A Los Angeles osteopath, Emory was convicted of second-degree murder in 1960, after one of his female patients died in the course of an illegal abortion. Paroled in 1964, he was arrested on a new abortion charge three years later, jailed from 1967 to 1969, with his medical license revoked. Against all odds, Emory won reinstatement of his license in May 1974, opening a makeshift clinic -- dubbed the Highland Medical Center -- that catered mainly to pregnant Mexican aliens. Over the next two years, he delivered more than 700 babies at the clinic, charging patients roughly half the normal hospital fee. As it turned out, the cut-rate deliveries were no bargain, with 25 infant deaths recorded at the clinic over two years time. (A twenty-sixth died in the hospital, hours after being removed from the clinic for emergency treatment.) On June 8, 1976, the 55-year-old "healer" was arrested and booked for investigation on ten counts of murder, his wife held on identical charges, while son Alan, 32, was booked on five counts. Deputy District Attorney Dinko Bozanich announced that the charges were based on "a wanton and reckless disregard for life," but other spokesmen for the prosecution reported their probe was "not excluding the possibility of intentional killing." In the wake of Emory's latest arrest, prosecutors had some pointed questions for the state board of osteopathic examiners. "Why was this man licensed?" they asked. "And why, after a murder conviction and the rest of his record, was his license reinstated?"