‘Witch killer’ Michael Bear Carson denied parole in California

Michael Bear Carson received three 25 years-to-life sentences. The California Board of Parole on Wednesday denied his request for release.

His hearing was made possible because of the state’s elderly parole program. The program gives inmates who are at least 60 years old and have been incarcerated for at least 25 years to have the opportunity to have a hearing. 

A Phoenix-area connection

Newspaper stories from the time and an interview with Michael Carson’s daughter shed light on the couple’s time in Arizona.

A family friend convinced Michael, born as James Clifford Carson, and his first wife to move to Phoenix in the 1970s.

The young couple had met at the University of Iowa and attended graduate school at the University of South Carolina. 

Their daughter, Jenn Carson, told The Arizona Republic the couple were hippies. 

Issues started to arise in their marriage while they were in Phoenix. Jenn, 45, told The Arizona Republic her mother was a teacher at the time and was trying to be more “professional.” However, her father, who was staying at home, started to sell marijuana. 

Jenn said her father started to abuse her mother and use more drugs. 

Her mother divorced Michael and got a job near Tucson. The parents shared custody of Jenn. 

According to Jenn, her father met Susan Thornell Barnes through their family friend. Susan was married, wealthy and lived in Scottsdale. Barnes and her husband divorced after allegations of infidelity and drug use, Jenn told The Republic.

Michael and Susan started a relationship. 

This is when Carson became known as Michael Bear and Susan changed the spelling of her name to “Suzan.” The two explored drugs and lived a counterculture lifestyle.

When spending time with her father, Jenn would stay with the couple at Suzan’s townhouse. Among her memories: Jenn said Suzan had a living room, painted black, that was filled with more than 100 potted plants. 

“While I would go there for visitations, they weren’t feeding me,” she said. “They were passed out on the only piece of furniture in the apartment, which was a waterbed. They were passed out naked.” 

She remembers trying to escape the house for help and calling the operator on the phone to ask for “mommy.” 

She said tried to tell her mother what was happening but didn’t know how to properly communicate it to her. Then, after one visit, Jenn told her mother, “Suzan had hurt me.” 

“I had asked Suzan to rub my back,” Jenn Carson said. 

After her mother saw wounds on Jenn’s back, the pair went into hiding. In an interview with WBUR, Jenn said they spent four years moving across the country. 

Travel, and twisted religious views

Michael and Suzan decided to leave the United States and sell Suzan’s townhouse in Scottsdale, according to Jenn Carson. They traveled throughout Europe. The couple hoped to become citizens in Israel, she said. 

According to a HuffPost column written by Jenn Carson, her father was Jewish. 

However, they eventually came back to the U.S. and lived in San Francisco.  Authorities would soon begin to track them as suspicious deaths occurred: a roommate, a co-worker. But they eluded capture.

For some time, the couple considered themselves Christian mystics. They lived in the woods and would fast or eat only fruit. At another point, the couple considered themselves Muslims who followed the Koran and the Old Testament. They believed the books ordered them to kill witches.

After their arrest, Carson would describe their acts as a part of a “holy war.” 

“How can you have war without killing?” The Petaluma Argus-Courier reported Carson saying in 1983. 

Jenn said the couple traveled in several states across the western United States, including Arizona, Texas, California and Oregon. 

Convicted in multiple murders

Jon Hellyar left his home in Lakeside, Calif. as a teenager because he wanted independence, his brother Danny Hellyar told The Republic. 

“He was a good person,” he said. “He loved people.” 

He said his brother was a part of the hippie movement. However, Danny said Jon had started to change his life. 

His brother, then 30, was working in agriculture around the time he met the Carsons. As a teenager, he would hitchhike as a way to get around, but when he met the couple, he had his own vehicle. 

Danny told The Republic his brother was on his way to visit friends in Santa Rosa in 1983 when picked up the Carsons as they were hitchhiking. His brother never made it to his destination. 

He argued with the couple. Jon had a gun under his seat, but he wasn’t able to protect himself. He was fatally shot outside of the truck and the couple fled. 

Michael Carson claimed during the trial that he was acting in self-defense when shooting Hellyar. However, the couple also claimed Hellyar was “a black witch,” according to a 1985 report by The Press Democrat. 

According to Danny, a UPS driver saw the shooting while driving behind Jon’s vehicle. He called the police and went to help Jon. 

Jon’s last words were, “Help me, brother.” 

Danny said he believes his brother thought the UPS driver was him. At the time, Danny was working as a driver for the company. 

“It gives me chills every time I think about it,” Danny said. “I wish I could’ve been there to help him. It was a brutal murder. He didn’t deserve to die.” 

The police were able to track down the Carsons. They confessed to Jon Hellyar’s death and asked for a news conference to confess to more.

The news conference lasted for five hours. They claimed witchcraft, abortion and homosexuality caused death. They said they had killed their roommate in San Francisco and a co-worker on a marijuana farm in Humboldt County. 

According to The Petaluma Argus-Courier report in 1983, Michael Carson said they confessed to the three deaths because, “we don’t believe in lying.” However, the couple said they would not say if they killed anyone else. 

“We are not fools. We know exactly what we are doing. We’re doing it for a good reason,” he said. 

Carson claimed his wife was sexually and mentally abused by some of the victims. 

The Petaluma Argus-Courier reported Carson refused to talk about “matters outside of Northern California.” Carson stated there would be an armed religious revolution to overthrow President Ronald Reagan and the state’s governor. 

“Only fools fear death. Death is not a cruel thing. Locking a man in a cage is a cruel thing,” Carson said.

The Santa Maria Times reported in 1984 that Suzan Carson believed she received “supernatural messages” ordering the murder of their roommate Karen Barnes, 23, in their San Francisco apartment in 1981. 

The couple claimed Suzan received the orders when they were traveling back from a visit to Arizona, according to a 1983 report by The Californian. She said she believed the roommate was taking away her “health, power and beauty.” 

Barnes was hit in the head with a frying pan and stabbed in the neck. 

The couple also confessed to the murder of Clark Stephens, who was fatally shot in Humboldt County, California, in 1982. Stephens worked on a marijuana farm with the couple, according to The Californian. 

The Press Democrat reported in 1985 that Stephens was a friend of the couple, but they believed he was a “demon.” The Carsons shot him in the head, burned his body, covered it with chicken manure and buried it. 

Family members express pain, fear

Danny said his brother’s death caused the most pain for his father, who is now deceased. He said his father blamed himself and wondered if there was something he could have done to help prevent Jon’s death. 

“I don’t think he could’ve done anything,” Danny said in an interview.  told The Republic. “

Jenn  said she found out about her father’s crimes when she was in third grade. A year later, she read newspaper stories about how the murders happened. She said she looked up words in the dictionary to understand their meanings. 

“That started my lifelong battle with nightmares,” she said. 

Court proceedings started when Jenn Carson was 9 years old and lasted until she was 19, because of the appeals. She said she lived in fear and still has trauma. She made multiple suicide attempts. 

Her father sent her letters that were positive until she spoke out about her desire for him to stay in prison. Then, she said, his letters became scary. She petitioned against the couple receiving parole because she believes they will kill again.

Jenn said her mother has health problems from the physical abuse that occurred while she was married to Michael. She said her father’s crimes have impacted and informed her life. She earned a master’s degree in counseling and runs a suicide hotline. 

According to a CBS News report, Michael canceled his original parole hearing in 2015 because he didn’t want to renounce his religious beliefs that led to the murders. 

“No one is going to parole me because I will not and have not renounced my beliefs,” he wrote on a form to cancel the hearing. 

On Wednesday, the board denied parole for Carson for 10 years. He will not be automatically scheduled for a hearing until approximately May 27, 2030, but he can petition the board for an earlier hearing if he can present evidence of a change in suitability or facts of the case. 

In 2015, Suzan was denied parole for 15 years. Her next hearing was set for December 2030. 

Jenn and Danny believe Michael and Suzan Carson should not be released. 

Jenn said she believes he is a public safety risk. 

“I personally would not fell safe if he was released,” she said.

Danny, along with Jen, believes prison systems across the country should change to allow for more rehabilitation. However, he doesn’t believe the Carsons will become remorseful. 

Danny said Michael has not sent the victims’ families letters stating his remorse. 

“Ultimately the final judgment is going to be between him and God,” he said. “That’s really the one that matters the most.” 

Have thoughts about Arizona’s legal system? Reach criminal justice reporter Lauren Castle at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Lauren_Castle

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