Hubbard Talks to ‘20/20,’ Reveals Little Beyond His Own Contradictions

For the first time, rapist and former San Diego cop Henry Hubbard will be seen answering questions tonight, but don’t expect many answers.

After refusing other interview requests, Hubbard agreed to talk to ABC’s “20/20” for a story (“Good Cop, Bad Cop”) to be broadcast tonight (10 p.m. on KGTV, Channel 10).

Reporter Tom Jarriel says he found Hubbard polite and passive but also devious and deceptive, “a walking con man.”

Hubbard, who pleaded guilty and is serving a 56-year sentence in Donovan State Prison on Otay Mesa, told Jarriel he cannot remember any of the nine rapes.

“He’s the classic enigma,” Jarriel said in a phone interview. “He appears fragile, intellectual, polite. He appears anything except a dangerous person. He appears to be the most humble, contrite person you can imagine.”

Jarriel asks Hubbard to explain his descent from cop to sexual predator. Hubbard’s answer is a jumble:

“I’ve always had the utmost respect for individuals’ lives. I mean, I’ve always wanted to help, and to, you know, all of a sudden, turn around and just do the opposite of what I basically wanted to strive in life for, you know, which is, you know, the betterment of my fellow man, I did just the opposite, and that’s very, very hard for me to deal with.”

Hubbard expresses remorse only in a backhanded manner: “I felt extremely sorry for what I had done (after the first attack). But, you know, the thing that didn’t make any sense is that it happened again.”

The segment includes interviews with Hubbard’s wife, his victims, his friends in South Carolina, and his ex-partner on the San Diego Police Department, Craig Myrom, who still can’t believe that Hubbard was not the straight-arrow cop that he appeared to be.

Jarriel confronts Hubbard:

“You are perhaps the most dangerous criminal that society could face, a normal person who carries on behavior like this, which is so violent. What can we learn from Henry Hubbard in this episode?”

Hubbard chillingly responds:

“It can happen. Maybe not to the degree that it happened to me, but it can happen and it is going to happen some more.”

Acting, Fund-Raising, Scouting . . .

Other things.

* North County bumper sticker: “Boycott the Media. Explore the Emptiness.”

* The Columbo special, “A Bird in the Hand,” with San Diego actor-restaurateur Leon Singer (and Peter Falk and Tyne Daly) is scheduled for 9 p.m. Sunday on Channel 10.

Singer plays a (maybe homicidal) gardener.

* The campaign is over, but the Susan Golding forces are still looking for money: past, present and future.

A fund-raiser is set for Dec. 3 aboard the William D. Evans paddle wheeler on Mission Bay to retire Golding’s campaign debt (of undisclosed size).

The invitation says that, if you’ve maxed out for the current campaign, a contribution for the “next” campaign would be appreciated.

Also being sought (separately) are contributions for the Dec. 7 inaugural bash at the Convention Center.

* Be Prepared.

Queer Nation/San Diego plans a big rally Saturday in Hillcrest to back Chuck Merino, the gay El Cajon cop expelled from the Boy Scout-Police Explorer program.

The group will also demand that the San Diego City Council remove the Boy Scouts from city property on Fiesta Island and Balboa Park.

Merino will discuss his planned lawsuit to overturn the Scouts’ anti-gay policy. Set to attend the rally is the (gay) grandson of Boy Scouts founder William D. Boyce.

Lawsuit or no, don’t look for the council to remove the Boy Scouts from Fiesta Island or Balboa Park. If need be, some council members are prepared to amend the Human Dignity Ordinance to exempt the Boy Scouts rather than let it be used to force the Scouts’ ouster.

K-9 With an Accent

Stop, tuyven!

Bondo, a 4-year-old German shepherd, has joined the Sheriff’s Department K-9 unit in San Marcos. Bondo was purchased by Deputy Greg Basham from a kennel in Denmark.

Maybe that explains why Bondo only takes commands in Danish (the language, not the pastry).