Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 07/28/03

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Donna Edwards - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Chief Deputy Larry Scoufos Chief Deputy District Attorney: Ken Gnoss

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

PAROLE DENIED FOR INMATE CLIFFORD LEE BAIR

Parole was denied for convicted murderer Clifford Lee Bair after a Board of Prison Terms Parole Hearing held Friday, July 28, 2003, at Folsom State Prison.

Bair was convicted of first degree murder and other charges by a Sonoma County jury in 1984. Bair’s crime spree began in Tulare County, where he stole a truck, armed himself with a sawed-off shotgun and drove to Bodega Bay in a jealous rage to spy on his ex-wife. After checking into the Harbor View Motel in Bodega Bay under a false name, Bair drove the stolen truck to a nearby deserted ravine, where he removed the license plates and set the truck on fire.

Later the next afternoon, Bair went to the Bodega home of 86-year old Teresa Aiken, who was known affectionately as the “Mother of Bodega Bay”. Bair knew the victim because he had previously done yard work for her. After entering Ms. Aiken’s home, he bound and gagged her on the bedroom floor, and then put bedding and a mattress on top of her. While Bair was still in the house, a friend of the victim, Rose Fomasi, stopped by the residence to drop off some mail. When Ms. Fomasi entered the residence, she was confronted by Bair, who tied her up with electrical wire and left her lying on the floor.

Bair took Ms. Aiken’s vehicle and drove it until it broke down on Lakeville Highway near Gilardi’s Resort. Bair then stole a sailboat from the Lakeville Marina on the Petaluma River. The owner of the sailboat arrived the next morning and discovered the sailboat missing. He then found the boat grounded on a sandbar in the river. While waiting for the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department to arrive, the boat owner saw Bair run away from the sailboat. Sheriff’s Deputies found Bair hiding nearby.

A concerned friend found Teresa Aiken and Rose Fomasi the next morning in the residence. Ms. Aiken was dead, and Fomasi was injured from having been tied up.

At Friday’s Parole Hearing, Chief Deputy District Attorney Ken Gnoss opposed the release of inmate Clifford Bair. The Parole Board concluded that inmate Bair was unsuitable for parole at this time and denied any further parole hearing for a period of three years.