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1995 Movie Director Al Adamson Murdered, Buried Under Own House

October 2nd, 1999 4-year-old murder case to go to trial next week: Handyman charged in death of filmmaker buried in cement

October 26th, 1999 Testimony begins in trial over filmmaker's slaying

October 27th, 1999 Detective details to jury how officials found buried body

November 1st, 1999 Trial in murder of Al Adamson could be faster than expected

November 10, 1999 Defendant denies killing director

November 16th, 1999 Movie-director murder case may be sent to jury today

November 17th, 1999 Fulford case goes to jury after closing statements

November 18th, 1999 Man guilty of first-degree murder

November 18th, 1999 Adamson&rsquos death was like scene from film, friend says

March 4th, 2000 Murderer gets sentence

April 9th, 2000 Some cases have gone on for years

Movie Director Al Adamson Murdered, Buried Under Own House
JOHN HORN
AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Al Adamson, a prolific director of low-budget horror films including "Satan's Sadists" and "Blood of Dracula's Castle," was murdered and buried underneath his own house.

The 66-year-old Adamson's body was discovered Wednesday in Indio, about 150 miles southeast of Los Angeles, Indio police said Monday.

Investigators were searching for a contractor who was living and working at Adamson's home, said police Lt. Bruce Bower. Police have not yet established a motive.

A brother of the B-movie maker contacted police after Adamson was missing for five weeks, Bower said. After interviewing witnesses and examining recent construction work at his home, police and forensic specialists took up the flooring in an unspecified room and unearthed the buried body.

The cause of death was not determined pending a Wednesday autopsy.

Police have a homicide arrest warrant for independent contractor Fred Fulford, 46. Bower said Fulford was living in Adamson's Avenue 49 house while remodeling it. Fulford traveled to Florida about a week before Adamson was reported missing, Bower said, and is considered a fugitive.

The son of a filmmaker, Adamson made his reputation making drive-in movies in the 1960s and 1970s. Most of his titles featured horror or science-fiction themes, and he became a modern-day Ed Wood, the fabled schlock director of the 1950s.

Among his better-known cult works was the 1971 spoof "Dracula vs. Frankenstein," the last film made by veteran actors Lon Chaney Jr. and J. Carrol Naish. He also directed the films "Hell's Bloody Devils," "Five Bloody Graves," "Horror of the Blood Monsters," "The Female Bunch," "Last of the Comancheros," "The Brain of Blood," "The Naughty Stewardesses" and "Stud Brown," among many others.

Some of Adamson's films were released under many different names. "Nurse Sherri" was alternatively known as "Beyond the Living," "Hospital of Terror," "Hands of Death," "Killer's Curse" and "Terror Hospital." Similarly, "Blood of Ghastly Horror" was also known as "The Fiend With the Atomic Brain," "Psycho a Go-Go!," "The Love Maniac," "The Man With the Synthetic Brain" and "The Fiend With the Electronic Brain."

His last reported credits were 1981's "Carnival Magic" and 1982's "Lost." His production company, Independent International Pictures Corp., said he was recently working on a family movie called "The Happy Hobo."

He is survived by a brother and two sisters.

  © San Francisco Examiner

Articles from The Desert Sun
© The Desert Sun

4-year-old murder case to go to trial next week: Handyman charged in death of filmmaker buried in cement
By Christine Mahr
The Desert Sun
October 2nd, 1999
LARSON JUSTICE CENTER -- Four years after the grisly discovery of filmmaker Al Adamson&rsquos cement-covered body, the trial of his accused killer begins next week in an Indio courtroom.
Fred Fulford, 50, is charged with murder in the 1995 death of Adamson, 66, a B-movie producer whose credits included low-budget horror films such as "Satan&rsquos Sadists.&rsquo&rsquo
Prosecution and defense attorneys are scheduled to begin selecting a jury Tuesday, and that could take at least several days.
"We have to find jurors who can be here for the length of the trial,&rsquo&rsquo said Deputy District Attorney Paul Vinegrad.
He estimated the trial will last about six weeks.
Testimony probably will begin about mid-October, he said.
Vinegrad and defense attorney Robert Hurley spent part of last week arguing pretrial motions regarding the admissibility of certain items of evidence, Vinegrad said.
Hurley, chief trial deputy in the Riverside County Public Defender&rsquos Office in Indio, was unavailable Friday.
Although Adamson was killed in 1995, the case is just now getting to trial because of a series of delays that included extraditing Fulford from Florida in 1996.
Fulford&rsquos preliminary hearing was held in July 1996 and, at that time, he was represented by Indio attorney Roberto DeAztlan.
Later, Fulford indicated he wanted to handle his own defense but finally agreed to have Hurley represent him.
Vinegrad and Hurley said preparing for the trial has involved reviewing a lot of documents and interviewing out-of-town witnesses.
Adamson disappeared in June 1995 and his body was discovered in August of that year buried in a hole from which an indoor Jacuzzi whirlpool had been removed.
The hole was filled in with cement and covered with tile.
Fulford was helping Adamson remodel his home on Avenue 49 and had lived there since 1994.
Investigators believed Adamson and Fulford argued over money and that Fulford struck Adamson with a heavy object -- killing him -- and then concocted a plan to bury the body at the house.
After his arrest in Florida, Fulford maintained his innocence, saying he was framed.
When authorities located him in Florida, Fulford said he didn&rsquot know Adamson was dead and thought he was vacationing. He said he had planned to return to Indio to finish work on Adamson&rsquos home.

Testimony begins in trial over filmmaker's slaying
Brother, friend say suspect owed money to victim
By Christine Mahr
The Desert Sun
October 26th, 1999
LARSON JUSTICE CENTER -- The day before filmmaker Al Adamson was murdered, he complained that Fred Fulford was stealing from him, Adamson&rsquos brother testified Monday.
Kenneth Adamson was the prosecution&rsquos first witness in the murder trial of Fulford, 50, who is accused of killing Al Adamson on June 20, 1995, and covering his body with cement.
Adamson, 66, a B-movie director and producer of low-budget horror films, lived in Indio when he was killed.
His body was found buried at his home on Avenue 49.
Prior to the murder, Fulford -- working as a general contractor -- was helping Adamson remodel his home and had lived there since 1994.
Kenneth Adamson testified that in their last phone conversation, his brother told him Fulford had run up $4,000 in bills.
Adamson was upset and said Fulford was going to jail if he didn&rsquot pay the money back, Kenneth Adamson testified.
"Those were the last words my brother spoke to me,&rsquo&rsquo he said.
He testified he went to see his brother the next day but that Fulford said Adamson wasn&rsquot home. Kenneth Adamson said his brother never returned that day and so he finally left.
Gary Kent, a movie stuntman and assistant director who&rsquod worked with Adamson, testified he had a similar conversation with Adamson in May 1995.
Adamson told him that a man living with him and working for him had "been stealing money and running up my credit cards,&rsquo&rsquo Kent said.
In his opening statement, Deputy District Attorney Paul Vinegrad said evidence would show Fulford bashed in Adamson&rsquos skull and then dumped his body in a large hole from which a Jacuzzi had been removed.
He covered the body with a concrete-type material and dirt followed by four tons of cement, and then topped the grave with tile, Vinegrad said.
Vinegrad said evidence will show that over the next several weeks, Fulford forged Adamson&rsquos signature on checks and other documents, moved to Florida and shipped several of Adamson&rsquos cars to Florida where he sold them.
Robert Hurley, Fulford&rsquos attorney, said evidence in the case was circumstantial and would fail to prove beyond a reasonable doubt his client killed Adamson.
Indicating Fulford may take the witness stand, Hurley told jurors, "Wait until (Fulford) has had an opportunity to testify before you reach any judgment.&rsquo&rsquo
Hurley, chief trial deputy in the Riverside County Public Defender&rsquos Office in Indio, said Fulford had done a substantial amount of work for which Adamson had not yet paid him.
"(Fulford) profited more from Adamson being alive than dead,&rsquo&rsquo Hurley said.

Detective details to jury how officials found buried body
By Christine Mahr
The Desert Sun
October 27th, 1999
LARSON JUSTICE CENTER -- Witnesses testifying at the trial of Fred Fulford on Tuesday provided grisly details about the grave where Fulford allegedly buried filmmaker Al Adamson after bashing in his skull.
Fulford, 50, is charged with murder in the June 1995 death of Adamson, who was found buried in cement at his home on Avenue 49 in Indio.
Deputy District Attorney Paul Vinegrad maintains Fulford killed Adamson, buried his body the next day in a hole where a Jacuzzi had been, and then covered the hole with four tons of cement.
Fulford, who was working as a general contractor, was helping Adamson remodel his home and lived there at the time.
Ernesto Perez testified he worked for Fulford, and on June 21, 1995, was called to remove a Jacuzzi from a room at Adamson&rsquos home that same day.
Perez said after he and his brother finished the job, Fulford asked them to return the next day to help fill the hole with cement.
When they returned, they saw Fulford hosing the hole down and creating sort of a moat around an object.
"There was a hump right in the middle of (the hole),&rsquo&rsquo Perez said.
They filled the hole with cement blocks and a load of cement delivered by a truck that day, Perez testified.
Indio Police Sgt. Jack Anderson described the scene when authorities excavated the site after learning Adamson was missing and that construction work had gone on at his home.
After removing a layer of tile and excavating through the cement for hours, authorities could smell the strong odor of something decomposing, Anderson said.
Underneath dirt and a thin layer of cement-like material, they found a body wrapped in cloth, he testified.

Trial in murder of Al Adamson could be faster than expected
By Christine Mahr
The Desert Sun
November 1st, 1999
LARSON JUSTICE CENTER -- The prosecutor in the trial of a man accused of murdering movie director Al Adamson in June 1995 expects to wrap up his case Tuesday.
Attorneys estimated Fred Fulford&rsquos trial would last six to eight weeks but now it appears it will be shorter.
"We&rsquove introduced everything pertinent and we&rsquove been able to truncate the case,&rsquo&rsquo said Deputy District Attorney Paul Vinegrad.
Testimony began Monday and will resume Tuesday morning.
A coroner&rsquos pathologist is expected to testify about the cause of Adamson&rsquos death.
Defense attorney Robert Hurley said in his opening statement Fulford may take the witness stand to tell his story and that still is likely to happen.
"Our present intention is that he probably will,&rsquo&rsquo said Hurley, chief trial deputy for the Riverside County Public Defender&rsquos Office in Indio.
When he was arrested in Florida in August 1995, Fulford maintained his innocence and said he was framed.
Fulford, 50, is accused of killing Adamson, 66, and burying his body in cement at the filmmaker&rsquos home on Avenue 49 in Indio.
Fulford, working as a general contractor, was helping Adamson remodel his home and lived there at the time.
Vinegrad maintains Fulford bashed in Adamson&rsquos skull with a heavy object, dumped his body in a hole from which a Jacuzzi had been removed and then had four tons of cement poured over it.
Vinegrad produced evidence indicating the two had a dispute over money and that Fulford was stealing from Adamson and using his credit cards without permission.
After Adamson was killed, Fulford went to Florida and tried to sell several of Adamson&rsquos cars, according to the testimony. Adamson directed B-movies and horror films such as "Satan&rsquos Sadists.&rsquo&rsquo

Defendant denies killing director
By Christine Mahr
The Desert Sun
November 10, 1999
LARSON JUSTICE CENTER -- Fred Fulford admitted to forgery, perjury and taking money from Al Adamson but repeatedly denied Tuesday that he killed the movie director in June 1995 and buried his body in cement.
Fulford, who testified all day at his murder trial, was the first defense witness called by Robert Hurley, chief trial attorney for the Riverside County Public Defender&rsquos Office in Indio.
"I didn&rsquot murder (Adamson). I did not kill that man," Fulford, 50, testified.
Adamson&rsquos body was found with its skull bashed in, buried in a Jacuzzi room at his Avenue 49 home in Indio in August 1995.
Deputy District Attorney Paul Vinegrad contends the 66-year-old B-movie director was killed because he learned Fulford was stealing from him and had threatened to have him jailed.
Fulford testified he met Adamson in 1994 in Las Vegas and had agreed to come to Indio to completely remodel two houses at the Avenue 49 residence.
As part of a payment agreement, "I would do all of the work, live there and we&rsquod split the profits when he sold the house," Fulford testified.
Because Adamson frequently was out of town, he also added Fulford&rsquos name to his credit card and "told me if I needed something to use it, just don&rsquot abuse it," Fulford testified.
According to earlier testimony, after Adamson was killed, Fulford took several of his cars and went to Florida where he was arrested in August 1995.
Fulford testified Adamson had given him the cars although he never signed the titles over to him.
Fulford said he never saw Adamson after June 20, 1995, the day he reportedly disappeared.
Thinking Adamson had gone off on one of his trips, Fulford went to Florida for a vacation and to sell the cars, he testified.
Fulford admitted to forging Adamson&rsquos name on various documents and continuing to write checks on Adamson&rsquos account through the summer of 1995.
When repeatedly asked "why," he at times had no answer, but on one occasion, he said, "I was wrong. I shouldn&rsquot have done it."

Movie-director murder case may be sent to jury today
By Christine Mahr
The Desert Sun
November 16th, 1999
LARSON JUSTICE CENTER -- Jurors today could begin deliberating the fate of a man charged with murder in the June 1995 death of a movie director in Indio.
Attorneys at the murder trial of Fred Fulford, 50, were scheduled to give closing arguments this morning.
Fulford is accused of killing Al Adamson, placing his body in a hole from which a Jacuzzi had been removed and covering it with cement and then tile.
The B-movie director&rsquos body -- with its skull bashed in -- was found entombed in the Jacuzzi room at his Avenue 49 residence.
Fulford was hired by Adamson to remodel the residence and had been living there since October 1994.
Fulford, who spent a day on the witness stand last week, admitted hiring someone to take out the Jacuzzi and help fill the hole with cement.
But he denied killing Adamson and said removal of the Jacuzzi was part of the extensive remodeling work to the home that Adamson had authorized him to do.
Defense attorney Robert Hurley on Monday called as a witness structural engineer Garry Myers, who said there was nothing unusual about the way Fulford filled the Jacuzzi hole with cement.
Using cement was the best way to avoid construction defects such as cracks in the floor, he said.
But Deputy District Attorney Paul Vinegrad contends removal of the Jacuzzi and filling it with cement were just part of a plan Fulford concocted to get rid of Adamson&rsquos body and prevent any odor from permeating the residence.
Vinegrad maintains the 66-year-old movie director was killed because he learned Fulford was stealing from him and threatened to have him jailed.
On the witness stand last week, Fulford admitted to forgery, perjury and taking money from Adamson, but he repeatedly denied killing him.

Fulford case goes to jury after closing statements
By Christine Mahr
The Desert Sun
November 17th, 1999
LARSON JUSTICE CENTER -- In final arguments Tuesday, the prosecutor called Fred Fulford a cold-blooded murderer while the defense attorney contended his client was a liar and forger but not the person who killed filmmaker Al Adamson in June 1995.
Jury deliberations in the murder trial of Fulford, 50, begin today.
Fulford is accused of bashing in Adamson&rsquos skull and entombing his body under 42 inches of cement in a hole from which a Jacuzzi had been removed at Adamson&rsquos Avenue 49 home in Indio.
Fulford, an unlicensed contractor, was hired by Adamson to remodel the house and had been living there since October 1994.
Robert Hurley, Fulford&rsquos attorney, urged jurors not to conclude from a case lacking direct evidence and filled with circumstantial evidence that his client is guilty of first-degree murder as the prosecution contends.
"He looks guilty because he&rsquos a person who commits perjury, rips off his brother and does other things, so it&rsquos easy for you to think ill of him," said Hurley, chief trial deputy with the Riverside County Public Defender&rsquos Office in Indio.
Some of the most incriminating evidence against Fulford centered on testimony that he&rsquod removed a Jacuzzi from Adamson&rsquos home and then had the hole filled with four tons of cement in June 1995 when Adamson was killed.
Several weeks later, police investigating Adamson&rsquos disappearance found his decomposed body encased in the cement.
Hurley argued Fulford was remodeling the home and that, according to a structural engineer, there was nothing unusual about the procedure he used to backfill a hole.
The hole was filled the day after the Jacuzzi was removed and during the previous night someone took advantage of the opportunity to kill Adamson and put his body in the hole, Hurley said.
But Deputy District Attorney Paul Vinegrad urged jurors to consider everything that happened before and after Adamson&rsquos body was buried in cement.
"This really is an overwhelming case of guilt," Vinegrad said.
Showing grisly photos of Adamson&rsquos crushed skull, Vinegrad contended the filmmaker was killed because he learned Fulford had been stealing from him.
Calling the sequence of events in the case compelling, Vinegrad said Adamson was killed the day after telling both his brother and a bank that Fulford had been running up charges on his credit card without his permission.
After killing Adamson, Fulford went to Florida and until his arrest in August 1995 continued writing checks on Adamson&rsquos bank account in addition to taking his cars, and forging Adamson&rsquos signature on various documents, Vinegrad said.
On the witness stand last week, Fulford admitted to forgery, perjury and taking money from Adamson but repeatedly denied killing him.

Man guilty of first-degree murder
Fulford faces 25 years to life in prison for filmmaker&rsquos death
By Christine Mahr
The Desert Sun
November 18th, 1999
LARSON JUSTICE CENTER -- It took a jury less than two hours Wednesday to find Fred Fulford guilty of first-degree murder in the June 1995 death of filmmaker Al Adamson.
Fulford, 50, was accused of bashing in the movie director&rsquos skull and entombing his body in cement in a hole from which a Jacuzzi had been removed at Adamson&rsquos Avenue 49 home.
Fulford sat stoically as he had throughout the six-week trial and showed little reaction when the verdict was read.
Deputy District Attorney Paul Vinegrad said he was not surprised by how quickly the jury reached its decision.
"This case had a tremendous amount of evidence that was damning,&rsquo&rsquo Vinegrad said.
The defense maintained the case was based on circumstantial evidence only, but Vinegrad contended the amount of that evidence was overwhelming.
"The defense did a good job but there were just too many pieces of evidence pointing to (Fulford&rsquos) guilt,&rsquo&rsquo he said.
Robert Hurley, Fulford&rsquos attorney, declined to comment on the verdict.
He said the case probably will be appealed based on several trial issues he declined to discuss.
Judge Graham Cribbs scheduled sentencing for Dec. 17. Fulford faces 25 years to life in prison.
No relatives: No relatives of Fulford or Adamson were present for the verdict.
Ken Adamson, the filmmaker&rsquos brother, testified at the trial and listened to attorneys&rsquo final arguments Tuesday.
Adamson testified that the day before Al Adamson was killed, his brother complained Fulford had been running up charges on his credit card without his permission.
He never talked to his brother or saw him again after that, Ken Adamson said.
Fulford had been hired by Adamson to remodel his Indio residence and had lived there since October 1994.
Vinegrad contended Adamson was killed because he learned Fulford was stealing from him and threatened to have him jailed.
Key evidence at the trial included testimony from witnesses who helped Fulford remove a Jacuzzi from Adamson&rsquos home and fill the remaining hole with cement.
One of the witnesses said he&rsquod seen a "hump&rsquo&rsquo at the bottom of the hole before the cement was poured.
More theft: After killing Adamson, Fulford continued writing checks on Adamson&rsquos bank account, took several of his cars and forged Adamson&rsquos signature on car titles and other documents before being arrested in Florida in August 1995, according to testimony.
On the witness stand, Fulford admitted to forgery, perjury and taking money from Adamson but repeatedly denied killing him.

Adamson&rsquos death was like scene from film, friend says
By Christine Mahr
The Desert Sun
November 18th, 1999
For filmmaker Sam Sherman, the circumstances surrounding the death of his close friend and business partner seemed morbidly similar to scenes in a movie they might make together.
"A man disappears, then he&rsquos found on his property, dead from blows to the head and entombed in cement -- it&rsquos eerie," said Sherman, who knew and worked with Al Adamson in the film industry for 33 years.
Adamson was killed in June 1995, and two months later his body was found buried in cement at his Avenue 49 residence in Indio.
On Wednesday, a jury convicted Fred Fulford, 50, of first-degree murder in Adamson&rsquos death.
Adamson had lived in the Coachella Valley off and on since the early 1970s and also filmed movies here, including "Satin&rsquos Sadists&rsquo&rsquo in Indio in 1969 and "Blazing Stewardesses,&rsquo&rsquo in Rancho Mirage in 1975.
"He liked the Coachella Valley a lot and if he had a picture, he&rsquod try to figure out how he could shoot some of it there,&rsquo&rsquo Sherman said.
Sherman, a New Jersey resident, voiced relief at the jury&rsquos verdict.
"This has been on my mind for four years,&rsquo&rsquo he said.
'Hard-working person&rsquo: "(Adamson) was a sweet, nice, hard-working person, and what was done to him was despicable,&rsquo&rsquo Sherman said.
Adamson, a director and producer, was best known for his low-budget horror films such as "Satin&rsquos Sadists," "Horror of the Blood Monsters" and "Dracula vs. Frankenstein."
But "Blazing Stewardesses," which he and Sherman directed and produced, was a departure from the horror series.
A western comedy starring Yvonne De Carlo, it was filmed at the former White Sun Guest Ranch near Bob Hope Drive.
Sherman said Adamson moved to Palm Springs in 1972 when he purchased a home previously owned by comedian Harold Lloyd.
Attracted to the eastern valley with its date and citrus groves, Adamson eventually bought the Avenue 49 property, Sherman said.
Sherman said he often visited Adamson at his Indio home but wasn&rsquot that impressed with the property.
'Unsettling&rsquo: "There was something unsettling about the place," he said.
Adamson later sold the property and purchased a home in Utah but relocated to Las Vegas after his wife died, Sherman said.
It was there that he met Fulford and arranged for the unlicensed contractor to remodel the Indio residence, which had reverted back to him.
Eight months later, Adamson disappeared, his whereabouts unknown until his decomposing body was found encased in cement in his Jacuzzi room.
"I knew something was the matter because he didn&rsquot respond to my calls but I never ever thought anyone would murder him," Sherman said.

Murderer gets sentence
Judge calls death of film director out of 'script of horror movie&rsquo
By Christine Mahr
The Desert Sun
March 4th, 2000
LARSON JUSTICE CENTER -- The man convicted of murdering movie director Al Adamson in June 1995 was sentenced Friday to 25 years to life in prison.
Judge Graham Cribbs sentenced Fred Fulford, 50, after denying a defense request to reduce the first-degree murder verdict an Indio jury reached in November.
Calling the crime "cold-hearted and calculated," Cribbs said evidence presented at the trial supported the jury&rsquos verdict.
Fulford was accused of killing Adamson by bashing in his skull and then entombing his body in cement in a hole from which a Jacuzzi had been removed at Adamson&rsquos Avenue 49 home in Indio.
"It&rsquos right out of a script of a horror movie," Cribbs said.
Trial evidence indicated Fulford killed Adamson because of a dispute over money.
Resorting to violence to settle the dispute showed incredibly poor judgment on Fulford&rsquos part, Cribbs said.
Fulford showed no reaction when Cribbs imposed the sentence. He only asked afterward who would file a notice of appeal on his behalf.
His attorney, Robert Hurley, chief trial deputy in the Riverside County Public Defender&rsquos Office, said he would file the appeal notice.
Hurley and the case prosecutor, Supervising Deputy District Attorney Paul Vinegrad, made only brief statements prior to the sentencing.
Hurley said the case was an appropriate one for the judge to exercise his discretion and reduce the verdict to second-degree murder.
During the trial, Hurley maintained the prosecution&rsquos case was based mostly on circumstantial evidence.
"There was significant evidence that substantiated the fact (Fulford) committed the crime and justified a first-degree murder verdict," Vinegrad said.
Fulford had lived with Adamson since 1994, when the filmmaker hired him to remodel his Indio residence. Vinegrad contended Fulford killed Adamson because the filmmaker learned he>rem 0< was stealing from him and had threatened to have him jailed.
After Adamson was killed, Fulford continued writing checks on his bank account, took several of his cars, and forged Adamson&rsquos signature on car titles and other documents before being arrested in Florida in August 1995, according to trial testimony.
On the witness stand, Fulford said Adamson owed him money for the remodeling work he had done.
Fulford admitted to forgery, perjury and taking money from Adamson but repeatedly denied killing him.
Adamson, who filmed some movies in the Coachella Valley, was best known for low-budget horror films such as "Satan&rsquos Sadists" and "Dracula vs. Frankenstein."

Some cases have gone on for years
By Christine Mahr
The Desert Sun
April 9th, 2000
LARSON JUSTICE CENTER -- While Riverside County keeps pace with courts statewide in getting criminal cases processed, a small percentage of cases take longer than the state recommends -- as long as three or more years -- to make it through the system.
The California Judicial Council&rsquos guidelines call for all felony cases except those involving the death penalty to be processed in Municipal Court in less than 90 days and to be disposed of in Superior Court within a year.

Some of the more notable older cases in Riverside County&rsquos desert courts include:

Fred Fulford: Fred Fulford, a 46-year-old contractor, was arrested in August 1995 for the murder that year of movie director Al Adamson, whose body was found entombed in cement at his Indio home. It took several months to extradite Fulford from Florida where he was arrested. His preliminary hearing was held in July 1996 but his case didn&rsquot go to trial until October 1999. He was convicted of first-degree murder in November and in March of this year was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Delays in the case included a change in defense attorneys. When Robert Hurley, chief trial deputy in the Riverside County Public Defender&rsquos Office, took over the case he asked for and was granted several continuances to adequately prepare for what he said became a very complicated case.

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