Case of 1969 Altamont Stabbing Closed
1 hour, 44 minutes ago
OAKLAND, Calif. - Nearly 36 years after a man was
stabbed to death during a Rolling Stones concert at
Altamont Speedway, investigators have closed the case,
dismissing a theory that a second Hells Angel took
part in the killing.
Meredith Hunter, 18, was killed during the free
concert on Dec. 6, 1969. The show, which drew an
estimated 300,000 people, was billed as the "Woodstock
of the West," but the death helped bring to an end the
image of the peace-and-love '60s. The concert, and the
stabbing, were captured on film in the 1970
documentary "Gimme Shelter."
As the Stones played on stage, a member of the Hells
Angels motorcycle gang, hired by the band to provide
security, attacked, stabbed and killed Hunter.
Alan Passaro was acquitted after a jury concluded he
acted in self-defense because Hunter was carrying a
gun. But there had been rumors over the years that a
second unidentified assailant had inflicted the fatal
wounds, and the case remained open.
But Alameda County sheriff's Sgt. Scott Dudek said
Wednesday that after a renewed investigation over the
past two years, authorities concluded that Passaro,
who died in 1985, was the only person to stab Hunter
and did so only after Hunter pointed a gun at the
stage.
Dudek said Passaro's lawyer confirmed his client was
the lone assailant. In addition, enhanced and
slowed-down footage from the film shows Hunter
brandishing the gun just before Passaro leaps from the
stage and stabs him, Dudek said.
Hunter's relatives said Wednesday they had always held
out hope that someone would be convicted in the case.
"The problem is the wounds that have been reopened are
still devastating to the family," Hunter's sister,
Dixie Ward, 63, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
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