forward finding solutions. this is abc7 news. hi there, i'm kristin announcer: building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc7 news. kristen: hello. today, a new assignment for hunter pence. he has launched a nonprofit to make our streets, neighborhoods, beaches healthier and he once you on his team. we will share the interview with hunter pence and lexy pence. berkeley has started talks about reparations for black students. will students be paid in money, better funded schools, or something else? the san francisco standard will

join us for a look. first, just as 50 years later. today, a man convicted of two murders near stanford that terrorized the campus in the 1970's was given his second life sentence in the closing the chapter on an investigation that many people thought would never be solved. joining us to talk about this moment, peabody award-winning investigative journalist and network producer of the series, rates can't -- >> >> hello. thank you for having me. kristen:kristen: it is his second life sentence so practically it it did anything since he was already going to spend the rest of his life behind bars. >> no. it is not. because when he killed janet taylor in 1974 and the stanford student

sentence is seven years to life, so you could get out for parole, but what is significant today is that the court in santa clara just declare there are special circumstances and he will never get out of jail. he will not be able to be paroled ever. that was a very real possibly have the court decided not to do that. haisten: thank you for thats importantoheof woman who s for which he was sentenced today. he is a serial killer we now know thanks to the reporting of a but tell us about the stanford murders. grace: what people don't understand is if you can imagine his three women were killed and dumped on stanford campus, one in the church, actually stabbed and killed in the church. it was another stanford employee

, stanford security guard who killed that person in the church but janet taylor was the daughter of chuck taylor the football coach and athletic director at stanford and leslie was a standout stanford student who was headed to penn law school, and she wanted to be president of the united states, and these two women were horribly strangled to death. leslie was actually brutally tortured. we don't know exactly for how long, but the retired coroner to this day says he can still see the images of her brutalized body because it was just so merciless and so, you know, entire palo alto and stanford was terrorized during this period of time and no one was arrested until 2018 when this very you know intrepid investigator reopened the case and matched the stanford lab

technician, his dna, to leslie's fingernails, because they had preserved them so well. by the way, i have to say none of this would have happened, his arrest in either case would not have happened and he had also raped a 17-year-old palo alto girl and killed the girl in germany when he was 18 years old, and none of this, he never would have been apprehended had it not been for leslie's sister, diane, who for 50 years dog investigators and as she said today in court, leslie is standing here beside me. and she said that leslie's life and voice were taken but mine has not and she pled with the court and said this monster has ruined many and taken away from all of us brilliant women and he should never get out of jail and so the judge granted the

family's request, which was the right thing to do. kristen: so the sister of the victim, diane, and the brothers spoke today as well, very emotional, but what was his reaction? i know that he dialed in virtually but did he say anything? i have watched him over the years. previously there was nervousness during covid because we thought oh my god, he will never get convicted and died of covid and he was telling everybody and had medical records saying oh, i can't come to the hospital, i can't get out of the prison i'm so sick, etc., he looked great and his son said he looked like he was in the best shape of his life and i think he was expecting the reason that he pled guilty to leslie's case, he was supposed to go to trial, the reason he pled guilty is because i think he thought that if he pled guilty he could serve both sentence since concurrently -- sentences concurrently and he would get out of jail so he

looked like he was surprised. kristen: can i ask you if you think there are other cold case killings that might be connected to him. he lived freely for decades, probably thought maybe he was never going to get caught because who could have imagined dna technology would've all the way it did, right? are there more cases? grace: the answer is yes. i know that there are. i have a a bunch i am pursuing, but think about it, he was a boy scout leader, coached soccer. the thing people don't understand about serial killers is they don't have the longhair, the ponytail is in dress differently than they actually are daddies. i have a series called daddy dearest, the reason serial killer's getaway with what they get away with is that they are brilliant convincing the rest of us they are the world's greatest guys come so i believe he killed teresa smith, a 14-year-old neighbor of his in ohio, a number of other women and i am

working on those cases and we are just waiting because unfortunately it is expensive to do this kind of investigation and hats off to santa clara and san mateo spending money for spending money and tracking him down. kristen: grace ka investigative journalist, thank you for sharing that with the spirit for folks who want to watch and read more on the stanford murders, including today's latest development, go to stanford murders.com. all right, coming up next, we will really shift gears because we will have a conversation with hunter and lexy pentz about the new nonprofit and how you can join them planting

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kristen: how would you like to spend time with hunter pence while creating a healthier environment and cleaner neighborhoods right here in the bay area? that is why hunter and his wife launch their nonprofit, the healthy planet project. earlier today, they shared with me why this mission is so near and dear to their hearts and why you should join them sometime. hi! hunter: great to see you. kristen: it's good to see you and have you back on abc 7 and powwow with you. i look forward to it. lexy: we look forward to it too. thank you for having us. nonprofit, healthy planet project. what is the big idea?

hunter: well, we are very excited. the big idea is heal the planet. healthy planet project is about reducing pollution and picking up trash and planting trees and raising awareness as well, so that is really it. we want to love the earth, keep the earth, and i am excited about everything going on and getting lunch with healthy planet project. >> i know this is not new in the sense this idea has been percolating for a long time too. i had to say percolating because i know you love coffee. it's a way of inspiring people to create a better environment? lexy: yeah. we are all about community, relationships, and being able to get everyone out and connect on helping make the city a better place in terms of beaches, planting trees in the parks, and of course picking up trash like we did last earth day around the ballpark. it is a great way to connect with everyone and do something

together and put a little luck back in san francisco. kristen: i should not be surprised because i have seen you do stuff like that thing the past few years. during the pandemic, you planted trees in the city and the giants are behind you as well and partners of yours and partners of yours in this, right? hunter: yeah, we were excited to team up with the giants. we have a lot of different charities around the bay area helping us out so we can hit many different avenues and raise more awareness and show all the great avenues you can get out and make a difference, so the giants helped us out big time. the support has been overwhelming. it is way better together. i know that you know this, but when we do stuff together, it gets more powerful so we've been fortunate to have that support. kristen: wait. wait. wait. that would almost be a good baseball team motto or something. [laughter] hunter: you know, yeah, together, yeah. kristen: stronger together for

sure. i know you held your inaugural event earth day let's weaken and it was a cleanup. how did it go? did you have fun? lexi: oh my gosh. we got to team up with the giants and 80 employees came out to help us pick up trash around the ballpark, which was unbelievable. we had how many bags? hunter: over 100 bags. by the way, since the art they cleanup, we pick that up and did it all around oracle park. when we went to the game, the giants wom. lexi: so did the warriors. kristen: this city is bringing that energy. hunter: we are cleaning up the vibe literally. kristen: that is as simple as that. hunter: yeah. lexi: our work is done here. kr good energy per good karma. i'd like your blue and gold for the warriors. lexi: we are rooting for them

and watching every game. kristen: they are lucky to have you cheer for them. tomorrow is arbor day and you're holding another event, right? hunter: yes. lexi: we are. hunter: we are thrilled to get our hands dirty tomorrow planting some trees and yeah, so basically that is what we are doing. this is the second part as we have to pick up trash on earth day and for arbor day we will go to a local park in san francisco and try to plant some trees and use the scientists. lexi: the agriculturists. hu to do it. i want to plant trees, but you have to make sure you're doing it right and maintaining them so there is a massive effort and a lot to learn so i'm enjoying learning through this process. kristen: that is fabulous. i know what you seek to do is harness the power of the community, like getting everybody excited, like you always did on the team. there is a reason when you are jumping everyone else is jumping and you want to involve everyone

so everybody can join you guys? they can look at your mission coming up and go, i want to do this? lexi: yes, of course. the more the merrier. we love to connect with everyone and make it a fun event for everybody involved go to healthy planet project.org and sign up for the newsletter if you want to sign up for next event. hunter and i will be there. we would love to chat with you. i like hearing about the music people listen to. we have a playlist of that we are jamming on the moving, making a great. hunter: join the newsletter. we have a lot of events going on throughout the years that this is just a start and we are hoping to expand and get bigger but if you join the newsletter you get all the details and find out where you can fit in. get in where you fit in. lexi: also in the meantime, if you want to pick up some cash in your way out, that is great. we tried to pick up trash. we are outside walking the dog art we see trash on the ground, we just pick it up and put it in the trash, so the goal is three pieces a day, and some days we

do it, and some days not so much but we try our best every time we go out. kristen: i'd like that. small goals you know you can accomplish and build on that. i know you are also busy helping other charities through your amazing pineapple labs, your coffee and lifestyle company and you have monthly releases of new coffee, how is that going? lexi: it's going great. we partnered with two local businesses here in the city and they are serving pineapple la you can get coffee from them. it's going good. in honor of earth day in arbor day, we are offering a gift set where you get a houseplant with a reusable box and we are trying to have a zero carbon footprint as well by the end of 2025. kristen: amazing. what is this month's brew? lexi: lazy daisy. echoes perfectly with the houseplants. it is great mother's day gift coming up.

next month we are also offering, we are calling at the triple, so we're giving you three copies for a good price, and does make great great mother's day gifts. kristen: the triple. those are fun. i know. right? especially that ballpark. triples you don't get a lot of, you know? lexi: you don't get a lot of. hunter: yeah, i would love hitting triples but love watching the giants and what they are doing and i can't wait to get out there and start broadcasting some games soon so i think i have 20 games a season and it has been fun following the team and i got to work with them a little bit in spring training and i am so happy to see them finally get going the way i knew they were going to be. it is almost similar to spring training. they start off slow than they took often they did not stop. kristen: that is the mo. it's like you, my mind. that is my question, how excited are you for the season commentating? you are doing the away games? hunter: 20 away games.

very excited. i think the giants are underrated and you're starting to see that. their pitching is outstanding. using the sky. alex just went a complete game and i think he was potentially cy young numbers last year and we have increase a defense and flores is on fire and getting slater and hammacher beck going here there is so much on excited about and i believe in the bullpen as well banister and definitely think we will have one of those ramp up and continue to soar. kristen: do you want to venture a guess as to where we will end up this season? hunter: i am not a big predictor. lexi: day by day. hunter: we would definitely want the world series. kristen: oh ok. hunter: that is the only thing that matters. kristen: that is very day by day. we believe. we believe. with all this going on for you right here especially with a healthy planet project, you are

putting down deeper roots literally and figuratively here, so would it be safe to say you're not leaving the bay area or california anytime soon? lexi: i don't think we ever left. hunter: we never left. we are full-time bay area. lexi: lexi: yeah. hunter: we live here this is our full-time home. it was fun to make the full-time journey and make this the roots. lexi: san francisco can't get rid of us that quickly. kristen: awew. when people ask you, do you say your californians? hunter: yes. kristen: yay!. so excited for you and healthy planet project. it looks amazing. a lot of folks will take part. you would do a lot of good thank you. lexi: thank you. hunter: thank you so much. lexi: we could not do it without you. we are very appreciative. thank you. kristen: come back anytime. the one and only hunter and lexi pen the berkeleyce.

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kristen: just a real quick correction, the website for the nonprofit is healthy planet project.org, so you want to definitely check that out. oakley unified school board began -- berkeley unified school board began talks on reparations as they considered the issue for the first time. the san francisco standard has a new article looking at the goals and potential outcomes as well as how the topic has become a national lightning rod. joining us live to talk about it, the standards education reporter is here. thank you for joining us today. how did this idea emerge, evolve at berkeley? >> so, after the murder of

george floyd and 2020, and some community groups started to use nope, appealed to the school board and to the district to say that all of these disparities in the district for black students and that those need to be rectified so they put to gather a community letter that has not identified who was behind it, but it reached aboard and they decided to move forward with the task force and started meeting this week. kristen: now that they are meeting, what are they tasked with? ida: it is unclear because those meetings are not open to the public and it is unclear when they will be reporting the superintendent but they will be and have meetings for the next several months to discuss exactly what reparations could look like for black students. kristen: ok, so let's talk about what it could look like. i know that there are different ideas being discussed in this early stage, but are we talking about money to individual

students or are there other forms of payment or perhaps not even monetary payment? what are we looking at? ida: it looks like it will be some sort of payments to students, exactly which students, past or present, how much is undefined, but that looks like the goal to give some money to students. kristen: are there some leaders who prefer reparations in the form of just better funded schools? ida: yeah, reverend amos brown is pro-reparations on both the california and san francisco reparations groups, but said bottom line that having all schools be top class and funding d so so treot these disparities in which schoolsng is the way to achieve educational equity. kristen: all right. i mean, certainly different ideas they are, right? i wonder in terms of eligibility, have they gotten that far, in terms of which students come and i guess the

answer would depend on whether this is you know, is it on the black students or latino or underrepresented minorities who may have experienced discrimination but not a slavery be considered? ida: that is a good question, exactly which students this will apply to will still be defined and unfortunate the public will not have a great view into that as they develop that criteria but there will be some sort of report to the superintendent sometime this year. kristen: are there questions raised, i know a lot of it will be decided behind closed doors, but a lot about california if it was not a slavery state, is discrimination something to look at? ida: yeah, the state did but there has been a history in california you know making moves to keep segregation happening in the schools and also in california, you know, voters did vote not terribly long ago to not desegregate busing, which

berkeley did do, which there are probably more things for when it comes to black students in the district and you know they did their voluntary busing program in the harris when she attended a school at berkeley and was busse d. it was a voluntary program and i suspect that will be part of the discussions. kristen: yeah, berkeley has been at the forefront of that and vice president kamala harris often alluded to that story on debate stages. how much money does berkeley have for any action and when will the task force return recommendations? ida: that is a good question. you know, it is hard to say what money they would be working with. school district have been struggling in recent years with enrollment and everything, so it is hard to say what budget there will be for that i'm about the school board member who i spoke with is pretty clear that is what it will take to have the

students catch up and get ahead. she drew on her experience as a parent organizer saying the clear difference was the family's ability to invest further in the education of their children when they are able to have an even piano lessons from a young age for example and that having money in the bank to do that will be a key difference for the students. kristen: ida mojdad standards education reporter, thank you very much. i precip the conversation. ida: thank you. kristen: you can check out her article and other urgent reporting on the standard.com and abc 7 will bring you more segments featuring the standard city focused journalism twice a week right here on getting answers at 3:00.

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kristen: thank you for joining us f >> david: breaking news as we come on the air, a confirmed tornado on the ground in florida. dangerous storms cutting across parts of the south. images of the damage coming in now. the tornado touching down in the florida panhandle a short time ago. a severe thunderstorm watch, heavy rain, and large hail moving up along the east coast. storm threats into the northeast tomorrow night. from washington, d.c., to philadelphia to new york, rob marciano timing it out. also breaking late today, former vice president mike pence testifying before the january 6 grand jury, the highest ranking member of the trump administration to be questions about attempts to overturn the 2020 election. donald trump unable to block mike pence from appearing. pierre thomas standing by. new details about