Carns Goes on Holiday Visit : Night Stalker Victim Thanks His Helpers

William Carns Jr., the Mission Viejo man who was seriously injured in an Aug. 25 attack attributed to the Night Stalker, relayed a personal message of “‘Good tidings to all and a Merry Christmas” to all his friends and neighbors who have helped him financially.

This is the first public word from Carns, 30, a computer programmer, who was shot three times in the head by an intruder. He and his fiancee are spending Christmas with his family in North Dakota. Carns had moved from his native state shortly before the attack to work for Burroughs Corp. in Mission Viejo.

Carns was released from Saddleback Community Hospital in Laguna Hills on Dec. 19, a hospital spokesman said. Roger Bradshaw, a neighbor, said that Carns, accompanied by his fiancee--who was also assaulted on Aug. 25--left immediately to spend the holidays in Bismarck.

After the attack, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department issued an erroneous bulletin which said that the man was “brain dead.” However, within 10 days of the shooting, Carns was breathing on his own, eating and sitting up at Mission Community Hospital. In late September, he was transferred to Saddleback Community Hospital for further rehabilitation for residual paralysis on his left side.

In a telephone interview, Carns’ sister, Linda Knodel, said her brother’s spirits were “real good” and that he would remain in North Dakota until Friday. Whether Carns will return to the hospital or go home after that, Knodel said, is “yet to be determined.”