Glendale's Witness-Protection Program

Gonzales was so terrified of Sanders that he moved out of state.

William Ferguson is the only one of the three men arrested for the Wells Fargo robbery-murder who has not yet been tried.

Yoda copped a plea and is serving 25 years to life.
Ring was convicted and faces a death sentence.
As the criminal proceedings against Ring, Yoda and Ferguson unfolded, it became clear that Glendale police ignored red flags while investigating the crime.

Sanders, for instance, lied to cops about his alibi. The robbery was committed at 1:30, and Sanders told Glendale police he clocked into work at 2 p.m.

But Sanders' employer told Detective Clayton that Sanders showed up for work at 3:30--two hours after the crime was committed.

"That doesn't mean he committed the crime," says spokesman Brown. "If we had thought he was involved, we would have thought it was weird."

Another Glendale detective, Robert Hawkins, failed to log in evidence--a videotape of an eyewitness who described a man matching Sanders' looks speeding away in the stolen van. Instead of logging the tape into the evidence room or onto his computer, Hawkins locked the tape in his personal filing cabinet.

"It was an oversight," says Brown.
We don't know why Glendale cops made these blunders.
We don't know why they were so determined Sanders was not involved that they didn't search his house or bug his phone without his knowing it.

We don't know if they were pressured to solve this notorious crime too quickly. Or if they were merely stupid. Or if Sanders had something on one of them.

All we know for sure is that Christopher Foote and Spring Wright were shot to death in their bed shortly before dawn on August 31 after Sanders and the others broke into their house.

By choosing Sanders as their snitch, Glendale cops may have made a fatal mistake.

Contact Terry Greene Sterling at 229-8437, or online at tgreene@newtimes.com