“The Onion Field” crime locations video

[Wyatt Burp]

This guy does these real interesting videos about historical or famous events visiting the locations via satellite. Here he covers the sad 1963 “The Onion Field” police kidnapping and murder locations in extreme detail.

Onion Field murder of Ian Campbell locations from Google Earth - YouTube

 

[BloodyThumb]

Excellent! Thanks.

 

[Sgt911]

I worked for an irrigation supply company during the summers in the 1970s. I set up irrigation pipe in that very field.


I'm pretty sure the location wasn't or isn't a secret, at least to locals.

And yes, Bakersfield PD and Kern County SO were pretty brutal back then.

 

[Eric300]

Great movie. It creeped me out the first time I watched it, and still creeps me out to this day!

 

[mdf9183]

The Onionfield was the last movie that I saw in a movie theater in 1975. I haven't been in a theater since.

 

[rockquarry]

I'm a longtime Joseph Wambaugh fan and have most of his books in my library. I read the "Onion Field" at least forty years ago and found it to be incredibly depressing. I would never recommend it to anyone, though it is very well-written, like all his literary pieces. I tried watching the movie version and don't recall seeing the whole film, again very disturbing.

His other non-fiction books don't compare with his fiction. Wambaugh excels in the fictional tales of police work like no one else has ever done or even come close to doing. I guess he's long retired but his novels are still worth reading.

 

[moosedog]

I read the book before I became a police officer and because of it, I always carried two guns and a knife on my person.

 

[dscampbell]

I read the book before I became a police officer and because of it, I always carried two guns and a knife on my person.

I did that also


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[Wyatt Burp]

The Onionfield was the last movie that I saw in a movie theater in 1975. I haven't been in a theater since.

I saw it decades ago on TV and I recall John Savage having a long barreled blued S&W in the kidnapping scene. In my mind it was an 8 3/8” Model 14 .38, but was probably a six incher. I’ll have to check that out.
Edit: Looks like a 6" pre Model 14 with target grips that John Savage is using. Perfect for 1963.

 

[K Frame Keith]

I did that also


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My FTO was a street survival guy. We did the same.

 

[CQB27]

I read the book before I became a police officer and because of it, I always carried two guns and a knife on my person.

I'm still on the job and every cop I have know for the past 25 years has carried 2 guns and at least one knife. Many probably have never heard of Ian Campbell or Karl Hettinger or the "Onion Field". Our tactical lessons are written in the blood of brave men who gave the last great measure for us all. Godspeed to them all.

 

[Golphin]

One of those movies that I will never forget. A well made movie I feel and one I have watched more than once I think over the years.

 

[jimmyj]

I started my LEO career in 1962. After the Onion Field Incident I also began carrying "Backups" (2) plus a knife, and three hideout handcuff keys.
The "Laid Back" cops started changing for the better.
1. Never give up your weapon
2. Dispatch began "10-4" checks every 30 minutes if a car had not been on the air for 30 minutes.
3. Every stop was called in and logged (vehicle, indiviual, business check).
4. Lazy dispatchers that did not do a written log of all calls were replaced.
5. Officer Safety was a priority.

 

[wrkerr]

I'm still on the job and every cop I have know for the past 25 years has carried 2 guns and at least one knife. Many probably have never heard of Ian Campbell or Karl Hettinger or the "Onion Field". Our tactical lessons are written in the blood of brave men who gave the last great measure for us all. Godspeed to them all.

Always carried two, sometimes three weapons. I remember both officers very well. One of my prized possessions is a letter from Karl Hettinger when he was running for reelection as a Kern County Supervisor. RIP gentlemen.

 

[sigp220.45]

I loved both the book and the movie, at least as much as you can love a story of a murder and a ruined life.

I know guys who carried Onion Field guns who weren’t sure why they were called that.

Both cops carried 6” guns - a Target Masterpiece and an Officer’s Model with Fuzzy’s. Loads were 200 grain “Super Police”.

Here’s a picture (crappy) of all the guns involved.

 

[usmc2427765]

"The Onion Field" is a difficult and depressing book to read, however getting whacked by some piece of **** street thug is a lot harder on family, friends and fellow LEO's and is much more difficult for the survivors. Read and learn from every LEO survivors story and every officer safety book you can put your hands on.

 

[yaktamer]

When I was a a Deputy Sheriff in LA County, working the jail after the academy, Jimmy Lee Smith was briefly in the "dorm" I was supervising. This was after one of his arrests after he was paroled on the Onion Field matter. Fellow inmates treated him like a celebrity. Disgusting.

 

[Kurusu]

Great movie. It creeped me out the first time I watched it, and still creeps me out to this day!

Yes. I had the exact same feeling when I watched.

My thanks to the OP for the link. It was very interesting.

 

[transit]

When I was a a Deputy Sheriff in LA County, working the jail after the academy, Jimmy Lee Smith was briefly in the "dorm" I was supervising. This was after one of his arrests after he was paroled on the Onion Field matter. Fellow inmates treated him like a celebrity. Disgusting.

From Wiki:

"...On September 4, 1963, Smith was convicted of first-degree murder.

He was originally sentenced to death, but the sentence was reduced to life in prison in 1970s, when the California Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty. In 1982, Smith was officially paroled despite public outrage.

Four months after his 1982 parole, Smith failed a drug test and was returned to prison. After serving six months, he was paroled again, only to be rearrested in Long Beach on drug charges. He later pleaded guilty to two counts of selling heroin and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in 1986, then arrested in Burbank in 1987 and convicted of driving while under the influence of a narcotic.

In 1989, on parole again, he was arrested for terrorizing a woman he held captive over a weekend in West Covina. In 1990, yet again on parole, he was arrested in Van Nuys for threatening a man with a knife.

Smith died on April 6, 2007 at the age of 76 at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, California, where he was being held for failing to report to a parole officer. The cause of death was a heart attack."


I'll let it speak for itself.