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Authors: Corey Mitchell

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THIRTY-SIX
On September 19, 1997, Rex Krebs informed David Zaragoza that he found a place to stay. He felt it was time to vacate the Motel 6 and set up more permanent digs. Carol and Wayne Nunes offered to let Krebs move in with them.
Twenty-five-year-old Wayne Nunes worked as a press operator.Carol mentioned to Wayne that Krebs might make a suitable roommate for their newly purchased condominium in Atascadero, a small community approximately twenty-five miles north of San Luis Obispo. Their two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bathroomcondominium had plenty of room for a third person, and the Nuneses needed the money. Wayne, however, had concerns about Krebs’s prison history. He wanted to know what crime Krebs committed to warrant imprisonmentfor ten years. Krebs told Wayne he went to prison because of a date rape. He explained that he and his girlfriend at the time were strung out on drugs; he wanted to have sex with her and she did not; he then forced himself on her.
Apparently, this explanation satisfied both Wayne and Carol. They made Krebs an offer to move in, which he readilyaccepted.
Rex Krebs moved into his new home in the Vista del Norte Condominiums on El Camino Real during the first week in October. Krebs usually rose before the sun came up, headed out to his job five days a week, and oftentimes worked ten-to-twelve-hourdays. Though usually exhausted, he also made time for Roz.
As part of Krebs’s parole, he had a curfew. He was required to be home every night by 9:00
P.M.
and could not leave. He also could not drink alcohol. These restrictions limited the couple’s options for entertainment. They would usually head over to the Thursday-night farmers’ market on Higuera Street and pick over the vegetables.
Krebs told Roz everything about his sordid past. He told her why he went to prison. He told her about the rape and the attemptedrape in 1987. He also told her about his conditions for parole. Despite this new information, Roz found him charming.She liked that he brought her a flower one time when they went out. She liked that he had manners and treated her like a lady. She liked that he carried her backpack full of books or that he bought her dinner. She loved the attention that he showeredupon her. She did not care that he had sexually molested other women years before. He belonged to her.
Krebs was doing everything he was supposed to do. He stood out at 84 Lumber as one of the best workers. Greg Vieau even hired him to help with personal chores. Krebs also reported to John Blum, his new parole officer, on a regularbasis with no problem. He also kept up his relationship with Roz. The ex-convict’s life definitely seemed to be in turnaround.
By the time 1998 arrived, Rex Krebs appeared to be livinga blessed life. Good job, good relationship, and good relations with the authorities. On January 21 Parole Officer Debra Austin was assigned to Krebs’s case.
His third parole officer in five months.
To maintain a sense of continuity on parolees, the State of California Department of Corrections requires that parole officerskeep a record of supervision, or parole packet. The parole packet is a progress report of sorts used to record the meetings that take place between the assigned parole officer and the parolee. Officers are to log in their observations of the parolee, work patterns, and contact with any individuals—suchas roommates, relatives, love interests, neighbors, etc. It is used to detail the parolee’s current work status and to track if the parolee is adhering to the conditions of his/her parole.In Rex Krebs’s case, for example, Austin made a notation in Kreb’s parole packet as to whether or not he had maintained his 290-registration requirement. It is a requirementfor all paroled sex offenders to sign up with the local police department stating that they are sex offenders.
Parole Officer Austin noted that Krebs had difficulty registeringin February 1998. Krebs claimed that he attempted to reregister at the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Department; however,the clerk responsible for maintaining the record books was not available. This irritated Krebs because he had called the station before he arrived to make sure someone would be there to register him. Subsequently he had not registered since. Austin informed him to return to the sheriff’s departmentand register. He complied.
Krebs also complained to Austin that he never received his hobby craft items from CTF. He added that he had mailed a money order to the prison, but he never received a package. Austin picked up the phone and contacted Soledad hobby craft manager Danny Ybarra to ask for Krebs’s crafts. She wanted her parolee to know that she would gladly help him out.
When it comes to recently released convicts, help is usuallyhard to find.
Rex Krebs, however, seemed to have people falling over themselves to help get him back on his feet. In addition to ParoleOfficer Austin, Krebs also received additional support from Greg Vieau. His boss helped Krebs establish a bank account at 84 Lumber’s bank by personally asking the clerk to set Krebs up with his own personal checking account.
Vieau also aided Rex with the purchase of a well-kept 1993 blue Ford Ranger extended cab pickup truck. Vieau noticed a neighbor of his in Los Osos had the truck sitting outside for a long period of time and it had not been used in a while. He approached the neighbor who informed him that the truck belonged to his son. Vieau asked the neighbor if his son would be willing to sell it because he knew someone who could use it. Vieau called Krebs up to take a look at the vehicle. Krebs noted that the truck needed some work, but Vieau convinced the neighbor to sell it to Krebs for next to nothing.
Vieau also hired Krebs to do work around his house. He once asked Krebs to come over and help him assemble his children’s swing set. Vieau also owned a house next door to his rental house. The house he owned was not in great condition.According to Vieau, fleas had infested the house. The previous owners smoked a plethora of cigarettes and covered the inside with smoke smell and tar stains on the walls. Vieau had been renting the Los Osos house and his rental contract was close to expiration. He needed a rush job on the cleanup of the house next door and asked Krebs to be his man. He had two weeks to complete the job, but Vieau had total faith in his employee.
Krebs did not disappoint. The two men worked together during the day at 84 Lumber, then went over to Vieau’s property in the early evening. The two men thoroughly cleaned up the filthy site and hauled all of the trash out to the local dump. They spent every night for the next two weeks working until midnight or one in the morning. They scrubbed floors, painted, and tore carpets out—anything to rid the place of the stench and bugs. Somehow they got the job done and Vieau was able to move into his new home.
Krebs worked hard for Greg Vieau. He wanted his boss to know that he truly believed he could reform himself, that he could contribute positively to society.
Vieau rewarded him with a steady job, a dependable truck, and extra income on the side. The two even became friends. Sometimes they would go out to grab a bite to eat. Vieau also invited Krebs and Moore over for cookouts. Everything seemed to be rolling along smoothly.
Krebs, however, did get tired of the twenty-five-mile commuteto and from Atascadero. He and Roz decided to move into San Luis Obispo with four of Roz’s friends from Cal Poly—Isreal Peña, Christopher Amos, Jeff Bell, and Bell’s wife, Luisa Jamesbravo. The six roommates cloistered together in a tiny rental home near campus.
It was not long before Roz’s friends found out about Krebs’s criminal history.
On April 21, 1998, Parole Officer Austin contacted Bell and told him about Krebs’s violent past. After hanging up, Bell contacted his wife, Peña, and Amos and let them know that he wanted to hold a meeting to discuss Krebs’s living statusat their house.
That night Bell informed everyone that Krebs had raped two women more than ten years earlier and that he had been paroled from prison only eight months earlier. Without hesitationthe other three roommates agreed that both Rex and Roz had to go.
They even changed the locks on the door the next day.
Krebs and Moore went their separate ways after they moved out, yet they remained a couple. Roz moved into a room of a coworker’s house in Los Osos. They shared the home with a third female roommate. Krebs, meanwhile, stayed at a local hotel. Roz’s roommate made it clear that Krebs was not welcome in her home. Krebs barely saw Roz during that first month. Roz lived with the two women until her coworker moved out one month later. That is when Krebs started to visit.
“I could tell he was a real shady character with a mean look to him,” Roz’s remaining roommate told the Cal Poly
MustangDaily
school newspaper. “He seemed friendly in conversation. But, he was kind of a creepy guy. He just wasn’t a clean-cut guy; he got into fights at the bar... . He had kind of a mean look to him.”
Roz’s roommate never felt comfortable when Krebs came over. “I like to think I can defend myself,” she continued, “but I know I couldn’t defend myself against this man.”
She noted that Krebs would tag along with her and Roz whenever they would head downtown to the local college bars, in direct violation of his parole conditions. Roz’s roommatedid not like being seen with Krebs.
“He wasn’t somebody I really wanted to know.”
At times Roslynn Moore wished she had never known Rex Krebs. The two lovers were constantly at odds with one another.They would fight over the smallest issue. By February 1998 their relationship had hit a sour note. They broke up after a nasty fight outside of the Nuneses’ condominium in Atascadero. One month later, they were back together. By April they were fighting again. This time, because they were both in the process of moving to new places and barely saw one another. This, of course, raised the tension level in their relationship.
Roz’s friends also began to whisper in her ear. They believedRex Krebs was cheating. Roz blew up when she heard this and angrily confronted him. He denied the accusations, but Roz did not believe him. She screamed, “Go to hell!” and broke up with him again.
Krebs decided he needed to deal with the tension with Roz in some way. He decided the best way was with alcohol. Krebs began to frequent the biker bar in Atascadero known as Outlaws. The restaurant/bar was also home to a poker room known as the Card Parlour. Krebs usually dressed up in a pair of blue jeans, a white muscle T-shirt to show off his massive biceps, and an oversize black cowboy hat. He attempted to portray an imposing figure in the rough crowd—someone with whom you did not want to mess, someone who could take care of himself.
In late February 1998 Krebs found an unusual way to make a friend at the bar. One night a fight broke out betweenan African American male and a Hispanic male. The two men were throwing down right in the middle of the bar—haymakers were flying. Dan Thomspon, the Outlaws bouncer, all 6’5”, 290 pounds of him, jumped in and grabbed the Hispanic man in a giant bear hug. Thompson recalled, “I put my arms around him. He was out of the fight then, but that’s when I realized the fight already ended.” Thompsoncontinued, “It’s common practice for me, when I wrap my arms around somebody, I’m telling them the whole time, ‘I’m a bouncer, don’t turn around and try to swing at me.’ This time was odd because I had said, ‘Man, who are you fighting?’ and the guy said, ‘Man, he’s right down here by my feet.’ ” Thompson looked down at the floor and saw Rex Krebs. The short, bald ex-convict had subdued the black man. “It was completely over. And Rex took him out one door and I took my guy out another door and made sure they went their separate ways.”
Thompson dusted off his britches, turned toward Krebs, and stuck out his huge hand. Krebs accepted the offering and said, “My name’s Rex.”
“I’m Dan, nice to meet you.”
It was the unusual beginning of a close relationship.
Thompson described their friendship as something bigger than the usual bullshit male bonding. “We seemed to have a kindred spirit as far as when I look into—when he spoke to me, he looked into my eyes and I looked into his and I knew he wasn’t hiding anything.” Thompson’s praise of Krebs’s character increased as he spoke about his new friend: “It’s just, what’s up? How are you doing? Face value. And he shot from the hip and in between the eyes.” He mixed his metaphors. “It was pretty easy to talk to him.”
Thompson and Krebs began to see each other every weekendat Outlaws. Despite the fact that Krebs clearly violated his parole conditions by stepping foot into the bar, Thompson added that Krebs stayed sober—for a while. Krebs mainly hung out to lend Thompson a hand when any of the Outlaws patrons became a little too unruly. As the two bonded over bouncing, Thompson began to open up to his new friend. He let Krebs know that times were tough financially and that he needed a second job. Krebs told Thompson about his job at 84 Lumber in San Luis Obispo and that he happened to be very good friends with the store manager. He assured his new buddy that he would see what he could do for him.
When Krebs talked, things happened. Within a matter of weeks, Krebs hooked Thompson up with a job at the lumber company stocking drywall. By this time Krebs ran the entire outdoor lumberyard at 84 Lumber. One of the tasks in the yard was loading drywall. Krebs convinced Greg Vieau that Thompson’s size would benefit the company. Vieau trusted Krebs and told him to hire his friend.
Krebs’s kindness toward Thompson did not stop at getting him a job. He also picked up Thompson and took him to work every day in his Ford Ranger. Thompson attempted to repay Krebs’s kindness by inviting him into his personal world. Thompson introduced Krebs to his girlfriend, Jamie Beth Prisco. Jamie and Dan invited Krebs over to their place for dinner. Eventually, Rex and Roz would get back together and Dan and Jamie asked Krebs if they could meet her. He agreed and brought her over to their house for dinner. Jamie and Roz hit it off instantly and became fast friends. Soon the two couplesspent every weekend together at Outlaws while Dan worked and Krebs had his back. Eventually Krebs started to partake of the alcoholic beverages that the bar had to offer.

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