the shooting star mystery


This is about Tom Fuentes, big-time OC Republican, who, from 2000 until his death in 2012, was a trustee on the South Orange County Community College District Board.
The fellow had a very dark soul.
For what it's worth, there has been a persistent rumor among OC journalists that Fuentes had a hand in his boss, Ron Casper's, death in 1974. There is at best circumstantial evidence for that notion.
Here, I focus on that particularly troubling episode in Fuentes' life, when his boss, corrupt OC Supervisor Ronald Caspers, was lost at sea with nine other men. The boat and the men were never found.


Tim Klein on the Shooting Star in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
As near as the Coast Guard could tell, the boat foundered
in bad weather, likely in the very early hours of Friday, June 14

Ron Caspers
• The mysterious sinking of the "Shooting Star." Part 1 [Please click on LINK.]
Friday, February 24, 2012
     In June of 1974, Tom Fuentes' boss, OC Supervisor Ronald Caspers, and nine other men disappeared with their yacht, the Shooting Star, off the coast of Baja California. None of them was ever found. Was it just bad weather and a leaky boat? Some say it was murder. The Coast Guard found no indications of foul play.

• The Sinking of the Shooting Star, Part 2
Sunday, March 4, 2012
     Based on a pair of articles from late 1974, I piece together just what happened to the "Shooting Star." Evidently, our own Tom Fuentes supplied the steaks and drinks and hors d'oeuvres in an extra ice chest.

• The Sinking of the Shooting Star, part 3
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
     The tragedy is devastating, especially to the Klein and Caspers families.

Tom Fuentes,
executive aide
• Shooting Star, part 4: semi-rogue searchers & the elusive "unsinkable" Boston whaler
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
     Remarkably assertive and peevish Orange Countians shove their way into the Coast Guard's search effort. All hopes are pinned on finding the "unsinkable" Boston Whaler, which, conceivably, could carry the Shooting Star crew to safety. Eventually, it's found 350 miles to the south.

• The sinking of the Shooting Star, part 5: psychics & shadow governors & seriously special executive aids
Saturday, March 10, 2012
     As the Coast Guard prepares to pull the plug on the search, Orange Countians charge forward with a second massive voluntary effort. Psychics are enlisted to aid in the search. The morning after the Coast Guard calls it quits, Caspers' aid, Tom Fuentes, pulls the plug on the volunteer effort. We take a look at the Coast Guard report.

The Shooting Star in La Paz
• The sinking of the Shooting Star, part 6: an 11th passenger?
Monday, March 12, 2012

     I have a conversation with Wayne Clark, the author of two excellent 1974 articles about the disappearance of the Shooting Star. He mentions a passenger who got off the boat, and then went to work for land baron Richard O'Neill's company. What was his name?

• Shooting Star, part 7: my correspondence with lobbyist Lyle Overby
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
     The mystery passenger exists, but he was not the 11th passenger after all (or was he?). He got on the boat perhaps at La Paz and disembarked at Cabo, where the final ten passengers sailed north and, ultimately, to their deaths.

• Shooting Star, Part 8: La Paz-to-Cabo details
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
     Mr. Lyle Oberly, among the Shooting Star crew until Cabo, generously provides some details of what happened.

The group flew down to La Paz and then Cabo on June 9.
They commenced sailing up the coast the next morning.
They left a MAYDAY message just before midnight, June 13
• Shooting Star, part 9: straight-shooting conservative Tom Rogers on Caspers, Harber, and what they portended
     Rogers chaired the OC GOP forty years ago. He saw it change, thanks to Ron Caspers and the highly corruptible politicians who came after him.

• Shooting Star, Part 10: the "grand scheme of patronage"
     Sounds like Caspers (with Fuentes' help) was a nasty piece of work. In 1969-70, he takes out fellow Republican Alton Allen, using unfounded charges of impropriety; he replaces Allen on Board of Supes


• Shooting Star, Part 11: mob connections, an unexplained murder
     Fred Harber, owner of the Shooting Star, partnered with a mob figure in curiously lucrative El Toro real estate. Harber's one-time secretary, living in Laguna Niguel, was murdered with a cross bow in 1994. The crime has never been solved.

Tom Fuentes and Ronald Reagan
• The Fuentes file: Fred Harber & the ubiquity of violent death, June 17, 2012

• Harber and Caspers attempt to bribe a developer, but then they die instead - June 18, 2012

Tim Klein (among the ten lost)

• 1976: Tom Fuentes, lobbyist, deputy—investing in a "singles bar" with Sheriff Brad Gates - Jun 20, 2012

• 1954: "Shooting Star" was Caspers' second boating tragedy. The first was also a doozy - Jun 23, 2012
     Back in 1954, 23-year-old rich kid Ron Caspers runs his boat into a Coast Guard cutter on a clear night. Two missing, never found, including his young wife.

From the Times, 6/23/74
     See also The Fuentes Files 
     and Bagman?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I Hope Fuentes rots in Hell for his roll in what sank the shooting star

Sherry said...

Roy, on the 39th anniversary of the sinking of "The Shooting Star", I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you again, from the very bottom of my heart for all the research you did & info you found. I appreciate it more than you could ever even begin to imagine.

Anonymous said...

Dive in, Roy. Your work sheds light on a murky part of OC history and the checkered past of good, old Tom F.

Unknown said...

Roy, I am the sister of The Klein brother Lost on the Shooting Star. .after 44 years, our family just recently received a copy of the FOIA request we sent for years ago.. You would be very interested in reading it.. The conclusion is there was no accident, it wasn't "Lost at Sea" This was Murder on the High Sea. We have copies of the FOIA..it is heavily redacted, but the case is finally closed. What is not redacted is that explosives were placed on the yatch, Fred Harbor faked his death to hide from the FBI who had RICO indictments against him... He did-embarked on from the yatch, either in Cabo, or Turtle Bay, and disappeared, Nine innocent men died so he could escape prosecution. I would love for you to write the rest of the story

Anonymous said...

Your queries over the years about the Shooting Star incident, Roy, appear to be on target. You probably helped pry loose this troubling incident. Thank you for your persistence.

Roy Bauer said...

L Cee Kay: WOW. Please do send me what you've got; we'd love to write about it. My campus email is rbauer@ivc.edu
If you email me there, I'll give you my home email and whatever contact info you want. —Hope to year from you. —Roy

Linda Klein Berrett said...

Roy, I want to verify if you received the FOIA documents I sent you. I look forward to you writing "The rest Of The Story" The victims will Never receive justice on this earth, but I want People to know the truth, and the lengths corrupt people in position of "power" will go to in order to avoid prosecution for their criminal activities. ...Linda

Roy Bauer said...

Linda, nope, I've not received anything. My campus email is rbauer@ivc.edu
Hope to hear from you. I want what you want.

Anonymous said...

Roy, I have resent the FOIA report, I am going to try to add you to my niece's blog, there may be information you are interested in. I cannot read it,(or chose not to) but my understanding is she requested a FOIA for the Shooting Star, and that copy is less redacted than the one my sister sent for, only for my brothers...Give all these haters who have ridiculed you for your 'conspiracy theories" a Smack down in FACTS I have never believe this was an "accident" now we have the proof...Too late for people to pay. .but hopefully they are
rotting in Hell for what they did to 9 innocent people..

Unknown said...

Roy Bauer
Please confirm you received the FOIA report I sent you. I haven't heard from you, I also had my niece send them to the email address she had for you. I very much want the Rest of The Story told. I have some specific questions I want to ask you. My brothers, The Bashor Families, and the Casper Families have a right to know the truth. We now have proof of the "what", I think you and I have a good idea of the "Why". I think you should consider writing a book. Two of my nieces found copies of the book "Mayday Mayday, Morning Star", a semi-fictional account of what was known at the time. I have not read it yet, but I would like an accurate account of what happened told. I think you may be the person to help write it. Please contact me ASaP, so I know you received the documents. Thank you so much for Everything You have done to expose the Corruption of Orange County Politics and their involvement in the Loss of the Shooting Star

Roy Bauer said...

L See Kay — I did NOT receive the report.
I did receive two delivery error messages—one one the 19th, the other on the 22nd.
try unabauer@aol.com

Roy Bauer said...

Received and posted.
How many pages were redacted? My copy makes that unclear.

Anonymous said...

Roy, my sister sent 9 pages, including the cover page. She is very I'll, so talking to her is difficult because Stress has a negative impact on her health. I believe she sent me all the pages she received There are personal issue I don't care to discuss on this site
Also, I sent you an invite to the blog my niece Veronica was doing, she has information on it you may not have, including a FOIA report she received, that is less redacted, and I believe more information than my sister received. My sister specifically asked for information on my 3 brothers. Veronica asked for information about the Shooting Star.. I have been unable to read her blog, I m having difficulty reliving everything. Veronica is John's granddaughter, and his two daughters were only 2 and 3, so although they grew up without their daddy, the didn't live through the details and events. I do have questions I'd like to ask you, so perhaps you can call me sometime and we can discuss some things privately.
Thanks for all you've done...

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...