It happened 55 years ago, not 45.

Wow, this video is so well done. Thank you for doing it! In 1994, I was working as a newscast producer at KGET in Bakersfield when Karl Hettinger died. It was my first TV news job after college. Hettinger had been a Kern County Supervisor in Bakersfield until 1993, so we covered his death extensively along with the story of Ian Campbell's death. Hettinger was very well liked. I became sort of obsessed with Hettinger's role in the Onion Field murder story and read as much as I could find out about it, which was hard to do in those pre-internet days. I had thought about trying to find the location of the shooting but had no idea where to start. This video would have come in handy back then! Again, great job with this video!

And again, nicely done Forrest. Keep'em coming. I really enjoy the way you explain all your videos.👏👏👏

You've done an exceptional job in answering the questions that many of us have had for decades. Excellent work! So tragic to lose Ian and then the aftermath and unjustified criticism of Karl. Both honorable officers who will never be forgotten. RIP Thank you so much Forrest. All of your videos are very enjoyable and enlightening.

Just as an FYI. Campbell and Hettinger were north bound in the alley from Hollywood toward Carlos street. While stopped at the intersection of Carlos and the alley, they observed the suspects westbound on Carlos, reach the end of Carlos street then make a U-turn. Now heading east bound on Carlos at Gower, they were stopped while turning right (southbound) onto Gower. I know this, because my father was one of the first officers to arrive at the scene that night.

Excellent work Detective Haggerty

Do Zodiac Murder sites!

I was quite young when the movie debuted. The murder seemed so senseless as there was nothing to gain from it. What really got to me is seeing how the life of the surviving officer was affected. Hats off to our boys in blue, few of us could walk in their shoes.

The 101 fwy through Hollywood is known as the Ian Campbell memorial hwy.

Another awesome video Forrest! I just love how you go into so much detail and are so precise and thorough at making sure you have the exact location, by matching up images! You’d make an awesome Sherlock!! Looking forward to the next, as always!! :-)))))

If you go to google maps street view at the location where the patrol car is at N Gower & N Carlos, in the picture you showed, there is a sign on the street light pole that says, "Ian Campell Square".

You really have a way of pulling me into the story and the time. This was really awful hearing all the details about this one. But it’s wonderful you put a real world context to what happened and where. Great detective work!

I've read the book and seen the film more times than I can count. Excellent work, Forrest. Thank you so much.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for doing this. Bought the book a few days ago from Amazon for my Kindle and started reading it on the 4th. Doing research to get my bearings and this helps SO MUCH!! I sort of like to see the places where the stuff happens so I can get a feel for it, and this helps so MUCH!! Thank you so much!!

Excellent work; terrific video! I read The Onion Field when first published. A perfect narrative, rivaling In Cold Blood. The story and its sadness haunted me for years. Without fail, the sound of bagpipes bring poignant thoughts about Ian Campbell.

I have driven over the grapevine many times, and it's always unsettling when you smell onions at the bottom on the Kern County side.

An exceptional video and "tour" of the initial traffic stop location, route of travel to the onion field, and location of the shooting scene. I've been trying to figure out the latter (especially) for quite awhile but could find nothing specific (just an onion field near Bakersfield). Again, very nicely done, Mr. Haggerty....VERY nicely done.

The Onion Field book is so big from space!! I aways enjoy your historical Google Earth posts. Some excellent sleuthing, Forrest.

I read the book. So sad but such an intriguing story. I enjoy how you explain everything. keep up the great work!

Another brilliant and informative video Forrest. Your channel is my favorite YT channel hands down. Keep up the good (and no doubt hard) work. You keep coming up with great topics to delve into and looking forward to more. Thanks again!

I enjoy the match up between photos---you put together so much information and explain step by step.... I know this takes a Lot of time---thank you for doing this for us, and you will get many views on all your vlogs..... I am sure of that...

This is such good work. I remember this movie from my child hood. It must of effected me because I never forgot it

Love your videos!... your detective work to locate exact areas is exactly the kind of thing I enjoy doing, nice to see I'm not the only one :) Look forward to more of your videos.

This is great. I love videos like this where someone traces places where stuff happened years ago. It's great seeing if not much has changed. Great videos Forrest. That takes a lot of research to find all these places.

Excellent information! I was 13 when my dad took me to see The Onion Field. I’ve been fascinated with it for the past 40 years. I also had the book at one time. I might buy another copy now.

I grew up in a small town near by, less then a mile from the site. My grandparents, who lived in the same small town, would always point out about where it happened on our drives in the foothills. It always creeped me out.

Your videos are nothing more than incredible. The amount of work that goes into your videos is apparent. I applaud your effort, you deserve more subs.

Very good and well done video, sir! I am a new subscriber and have a couple of your videos now and am so happy to be onboard with you. The attention to detail and all of the research that you put into your videos is truly amazing. I really enjoy watching them. Keep up all of the great work!😊👍

Good job, always curious about the exact location, visual and with a great narrative.

Fascinating work! I am hooked on your videos!

This is some Legendary Batman detective work!!! Oh and also I’ve been watching all your videos for the past 2 days, I’m almost done, it’s crazy that this was recommended in my feed, I instantly got hooked!

Forrest, great story I remember reading this book. I'm going to pull it out again and reread it. Thanks again I love the internet for people like you.

These videos are brilliant. Have you ever considered doing a video on the Wonderland Murders of 1981?

That is so smart of you. The way you were able to figure pretty much the actual spot!

I love your videos and all of the detailed work that you put into them; thank you! I have also loved doing similar research, although no where near the painstaking detail that you have put into it. That being said: This weekend (9/21/19) I visited the onion field site, while passing through the area from L.A. I used this video and Google Maps to guide me. And you nailed the location. Exactly where you said there was a gas line, there in fact, is a marker that states, "Warning, high pressure gas line". The area is a little hard to get to because it is still a very bumpy and narrow, dirt road, which makes it all-the-more haunting, because it is easy to imagine that not much has changed in 46 years. Anyway, I plan on using your videos to do some more trecking in the future. If you want a photo of that marker (and other photos I took there), let me know. Keep up the great work. ~gn

Excellent work Forrest, if I may. Admire your videos, to the point and perfect narration. Thanks. ;)

Great sleuthing!! I remember reading a web page a few years back about a group of LAPD officers who attempted to locate the Onion Field based on the historical records and photos available to them, The LAPD Museum in Highland Park has some artifacts from the case as well. You should do one about the Newhall Incident when 4 CHP officers were gunned down in 1970.

Excellent content! I’d like to see videos on the Ripper murders and the Hindenburg disaster

Outstanding detective work, sir!

Liked. Subscribed. Well done. I was looking up Actor James Wood and saw The Onion Field was his first movie after he dropped out of MIT -- one semester shy of graduating. That's how I wound up here.

You did an absolute fantastic job on this one. Love it. As strange as this seems. The movie The Onion Field was on tv last week and I watched, maybe for the 4th time. I ordered the book last week and was reading it just now! got up after the 1st chapter and put in the onion field into KZfaq and got your video! I'm a retired Sheriff's Deputy and I can say this. The part of the movie where they are in the squad room reading the new directives on how you are not to give up your gun is total s---. The old veteran who stands up and tells how he gave up His gun to a crook who was holding a .45 to his belly and that the only directive that is to be followed is with the Officer's on the street that means Officer discretion! I could tell you a lot storie's about how 100% true that is, but I'll leave it there. Good Job Mr. Haggerty on this.

you did some great research... I like watching all your video's things I Never knew. ..great history of what happened and the way you explain them make so much sense. .. looking forward for more of your video's. .

Thank you, Forrest. I finished the audio book The Onion Field two weeks ago. Then I listened to Go Down Together - The True Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde. They drove 300 miles a day all over the Midwest USA. Your map would look like a spider web! Keep up the valuable work. James Dean was spot-on too. I should go to your site and see what else you've cooked up.

They did make a left on Franklin and got on the 101. You can see the Argyle Ave. sign in the movie as they enter the 101. Great job ! Awesome video. Saw this movie back in the 80s as a kid. Scared the hell out of me haha.

Thanks for posting. Great job.

Great job! I enjoyed reading The Onion Field and I've always been curious to see the locations where the incidents took place. Have you ever considered doing a similar video showing the locations from the Reinert murder case (Echoes in the Darkness by Wambaugh)? Perhaps the locations of the former Host Inn in Harrisburg, etc.

Wow.....Spectacular work sir...I am retired LEO...That was awesome...Excellent work...I thought i was the only one who was intriged by that horror story!

As an avid Google Earth user as well great job on the analysis. One thing I has not heard you mention or try is the historical views available on Google Earth. Many times you can see old earth views which would help in your analysis as well. Granted many times the views are not clear or available but worth a try. In this instance the views only go back to 1994 so not much help. Thanks for the video very interesting

Really liked this one, good work man. You got a new subscriber. 👍

This intrigued so much I am now reading the book mentioned. I am a big true crime buff and also a former police officer.

just found this channel, your analyses are fascinating

Thank you again Forrest for another entertaining & educational video. This is one of my favorites, but still heartbreaking. I was only 12 when this happened in 1963 & to be honest with you, I was much more into baseball than criminal behavior at that age. But my father was in law enforcement so I naturally gravitated to that field when I went to college. We studied this case, read the book, met Joseph Wambaugh & eventually saw the movie, although it was much later. During Easter Spring break in 1973, a group of us 13 grad students (along with 2 professors) from SDSU went on a field trip visiting 7 of the California State Prisons & a two of the Federal Prisons. I learned so much that week seeing the inside, walking the yards & floors of each prison, but especially talking with the "lifers" at Folsom, in their own cells with no guards around, uncensored. Question please, can you tell me how much time you spend making your videos, beginning to end & then posting on KZfaq? Of course, some are easier than others but I'd guess this one might have taken quite a bit more man hours. Your research of this brutal event, photos of the crime scenes (then & now), all the participants involved, the editing & your narrative are all superb. Thank you again & until next time, another of your loyal & thankful subscribers from San Diego.

Fantastic Work , Forrest !!! Loved it !!!! Re - Gas line , what no one ever talks about , other than in the book , is that had they found , and also killed Officer Hettinger , the plan was to throw them both in that ditch , cover them some , and possibly , been covered the next day with fill . They never would’ve been caught perhaps !!!!! Also , they must’ve just filled up with gas , prior to the abduction , gas was never a problem , even after the murder ( searching for the other officer ) and youngbloods eventual exodus of the scene!! A fascinating case that I first saw as a young 14 year old , and later , read the book

Absolutely fascinating. Very well done.

Very good video. I’ve always been fascinated with the Onion Field story. I’ve seen the movie many times however I have not read the book. You’ve documented lots of important information. The picture of the killers car I had not seen before. It’s hard to imagine what was going through the officers minds during that long long ride north. Regarding the officers training to never give up your weapon. It’s easy for me to sit here and think, ok I might get shot but I’m going to dive to my right or left. I’m going to look over the bad guys shoulder and signal to nobody trying to divert his attention off me for just enough time to jump away. Time must have stood still for those poor officers as the bad guys got the drop on them. I’m sure they were frozen with doubt and just couldn’t figure a way out. Anyway this is a really good film documentary.

First of all, i've never seen this sort of pinpoint crime scene, superb! I'm from Scotland, read all of Wambaughs early books but didn't realise how spot on his detail was in the onion field killing. I saw the film in 1980 on my first visit to LA. I returned in 1988 and saw a documentry on the killings, think it was called The Onion Field 25 years on. Last i heard was when Powell died. This video probably brings the whole story to an end for me. Quality!

Excellent video, as always.

Before I-5 was built the route was US-99. It was known as the Ridge Route. The route is NOT called the Grapevine. Upon leaving the San Fernando Valley, the route went through the Newhall Pass area. It continued north through Newhall, Saugus, Castaic Junction, Castaic, up the 5 mile grade. It continued through Gorman and Lebec, Ft. Tejon and the Tejon Pass. At the bottom of the hill and entering the San Joaquin Valley is a small community called, wait for it, Grapevine. That is Grapevine, not the road from the San Fernando Valley to the San Joaquin Valley.

Love your videos bro... keep them coming

I used to be a long haul trucker, back in early 90s, and I used to stop at that little CFN Chevron fuel stop right where you turn off 99 to 166. I had no clue that the Onion Field site was near there. In the 70s, my parents and I used to drive through the fields near Comanche rd. at night going to Lake Isabella from LA. to our vacation house there. I remember all too well the smell of the onions , my eyes would water. Was just a little kid at the time. That movie trailer when it first came out when the film showed in the theaters, I would get frightened when we went through the fields at night, and I told my dad not to ever stop. Very good sleuth you are, Forrest. That took research!

Wow. It's so interesting and yet immensely creepy how articulate some location paths are that murderers take in order to carry out their evil shit.

This was very informative Forrest Haggerty I had no idea that this even happened at all then after watching a video i took a look at the murder scene in the movie and you’re correct it went down the exact same way you described how it went down right down the letter very awesome video you made please make more like this it be really awesome if you did the Jack the Ripper murder locations and the HH Holmes murder locations and HH Holmes’s murder castle location to

Well done. These videos are fascinating.

It is scary driving towards Bakersfield at night. It's dark and all of those little towns , Arvin , Lebec and , Gorman , and Mettler ,you pray that you don't run out of gas or have a flat tire. Sometimes it's really windy on the Grapevine and if it's raining hard or snows it's shut down. This is 2018 , just imagine in 1963 , when there wasn't the 5 or 405 freeway available. It must have been like driving in the wilderness. I wonder what those two cops were thinking. Those crooks could have just let them out of the car. In 1963 , it probably have been a few hours before the cops found a house with a phone. I think Jarl Hettinger got the short end of the stick. He had a chance to shoot the crooks but his partner pleaded with him to surrender his weapon. When the crooks shot his partner he probably thought he would be next. He had no choice but to run. We can't judge him for his actions. What would or I have done? Those little towns are dark at night. Now mind you this was 1963 , so there could have been coyates in the fields or he could have fallen into a ditch and broke his leg or neck. The Marine Corps survival training kicked or he would have been dead too. Just drive those little towns in 2018 and tell me: would you get out of your car and run 4 miles in the dark? They caught the crooks and in my opinion they should have got the gas chamber in San Quentin. Officer was a victim of PTSD and he suffered the scorn of fellow officers. He was much if a victim as his partner and died a premature death. The Los Angeles Police Department in that era of history was the epitome of law enforcement because of Jack Webb's tv show Dragnet and Chief Of Police William Parker. Parker was the LAPD's police chief from 1950 until 1966. Hettinger was seen as surrendering his weapon and abandoning his partner. Ever since then the LAPD's policy is never surrender your weapon and always take control of any situation.

fantastic video. I use Google maps alot to find crime scenes, great job.

What version of google earth do you have with ma y control and options like yours

James woods looks exactly like Gregory Powell. Lmao

Outstanding job!!! Thank you

Dude you're very good at noticing small details

I recalled the surviving officer ran, then hid in a field, found a field worker, the two of them went to a farm house. Thanks for the visual. Wonder what happened to the surviving Officer years later??

Ian Campbell was a keen player of the bagpipes and at his funeral they were played. It has been a tradition ever since at every LAPD officers death. It was great detective work finding the spot as the LAPD themselves had lost the site until recently. It was a particularly callous murder. They weren't the most intelligent of criminals. I like the book and the film is a classic. '' Hey Jimmy, what's different about me? , Look, I've drawn a mole on my ear so that when they describe who did it they'll say he had a mole''.

You have interesting videos. My Gosh its 2 am I better go to sleep! 🤦🏽‍♀️. 😂 Thank you for this video. I heard about this murder but never had a clue where it happened! Okay one more video and I’m done for tonight 😀🙈

Another interesting place of infamy, that I visited maybe ten years ago, and it was eerily the same, as it was on that summer night in 1958, when author James Elroy's mother was murdered in El Monte, CA. It was on the grounds of Arroyo High School. Blew me away, how everything still resembled the actual crime photo's taken that day. The book 'My Dark Place's' has the photo's for reference. Excellent read by the way. Elroy's non-fiction account s in this book, are riveting. It's autobiographical, which gives it what I personally crave, and that is the 'actually happened' stamp of authenticity.

Great channel.I read "the onion field"years ago,a great book.

Really good detective work - Thanks

Wow you are a skilled investigator!

So what happened to the two punks? Do I need to look it up now? Thanks!

I like that you called them "criminals," and not "alleged suspects."

I have read that book a couple of times. A truly tragic story.

A memorial should be placed where Officer Ian Campbell was murdered. I have always wondered if these fields still exist. And going by your research they obviously do. I will always be interested in visiting them personally. But it doesn't look like it will be easy to find. What would your best advice be to do so? I'm always interested in doing more research on this case too. I also wonder what became of Ian's wife and their then 3 year old daughter. Would you happen to know? Thank you for doing this research. It's very helpful for those of us that have a real interest in this case.

Good job. Saw the movie when it first came out. Thanks.

I read the book in high school (1978). I went to work for the California prison system and in the 1990's Greg Powell was housed in the prison I worked. I remember him on the recreation yard playing tennis and always going out for the 72 hour conjugal visits with his wife and two kids that he had spawned. He should have been put to death.

Great video ,. If you could do one on the Hillside Strangler murder sites that'd be awesome Thanks 😊.👍

Great research.Sad story.😩🇬🇧

Thank you for this exciting story.

I initially seen the movie the onion field on television in 2010. I was really impressed. Great job by crew and cast. Notably James woods as Greg Powell, Ted Danson as Ian Campbell, and John Savage as Carl Hettinger. I later read the book. Great book by Joseph Wambaugh.

Great book great movie and great video! Well done. I recall little from the movie but having read the book at least twice through the decades it's always been interesting. I did live near San Diego for a couple years but never had the time or inclination then to research the facts and locations.

My Dad was a Los Angeles Police Officer (1962-1983) when this happened. Because of this Police can't give up their weapons.' Thank God my Dad was station at the Van Nuys Police Station. My heart and soul goes out to Campbell's family. Which I believe he had two small kids at the time of his murder.

Another great video.

Have you done one of the Tate LaBianca murders in LA, August 1969? That would be fascinating.

Thank you for your service. God Bless...

Really wonderful research and vid, thanks!

The Onion Field (film) was an excellent movie. Gripping. I recommend it.

Awesome work, not to be that guy but it was Danson's movie debut not his acting debut. He had been on tv prior. Ive never seen the Onion Field but your work hear has made me want too!

Well done. Keep them coming

Did you ever do Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short. Red Manley, I think his name was, gave a statement to police of where he picked her up and dropped her off ( Biltmore Hotel). Someone saw her leave the Biltmore. That was the last anyone saw of her until her body was found on Norton. A funny coincidence, her didnt live far from where her body was found, just a couple of blocks. Perhaps, she was going to visit her sister and that's where the killer kidnapped her and decided to drop her off where he kidnapped her. It's just speculation on my part but when it comes to murder, I dont believe in coincidence

Your videos are great! I'm an actor in L.A. and John Savage is an acquaintance (my daughter did a short film with him years ago). I'm going to send the link to your video to him. Keep them coming!!

How did they find and arrest them the next day?

Incredible research and facts. Fascinating to say the least.

Great job! Very interesting.