Search results
Aug 8, 1990 · Michael Allen Hodges, 38; Richard Morris Dollar, 34, and John Michael (Slug) Stelle, 49, were found guilty by a Superior Court jury of the first-degree murder of Gus Henry Hoffman of Los...
Oct 12, 2004 · In 1988, Michael Allen Hodges, Richard Morris Dollar and John Michael "Slug" Stelle were charged with Hoffman's murder. Authorities believe Hoffman was tortured, sodomized and kicked to death by members of a local motorcycle gang in a garage in San Jose, and his motorcycle was stolen.
- Overview
- Bio
- Case
Real Name: Gus Henry Hoffman, Jr.
Nicknames: No known nicknames
Location: Los Gatos, California
Date: July 4, 1978
Occupation: Unrevealed
Date of Birth: January 4, 1958
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 120 pounds
Marital Status: Unrevealed
Characteristics: Caucasian male with brown hair and eyes.
Details: Twenty-year-old Gus Hoffman was an avid musician and motorcycle rider living in Los Gatos, near San Jose, California. In October 1977, he acquired an old 1966 Harley Davidson Sportster, and spent a lot of time, effort, and money restoring it to mint condition. The make and model of bike was popular not only with aficionados, but also criminal bikers, and may have regretfully made Gus a target. Because of this, his parents gave him an ultimatum: he either had to sell the bike or leave their home. They did not actually want him to do the latter; they just wanted him to do the former for his own safety. He agreed to dispose of it under the condition that he be allowed to finish his plans for restoration, in order to make it most attractive to potential buyers.
On July 4, 1978, Gus put the finishing touches to his bike. He showed it off to his brother and told him that he was going to take it out for a short ride; however, he never returned. Their mother, Rose, became concerned and contacted the police. They told her that nothing could be done until forty-eight hours after he was reported missing, so she decided to look for him herself.
Rose canvassed the neighborhood and soon ran into one of Gus' friends, who worked at a nearby gas station. The friend told her that on the day of his disappearance, he saw him pull up to an intersection on his bike. The friend saw two other bikers and a blue Monte Carlo riding close behind him. The friend remembered the two bikers because they had come into the gas station earlier and been mean to him. A second witness claimed that they had stopped Gus, argued with him, and threatened him with chains. When he pulled away, they and the Monte Carlo followed him.
The two witnesses identified one of the bikers as Michael Hodges, a member of the "Forgotten Few" motorcycle gang. The other one was identified as Michael Stevenson, another member of the same gang. He was known as a violent career criminal. However, investigators did not have enough evidence to bring them in for interrogation. Instead, they questioned other gang members who knew them. Nobody was willing to talk. It appeared that everyone feared Stevenson.
In order to turn up leads for the police, Rose and a friend named Carol Jensen decided to go undercover to infiltrate motorcycle gang hangouts. They dressed as best as they could as women bikers, with tight pants, heels, bracelets, and "wild" hair. Carol also carried a gun for protection. They went to biker bars and other hangouts and questioned bikers, hoping to find anyone who had information about Gus. She solicited and even bought information, sharing any lead she found with the police. Her other children and friends were also heavily involved in the search.
Rose hired a private investigator who had connections with motorcycle gangs. He set up a meeting with a woman who claimed to have information about Gus' disappearance. She said that he was dead; she claimed that he had been tortured for three to five days before being killed. Rose begged for her to talk to the police. However, she said that he wouldn't let her because he believed that she would be killed if she did so.
Dec 28, 1988 · Her long search now over, Hoffman marvels at how even the starkest fear couldn't keep her from pursuing the four men suspected of killing her son, Gus, 22, in the summer of 1978 for his...
Dec 29, 1988 · Dec. 29, 1988 12 AM PT. Times Staff Writer. Rose Hoffman, a middle-class San Jose-area mother who immersed herself in the seedy underworld of outlaw motorcycle gangs in an effort to identify the...
I am always horrified by Gus Hoffman's story and what happened to him and his family. There are no Findagrave links for Stelle or Hodges from what I have seen. I've seen numerous murder cases where they don't release the cause of death of the inmate (s) in prison.
People also ask
What happened to Gus Hoffman?
Who was involved in Gus' murder?
What happened to Rose Hoffman & Gus SR?
Who is Gus Hoffman?
