LOS ANGELES : ‘Onion Field’ Killer Begins 1 1/2-Year Term

Jimmy Lee Smith, convicted of killing a Los Angeles police officer in the infamous “Onion Field” case, began serving a 1 1/2-year jail sentence Wednesday after pleading guilty to theft and narcotics charges.

He was charged with stealing eight packages of cold medicine from a Thrifty store in Hollywood on Feb. 16, and with being under the influence of codeine and morphine.

Smith and Gregory Powell were convicted of kidnaping two Los Angeles policemen from a Hollywood street in 1963. The officers were driven to an onion field south of Bakersfield, where Powell shot Officer Ian Campbell to death. His partner, Officer Karl Hettinger, escaped.