All three perpetrators pleaded guilty to kidnapping for ransom and robbery, but they refused to plead guilty to infliction of bodily harm, as a conviction on that count in conjunction with the kidnapping charge carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. They were tried on the bodily harm charge, found guilty and given the mandatory sentence, but their convictions were overturned by an appellate court which found that physical injuries sustained by the children (mostly cuts and bruises) did not meet the standard for bodily harm under the law. They were re-sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.[3] Richard Schoenfeld was released in 2012[9] and James Schoenfeld was paroled on August 7, 2015.
The real crime bore similarities to the plot of the story, "The Day the Children Vanished" by Hugh Pentecost in 1969. In that story, the kidnappers hijack a school bus as a diversion, so they can rob the local bank. Police theorized that the Chowchilla kidnappers used the scenario as research.
The kidnappers disagree over how to spell "ransom." The kidnapper who corrects the spelling is portrayed by an actor with the last name, "Ransom."
Karl Malden was 26 years older than real-life hero Edward Ray had been at the time of the kidnapping.