REWARD OFFERED IN CRANE KILLING

Friends and relatives of the late Les Crane are offering a $3,800
reward to anyone with information leading to the conviction of his killer.

Crane, 39, owner of Mendo Spiritual Remedies in Laytonville and Hemp
Plus Ministry in Ukiah, was shot to death at his Laytonville home Nov. 18.

Mendocino County Sheriff's Detective Commander D.J. Miller said Crane
was killed about 2:30 a.m. that day in the home invasion. "The
investigation has disclosed it appears to be robbery motivated. An
undisclosed amount of currency and processed marijuana was stolen,"
Miller said at the time.

Patrick Duff, who referred to himself as a close friend of Crane's,
is putting up $2,000 of the reward money, and Crane's son, Jeremiah,
is putting up $1,000. A man from Indiana who Crane used to work with,
as well as various other donors, are also contributing to the reward,
Duff told The Daily Journal Tuesday in a phone interview from "Him
(Herer/Hemp Information) Ministries" in Los Angeles.

Duff said he and Crane "worked together for three months; I knew him
for about six months. Ever since I met him we had the same mission
and the same way to do it. We don't take no for an answer, but we
also do it openly and lovingly. That is why Hemp Plus Ministry wasn't
closed off - so you could see inside. That was for a purpose, so you
could see we are not criminals and there is nothing wrong with what
we are doing," Duff said, noting he worked at Hemp Plus Ministry
before moving to Los Angeles.

Asked how he would describe their activities, Duff said: "We were
ministering and administering love, information and sacraments --
meaning cannabis.

"Les and I brought together 32 cannabis ministries from everywhere,
from New Jersey, to Florida to Hawaii -- and almost every state in
the union -- to Laytonville, and what we did was a meeting of the
minds to bring together people who had the same mission -- that
mission being to legalize hemp fully and teach people the spiritual
aspects that were hidden."

Duff said he thinks offering a reward will bring somebody forward.

"If you have four to six people that commit a robbery and they are
obviously criminals, the criminal mind is going to come into play
when they are dividing the loot. So I have a feeling that when they
sat down to do this somebody got shorted and this (reward) would help
them come forward. I call this, for the person who comes forward,
$3,800 and immunity. I don't think that somebody is going to come
forward unless they are kind of baited," he said.

Anyone with information regarding the crime can contact the MCSO at
463-4086, or Duff at 818-225-2426. Callers to either number may
remain anonymous.

Miller on Tuesday said leads are still being developed.

"However, to date no solid suspect information has resulted," he
said. "We are working on obtaining additional information from
persons previously interviewed, however, success will depend on those
individuals. We are still pending evidence analysis results on
evidence collected at the crime scene by the California Department of
Justice. The crime lab has the capability of processing much of the
evidence through automated systems, however, manual analysis will
likely have to occur with some of the evidence," Miller said.

Sonoma County has experienced several home invasion robberies over
the last few months, similar to the Crane incident, according to law
enforcement officials.

However, the Sonoma County robberies did not result in a homicide,
local sheriff's detectives said. And, while there are similarities
between the home invasion robberies they aren't necessarily related
to the Crane incident, detectives said.

Speculation and comment surrounding Crane's killing can be found
online at Hightimes.com.

A memorial service for Crane is planned for noon Saturday in
Westport. Directions from Laytonville: Take Branscomb Road to Highway
1 and turn right. There will be direction signs within one-half mile.
For more information, call Hemp Plus Ministries at 468-1478.