| For Immediate Release
October 30, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
|
OCDA TO OPPOSE PAROLE OF INMATE WHO ROBBED AND MURDERED GAS STATION ATTENDANT AND ACCESSORY TO STABBING-MURDER
SANTA ANA – Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas is opposing the parole of an inmate who robbed and murdered a gas station attendant with a hatchet and was an accessory in the stabbing death of an Orange County teacher in 1970. Arthur Craig Hulse, 58, is currently being held at the California Medical Facility, Vacaville. Hulse was found guilty by a jury March 1, 1971, of first degree murder after pleading guilty to the charge of accessory for murder. The case was originally prosecuted by then Deputy District Attorney Joe Heneghan. Hulse is scheduled to appear for a parole hearing tomorrow, Oct. 31, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. at the California Medical Facility before the Board of Parole Hearings, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Paul Odwald will appear at the hearing to oppose parole.
Circumstances of 1970 Murders
On June 1, 1970, then-16-year-old Hulse had run away from home to seek membership in a gang led by co-defendant 20-year-old Steven Hurd. The gang was staying at a motel when Hurd suggested they commit an armed robbery. Hulse grabbed a hatchet from the room and the defendants drove to a gas station in Santa Ana shortly after midnight on June 2, 1970. Hulse and Hurd entered the gas station and told 20-year-old gas station attendant, Jerry Wayne Carlin, that they were robbing him. The victim gave Hulse approximately $40 before the defendants tied him up. When Carlin begged not to be harmed, Hulse became infuriated and struck Carlin in the chest with the hatchet. Hulse repeatedly struck the victim in the head until he felt the victim’s skull cave in.
At approximately 12:00 p.m., June 2, 1970, Hulse’s co-defendants attempted to steal a car. Hurd stopped 31-year-old high school teacher, Florence Nancy Brown, in her car and ordered her to move over while threatening her with a knife. As the car was being driven away, Hurd drove the knife into the back of Brown’s neck and stabbed her multiple times. Hulse and the other co-defendants buried the victim’s body in a remote area off Ortega Highway. Investigators later found Brown’s mutilated body buried, with her right arm, right breast, heart, and both lungs removed.
Threat to Public Safety and Lack of Programming Progress
Although Hulse has been incarcerated since 1971, he has done little to progress towards parole suitability. Hulse has not taken any vocational classes or obtained training to gain employment if he were to be paroled. He does not have any verifiable plans for housing or employment.
Hulse has attended Alcoholics Anonymous but did not have a sponsor and was not progressing though the program. Hulse has also been involved in heated arguments with other inmates on multiple occasions while incarcerated.
Based on Hulse’s commitment offenses and history of drug abuse, Hulse has a great risk for violent recidivism. Considering the brutal nature of the commitment offenses.