Aquittal in Ganas Shooting

Placeholder image for Foundation for Intentional Community website.
Codicts Team
  • August 6, 2008

Becky James, the woman accused of shooting Ganas member Jeff Gross, was aquitted on all charges by a New York Jury.

A woman was cleared of all charges Monday in the shooting of a commune founder nearly killed by a shadowy figure on the stairwell of his compound.

The jury took less than five hours to acquit Rebekah Johnson of attempted murder and lesser charges in the May 2006 shooting of Jeffrey Gross. Johnson disappeared for nearly a year after the attack, setting off a huge manhunt and garnering five appearances on Fox’s “America’s Most Wanted.”

If convicted, Johnson had faced up to 25 years in prison.

On May 29, 2006, Gross returned home from a movie, and in the dull light of a nearby lamp, he saw a gun pointed at him. He was shot six times, prosecutors said. The shooter apparently stepped over Gross before walking away.

Gross was convinced that Johnson fired the shots. Prosecutors said he was capable of identifying Johnson because he’d known her nearly 20 years, even though the stairwell was barely lit the night of the shooting.

New York Times

Associate Press

Staten Island Advance

Laird’s Blog Entry

Comments

Featured Blogs

Keep the conversation going with these pieces

Christopher Roth
Fri Nov 2018
  • Living in community
  • Relationships
Full immersion in a residential intentional community transforms over the course of a decade and a half into a much wider experience of community.
Codicts Team
Mon Aug 2008
  • New to community
CNN has had two articles on community in the past few weeks, one on simple living and one on eco-communities in the UK. The simple living article profiles a woman at the Keystone Ecological Urban Center in Chicago. Keri Rainsberger isn’t rich. She works in the nonprofit world for a relatively low-p…
Codicts Team
Sat Oct 2017
  • Living in community
  • Relationships
The study of intentional communities, both past and present, is a rich and rewarding enterprise for the student of political theory. The members of intentional communities, whether historic or contemporary, religious or secular, short-lived or enduring, must grapple with fundamental questions about …
Codicts Team
Sun May 2016
  • Living in community
  • Relationships
Some creative solutions are starting to counteract cohousing’s demographic homogeneity, but significant obstacles remain.
Codicts Team
Sat Aug 2016
  • New to community
Community Bookstore Featured Two New Films by Kim Kanney, Community Bookstore Manager What does it take to go back to the land? Perhaps you have explored the answer in your own unique way. And now FIC has two new films available at our bookstore that offer another possible answer. Inde…
Codicts Team
Thu Jul 2008
  • New to community
The Times Online and the Sunday Times (of London) carried an article on both the utopian and the practical aspects of community living. The article features an existing co-housing developments in the UK, Community Project of South Downs. Benefits such as shared child rearing, help in times of health…
Codicts Team
Tue Jun 2008
  • New to community
InsideBay Area.com has an article about a group of communities that formed in the hills near Palo Alto, CA in the late sixties and early seventies with such names as Struggle Mountain, Rancho Diablo, Earth Ranch and most famously, “The Land”. Most of these communes disbanded in the 70s but members r…
Christopher Roth
Mon May 2015
  • New to community
Food and community are both at the core of our experience as human beings. Food brings us together and helps us understand and define who we are in groups. It highlights our interdependence and brings up core issues such as how we make decisions, how we relate to one another and the earth, and how w…
Codicts Team
Mon May 2016
  • Governance
Last week, I wrote about OuiShare, a European organization that’s spearheading the push for a more equitable sharing economy. One of the concepts on the agenda at this year’s OuiShare Fest is “platform cooperativism” — the idea that worker-owned cooperatives could replace corporate-owned networks a…
Codicts Team
Mon Sep 2018
  • Life Transitions
Quotes from Cohousers Cohousing is… “… a challenging task, with pitfalls (and perseverance), with laughter and hugs (or nods and drawing into oneself), with food and nurturing (or caution and health concerns), with a good measure of comfort and, especially, community.” “… after parent…

Insights & Stories from the Communities Movement

Subscribe to our newsletter for fresh stories and community updates delivered to your inbox.

Join the Communiversity Community

Get unlimited access to courses, exclusive member events, and a supportive network of community builders

Unlimited Learning

Access all courses, books, and premium content

Community Network

Member-only workshops and community builders

Exclusive Events

Member-only workshops and gatherings

Information

Communities

A residential project: people live here as their primary home.

Organizations

An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).

Plus Community Memberhsip

  • Find people with Profile Match
  • Access to your community listing statistics
  • Create Discussion Groups
  • 50% commission when your members purchase a Plus Membership
  • Access to our affiliate program
  • Member badge on your community profile
I am an official member of this community
Disclaimer
I affirm that my information is accurate and I am authorized to manage this listing
Foundation for Intentional Community FIC Member badge logo.

Free Plan

Free Membership
Free

Intentional Advertising

  • Subtotal

    {{ currencyFormat( pricing_summary.total_amount ) }}

Icon representing community connections and collaboration for intentional communities.

Plus Membership

We’re introducing new Plus features — including community reviews, Profile Match, and unlimited Needs & Offers posts — while keeping most of FIC free for everyone. Membership costs less than two coffees a month. 

  • Find communities with Profile Match
  • View detailed reviews about communities
  • Direct message and view contact information
  • Create free listings in Needs & Offers
  • Plus Member resources in CommUniversity
  • Plus Member badge on your profile