The villainous trio

A calloused kidnapper on the lam from one of the most heinous crimes of the 1970s bought a getaway car and sold guns in Coeur d’Alene.

James Schoenfeld, then 24, stopped here briefly after helping two others entomb 26 school children, ages 5 to 14, and their bus driver in northern California.

On July 15, 1976, Schoenfeld, his brother, Richard, 22, and Frederick Woods IV, 24, all sons of wealthy families, hijacked a school bus in rural Chowchilla, Calif.

The three then drove their captives about 110 miles in two vans to a buried moving truck in a gravel quarry at Livermore, Calif. The prisoners were held in the 8-by-16-foot trailer while the abductors tried to deliver a $5 million ransom note ($29.3 million today) to authorities.

They failed to do so. Frustrated, the captors scattered, leaving the hostages behind.

The older Schoenfeld brother headed to Canada in his 1963 Chrysler but was turned back at the border, northwest of Spokane, because he had guns with him.

James Schoenfeld then sold two automatic pistols, a bolt cutter and a drill to Jack Forest of Forest Salvage and Pawnbrokers in Coeur d’Alene.

“He spent about an hour going through the building and didn’t seem too concerned,” Forest told the Coeur d’Alene Press.

Schoenfeld ditched his Chrysler in midtown. And, using the alias “Ralph Snider,” he later bought a 1960 dark-green Chevy van for $250 from Elmer Williams of Coeur d’Alene.

Schoenfeld was driving the van home to surrender when he was caught early July 29, 1976. His brother was already in jail on a $1 million bond. Woods would be caught within hours.

The trio escaped multiple murder charges because resourceful bus driver Ed Ray, 55, and a 14-year-old boy dug out of the trailer and saved the 25 others.

Ultimately, the kidnappers were each sentenced to life in prison without parole. But they were freed — Richard Schoenfeld at age 57 in 2012, James Schoenfeld at age 63 in 2015 and Woods at age 70 in 2022.

Valley Disses FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation hadn’t seen anything like it.

Five weeks after the FBI’s 1991 Black Sunday gambling raid shocked the Silver Valley, residents of the hardscrabble mining district demanded an apology.

And print shop owner Gary Corbeill knew exactly what he and others wanted to hear from the agency: “We overreacted a little bit, and we’re not seeing what we thought we’d see.”

Corbeill and his wife, Cricket, helped organize a protest on the Shoshone County Courthouse steps against what they viewed as government overkill.

On June 23, 1991, according to The Press, about 150 FBI agents raided every bar in Shoshone County, from Cataldo to Mullan, and seized nearly 200 video-poker machines — more than $500,000 in cash and assets total (about $1.2 million today).

The FBI said the focus of the raid ran deeper than illegal gambling. But Silver Valley demonstrators were skeptical.

They rallied behind a sign that read, “Tell Us Why, FBI,” and then paraded three blocks through the town’s storied red-light district to the courthouse.

Smelterville businessman Cliff Marshall excited the crowd of about 200 when he compared the FBI sting to Nazi Gestapo tactics. Referring to the 58 targeted bars, Marshall said, “They’re not mega-corporations. They’re not gangsters. They’re business owners. They’re honest. They’re hard-working. But most of all, they’re our friends and our neighbors.”

At national headquarters in Washington, D.C., FBI spokesman Nester Michnyak told The Press that the agency got criticized all the time. But, he added, the Silver Valley protest was the first time an entire community had voiced its disfavor.

The massive raid led to some fines, some jail time, possibly the closure of the remaining two Wallace brothels, and racketeering charges against longtime Sheriff Frank Crnkovich.

Crnkovich was tried twice. The first trial ended in a hung jury, the second in acquittal.

POW Plate No. 1

The first specialty plate to honor former Idaho POWs was awarded to Bob Silhavy of Kootenai County in July 1986 — for good reason.

Silhavy’s wife, Bonnie, had lobbied for the new license designation. Local legislator Bob Scates had carried the bill that created the plate. And, therefore, Kootenai County Assessor Tom Moore had argued successfully that Kootenai County deserved the first one.

“I thought for sure it would go to someone in Boise,” Moore told The Press.

Before then, Idaho was one of three states that didn’t honor POWs with a special plate.

Silhavy, then 66 and a World War II veteran, was captured by the Japanese in the Philippines in 1942 and held for 3 1/2 years in various prison camps.

He was one of 15,000 Americans and 50,000 Filipinos who were captured when Bataan fell. He walked in the brutal Bataan Death March, where many died of disease and malnutrition.

“We were already in a debilitated state from being on half rations so long,” Silhavy said.

Bonnie Silhavy, also a veteran, crusaded for 10 years to honor POWs with a specialty plate. She said, “I believe they needed recognition for what they have done for their country.”

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: Picasso regrets / he can’t make the scene / as the fun starts / at Art on the Green — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Artsy August”).

• End of an Era: On July 31, 1971, for the first time in 68 years, Coeur d’Alene was left without a Catholic school. Sister Superior M. Mariel and a few other teaching sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary shut the IHM Academy and left Coeur d’Alene for new posts in the East. Tight financial times for the order prompted the move. Many leading residents of Lake City today attended the prized school,

• Answer Man: And the answer is — Mike Anderson. Question: Who was the last Democrat to serve as a Kootenai County commissioner? Mike was a Post Falls police captain before he was elected in fall 1992. He served a two-year term before losing a re-election bid in 1994 to Dick Panabaker. Mike died at age 55 in 2010.

• Lasting Impression: Actor Pierce Brosnan won a diehard fan as he wrapped up shooting for “Dante’s Peak” at Wallace in July 1996. Noticing Dalton School teacher Jim Holmes watching in a wheelchair, Brosnan introduced himself. He asked how Jim had lost a leg. Jim answered: Diabetes. The star said his father suffered from sugar diabetes, too. Then, Brosnan gladly autographed Jim’s artificial limb.

• Did you know: Art on the Green began with 15 artists as the Coeur d’Alene Arts & Crafts Fair on the old McEuen tennis courts in August 1968. But the temperature was so hot on the court surface that paintings melted. Two years later, the festival relocated to the shaded North Idaho College grounds. Co-authors Gayle Hughes, Fay Wright and Sue Flammia reported all about it in their 2001 limited edition, “Art on the Green: A Celebration of Art and Community in the West.” It’s long out of print.

Parting Shot

In spring 1961, the McEuen family celebrated its 16th anniversary in the grocery business.

Virgil and Mae McEuen had operated the old Whiteley’s Market on Seventh Street for nine years before constructing the expanded McEuen’s IGA at 12th and Sherman.

They were benevolent grocers who helped others through tough times, not land barons.

They never owned the waterfront land that bears Mae’s name today, despite what some may think. During the fierce 2012 fight to overhaul McEuen Field, a few foes claimed the McEuens had donated the land to the city for ball fields. So, its use shouldn’t change.

Mae was an ordinary woman who did extraordinary things.

In 1957, she joined the city’s Parks & Recreation program and campaigned to start youth baseball. Within two years, the sports program attracted 900 boys and filled 90 teams. And, together with Art Manley and the Reeds (Mary Lou and Scott), Mae helped stop a goofy plan to build a shopping center on the old Mullan Park.

What would Mae McEuen think of the modern McEuen Park?

She would be delighted because it attracts so many visitors, especially children.

At age 61, Mae died Sept. 1, 1964. Mullan Park was renamed after her in June 1965.

• • •

D.F. (Dave) Oliveria can be contacted at [email protected].

    In 1976, CPD impounded James Schoenfeld’s car.
  

    In 1991, the Silver Valley protested the FBI Black Sunday raid.
  

    In 1986, Bob Silhavy attached an Idaho POW plate to his car.
  

    In 1971, as the Immaculate Heart of Mary sisters prepared to leave Coeur d’Alene, Sister M. Mariel (Dougher), right, shook hands with Sister Mary (Rassley). Watching were, from left, Sisters Idaho (McDonell), Teresa (Healy), Joan (Quinn) and Avellina (Ryan).
  

    In 1991, Mike Anderson of the Post Falls Police Department hauled away a bicycle after a crash on Seltice Way. Two years later, he was elected to the county commission and is now the last Democrat to serve in that position.
  

    In 1996, Jim Holmes of Rathdrum held up his prosthetic leg, which actor Pierce Brosnan autographed on the set of “Dante’s Peak.”
  

    In 2001, authors, from left, Gayle Hughes, Fay Wright and Sue Flammia unveiled their new Art on the Green book before the event’s 33rd season.
  

    In 1961, McEuen’s IGA owners advertised special sales for the store’s 16th anniversary. Pictured are, from left, Virgil, Mae, Gloria and Norman McEuen. Manager Art Berard is shown in the middle.