The State : Rumor of Crime Probed

A Deukmejian Administration official said he hopes the state’s investigation of Ron Koenig, chairman of the state Board of Prison Terms, will put to rest allegations of criminal activity. Rod Blonien, undersecretary of the state Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, said the inquiry involves allegations against Koenig that were dismissed in 1983 by the Tehama County Grand Jury. Koenig, who was county sheriff for 11 years before joining the Board of Prison Terms last May, asked the Justice Department to investigate the allegations. Tehama County Dist. Atty. Jim Lang said his office conducted an extensive investigation of rumors that, in order to cover up his involvement in the drug trade, Koenig ordered the murders of a teen-age girl and a male transient. Lang said Koenig was also rumored to have helped conceal marijuana growing by a local rancher. Koenig said the charges were “groundless, vicious rumors. It was absolute bull.”