Monterey County will be honoring victims of crime at 1 p.m. Friday at the Monterey County Courthouse courtyard, 142 W. Alisal St. in Salinas as part of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.
The event will feature Janette Blair, Julia Blair and Anita Scott as Speakers. They were children when their grandmother, aunt and two cousins were murdered by Harold Bicknell in their home in 1977.
On Feb. 22, 2019, the Board of Parole granted Bicknell parole, citing, among other things, Bicknell’s claim that law enforcement officers had him hypnotized during the initial investigation and implanted the confession he later made.
On June 14, 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom reversed the Board of Parole’s decision and indicated that Bicknell remained an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison.
Bicknell faced the Board of Parole again on July 30, 2020; one of the commissioners was the same commissioner who found him suitable for parole in February 2019. Surviving family members of the victim wrote letters opposing his release and many appeared during the hearing for the first time. This board again granted Bicknell parole.
After the District Attorney’s Office discovered a tape in archives which proved that no facts of the case were related during an attempt – unsuccessful in the opinion of the participants – to hypnotize Bicknell during the original investigation in 1977, Gov. Newsom sent this decision back for review and an en banc panel rescinded this grant of parole after reviewing the facts of the case and the plausibility of Bicknell’s denials of involvement.
Bicknell’s girlfriend, pregnant at the time of the crime, had given gave birth to Bicknell’s child. The child was adopted and eventually became a law enforcement officer. He spent many years dedicated to ensuring his father remained in custody according to a press release from the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office. He formed a close bond with his aunts, Bicknell’s sisters. He died June 23, 2021, but his aunts vowed to continue to fight the fight to keep Bicknell in custody.
Bicknell faced a new parole board in November 2021 and parole was denied for three years.
National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is when victims, survivors and city officials join together across the United States to promote victims’ rights and services and educate the public on the impact crime has on victims, neighborhoods and schools.
The ceremony will also invite survivors of homicide victims to announce the names of their loved ones and release doves in memory of all the victims of crime.
Since 1978, the District Attorney’s Office’s Victims of Crime Unit, has worked with victims of crime to uphold their rights and to ensure they are aware of assistance and compensation programs that can help them cope with the aftermath of a crime. In 2023, the unit provided over 24,244 mandated services to 3,162 new crime victims.
The 2024 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week not only honors victims of crime, but the many agencies that assist them.
A video presentation honoring victims of homicide in Monterey County will be available on the District Attorney’s Facebook page at facebook.com/montereyda. For additional information, contact Victim Witness Program Manager Alma Sanchez at (831) 755-5072.
