Tragedy

After living in the dorm for a year, I moved out to the apartment with a friend from the college choir and her boyfriend. We shared two bedroom apartment near school.

My friend, Debby, was about the same age as me, and she had cute little chubby figure with beautiful blond hair. She was a few people who were kind to me in the mostly local students' choir.

To pay for own living expenses, I was working in a Japanese restaurant in town as a waitress. After coming back from work in the evening, Debby's boyfriend sometimes brought his friends to play Dungeons & Dragons and I met them in the living room.

There were three boys: I can't recall their names, but they were 18, 19, and 20 years old and some of them were also attending Bakersfield College. They liked the role playing game, and we talked about general things (like recent movies or events) while we were enjoying ordinal weekday evening together.

There was nothing extraordinary until Debby and I heard that one of the boys parents were killed at home.

We were confused. We were worried that they got into any trouble when we heard that all three boys went missing.

A bit by bit the information came in.

We learned that not only the boy's parents but his brother and sister were also killed with a gun and knife. And it was told that the boys were the suspects.

Why, was the first question. Why would they have to do such things? Is that true? Those boys in our living room could be the suspects of such crime?

Though we prayed hard otherwise, they were the real suspects of such a horrendous crime.

Later, they called Debby's boyfriend asking for money. They took only $150 from the crime scene and ran away to Mexico. Naturally they ran out of money.

Debby's boyfriend called the police, and they went to the restaurant in San Diego pretending to give money. The boys were captured so easily there.

The boys' faces were the top page of the following morning newspaper. They were the youngest homicide suspects in the Kern County.

Debby's boyfriend had no choice but to call the police as Debby was pregnant at that time. He wouldn't take a risk to put her and baby in danger.

As a part of witness protection exercise, they moved out from California not to get traced by the boys and their families. I have not heard from Debby ever since.

At that time I was also planning to move to Fresno, because I knew that I would not be able to afford UCLA, my dream school, and my boyfriend at that time also moved there by chance. Cal State Fresno looked a good alternative to UCLA because Cal State Bakersfield was a bit too small as a university. Foreign students tuition was much cheaper in Cal State Universities than in UC schools.

In the second year, I no longer received the living expense from my parents like the first year, and I was supporting all my expenses. I was hoping at least the school tuition would be sponsored by my father, but it completely stopped shortly after I arrived Fresno as he himself got into financial problems. Later I learned his company filed bankruptcy around that time.

There was a tragedy for my friends and for myself in 1992.