plea bargain, Gonsalves added, would be attractive only if Hirschfield was a suspect in other crimes and gave details of those as well.
Sacramento homicide investigators are still welcoming tips in the case. They can be reached at (916) 874-5201.
-
Sacramento writer Joel Davis, a former Davis Enterprise staff writer,
is writing a book on this case (www.justicewaits.com). Reach him at
davis916@surewest.net
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Copyright, 2004, The Davis Enterprise. All Rights Reserved.
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