Police seek 'Onion Field' killer

Police seek 'Onion Field' killer
Story Highlights• 'Onion Field' killer Jimmy Smith, 75, sought on alleged parole violation
• Smith is one of two men convicted in 1963 slaying of LAPD officer Ian Campbell
• Case gained fame in book by Joseph Wambaugh

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- One of the two men convicted of the "Onion Field" kidnap-murder of a police officer in 1963 has violated parole and is being sought by authorities.

Jimmy Lee Smith, 76, has been at large since December 22, said California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Jonathan Parsley.

Parsley could not specify what parole condition was violated. Smith previously went back to prison in June 2005 after admitting that he had violated parole by possessing heroin.

Smith and Gregory Powell were convicted of abducting two Los Angeles policemen from a Hollywood street on March 6, 1963. The officers were driven 75 miles to an onion field south of Bakersfield where Powell shot Officer Ian Campbell to death and fired at Officer Karl Hettinger as he fled.

The case was the subject of 1973 best-selling novel, "The Onion Field" by Joseph Wambaugh, which was turned into a movie in 1979.

Smith and Powell were sent to death row but their sentences were commuted to life in prison in 1972 when the California Supreme Court overturned the state's death penalty.

Smith was first paroled in 1982. He has since been arrested numerous times, mostly on drug-related charges.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/02/19/onion.field.killer.ap/index.html

Some links about the murder:

The Death of Conscience in The Onion Field
'Onion Field' convict violates parole, on the loose
Another Term For 'Onion Field' Killer
The Onion Field by Joseph Wambaugh
'Onion Field' killer Gregory Powell denied parole in Calif.
Film: Wambaugh's 'The Onion Field'