Chief Daryl Gates at a press conference.
At a press conference on December 23, 1980 at Parker Center, Daryl Gates, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, announced that three suspects in the gruesome massacre at the Bob’s Big Boy restaurant on La Cienega near Sawyer Street, in which three people were killed, were in custody and would be charged with first degree murder. The suspects were identified as: Franklin Freeman, 22, Ricky Sanders, 25, and Carletha Stewart, 19. [Stewart and Freeman were cousins, Stewart was Sanders’ girlfriend.] Gates said that Stewart was a former employee of the restaurant but did not say how long she had been employed or when she had left.
Forbidden by law to disclose the criminal records of the suspects prior to their being charged, Chief Gates said that the alleged gunmen had police records and one of them had a record of “serious violations–real hard-time stuff.” Stewart had no criminal record and wasn’t in the restaurant during the murders; however, she was thought to have been the getaway driver.
The suspects spent Christmas Eve in court where they were formally charged with murder, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy. Each of them was eligible for the death penalty if convicted; and all of them entered a plea of not guilty.
Once they’d been charged, Sanders’ criminal record was made public. He had been released from custody on March 12, 1979 after serving almost a year in Soledad and Tehachapi for a residential burglary in Orange Count. Not exactly “hard-time stuff”, but certainly incarceration in a California State Prison counts as serious.
As far as hard-time goes, Freeman’s younger brother, Anthony, 19, stood a chance of doing a major stretch in prison for a murder he had allegedly committed. He was awaiting a retrial for the strangulation murder of seventy-two year-old Rosa Robinson. She had been strangled with a vacuum cleaner cord on August 8, 1979. She was the mother of Inglewood Municipal Court Judge Roosevelt Robinson. Anthony’s first trial deadlocked 11-to-1 in favor of conviction. It was possible that the Freeman brothers would serve prison time, if not in the same facility, then at least simultaneously. [Anthony was sentenced to life at his second trial.]
One of the revelations during the preliminary hearing in April 1981 was that the robbery was not committed on a whim, it had been planned. According to an acquaintance of Stewart’s, Andre Gilcrest, 21, about two weeks prior to the actual robbery Stewart told him that some of her friends were going to rob the Bob’s restaurant that night. Gilcrest, who was held in protective custody, said that after Stewart told him about the plan they drove to the restaurant and drank coffee until closing waiting for the shit to hit the fan. The robbery didn’t occur that night because, as Stewart later learned, the manager, thinking that the would-be robbers were customers who hadn’t made it before closing time wouldn’t open the door for them.
One of the victims who testified at the preliminary hearing, during which all three of the defendants were present, was Rhonda Robinson. She took the stand and almost immediately began to tremble. When she became incoherent a recess was called so she could collect herself. When the DA asked her why she was so frightened she said: “Because I know that’s the guy [motioning to Freeman] over there who did it.” She was one of the lucky ones in that she was not physically harmed during the shootings, but she was psychologically damaged. She said she had nightmares and wasn’t able to return to work. She was consulting a psychiatrist for her ongoing emotional trauma.
Ismael Luna testified through a Spanish language interpreter. He was shocked and bewildered by the violence. He said: “We were all in a group and they just started shooting.” Luna’s father Cesario, wounded during the shooting, died after languishing for several months in a coma–bringing the death toll to four.
Michael Malloy, night manager at the restaurant, lost his right eye during the gunfire. He appeared in court with a bandage covering half his face.
Orasteen Freeman insisted her son was the victim of mistaken identity. You might expect a mother to defend her son, but in this case there was possibly something to her assertion. One of the survivors of the massacre, Tami Rogoway, had failed to make a positive identification of Freeman. But less than a week later she testified that she was “positive” that he was one of the two men who shot into the freezer that night. She explained her inability to identify him the first time because she had been too afraid to make eye contact with the defendant; but later when “he turned back once, our eyes caught…and I flashed back to Bob’s Big Boy.”
Madelynn Kopple, Freeman’s attorney, asked Rogoway if she was “willing to bet your life” on identifying Freeman. Rogoway replied: “I have to be willing to sit up here and say what I just said.”
Would Rogoway’s initial failure to ID Freeman be enough to plant the seeds of reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors?
NEXT TIME: The conclusion of the bloodbath at Bob’s Big Boy.
Hello, Where is the conclusion of this?
I just found your site and am already enjoying it!
Hi! I’m glad you’re enjoying the site, welcome! The conclusion for Bloodbath.. is https://derangedlacrimes.com/?p=8676
Best,
Joan
My name is Daryl Morrison. I was at Folsom State Prison with Frank Freeman. He works in the prison laundry.
So crazy, I lived on Corning st, up the block from the shopping center the Big Boys was located in. I was in this Big Boys earlier that evening at around 6pm. I remember seeing the yellow tape as I passed the restaurant going to church that Sunday morning.
Greg,
Wow, that’s a little too close for comfort! It was a brutal crime.
Joan
I ise to live on Corning too. Was in the Penitentiary with Frank Freeman at Corcoran IV. We worked in the laundry together. He is into drag queens now.
I lived in the area in the 70\\\’s and 80\\\’s. They didn\\\’t close up the store until way after and had a very spooky vibe. Nobody would go…
The crime was so horrendous. I’m not surprised that people picked up a spooky vibe from the place.
Joan
What a horrible experience. I fell for the families who suffered during this tragedy. However my brother Franklin Freeman Jr. Has been in prison for over 37 years and had absolutely had nothing to do with the crime. What a tragedy in and of itself. The real murderer has been free for 37 years and we call this justice!!!!!!
Rick — Arguably the case against your brother was the weakest of those accused. If he is innocent then you are right, justice has not been served and that compounds the tragedy. Have you contacted the California Innocence Project? You may want to have them review your brother’s case to see if there is anything that they can do. Here is their contact information:
California Innocence Project
California Western School of Law
Institute for Criminal Defense Advocacy
225 Cedar Street
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619-525-1485
Fax: 619-615-1443
You can submit a case online: https://californiainnocenceproject.org/submit-a-case/submit-a-case/
Wow I heard about this through the family when the trial took place my cousin didn’t get a fair trial and so much was not entered in the trial on his behalf..
I was up in Folsom with your brother.
I remember this like yesterday. I actually know the girl that was involved
Dani,
It was such a brutal crime. It’s no wonder your memory of it is clear.
Best,
Joan
It’s funny how time can make you think about the past. All of a sudden, I thought to myself what happened with carletha stewart and looked it up. I was amazed to see this article. I used to work for Bob’s Big Boy at that time and knew Carletha; in fact I just left the night shift and went to the day shift. I had no idea that there was going to be a robbery, I just thank God that he moved me because I could have been one of the four that lost their life. The funny thing about this is that after the incident I heard that Carletha was after Rodell who use to be the manager there and he was the reason she no longer worked there. There was a lot of animosity between the two. What really hurt me the most was Cesario the bus boy; the only reason he was there was because the buses were not running when he gets off so he would stay the night until the buses starting running again. I was so fond of Cesario, I would even give him some of my tips. It still hurts now after all these years that those innocent people were hurt needlessly.
I search the past sometimes too–I’m not always sure what triggers my interest. I’m fortunate that I never experienced what you did. It is truly frightening. Your memories of Cesario are touching. He sounds like he was a sweet guy. I don’t think I’ll ever understand how people can be so unspeakably cruel. Thank you for writing. Take care and be safe.
Best,
Joan
I was 19 and worked there until just before this happened..I remember seeing it on the news. I met my husband Mike working there. And that was our shift.. as i recall the manager was sleeping with a waitress, they got drunk one night and fought.. he broke her arm.. and instead of firing him, they moved him to another Bob’s and one by one.. fired everyone that knew them
..we were both fired ..i later heard that the cashier had been fired and came back with her boyfriend and a friend to rob it but she didn’t think they were going to hurt Anyone..I think she was only like 18… such a tragedy
Does anyone have a link or actually have the video from America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back Season 10, Episode 24? It is the actual episode that covers Bobs Big Boy Massacre with my Mother in Law who is a survivor Rhonda Robinson.
Levi, I searched but had no luck in locating that particular episode. I have found descriptions of the episode but no links to view it.
That’s rather odd since there are many other episodes readily available. If you find it please let me know, and I will do likewise. Please convey
my best wishes to your mother-in-law.
I was contacted by the Police Department at the David Brotman Hospital on Life Support next to the last Week in July 1978 and asked by the Los Angeles Police Department where my 12 Gage Pump Shotgun was. It was purchased at the Western Surplus in the first week of July 1978. Next to the Last Week of July 1978 I was laid on the Floor in a Business when TWO Animals came into the Location and Shot me in the Back FIVE times with a 357 Revolver, they took the Pump Shotgun with them in what they wanted it to appear as a Robbery, later to discover they were sent by some one I knew. The Shotgun that was left behind was the one I purchased according to the Police, but shown in this series it was Super Modified to where it does not look like a 12 Gauge Shotgun. One Question never answered, Why were the Police asking about the Shotgun within a Moth after it was purchased? Then why was only it left at the Bob’s Big Boy Scene almost TWO (2) Years later. Where was it all that time and why not leave the other Shotgun?
Have you fully recovered from the gunshot wounds? Who would do that to you, and why? It’s a very
curious story.
I too lived in the are when this crime took place. I lived on Bedford St. I remember the news being out there like every day for a week. Felt funny eating there after… Yikes
It was such a brutal crime. I’ve heard from a couple of employees who worked there at the time. I can’t imagine returning to work after something like that.
Hello. My name is Nicole. I am a volunteer at a local church group which offers assistance to prison inmates. I’d like to know if Caletha Stewart is still in prison, if so, what prison or has she been paroled? I’d like to help her if I could. Any information you provide would be appreciated.