In the dawn hours of September 6, 2005 Michael S. Sprinkels, a 37-year-old paramedic and father of two, was killed while riding his motorcycle home from an overnight shift at the county fire station in Canyon Country.
California Highway Patrol officers said Sprinkels was struck on a rural stretch of highway in Agua Dulce by a car driven by Juan Bibenz, 39, of Littlerock. Bibinz, who had prior felony convictions and had served time in state prison, was arrested by CHP officers at the scene.
Bibenz pleaded guilty to felony manslaughter in open court today and will be sentenced on Monday, May 8. The presiding judge made it clear that Bibinz will be sentenced to four years in state prison.
What makes this tale relevant to some readers of 8763 Wonderland is that the presiding judge in the San Fernando Superior Court arraignment is none other than Ronald S. Coen, the former D.A. prosecutor who tried John Holmes for the Wonderland murders in 1981.
And speaking of the Wonderland murders, this afternoon at my online storefront for “Long Time Money and Lots of Cocaine” the hit counter recorded our 11,700th visitor.
The book that was called “a grim but fascinating read” by AVN Online magazine was published in June of 2005 and the storefront hosting the true crime tale boasts 1,000 potential buyers per month, with between two and five percent converting to purchases monthly.
“Long Time Money” also currently ranks in the Top 400 best-selling books at Lulu Publishing.
Hey, congrats! El libro is pretty fascinating, I must say.
I mean, I’m not usually a True Crime person, but this case was pretty absorbing. Some pretty terrible people in a surpassingly seedy subculture…
Thank you very much, David.