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I’d like to dedicate this book to my mom, Kathleen. For the three decades that my dad patrolled the highways as a “Road Warrior,” she faithfully kept the light burning for him at home. While he chased bad guys, tended to the wounded, and cleaned up the grisly wrecks, she worked, raised the boys, and anxiously awaited his safe return. She patched his wounds, physical and emotional, kept his Thermos filled with hot coffee for those long Graveyard nights, and never forgot to put an “I Love You” note in the cup. Being a highway patrolman is tough work. Being the wife of a highway patrolman is tougher. I love you, Mom. You made it look easy even when it wasn’t.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Dad’s fellow patrolmen, his “Band of Brothers.” They looked out after each other and kept each other laughing when times were tough. They grew close in that special way that only men who face dangers and horrors together can. I know that Dad was proud to serve with them, to be among them, to call them his friends. To Gary, Bob, Pat, Ken, Tom, Roger, Bud, Phil, Gil, Jay, Bubba, and all the rest, you have my everlasting respect and thanks. I’m proud to have been a part of the CHP Family with you.—M.W.
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A witness claimed that Davis struggled with the CHP shotgun and inadvertently fired it while trying to work the gun. After the accidental discharge, the shotgun was placed in the car, according to the witness. Importantly, this testimony matches the CHP’s version of the event, as well.
The physical evidence tends to discredit this narrative, however. An accounting of the ammunition from this shotgun indicates that one spent CHP shotgun shell and three live CHP shotgun rounds were found with the weapon at the Hoag house, where Twining had taken hostages later in the day during his escape attempt. The spent shell was found in the hallway of the Hoag house next to Twining’s dead body, along with two other spent shells supplied from Twining’s own stock. (Fortunately, the brand and hull color of the CHP’s shotgun ammunition differed from the ammunition that the felons brought to the fight, making it easy to identify the source—the CHP issued Western Super-X ammunition with red hulls, while Davis and Twining had brought Remington-Peters ammunition with blue hulls to the fight.) Because Twining had engaged Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies with multiple shots from the shotgun in that location during two raids on the house, it is believed that the CHP shotshell was fired in the hallway of the Hoag house and not at the Standard Station location. Furthermore, it is inconceivable that the weapons-savvy Twining would have waited to eject the spent CHP shotshell and make the gun ready with a live round until starting the gun battle with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies in the hallway of the Hoag household. He most certainly would have ensured the gun had a loaded chamber at some time during his three-mile flight from the scene, particularly before he used the gun to take the Hoag family hostage. This makes the accidental discharge theory even less plausible and tends to confirm the accounts of witnesses who did not see the accidental shotgun discharge occur.
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