CATCH CRIMINALS, NOT CULTIVATORS

I read that authorities have arrested Darwin Charlesworth for the
cultivation of marijuana. I personally know Mr. Charlesworth to be a gentle,
intelligent, forthright person. What he allegedly did was foolish
considering the implacability of those who rule over us, but a crime? How
can there be a crime here? Who is the victim? Don't crimes always generate a
victim?

It must be pointed out that because of the War on Drugs, the United States
has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world, with the
possible exception of communist China. To release someone like Rex Allan
Krebs in order to institutionalize Charlesworth reveals an out-of-control,
Mad Hatter paucity of logic that defies belief.

A teach once told me, "True stupidity is doing the same thing over and over
again, but expecting a different result." If we continue to release
sociopaths in order to incarcerate harmless gadflies, we'll create a real
hell-on-Earth...and we'll deserve it.

Bill Mirken, Santa Maria

Pubdate: Sat, 24 Apr 1999
Source: San Luis Obispo County Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Telegram-Tribune
Contact: wgroshong@telegram-tribune.com
Website: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
Author: Jamie Hurly and David Sneed, The Tribune

SUSPECT HAS LONG CRIMINAL HISTORY

Rex Allan Krebs, whom police have identified as the prime suspect in the
deaths of two young San Luis Obispo women, has spent more than 11 of the
past 15 years in custody.

The sudden accusations against Rex Krebs are disturbing because he seemed to
be doing well after his release from prison in 1997, said his uncle Art
Krebs of Sandpoint, Idaho.

"We are shocked by it," he said. "It's not sitting very well with any of us.

"Our heart does go to the family of the victims, regardless of who did it."

Krebs, 33, got into some trouble as a youth in Sandpoint, according to his
uncle. His first serious brush with the law came in 1984, with a felony
grand theft conviction for stealing a car and some cassettes in Nez Perce
County, Idaho. He was sentenced to up to three years and served most of his
18 months' jail time in nearly back-to-back stints at a boot-camp program,
according to Mark Carnopis, a spokesman for the Idaho Department of
Corrections.

Krebs completed 11 months of probation in Idaho and then moved to Grover
Beach in March 1987.

By June he was under arrest as the suspect in two violent sexual attacks in
the South County. Krebs, then 21, initially pleaded not guilty to charges of
rape, sodomy, assault with the intent to commit rape, an attempted
rape and three burglaries. In August, when he changed his plea to no
contest, court transcripts indicate he had also been convicted of a
misdemeanor sex offense in an unspecified jurisdiction outside the county.

In October 1987, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

He started his term Nov. 3, 1987, at the California Institution for Men at
Chino, and was paroled Sept. 2, 1997.

San Luis Obispo Police Capt. Bart Topham said he believes Krebs has lived in
the county since his release on parole. Krebs lived in Atascadero on Bajada
Avenue near Traffic Way from June to September last year. When a neighbor
learned through Megan's Law that Krebs is a registered sex offender, a
letter-writing campaign ensued and Krebs moved out.

Glenn Jordan, a neighbor and former San Luis Obispo police officer, said
neighbors were thrilled when Krebs
moved out. "We were all dancing," he said.

Krebs looked like an ordinary man and kept to himself while living there,
Jordan said. Earlier this month, FBI
agents canvassed the neighborhood with a photo of Krebs and asked residents
what they knew about him, Jordan
said.

Although Krebs' neighbors on Davis Canyon Road near Avila Beach estimated he
had lived there for eight
months, it's uncertain whether he moved there directly from Atascadero.

Krebs, who had worked as a garage door hanger when he first moved to
California in 1987, had more recently
worked at a San Luis Obispo lumberyard.

Art Krebs said his nephew's problems seemed to mount after he moved to
California, where his mother had moved after remarrying.

"I think things went haywire down there," Art Krebs said.

Krebs said although Rex Krebs never returned to Idaho, his father visited
California at least once.

Art Krebs said the family is no stranger to violence. He said one of his
brothers was murdered in Vancouver, Wash., and a sister was murdered in
Spokane. He did not provide details of either case.

"We've suffered a lot of pain and agony for the family."

Rex Krebs' father, Allan Krebs, faces trial for a drug-trafficking case in
northwestern Montana, according to Deputy Lincoln County Attorney Bob
Slomski. Krebs is suspected of possessing methamphetamine and marijuana for
sale. He remains free on $75,000 bail.