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Jailed hippie turns whiny (Kicked out of "free love" commune, goes gunning for Guru)
The New York Daily News ^
| July 8, 2007
| JOHN LAUINGER and TINA MOORE
Posted on 07/08/2007 9:03:13 AM PDT by Stoat
Exclusive
Jailed hippie turns whiny
BY JOHN LAUINGER and TINA MOORE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Sunday, July 8th 2007, 4:00 AM

Rebekah Johnson is accused of shooting commune leader Jeff Gross, below.

Jeff Gross

Rebekah's mom, Margaret Johnson, may face charges for helping her daughter while she was on the run.
The ex-hippie accused of gunning for a Staten Island commune leader is playing the victim - whining that she shouldn't be locked up.
"I'm a babe in the woods," Rebekah Johnson told the Daily News yesterday in an exclusive interview at Rikers Island.
"I can't defend myself in here."
Johnson spent a year on the lam after allegedly trying to kill Jeffrey Gross, guru of the free-love Ganas commune, which booted her in the early 1990s.
She was nabbed in Philadelphia last month, extradited to New York and arraigned Friday on second-degree attempted murder charges.
Wearing a gray prison jumpsuit and brown glasses, the 44-year-old had the demeanor of an injured animal as she complained about press coverage of the case.
"I don't like what's going on in the media," she said. "I feel like the police are feeding me to the media."
And she fretted that her fate will be sealed if she can't get out of Rikers, saying, "I can't prepare my defense from jail."
Although detectives say they believe Johnson intended to take another shot at Gross with an AK-47 she bought on the run, she grew angry and glared across a table when asked about it.
"How could the police know my intentions?" she growled. "How could they know how I feel?"
When asked whether she shot Gross, Johnson said, "It's too soon to talk about these things."
She struggled to compose herself and appeared to suppress her fury.
"I have to talk to my attorney," she said, abruptly ending the interview.
Johnson faces 25 years in prison if convicted of shooting Gross.
As The News reported yesterday, prosecutors are also exploring charges against her blue-blooded mom and sister for financing her year as a fugitive with cash wired through Western Union.
Johnson hit the road after ambushing Gross in May 2006 outside the New Brighton commune, shooting him in the arm, neck and chest, authorities said.
He was hospitalized in critical condition for weeks and went into hiding when Johnson disappeared.
Cops got a break in the case when the flower-power pistolera used her real name to purchase a van on Craig's List.
The woman who sold the vehicle to her gave cops Johnson's Philly address, and cops who went to the shabby $400-dollar-a-month apartment observed a "banana style" ammo magazine on the floor through a window, a police report shows.
They obtained a search warrant and found the AK-47 assault rifle and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, court documents show.
Cops said they found shooting targets imprinted with human silhouettes, and one of them had been shot 28 times.
Books included "Cults in Our Midst," "Sexual Harassment on the Job" and Coleman's Surplus Magazine, a firearms publication, court documents show.
They also found more than a dozen license plates from New York, Virginia and New Jersey. Cops also confiscated computer equipment and prescription drug bottles.
tmoore@nydailynews.com
Related Articles
- Hippie hit-woman pleads not guilty
- Kin sent hippie shoot suspect cash, sez DA
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: freelove; hippie; medusa; toouglyforwords

Lawdy, the other 'commune' members are probably livid at the 'guru' for letting 'her' in to begin with.
"shudder"
Enough to make a healthy guy lose his appetite and a few other things until the unholy vision passes.
THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE INCLUDED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE TO ERASE THE HIDEOUS IMAGERY AND HEAL THE NEUROLOGICAL TRAUMA CAUSED BY THE PHOTO POSTED ABOVE

1
posted on
07/08/2007 9:03:14 AM PDT
by
Stoat
To: Stoat
2
posted on
07/08/2007 9:06:21 AM PDT
by
kinoxi
To: Stoat
Wait a minute, the one in the white shirt is a SHE ??
3
posted on
07/08/2007 9:09:15 AM PDT
by
cardinal4
To: cardinal4
Yes and despite her size/appearance she had the gall to say this:
“I’m a babe in the woods,” Rebekah Johnson told the Daily News yesterday in an exclusive interview at Rikers Island.
I can’t stop LOL :)
4
posted on
07/08/2007 9:10:55 AM PDT
by
JerseyDvl
(STOP - Hildabeast, Shrillary, Hitlery, Billary, Her Thighness, Sen. Cankles, Dukakis-in-Drag)
To: cardinal4
Wait a minute, the one in the white shirt is a SHE ??Apparently, according to the article and court records.
Who'da thunk it?
5
posted on
07/08/2007 9:11:04 AM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Stoat
Looks an awful lot like Mike Nifong.
And I mean awful.
6
posted on
07/08/2007 9:12:55 AM PDT
by
patton
(19yrs ... only 4,981yrs to go ;))
To: Stoat
To: Stoat
As my late mother-in-law would say (with wink), “My that is a handsome woman.”
8
posted on
07/08/2007 9:15:01 AM PDT
by
Michael.SF.
("The military Mission has long since been accomplished" -- Harry Reid, April 23, 2007)
To: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
LMAO!
(And I notice that “Pat” is already 43% off.....can’t even give it away, it seems)
9
posted on
07/08/2007 9:16:05 AM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Stoat
Enough to make a healthy guy lose his appetite and a few other things until the unholy vision passes. Indeed. To be on the safer side, here's some more antidote:
10
posted on
07/08/2007 9:16:19 AM PDT
by
CarrotAndStick
(The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
Comment #11 Removed by Moderator
To: Stoat
I guess “Pat - the movie” wasn’t exactly Gone with the Wind in terms of box office impact. Despite the obvious drawing power of the leading ma...err lad.. um whatever.
To: CarrotAndStick
Indeed. To be on the safer side, here's some more antidote:I (and I'm sure many others) appreciate your concern for and dedication to public mental health.
13
posted on
07/08/2007 9:21:08 AM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Stoat

"Thank you!"
14
posted on
07/08/2007 9:28:44 AM PDT
by
CarrotAndStick
(The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
To: Stoat
Coleman's Surplus Magazine, a firearms publication, court documents show.The press just can't be bothered to do any research on their own. Coleman Surplus Catalog is exactly as the name implies. It is a military surplus catalog, NOT a "firearms publication". You can find slings, holsters, scopes, cleaning kits etc..., but you CAN'T buy firearms from Coleman's.
15
posted on
07/08/2007 9:31:07 AM PDT
by
SunTzuWu
To: Stoat; agent_delta; EveningStar; dighton
Ping
16
posted on
07/08/2007 9:35:45 AM PDT
by
Larry Lucido
(Duncan Hunter 2008)
To: SunTzuWu
| Coleman's Surplus Magazine, a firearms publication, court documents show. The press just can't be bothered to do any research on their own. Coleman Surplus Catalog is exactly as the name implies. It is a military surplus catalog, NOT a "firearms publication". You can find slings, holsters, scopes, cleaning kits etc..., but you CAN'T buy firearms from Coleman's. |
|
Expecting the "Press" to report accurately on ANYTHING even remotely pertaining to firearms is like expecting a "free love commune" to be populated with people who look like this :-)
17
posted on
07/08/2007 9:36:38 AM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: CarrotAndStick
"Thank you!"You're quite welcome, and may I say that you have an excellent dentist :-)
18
posted on
07/08/2007 9:42:20 AM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Stoat
She struggled to compose herself and appeared to suppress her fury. Yeah, let's cut this psycho loose.
19
posted on
07/08/2007 9:46:21 AM PDT
by
Fido969
("The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax." - Albert Einstein)
To: Fido969
She struggled to compose herself and appeared to suppress her fury. Yeah, let's cut this psycho loose.
Initially "she" reminds me of a moneyed and far less attractive Squeaky Fromme, with a similarly tenuous grasp of reality.
Lynette Squeaky Fromme Write to Lynette
Write to Lynette Fromme
This is Lynette Fromme's current address. You cannot send staples, paper clips, entire magazines, cash, stamps, or Poloroid photos. If you would like to send her a book, please ask her whether or not she would like to have it beforehand, as she is permitted only a limited number of books.
Lynette Fromme
06075-180
FMC Carswell
PO Box 27137
Admin. Unit
Ft. Worth, Texas
76127
20
posted on
07/08/2007 9:54:01 AM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Larry Lucido; EveningStar
That's a MAN.. MAN!

Tard Ping Worthy?
21
posted on
07/08/2007 10:07:46 AM PDT
by
agent_delta
(I AM ANYBODY)
To: agent_delta; al baby; Allegra; Auntbee; BJClinton; Dashing Dasher; dfwddr; exile; ...
To: Stoat; MeekOneGOP; Conspiracy Guy; DocRock; King Prout; Darksheare; OSHA; martin_fierro; ...
23
posted on
07/08/2007 11:34:02 AM PDT
by
Slings and Arrows
(Gaza: Your one-stop schadenfreude entertainment center.)
To: Stoat
Shoot him? From the her and him photos in the article, all she had to do was sit on him.
24
posted on
07/08/2007 11:41:20 AM PDT
by
xJones
To: xJones
Jeff Gross is.
He’s one evil looking dude. Murder is wrong, but my guess is that the world is better off without him. (meaning the skinny guy. the fat *guy* should get the death penalty)
25
posted on
07/08/2007 11:55:56 AM PDT
by
metmom
(Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
To: Stoat
“Free Love”? I ain’t buyin’.
To: JerseyDvl
Im a blob in the woods, Rebekah Johnson told the Daily News yesterday in an exclusive interview at Rikers Island.
27
posted on
07/08/2007 12:10:24 PM PDT
by
tet68
( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
To: Slings and Arrows
Kicked out of "free love" communeWell, you get what you pay for I guess.
28
posted on
07/08/2007 1:45:23 PM PDT
by
GOP_Raider
(FReepmail me to join the FR Idaho Ping List.)
To: GOP_Raider
>> Kicked out of “free love” commune
> Well, you get what you pay for I guess.
It’s still overpriced.
29
posted on
07/08/2007 2:04:49 PM PDT
by
Slings and Arrows
(Gaza: Your one-stop schadenfreude entertainment center.)
To: Stoat

?
30
posted on
07/08/2007 2:23:36 PM PDT
by
MrBambaLaMamba
(Buy 'Allah' brand urinal cakes - If you can't kill the enemy at least you can piss on their god)
To: MrBambaLaMamba
I always suspected but coould never confirm....before now, that is.
31
posted on
07/08/2007 5:28:47 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: MARTIAL MONK
Free Love? I aint buyin.I have a sneaking suspicion that this was why "she" was kicked out of the commune....ugliness so profound that it literally hurts to look.

Medusa
32
posted on
07/08/2007 5:39:58 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: kinoxi
I knew Hippies.Hippies were friends of mine.
You,lady,are NOT a Hippie!
To: Stoat
Is there is “Wouldn’t hit it” ping list?
34
posted on
07/08/2007 5:45:01 PM PDT
by
don-o
(End Freepathons forever. Do the RIGHT thing. Become a monthly donor)
To: MrBambaLaMamba
I have never heard a Minnesotan talk like Garrison does. Must be something in the fine wine and cheese he eats.
35
posted on
07/08/2007 5:47:53 PM PDT
by
Sawdring
To: MrBambaLaMamba
Lake Whoa!! Be Gone!!
To: don-o; Fire_on_High
37
posted on
07/08/2007 5:56:58 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Stoat
2 bagger with an attitude.
38
posted on
07/08/2007 5:59:52 PM PDT
by
TASMANIANRED
(Taz Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge)
To: Stoat
I see that all of those young Ganas folks wish to experience “commune” living. I have suggestion: Get married and raise a family! Experience the ultimate in “commune living.”
39
posted on
07/08/2007 7:17:39 PM PDT
by
StormEye
To: Stoat
LOL...that dude’s homelier than the south end of a north facin’ rat, but other than that I’m not seeing where this goes on my list. Unless it’s just to draw attention to your beady-eyed cuteness :-)
40
posted on
07/09/2007 12:18:41 AM PDT
by
Fire_on_High
(I am so proud of what we were...)
To: Stoat
THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE INCLUDED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE TO ERASE THE HIDEOUS IMAGERY AND HEAL THE NEUROLOGICAL TRAUMA CAUSED BY THE PHOTO POSTED ABOVE...Thanks, but I need a full cleansing...
To: Stoat
42
posted on
07/09/2007 11:40:43 AM PDT
by
BJClinton
(Thompson/DeLay 2008)
To: Sir Francis Dashwood
Thanks, but I need a full cleansing... I am delighted to witness your dedication to good public mental health.
Claudia Cardinale is also a firm believer in men looking like men and women looking like women, as God intended.


43
posted on
07/09/2007 11:31:11 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Stoat
“I’m a babe in the woods,” Rebekah Johnson told the Daily News yesterday in an exclusive interview at Rikers Island.
“I can’t defend myself in here.”
Who is she kidding? She’s the type the “babes in the woods” can’t defend themselves from. She’ll fit right in in prison, especially with all the girlfriends she gets to pick from.
44
posted on
07/09/2007 11:44:26 PM PDT
by
peggybac
(Tolerance is the virtue of believing in nothing)
To: peggybac
Who is she kidding? Shes the type the babes in the woods cant defend themselves from. Shell fit right in in prison, especially with all the girlfriends she gets to pick from.Agreed. Anybody who
- Joins a "free love commune" when 'she' obviously has some serious 'issues' vis-a-vis sexuality and how 'she' perceives 'her'self and then, when things don't exactly go swimmingly,
- gets kicked out of the commune and is so full of spurned rage over this that 'she'
- shoots the 'guru' in the chest (TWICE w/o killing him....a lousy shot, thankfully) and then
- flees to a rathole hideaway where 'she' does target practice while receiving upkeep checks from Momma
is going to FLOURISH in the prison culture, where 'she' will be among the 'top dog' bulldykes who terrorize and prey upon the more normal female criminals.
45
posted on
07/09/2007 11:56:14 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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