Tregeagle goes to San Quentin
November 17, 2008 – 3:48 pm
July 15, 1971
Death penalty trials are grim stories.
Over the last 20 years I have worked at the paper I have covered portions of 3 of the 4 active county death row stories.In 1971 there was a wave of 3 death penalty convictions within 9 months.Joseph Deb Tregeagle was convicted of murdering a 17-year-old Van Nuys boy at Montaña de Oro State Park.Quoting from staff writer Walt Beesley’s story,
While courthouse employees stared intently out of their windows, convicted murder Joseph Deb Tregeagle was led unceremoniously from the county jail Wednesday to a waiting sheriff’s car which whisked him away to San Quentin’s Death Row.The route to San Quentin was the same taken by two other slayers convicted here within the last nine months.Tregeagle’s predecessors were Andrew Herschel Gay, 26, of Fresno.Gay was convicted last March of the slayings of Eve Hindin, 19, of Laurelton, N.Y. and John Volpi, 18, of Van Nuys, both hitchhikers.Coincidentally, it was Ronald Allen Payton, another Van Nuys hitchhiker, who became Tregeagle’s victim.Archa was convicted last December of the murders of a Shandon couple and their four-year-old daughter.
The picture here shows when the jail was under the old courthouse on Osos Street.I am assuming the guy with the hat and cigarette holder was the reporter Walt Beesley.There was no courtroom picture because cameras were not allowed in California courtrooms until the mid 1980’s. If you wanted a picture you had to wait outside the courthouse or the jail for the convict to be walked to the car.
For those researching the topic the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has a good overview of the history of the Death Penalty in California.Tregeagle was fortunate to be convicted when he was, according to the CDC website: “In 1972, the California Supreme Court found that the death penalty constituted cruel and unusual punishment under the state constitution. As a result, 107 individuals had their sentences changed to other than death.”Charles Manson and Tex Watson were among those with commuted sentences; Manson and Watson have had parole hearings but are still in prison.At onepoint Watson was incarcerated at CMC.Fellow Manson family member Bruce Davis is still at CMC and though he has had over a dozen parole hearings but has not been released. Tregeagle likely had his sentence commuted and was atsome point paroled.Joseph Deb Tregeagle is a unique name and it turns up again in a ruling from February 1992 United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The criminal history appears to match and in this ruling Tregeagle is sentenced to 18 months in prison for possession of a firearm. He claimed took the gun from his nephew, preventing his nephew from doing harm with the gun. Appeals court judges upheld the conviction.Times have changed and we have fewer death penalty cases today. The Tregeagle trial took about 5 days and he was bound for Death row a little over 7 months after the crime.Capital punishment trials now can take years to prepare and months to try. It isn’t that prosecutors have become softer.There are now specific circumstances that must be met to qualify for capital punishment and more stringent procedures. Conviction is only the start of a long appeals process. The system has slowed down in the wake of revelations that courts have convicted and executed the innocent. This system also delays final judgment for the guilty.San Luis Obispo County now has four men on death row:
As of midnight November 5, 2008 there were 628 condemned men in San Quentinwith 637 beds available. There were 15 condemned women at the Central California Women’s Facility with design capacity of 17.Whether you are for or against the death penalty a report released in the summer of 2008 states that the largest and slowest death row in America has broken down costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Today more California death row inmates die of old age than execution.Wayne Nicholls made the photos.
17 Responses to “Tregeagle goes to San Quentin”
Wow — a cigarette holder. Sweet hat, too.
By Pat on Nov 17, 2008
What happened to John Grey Archa and his two accomplises? I was in the 4th grade when the people were murdered about 4 houses away from ours.
And the text to the right of this box reads. ” from the files of the SLO County Tribune” In fact, should it not read the Telegram Tribune since that’s what the paper was called in those days?
By honeyg on Nov 17, 2008
Thanks for the comments Pat & honeyg.
As quoted from the CDC website above in 1972 “…107 individuals had their sentences changed to other than death.” This included several Manson family members and RFK murderer Sirhan Sirhan. This likely included the three SLO County capital punishment convictions from 1971. They could have been paroled or could still be in prison.
I don’t have any follow up information. Sadly we don’t have an index for files that far back. (Any volunteers?) Perhaps there is someone in the law enforcement community that can shed some light on these stories?
On your other question…some of the information is from San Luis Obispo Tribune, or the San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune, or The Morning Tribune or the Daily Telegram or any number of variations. It depends on what era is being covered. Today it is The Tribune (Newspaper of the Central Coast) so I keep things simple in the side rail summary.
By David Middlecamp on Nov 18, 2008
Judging from the cases the newspaper cites along with Tregeagle, it seems like it’s bad luck to be a hitchhiker or youngster from Van Nuys. Poor guys keep getting killed!
I love Walt Beesley’s natty appearance. The cigarette holder, the hat, the skinny tie … it’s all “vintage reporter.”
By Sarah on Nov 18, 2008
Might have noted in passing that Judge William P. Clark later served as a California Supreme Court Justice; resigned to become Pres. Reagan’s National Security Advisor and later became Secretary of the Interior before returning to North County to see the results he significantly influenced: The Soviet Union Collapsed and the Cold War ended.
By Harold on Nov 18, 2008
Judge Clark also built Chapel Hill in Shandon based on the designs of Christopher Wren. It is a cherished venue for weddings and classical music concerts. I plan to have a future post on Judge Clark.
By David Middlecamp on Nov 18, 2008
John Gray Archa died in Soledad Prison May 24, 1998 at age 54. What were the names of his accomplices?
By jb on Jan 6, 2009
David, you might want to take a look at this. Tregeagle was apparently released at some point after serving some time and even escaping from prison.
http://cases.justia.com/us-court-of-appeals/F2/956/279/326386/
By Joe Dunlap on Jan 6, 2009
Thanks for the information Joe & jb.
Archa’s accomplices apparently did not have death sentences and were not mentioned in this article.
The justia link can be found under the blue text “turns up again”.
By David Middlecamp on Jan 7, 2009
If you want an update about Joe Tregeagle, contact me. I wish to remain annonymous.
By ct on Aug 30, 2009
Feel free to post a comment ct if you wish. You can choose if you want your contact information visible to others.
By David Middlecamp on Aug 31, 2009
I remember two murders in SLO — the first I ever heard of in town. I believe it was in the late 1960s and people were quite frightened as it took some time to find the person who committed the crimes. But luckily, crime did not pay. The first victim was a young Cuesta College student who gave the killer a ride. She was killed in her home. Her husband forgave the killer, saying hating him would not bring back his wife. I wondered at that time if I could ever be so generous in such a situation. Probably not. A few months later, if I am correct, another woman was murdered in her home. She was older and lived alone. I have often thought of the victims. I believe it was the same killer, but my memory might be incorrect. It was all senseless. Does anyone else remember these crimes?
By GrewupinSLO on Oct 3, 2009
In the 1950’s there was a young man named Jim Yerbic that was murdered in Shandon. He was a service station attendant. He was closing up the station for the night when he was robbed at gunpoint, and shot in the back of the head, execution style. The only description witnesses could give was “a man with dark hair, a long, dark beard, and sunglasses.” His vehicle was described as a “older model green sedan, which appeared to have numerous dents”. I know there was quite an uproar over this. For a couple of months, the cops were stopping green sedans up and down the state. Does anyone know if the culprit was ever caught? Or who he was? I heard the FBI agent on the case eventually solved it, but never heard of any convictions or even an arrest.
By whoknows on Nov 12, 2009
Sorry to say I am unlikely to find records of these crimes without specific dates. Unfortunately our microfilm is not indexed and our paper files before the 1980’s are hit and miss.
By David Middlecamp on Nov 13, 2009
Hi, David! I looked in my personal file, and located an obituary for James Yerbic. It appeared in the Paso Robles Press on Sep. 20, 1958. Jim was killed on Sep. 15, 1958. I know there was a string of articles in the Paso Robles Press about the incident for at least a month and a half afterward, but I could never find any mention of whether they caught the guy or if he was convicted. Screwy thing is, the town constable’s wife was the key witness. The gas station was one door down from her backyard. I guess two guys tried breaking into the station about a week after the killing, and when the alarm went off, they ran. The sheriff sent 16 cars to that one attempted burglary. Talk about jittery!
By whoknows on Nov 18, 2009
Hellooooo, David! Have you forgotten about me? you requested a specific date, I gave you one, you never responded. PLEASE respond!!!! Thanks.
By Matt Grant AKA whoknows on Feb 5, 2010
Hi Matt,
Sorry it got lost in the stack of things to do.
I won’t have time to research the whole saga but could find one or two of the pages in the next couple of weeks.
I still have to work at my fulltime job as photographer so the blog posts tend to be what I can research and write in an hour or two.
The City/County library has microfilm copies of the T-T as does the Cal Poly Library. The Paso Library may have film on the Paso Press if you want to research more deeply.
By David Middlecamp on Feb 5, 2010