Josh Ryen was the only survivor of the bloodbath that occurred in the Chino Hills home in June of 1983. And with equal frequency, other pictures come to mind - scenes from the night that forever changed his life. I am indebted to Josh Robinson for planting the thought in my mind that is prompting me to write these words. Everyone knows Fred Savage's memorable role as Kevin Arnold, but what happened to Josh Saviano, who played Kevin's best friend, Paul? "Cooper was there," says Josh. This then is a book about a gruesome murder case, painfully recounted; all quotes are from either documents or interviews I conducted doing my research. His system had literally shut down, but he was able to raise eight fingers when Guerrero asked him how old he was. ", "It's just what he took from me," says Josh. He kicked the kitchen door down, ran inside, and thats where he found Doug and Peggy Ryen stabbed to death, their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica, bloody and lifeless, and his son, Christopher, still and cold. an empty house next door to the Chino home of Doug Ryen, his wife Peggy and their two young children, ten-year-old Jessica and eight-year-old Joshua. On Christmas Eve 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown approved new DNA testing on four pieces of evidence: the tan T-shirt, the hatchet, the sheath, and an orange towel found near the Ryen home that matched ones from inside. The medical examiner listed thirty-three separate wounds, most of them delivered with great force and destruction. 2. Josh Ryen, now in his 40s, pleaded for further investigation in a 2004 television interview on "48 Hours": "The hair needs to be tested," he said. It took many efforts on her part to merely get the police interested enough to come and pick up the overalls and interview the witness. Cooper's case has become a cause celebre, with supporters including Kim Kardashian, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof . Surprisingly, the only survivor of the terrifying incident was Douglas and Peggys son, Josh Ryen. The hair that Josh is referring to is what was found in his sister Jessica's hand. Five years after Mexico ceded California to the United States in 1848, the County of San Bernardino was formed out of the vast expanses of deserts and mountains of Los Angeles County. How a tragic boating crash is connected to the family of Alex Murdaugh After the murder, Josh was brought up by his maternal grandmother, Mary Howell, who won his custody in 1985. Over the preceding ten years, escapes had occurred with unsettling frequency, ranging from eight to thirty per year. Josh Ryen, 8, was the only one who survived the attack. An episode of MTV Cribs, featuring a tour of her home, was said to have aided Liverpool and Bradshaw in their plot. Josh was manifesting numerous signs of being in shock: no bleeding from an open wound, no blood pressure and no pulse. A knife was dragged across her back and then inserted. Their neighbors referred to their ranches along Old English Road as the Arabian Horse Center of Southern California.. "He was part of it somehow. Peggy had owned her own horses since she was twelve years old, gifts from her twice divorced mother, Dr. Mary Howell. The secluded area of Chino Hills that Doug and Peggy Ryen and their two-year-old daughter, Jessica, and infant son, Joshua, moved into in 1975 fulfilled a long-held dream for Peggy Ryen, joining a small, close-knit community of Arabian horse breeders who operated adjoining or close-by ranches. Mainly, this is a simple story of racist scapegoating at its worst. In 1771 the Spanish founded Mission San Gabriel and began using the area to graze the missions cattle. What happened Josh Ryen? He got off to a hot start in 2009 before a midseason rib injury put him out of the lineup, although the 28-year-old still hit .268 with 54 RBI over the 89 games he played. He cleaned and sutured the wound. "There's something that reminds me of my sister, my mom and my dad and my friend Chris.". After awhile, the children went to sleep, the boys in sleeping bags on the floor in Joshs room and Jessica in her room. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department deputies who responded to the call decided almost immediately that Kevin Cooper was the likely killer because he had admittedly hidden out in the vacant Lease house next door to the crime scene for two days (leaving on June 4th) and because he was a convenient black man in largely white San Bernardino. The towel ended up on Peggy Ryens leg. Finally, I read all of the appeals and the judicial rulings. Ruben Guerrero, a fire department medic, put some Vaseline on Joshs neck wound, then gauzed and bandaged it. display: block; Peggy Ryen, also forty-one years old, was positioned in the middle of the bedroom with her arms straight out, her left leg straight out and her right knee slightly bent inward, much as though she had been nailed to a cross. Youtube/Fox. It is larger than nine U.S. states and is larger in area than Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts combined. The San Bernardino Valley is at the eastern end of the San Gabriel Valley, and, along with Riverside County, is part of the Inland Empire, so named to distinguish the region from the coastal areas of Los Angeles County. Does he think of his family? My first step was to read and notate the trial transcripts, documents of over eight-thousand pages. Some of the blood stains matched Doug Ryen's blood type. Josh Hartnett has said he quit Hollywood because he didn't enjoy "hobnobbing" with people he didn't care about.. I thought, my God, what in the hell have I come across. Also visible in the bedroom was a jewelry box with jewels in it, as well as a video camera, stereo system, and a TV with a VCR. It looks like Brook Lynn will "That story never got told right," she said of her divorce in a 2019 interview with Today. General Hospital (GH) spoilers for Friday, March 3, tease that Sasha Gilmore (Sofia Mattsson) will push Brook Lynn Quartermaine (Amanda Setton) to acknowledge the weird tension between them, which Sasha believes has something to do with Harrison Chase (Josh Swickard). It was a clear case of arson, and five people from Marlborough were duly convicted of the crime. His defense attorney Norman Hile believes authorities planted Cooper's DNA using blood they collected when he was arrested in 1983. Down to Earth. After a nearly four-month trial, Kevin Cooper was found guilty of murder and attempted murder. Doug, who descended from Norwegian ancestry, grew up on the outskirts of Des Moines, Iowa. As we respect his privacy, we hope he has managed to defeat the demons of his past and would like to wish him all the happiness for the coming days. Except now the cigarette from the abandoned house was gone. Peggy Ryen was lying on her back naked in the middle of the room and Doug Ryen, also nude, was kneeling over by the edge of the bed. Author Topic: Whatever happened to.. JOSH KASPER (Read 9047 times) 0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. The hand-written letter was on newly printed stationery inscribed Ryen Arabian Ranch that Doug had given her for Christmas. I certainly thought so. Anti-shock pants are used to get any blood that is pulled to the lower extremities back up to the vital organs. Josh Ryen was the only survivor of the bloodbath that occurred in the Chino Hills home in June of 1983. Even though Josh suffered injuries and had his throat cut, he miraculously survived. Even before he hit it big on the television show In Living . Cant wait to see his babies we should make a mint when we sell that one., Her other two mares were going to be bred to two top stallions also featured in that issue of the magazine. Her autopsy reported eight separate stabbing wounds to her right forearm and four to her right hand and wrist. What happened to Jeri Ryan after Star Trek: Voyager? On a counter between the kitchen and the dining room, he saw coins and some bills in plain view next to Peggy Ryens purse. His parents, his sister, and his best friend were brutally murdered inside his home in Chino Hills, California, and he. This witness also claimed that a hatchet was missing from her garage. Pope Francis weighed in on the matter as well due to the fact that Kevin Cooper was mere days away from being executed on death row, a fate that was eventually stayed. In 1983, when he was eight years old, Josh Ryen's life changed forever. Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of California. Hughes rushed to his son, but the body was cold. Josh doesn't seem too down-and-out about his career, and he's currently attached to some cool films, many still in post-production, like The Long Home with James Franco, The Valley of The Gods with John Malkovich, Inside The Viper, and Highway. I rated him as QB1 and the number two overall player (behind Saquon Barkley). Hughes ran around to another side of the house and kicked in the kitchen door. It was like something you see in a Helter Skelter movie. Shortly after that he retreated from the spotlight, and while he continued to act . In 2018, following anin-depth investigation by Kristof and the New York Times, Kim Kardashian West tweeted her support and Pope Francis weighed in on the case. An excerpt from the recently released book Scapegoat: The Chino Hills Murders and the Framing of Kevin Cooper by J. Patrick OConnor, editor of Crime Magazine. Josh Byrne played Brendan Lambert (Frank's youngest son) on every season of "Step by Step" until 1997 (via IMDb ), when he seemingly disappeared from the show completely after Frank and Carol welcomed their one and only biological child together, Lilly Foster-Lambert. According to a report issued late last year, the DNA found in the following samples - a drop of blood, on two cigarette butts and on the blood-stained beige T-shirt - points to one perpetrator, Kevin Cooper. Fans were not happy with that narrative, which Ryan says was very unfairly off-base. On a June night in 1983, her son Christopher was having a sleepover at the sprawling, hill-top Chino Hills home of Douglas and Peggy Ryen with their two children, Jessica, 10, and Joshua, 8, when. Forty-one-year-old Doug Ryen was found slumped kneeling against his bed, the victim of thirty-seven hatchet and knife wounds. "I, Kevin Cooper, was never inside the home that I now know is the Ryen home. Prior to starring on the show, he also appeared on the long-running TV sitcom . That's not right.". WATCH: Sole survivor of Chino Hills murders describes what happened. Only son Josh Ryen miraculously survived, having to stare at his butchered mother for hours as he himself nearly died. October 26, 2000 / 12:11 AM ", "I'll be there with him," adds Mary. So I would be with him. Suffice it to say, this book is well worth reading. It gives an inside view of not just how one man was railroaded and could be murdered by the state for a crime he didnt commit, but its also a glimpse into the very real way that this racist scapegoating happened and continues to happen throughout the criminal justice system. The murders had an uncommon viciousness to them, as if the killers meant not only to kill, but to send a message of payback or retribution. Doug Ryens wallet was missing, but it would be found under the front seat of his pickup truck in late July. It's free to sign up and bid on jobs. ' by Philip Larkin is a short poem that speaks on how emotions change when one becomes more distant from a powerful event. She called out several names but got no response. Josh Hutcherson already had a bank of successful movies under his belt when he became Peeta Mellark. Chris Hughes endured twenty-six separate wounds, including a deep hatchet gash that ran from his eyebrows to the tip of his nose. African Americans are 12 percent of the U.S. population, but 42 percent of prisoners on death row. Kevin Cooper was a serial burglar who had escaped from a nearby prison two days before the murders. Peggy bought her first two Arabian horses and threw herself into training them. In 2000, correspondent Erin Moriarty began reporting on the case for "48 Hours," after getting a letter from Kevin Cooper saying he'd been framed for murder. "My throat was slashed, I was stabbed and I was hit with an ax," he says. He even stated that he spotted one of the attackers, although he could not identify him. This book is fantastic for a few different reasons. Another transected the left carotid artery causing extensive hemorrhage and arterial blood spraying on the wall behind the water bed. Summary ' Whatever Happened? Both the button and the sheath were clearly planted in the Lease house. Scapegoat won Silver in the 2013 Independent Publishers Book Awards for True Crime. "I feel empty in a way, but I have my grandmother. The local police had access to evidence and multiple accounts from witnesses at various times pointing to a group of (3 4 white) men who were most likely the killers. At 11 a.m. she drove the short distance to the Ryens house, went to the front door and knocked. of Corrections and Rehabilitation, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in-depth investigation by Kristof and the New York Times. Jim Carrey was ready to quit. Authorities found a hatchet used in the murders down the road from the Ryen home. George Blade made his living as a horse shoer, a service he had provided the Ryens for the past eight years. Over the years, his wealth has increased, and it is now estimated at $5 million. Actor Josh Hartnett, who rose to prominence in the late 1990s, recently revealed why he turned his back on Hollywood during the peak of his career. But unlike a Grisham novel or other true crime books of this ilk, OConnor doesnt just relay the story, he also spends a lot of time critiquing events and pointing out where things went wrong. On the night of November 29, 1988, near the impoverished Marlborough neighborhood in south Kansas City, an explosion at a construction site killed six of the citys firefighters. Bryan joins the pod to discuss lessons learned from Fox's . The tragedy though is not simply that Kevin Cooper could be executed for a crime he didnt commit but also that the Ryen family murders have not be solved and the perpetrators are still at large. #inline-recirc-item--id-a6052540-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d, #right-rail-recirc-item--id-a6052540-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d { They had been chopped with a hatchet, sliced with a knife, and stabbed with an ice-pick. Just months after 48 Hours first aired this report in the fall of 2000, Cooper got his wish. So I want to know. And it was never established that the sheath matched the hatchet that was used in the crime. #JoshRosen #NFL #Bkelly Remember to smash that like button, turn them notifications on, and subscribe. About half of Chino Hills consisted of undeveloped grazing land for equestrian ranchers and dairy farmers. I'll never be satisfied until I do.". That night, the Blades young son, Jason, pleaded with his parents to allow him to spend the night at the Ryens as well, but he was not allowed to because his grandmother was visiting and it was already 9 p.m., an hour after his normal bedtime. The crime scene evidence that convicted Alex Murdaugh It is not humanly possible. Jessa loves having one her size around., In other news, Peggy mentioned buying a five-year-old Arabian stallion she named Scruffy, and arranging to impregnate one of her mares with the highly regarded stud, Sahara Prince, whose photo was on the back cover of the current Arabian horse magazine. It is obviously not Cooper's and if not Jessica's, the hair may belong to another killer. Its so much fun having a little one to train since our other youngests are two years old already. But Josh Ryen, 8 years old, was moving feebly on the floor even though his throat had been slashed and his skull fractured. October 18, 2020 - 2:22PM In 2002, Josh Hartnett seemed to have it all. A judge said that the criminalist "altered his lab notes and claimed he had misinterpreted his results.". "She's been everybody to me," he says. But Josh, who just turned 29, is finally breaking his silence. The cost to maintain them strapped the couple for cash. In a nightstand drawer less than five feet from where Peggy Ryens body was laying, he found a loaded .22 Ruger pistol. Ryen Russillo was no different. Tests on the tan T-shirt, drop of blood and cigarette butts all came back linked to Kevin Cooper. For the young man who lost his mother, father and sister in one night of unspeakable horror, the ocean has always been a sanctuary - the only place where Josh Ryen can escape the questions that. 9 Chevrolet, qualified 32nd for what will be his third Cup Series race. Member since Feb 2011. Evidence used to convict Kevin Cooper is being questioned more than 35 years later. In reviewing the crime scene the day the murders were discovered, Detective John Clifford saw no signs of ransacking. Three hours and 42 minutes before midnight, a federal appellate court stayed the execution and saved Kevin Cooper's life. Many hours had passed since hed heard from the boy, and he was beginning to worry. "He watched," says Josh. "I'm asking people to look at the evidence.". Hughes, recalling that he was somewhat in a state of shock, went home to tell his wife what he had seen while Howey went up to the Ryens to wait with Josh until help could arrive. ", Judge Fletcher's scathing 100-page dissent. Since his appearance on 48 Hours in 2004, Josh Ryen has maintained zero social media presence and lives a very private life. In forty-five cases where there was a retrial, the inmate was acquitted. "Her hand is clenched fighting for her life. Danny Dias, 34. When the Ryens neighbors in Santa Ana began to complain persistently about Peggy keeping her horses in her backyard, Dr. Howell bought a four-bedroom house in Chino Hills with six acres so the horses could be kept there. Contrary to popular belief, most of the nations more than three-thousand-five-hundred death row inmates do not profess innocence. Went back to LSU. Josh, too was struck while attempting to rescue his friend and later woke up in a pool of blood with his throat slashed. They used the $10,000 proceeds to open their own clinic in Olympia, Washington. Cooper, a career burglar, had been hiding out in a vacant home near the Ryen home at the time of the incident. During the attack, and while still alive, she suffered hatchet wounds to both her face and the back of her head and a stab wound to her left breast. Published in January of 2012 by Strategic Media Books, Scapegoat is available at www.strategicmediabooks.com, Amazon.com, barnesandoble.com and other book sellers throughout the United States. Both were covered in blood. In May 2019, for the first time, Moriarty visited Cooper at San. Josh is known for his impressive height, standing at 6ft 2ins (1.91m) tall. First, one person could not possibly have wielded that many weapons and subdue that many people. In another letter to Lillian, this one written in May of 1974, Peggy brimmed with enthusiasm about her plans to breed and train Arabian horses. A recently escaped convict, Kevin Cooper, was later arrested and found guilty. After being raised by his maternal grandmother, Josh spent months following his family and best friends murder and cooperating with police. 48 Hours: The Troubling Case Against Kevin Cooper portrays the heinous crime and shows how badly the whole incident affected Josh. August drives a Land Rover of $73k and owns a multi-million 2,570 square feet mansion. He was just eight years old when he witnessed his parents, his sister, and Christopher Huges meet their deaths in a horrible murder. Dr. Root said the bruising around the entry wound indicated it occurred early on in the assault. But the. Plus, Life Advice. At a Lutheran Church in Corona Del Mar, California, two months after Dougs divorce was finalized, Doug and Peggy were married on December 20, 1970. In 2002, DNA test showed the presence of a second DNA profile in it. We need the DNA testing to prove something," says Mary Howell. The Pearl Harbor star told Channel Seven's. He ran to his parents' bedroom where he found them in a pool of blood. For those who do, the road to exoneration is a long, slow trek that usually fails. Around 9:30 p.m. the Ryens and Chris returned to the Ryens rambling, split-level, pentagon-shaped home. Josh Ryen later said he saw the shadow of one person in the house. Unofficial estimates show that it reaffirms an inmate's guilt in six out of 10 cases. The Arizona Cardinals gave up a first, third, and fifth-round pick to move up . Tom Sizemore, the brilliant but troubled character actor who was a staple of Hollywood cinema in the '90s and early aughts, passed away on Friday after suffering a stroke caused . At an alumni reunion at Palmer in 1970, Peggy Ann Howell met Franklin Douglas Ryen, an ex-Marine who was in the final year of the schools four-year program and who by now was separated from the woman he had married in 1964. display: none; Josh Lucas' first high profile role was in the 1993 Frank Marshall survival film Alive, an Ethan Hawke-starrer that recounted the horrifying tragedy of a Uruguayan rugby team whose plane had crashed in the Andes. I could see that the many years he had spent on death row, instead of diminishing him, had turned him into a person worthy of the high regard that his supporters and his attorneys at the Orrick law firm felt for him. Then he disappeared. } Oh well, we can always change that. The three-bedroom, two-bath house featured a sunken living room, a family room, and a Jacuzzi in the patio off the master bedroom. A state expert analyzed a single drop of blood from the Ryen home, found in the hallway, away from the gory crime scene. Norfolk Southern train derails in Springfield, Ohio, At least 12 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, Trump speaks at CPAC after winning straw poll, Grizzlies star Ja Morant to miss at least 2 games after alleged gun incident, How Paul Murdaugh testified "from the grave" to help convict his father, Man charged for alleged involvement in 2 transformer explosions, Promising drug could provide alternative to statins, new study finds, Iran to allow more inspections at nuclear sites, U.N. says, NTSB to investigate in-flight turbulence that left 1 passenger dead, California Dept. In 2017, he was found unresponsive in his Brooklyn, New York, apartment . It was produced by Ryen McPherson, with friends Zachary Bubeck, Kevin Zinter, Daniel J. Tanner, and Michael Slyman, as Indecline Films. Hed just escaped a minimum-security prison nearby. It's you and me.' In response, Guerrero placed anti-shock trousers called a MAST suit on Josh. On Feb. 22, 2019, California Gov. Filed under: The Ryen Russillo Podcast; Bryan Curtis on Sports Media, the Magic of Radio Row, and Podcasts vs. Radio. 1 Born February 28, 1992 Age 30 Years Active 2010 - present Before Fame Josh Green is a native of Bowie, Maryland and would move to New York City to study acting. In Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Maryland, and in the U.S. military and federal system, more than 60 percent of those on death row are Black; Virginia, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Ohio all have death rows where more than 50 percent are African American.