Chaos Unleashed
The following saga involves several Manson girls, a decapitated body, a man who was tricked into digging his own grave, a head that went missing, two people discovered in the trunk of a burning car, a girl who was found wandering around naked with her arms cut off, and a man sentenced to 878 years to life.
The First Murder
After the Tate–LaBianca murder trial, ‘Manson girl’ Nancy Pitman—along with Maria Alonzo, Priscilla Cooper, and Aryan Brotherhood members Michael Monfort, James Craig, and William Goucher—moved into a cabin at Parker’s Resort in Guerneville, California. They were joined by James and Lauren Willett, who brought their infant daughter, Heidi.
On November 8, 1972, the decapitated body of 26-year-old James Willett, a former Marine, was found in a shallow grave with one hand protruding from the soil. He had been shot multiple times with both a pistol and a shotgun.
Four days later, on November 12, authorities located the body of his wife, 19-year-old Lauren Olmstead Willett, buried in the crawl space of a house in Stockton. She had been killed by a single .38-caliber gunshot to the head.
Nancy Pitman (24), Michael Monfort (24), James Craig (33), William Goucher (23), Priscilla Cooper (21), and Lynette Fromme (24) were arrested in connection with the murders. Investigators were led to Lauren Willett’s body after Monfort attempted to use James Willett’s identity and paperwork to secure release on bail following a liquor store robbery arrest.
Motives, Conflicts, and the Killing of James Willett
The group had been supporting themselves through armed robberies. According to Goucher, James Willett, the son of a Kentucky Distiller, wanted to leave the group and take his wife and daughter with him. He feared the escalating criminal activity and wanted out.
Goucher also claimed that Lauren had become involved with James Craig and was not eager to leave with her husband. Ultimately, Willett was killed because the group believed he might inform law enforcement about their crimes.
Dug His Own Grave
Goucher, who later became a state witness, testified that Monfort tricked Willett into digging his own grave under the pretext that the hole would be used to bury loot. The men had been drinking, and after Willett finished digging, they decided to test Goucher’s new 12-gauge shotgun and lost track of the grave’s location.
Monfort then shot Willett in the back of the head with a .22-caliber pistol. As Willett fell face down, Goucher fired a 12-gauge shotgun into the back of his neck. Craig then discharged two rounds from a 20-gauge shotgun into Willett’s body. The group rolled the body down a hill and covered it with dirt and branches.
James Willett’s head was never recovered. A pathologist suggested that the shotgun blast had partially severed it and that animals likely carried it away due to the shallow burial.
The Death of Lauren Willett
Priscilla Cooper told authorities that Monfort accidentally shot Lauren Willett while playing Russian roulette. Investigators later determined that she was killed deliberately—almost certainly to silence her after her husband’s body was discovered.
Heidi Willett, the infant daughter of James and Lauren, was unharmed and was later placed under the care of her grandmother.
Charges, Convictions, and Sentences
Michael Monfort and William Goucher faced murder charges for the killing of James Willett. Monfort, Craig, Cooper, Pitman, and Fromme were charged in connection with Lauren Willett’s death.
- Monfort and Goucher accepted plea deals for second-degree murder and received sentences of five years to life.
- Pitman and Cooper pleaded guilty to being accessories after the fact in Lauren Willett’s murder and received five-year sentences; Pitman was paroled after 18 months.
- Lynette Fromme’s charges were reduced due to insufficient evidence and eventually dismissed. Three years later, she received a life sentence for pointing a loaded gun at President Gerald Ford.
- James Craig pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and to possessing an illegal weapon, receiving consecutive sentences of five years and two years.
Monfort and Pitman later married in 1976.
Violence After Parole
In March 1978, James Craig was paroled from Folsom Prison. He moved in with Priscilla Cooper, who had been paroled for her role in the Willett case. Craig soon partnered with Edward Barabas, another recently released convicted robber. The two supported themselves by robbing drug dealers.
In November 1978, Craig and Barabas were found in the trunk of a burning car. Firefighters, who were alerted that a car was on fire, extinguished the flames. What they encountered next was nothing short of astonishing — faint moans coming from the trunk of the car.
The charred bodies of Craig and Barabas were found with their hands tied behind their backs. Barabas was pronounced dead at the scene, having suffered two gunshot wounds to his head and neck, as well as severe burns.
Craig was found in critical condition, shot in the face and neck, with part of his jaw blown away by a shotgun blast. He was taken to the hospital, where he was put in a medically induced coma. Due to severe burns, Craig’s right arm and three fingers from his left hand were amputated at the hospital.
As he was being transported to the hospital, Craig repeatedly murmured, “She’s dangerous,” though investigators were unable to determine who he meant. He died from his injuries on December 22, 1978.
On the same day Craig died, two California Highway Patrol officers were murdered execution-style by Luis Rodriguez and Margaret Klaess. During their trial, Klaess testified that the pair had teamed up with Craig and Barabas a month earlier to rob a cocaine dealer.
Shortly after the murders, Robert Chrisman turned himself in to the authorities, confessing that he, along with Chester Lee Hunt, Della Hunt, and Donna Bierer, had committed the murders of Craig and Barabas during a night of terror. His statement led investigators to the full sequence of events.
A Night of Terror
The night of terror began when James Craig and Edward Barabas, armed with a shotgun and a knife, went to Chester Hunt’s apartment, where a fight broke out. During the struggle, roles were reversed, and Hunt managed to seize a gun.
Barabas fired a round from the shotgun but missed. In retaliation, Hunt shot him in the neck. As Barabas and Craig tried to flee, they were captured. The night took an even darker turn when Hunt began tormenting his captives. At one point, he threatened to inject Craig with battery acid, even placing the needle in Craig’s hand before reconsidering.
Hunt then forced Craig to accompany him to his apartment, where they retrieved Barabas’s girlfriend, Jeanne Domer, along with James Craig and Priscilla Cooper’s one-month-old baby. They returned to the original apartment, where Domer was molested. Meanwhile, Barabas, still alive, said something to Hunt that enraged him. Hunt then shot and kicked Barabas in the head.
Afterward, Barabas and Craig were stuffed into the trunk of a car. At this point, James Craig was shot with the shotgun. The car was then set on fire before the perpetrators fled the scene. Hunt returned to his apartment and coldly informed Barabas’s girlfriend, “We just burned up your two friends. They’re crispy critters.” Twelve hours later, Jeanne Domer was released.
Chester Hunt was later shot in the chin when he pulled a gun on a plainclothes officer on Stockton Boulevard during his apprehension. Hunt was sentenced to life and is presently serving his term in California State Prison. For more details, see the original newspaper articles from the 1970s below.
Priscilla Cooper’s Daughter
James Craig and Priscilla Cooper’s daughter went to live with another couple whom she referred to as grandparents. She faced a challenging and difficult life, marked by drugs and alcohol.
She started drinking at the age of 11, and, much like her parents before her, found herself in prison at one point. However, she has turned her life around and is now a born-again Christian.
Arms Cut Off
In another bizarre connection to this case, a 15-year-old girl named Mary Vincent, who had been staying with Luis Rodriguez and Margaret Klaess around the same time they were associated with Craig and Barabas, was found wandering around naked with her arms cut off.
In September 1978, a couple of months before the murders of Craig and Barabas, Vincent was hitchhiking when she was picked up and subsequently raped. After being raped, Mary Vincent had her arms hacked off with an axe, was thrown down the road into a drainage ditch, and left to die.
Vincent, despite her hands being cut off, managed to climb back up, and walked naked for two miles seeking help, holding her bloody stumps above her head to slow the blood flow.
She later testified against her attacker, Lawrence Singleton, nicknamed the “Mad Chopper”, who received a 14-year sentence but was released after serving only 8 years.
Singleton later faced charges for the murder of Roxanne Hayes and was sentenced to death. Mary Vincent received prosthetic arms and moved forward with her life.
Aftermath: The Monfort Family
Nancy Pitman married Michael Monfort in a jailhouse ceremony on January 27, 1976. They had three sons—Sean, Eric, and Orrin—conceived during conjugal visits while Monfort was incarcerated.
After his release on parole on May 4, 1984, Monfort rejoined his family. In 1996, he was arrested again for 32 armed robberies and received a sentence of 878 years to life. He died in prison on July 3, 2005. Nancy Pitman moved on and is reportedly living in Hawaii.
For related newspaper articles, see the Willett Archive.