Couple Convicted of Thefts From Man Who Is Feared Dead

Two former Santa Monica teachers were convicted Friday of stealing the motor home and life savings of a retired Glendale accountant who mysteriously disappeared a year ago while traveling in Northern California.

A 12-member jury in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas found Stanley Alan Hershey, 46, and his wife, Jan Vicki Fine, 38, guilty on all 18 counts of conspiracy, transportation of stolen vehicles across state lines and illegal use of automated banking cards.

Sentencing was set for Jan. 11 before U.S. District Judge Philip Pro. Hershey and Fine have been held without bail in a Las Vegas jail since their arrest March 1 by the FBI.

The couple were convicted of stealing a $219,000 motor home, a four-wheel-drive Suzuki and $120,000 in savings that belonged to Gordon T. Johnson, 62.

Authorities believe that Johnson, who traveled with his dog, Rocky, was murdered during a stopover at a campground at Lake Shasta in Northern California. While local authorities are continuing a murder investigation, Johnson’s body has not been found and no charges have been filed. There is no murder charge under federal law.

Fine, who is expecting her first child in two weeks, appeared visibly shaken as the verdict was read. The stoical expression maintained by Hershey during the six-day trial did not change.

Fine testified that she and her husband, both teachers with master’s degrees, practiced “channeling,” in which they relied on spirits to guide their destiny. She said she believed her husband had a special connection with a spirit guide.

She also testified that Hershey told her Johnson gave them permission to use his motor home and funds to support their spiritual work, but did not say what that work entailed. The couple traveled extensively, including a trip to Tahiti, and spent large sums on expensive clothing, such as silk Italian suits purchased in Las Vegas.

During the trial, Fine’s defense attorney attempted to portray her client as a timid woman with low self-esteem who did not question the actions of her husband. Fine cried during closing arguments Thursday when her attorney depicted Hershey as a diabolical, domineering man who exercised mind control over his submissive wife.

Journals written by Hershey and Fine in which they supposedly wrote down directives from spirits were presented by both Fine’s attorney and the federal prosecutor during final arguments.

Federal Public Defender Franny Forsman argued that journals written by Hershey since 1986 reveal his quest for money and power over others. She maintained that Hershey had plotted to victimize Fine, whom he married in 1988, by controlling her actions and spending her $95,000 inheritance.

But Assistant U.S. Dist. Atty. J. Gregory Damm used journals written by both Hershey and Fine to show that they schemed together to steal from Johnson. After Hershey and Fine met Johnson in September, 1989, at a motor home park in Minneapolis, Fine wrote: “The plan is in action and ready to be executed.”

At the same time, Hershey, in a passage that specified “Gordy (Johnson) and his assets,” wrote a supposed directive from spirits that said: “No act or word or thought from either of you that could be judged as ‘harmful’ from your cultural vantage point accrues any karmic consequence for you. There are no limits or prohibitions.”