ion. He finally was allowed to take a physical examination at the Oakland Induction Center on January 15,1973. He passed the exam, but was still turned down. Feeling rejected and ashamed, Herb moved out of the family home and into a one-room apartment in an old, run-down section of Santa Cruz, increasing his isolation. He was more and more preoccupied with his bizarre internal world.On January 25,1973, at about 9:30 a.m., Herb drove out Branciforte Drive, a long road extending from the city of Santa Cruz well up into a remote area of the Santa Cruz Mountains. (It is named for a settlement of ex-convicts, alcoholics, and other "undesirables" who were attracted to the area after the founding of the Santa Cruz Mission and settled nearby in 1797. Interestingly, within a few years the mission priest had been murdered and the settlers from Branciforte had robbed enough from the Santa Cruz Mission to discourage its expansion. The pueblo of Branciforte thrived, however, as smugglers found the hilly areas close by the ocean harbor a useful combination. Even today, small ships loaded with marijuana and other drugs have been known to unload their cargo at Santa Cruz for dispersal by "delivery personnel" who live in the remote hills and valleys of the Santa Cruz Mountains.) Jim Gianera, the high school acquaintance-turned-drug-dealer, had been on Herb's mind lately. He believed that Gianera had given him marijuana in order to destroy his mind and to prevent him from being too powerful in his next life.Herb knocked on the door of the small primitive cabin on Branciforte Drive where he thought Gianera lived. Kathy Francis, 29 years old, answered the door. Her husband was out of town and she wasn't expecting visitors. The cabin had no electricity and the only source of heat was a small stove which was out. As briefly as she could, she told the stranger at her door what he wanted to know-the Gianeras didn't live there anymore. They had moved the previo...
