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The Manson Myth

Debunking Helter Skelter and Exposing Lies

Jackson Howard, Jack Cook, Wendy A. Hall

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Copyright No Copyright Freedom. Published by FastPencil 307 Orchard City Drive Suite 210 Campbell CA 95008 USA info@fastpencil.com (408) 540-7571 (408) 540-7572 (Fax) http://www.fastpencil.com This book is intended as reference material and for free download. Printed in the United States of America. First Edition

No copyright, all content can be used in research, papers, and any publication. All information inside is cited from the original source. Please credit those sources. The Publisher makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any commercial damages.

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This book is dedicated to all of the victims, their families and friends, and all of the people who have researched this case and wasnt afraid to speak out against the unfair trial of Charles Manson.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to all of the contributors who helped us put this together. Thank you to J. Cook for editing this monstrosity and putting together the photos.

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Contents
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 16 Chapter 15 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24

Preface ....................................................................... ix I have Xed Myself ....................................................... 1 What is Helter Skelter? .................................................. 27 Why Helter Skelter Doesnt Fit ........................................ 31 The Drug Connection ................................................... 43 The Bug .................................................................... 57 Pictures: Part I ............................................................ 69 Who is Charles Watson? ................................................ 75 Demystifying Susan Atkins ........................................... 107 Stupid Cupid ............................................................ 119 Bruce McGregor Davis ................................................ 139 Pictures: Part II ......................................................... 157 False Witness ............................................................ 163 Pictures: Part III ........................................................ 217 Krishna Venta ........................................................... 225 The Real Race War ..................................................... This Holy Swastika ..................................................... Charles Will is Mans Son ............................................ The Dictator ............................................................. Deeper Than the Devils Hole ....................................... Just Follow the Music .................................................. Pictures: Part IV ........................................................ The Powerwagons ...................................................... Desert Sun ............................................................... Final Thoughts .......................................................... Sources ................................................................... 237 251 263 275 295 303 311 317 323 329 341

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Preface

The name Charles Manson has become synonymous with evil and over the past 40-something years the name still strikes fear and repulsion in the minds of many. It comes to no surprise that he has been tagged killer, but more precisely the serial killer who killed actress Sharon Tate. In reality, Charles Manson was never actually convicted of physically taking any life. In fact, he was never proven to be at the scene of any of the murders when they were happening. There has Charles Mansons 2013 DOC been speculation that he was indeed at the murder photo. of Shorty Shea, and this is probably true. However, according to parole hearing testimonies of both Steve Clem Grogan and Bruce M. Davis, he arrived long after Charles Tex Watson had stabbed Donald Shea to death. The murders at 10050 Cielo Drive, on August 9, 1969, and 3301 Waverly Drive, on August 10, 1969, have been forever linked to a man who wasnt even there. The fear that surrounded the name Charles Manson, and the demon the media made him out to be, clouded the minds of the general public to the point where they did not care who actually committed these murders just as long as Charles Manson was put away. With all of this confusion surrounding the case, a lot of unanswered questions surround the case; mostly who actually killed who.

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How did this happen? This essay will go inside of the motives as well of the myth of Charles Manson, which was partially created by scorned Family member Paul Watkins who wasnt even a part of the Family at the time of the murders. In fact, Paul Watkins himself has admitted that he did not find out about them until months later. Then we have Paul Watkins close buddies Brooks Poston and Paul Crockett, who added fuel to that fire. Brooks Poston was long gone from the Family and long before Paul Watkins. They both met Paul Crockett in Death Valley where he supposedly deprogrammed them while using them as slaves to carry ore from local mines. Prosecuting attorney Vincent Bugliosi took that story from Paul Watkins and forced the defendantsmostly Charles Mansonto fit the motive he wanted: Helter Skelter. This essay will use the words of the people who participated in the murders, state witnesses, defendants, people in the Family, and other people involved with the Family through interviews, parole hearings, articles, and other first-word accounts to prove my theory and to disprove the Helter Skelter motive. And to support the fact that the murders were most likely committed as copycat murders of the Gary Hinman slaying to create reasonable doubt to free Family friend Bobby Beausoleil. Charles Manson has never admitted that he ordered the murders, but he has said things such as, I take responsibility for influencing them kids, but I did not direct traffic. I did not tell nobody to go kill for me. The only people who have stated that Charles Manson did indeed order the murders were the prosecutions witnesses during the trial; who were all given incentives to testify. Charles Mansons co-defendants all stood firm, as well, claiming he did not order the murders. It wasnt until 1972, when they started to deviate from their prior testimonies. What is even more interesting is that Charles Mansons co-defendants; Charles Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten, and Susan Atkins have all admitted alternative motives to the killings. In 1972, the death penalty was abolished giving Charles Manson, Bobby Beausoleil, Charles Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten a shot at parole. That is when their stories turned and all of the culpability went to Charles Manson. The difference is that Susan Atkins still

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maintained that the murders were copycat murders to free Bobby Beausoleil. Facts are that these people had absolutely no shot at parole unless they admitted the Helter Skelter theory, admitted Charles Manson ordered the murders, and of course showed that they were reformed and they knew this. Theres no doubt in my mind that this is why they changed their stories. Murder conspirator-turned-witness, Linda Kasabian, turned out to be one of the most important witnesses in the case. Without her testimony Charles Manson may have never been convicted. Vincent Bugliosi contended that she was the lesser of the evil defendants, which is why he chose her to testify on his behalf. He told the jury that she had no clue that the gang went out to murder,when in fact she held the knives on the way to the Cielo Drive home. She also took Stephen Parents wallet and distracted Wojciech Frykowski as he was butchered by Charles Watson. She also helped plan the murders and may have suggested the murders for some sort of revenge as told by several Family members. This essay will attempt to explain and make sense of it all.

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1
I have Xed Myself

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Charles Manson protests the trial by carving an X onto his forehead.

November 19, 1970, Charles Mansons defense team rests their case without even calling one of the seventeen subpoenaed wit-

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nesses, putting on one second of a defense or even saying a word on the defendants behalf.

Charles Manson begged to be able to get on the stand and defend himself and after hesitation, the court allowed him to take the stand. The court room was asked to vacate and the jurors asked to leave. He spoke to an empty courtroom, but here is what he had to say. The Court: Do you have anything to say? Defendant Manson: Yes, I do. There has been a lot of charges and a lot of things said about me and brought against me and brought against the co-defendants in this case, of which a lot could be cleared up and clarified to where everyone could understand exactly what the family was supposed to have been, what the philosophies in regards to the families were, and whether or not there was any conspiracy to commit murder, to commit crimes, and to explain to you who think with your minds. It is hard for you to conceive of a philosophy of someone that may not think. I have spent my life in jail, and without parents. I have looked up to the strongest father-figure, and I have always looked to the people in the free world as being the good people, and the people in the inside of the jail as being the bad people. I never went to school, so I never growed up in the respect to learn to read and write so good, so I have stayed in jail and I have stayed stupid, I have stayed a child while I have watched your world grow up, and then I look at the things that you do and I dont understand. I dont understand the courts, and I dont understand a lot of things that are brought against me. Your write things about my mother in the newspaper that hasnt got anything to do with anything in particular. You invent stories, and everybody thinks what they do, and then they project it from the witness stand on the defendant as if that is what he did. For example, with Danny DeCarlos testimony. He said that I hate black men, and he said that we thought alike, that him and I was a lot alike in our thinking.

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But actually all I ever did with Danny DeCarlo or any other human being was reflect himself back at himself. If he said he did not like the black man, I would say, Okay. I had better sense than tell him I did not dislike the black man. I just listened to him and I would react to his statement. So consequently he would drink another beer and walk off and pat me on the back and he would say to himself, Charlie thinks like I do. But actually he does not know how Charlie thinks because Charlie has never projected himself. But maybe the girls and women in your world outside Being by yourself for such a long time when you do get out you appreciate things that people dont even see, you walk over them every day. Like in jail you have a whole new attitude or a whole different way of thinking. I dont think like you people. You people put importance on your lives. Well, my life has never been important to anyone, not even in the understanding of the way you fear the things that you fear, and the things you do. I know that the only person I can judge is me. I judge what I have done and I judge what I do and I look and live with myself every day. I am content with myself. If you put me in the penitentiary, that means nothing because you kicked me out of the last one. I didnt ask to get released. I liked it in there because I like myself. I like being with myself. But in your world its hard because your understanding and your values are different. These children that come at you with knives, they are your children. You taught them. I didnt teach them. I just tried to help them stand up. Most of the people at the ranch that you call The Family were just people that you did not want, people that were alongside the road, that their parents had kicked them out or they did not want to go to Juvenile Hall, so I did the best I could and I took them up on my garbage dump and I told them this that in love there is no wrong.

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I dont care. I have one law and I learned it when I was a kid in reform school. Its dont snitch. And I have never snitched, And I told them that anything they do for their brothers and sisters is good, if they do it with a good thought. It is not my responsibility. It is your responsibility. It is the responsibility you have towards your own children who you are neglecting, and then you want to put the blame on me again and again and again. Over and over you put me in your penitentiary. I did not build the penitentiary. I would not lock one of you up. I could not see locking another human being up. You eat meat with your teeth and you kill things that are better than you are, and in the same respect you say how bad and even killers that your children are. You make your children what they are. I am just a reflection of every one of you. I have never learned anything wrong. In the penitentiary, I have never found a bad man. Every man in the penitentiary has always showed me his good side, and circumstances put him where he was. He would not be there, he is good, human, just like the policeman that arrested him is a good human. I have nothing against none of you. I cant judge any of you. But I think it is high time that you all started looking at yourselves, and judging the lie that you live in. I sit and I watch you from nowhere, and I have nothing in my mind, no malice against you and no ribbons for you. But you stand and you play the game of money. As long as you can sell a newspaper, some sensationalism, and you can laugh at someone and joke at someone and look down at someone, you know. You just sell those newspapers for public opinion, just like you are all hung on public opinion, and none of you have any idea what you are doing. You are just doing what you are doing for the money, for a little bit of attention from someone. I cant dislike you, but I will say this to you. You havent got long before you are all going to kill yourselves because you are all crazy. And you can project it back at me, and you can say that its me that cannot communicate, and you can say that its me that dont have any

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understanding, and you can say that when I am dead your world will be better, and you can lock me up in your penitentiary and you can forget about me. But Im only what lives inside of you, each and every one of you. These children, they take a lot of narcotics because you tell them not to. Any child you put in a room and you tell them, Dont go through that door, he never thought of going through that door until you told him to go through the door. You go to the high schools and you show them pills and you show them what not to take, how else would they know what it was unless you tell them? And then you tell them what you dont want them to do in the hopes they will go out and do it and then you can play your game with them and then you can give attention to them because you dont give them any of your love. You only give them your frustration; you only give them your anger; you only give them the bad part of you rather than give them the good part of you. You should all turn around and face your children and start following them and listening to them. The music speaks to you every day, but you are too deaf, dumb, and blind to even listen to the music. You are too deaf, dumb and blind to stop what you are doing. You point and you ridicule. But its okay, its all okay. It doesnt really make any difference because we are all going to the same place anyway. Its all perfect. There is a God. He sits right over here beside me. That is your God. This is your God. But let me tell you something; there is another Father and he has much more might than you imagine. If I could get angry at you I would try to kill every one of you. If thats guilt, I accept it. These children, everything they have done, they done for love of their brother. Had you not arrested Robert Beausoleil for something he did not do. I have killed no one and I have ordered no one to be killed.

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I may have implied on several occasions to several different people that I may have been Jesus Christ, but I havent decided yet what I am or who I am. I was given a name and a number and I was put in a cell, and I have lived in a cell with a name and a number. I dont know who I am. I am whoever you make me, but what you want is a fiend; you want a sadistic fiend because that is what you are. You only reflect on me what you are inside of yourselves, because I dont care anything about any of you and I dont care what you do. I can stand here in front of this court and smile at you, and you can do anything you want to do with me, but you cannot touch me because I am only my love, and it is all for me, and I give it to myself for me, because I look out for me first and I like me, and you can live with yourselves and your opinion of yourselves. I know what I have done. If I showed someone that I would do anything for my brother, include give my life for my brother in the battlefield, or give where else that I may want to do that, then he picks his banner up and he goes off and does what he does. . That is not my responsibility. I dont tell people what to do. If we enter into an agreement to build a house, I will help you build the house and I will offer suggestions for that house, but I wont put myself on you because that is what made you weak, because your parents have offered themselves on you. You are not you, you are just reflections, you are reflections of everything that you think that you know, everything that you have been taught. Your parents have told you what you are. They made you before you were six years old, and when you stood in school and you crossed your heart and pledged allegiance to the flag, they trapped you a in truth because at that age you didnt know any lie until that lie was reflected on you. No, I am not responsible for you. Your karma is not mine. My father is the jail house. My father is your system, and each one of you, each one of you are just a reflection of each one of you, and you all live by yourselves, no matter how crowded you may think that you are in a room

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full of people, you are still by yourself, and you have to live with that self forever and ever and ever and ever. To some people this would be hell; to some people it would be heaven. I have mine, and each one of you will have to work out yours, and you cannot work it out by pointing your fingers at people. I have ate out of your garbage cans to stay out of jail. I have wore your second-hand clothes. I have accepted things and given them away the next second. I have done my best to get along in your world and now you want to kill me, and I look at you and I look how incompetent you all are, and then I say to myself, You want to kill me, ha, Im already dead, have been all my life! Ive lived in your tomb that you built. I did seven years for a thirty-seven dollar check. I did twelve years because I didnt have any parents, and how many other sons do you think you have in there? You have many sons in there, many, many sons in there, most of them are black and they are angry. They are mad, and they are mad at me. I look and I say, Why are you mad at me? He said, I am mad at you because of what your father did. And I look at him and I say, Well, and I look at my fathers, and I say, If there was ever a devil on the face of this earth I am him. And hes got my head anytime he wants it, as all of you do too, anytime you want it. Sometimes I think about giving it to you. Sometimes Im thinking about just jumping on you and let you shoot me. Sometimes I think it would be easier than sitting here and facing you in the contempt that you have for yourself, the hate that you have for yourself, its only the anger you reflect at me, the anger that you have got for you. I do not dislike you, I cannot dislike you. I am you. you are blood. You are my brother. That is why I cant fight you. If I could I would jerk this microphone out and beat your brains out with it because that is what you deserve, that is what you deserve. Every morning you eat that meat with your teeth. Youre all killers, you kill things better than you. And what can I say to you that you dont already know? And I have known that there is nothing I can say to you. There is

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nothing I can say to any of you. It is you that has to say it to you, and that is my whole philosophy; you say it to you and I will say it to me. I live in my world, and I am my own king in my world, whether it be a garbage dump or if it be in the desert or wherever it be. I am my own human being. You may restrain my body and you may tear my guts out, do anything you wish, but I am still me and you cant take that. You can kill the ego, you can kill the pride, you can kill the want, the desire of a human being. You can lock him in a cell and you can knock his teeth out and smash his brain, but you cannot kill the soul. You never could kill the soul. Its always there, the beginning and the end. you cannot stop it, its bigger than me. Im just looking into it and it frightens me sometimes. The truth is now; the truth is right here: the truth is this minute, and this minute we exist. Yesterday you cannot prove yesterday happened today, it would take you all day and then it would be tomorrow, and you cant prove last week happened. You cant prove anything except to yourself. My reality is my reality, and I stand within myself on my reality. Yours is yours and I dont care what it is. Whatever you do is up to you and its the same thing with anyone in my family. and anybody in my family is a white human being, because my family is of the white family. There is the black family, a yellow family, the red family, a cow family and a mule family. There is all kinds of different families. We have to find ourselves first, God second, and kind, k-i-n-d, come next. And that is all I was doing. I was working on cleaning up my house, something Nixon should have been doing. He should have been on the side of the road picking up his children. But he wasnt. He was in the White House sending them off to war. I dont know the different people that have got on the stand; one friend said I put a knife to his throat. I did. I put a knife to his throat. And he said I was responsible for all of these killings. I have done the best I know how, and I have given all I can give and I havent got any guilt about anything because I have never been able to say any wrong.

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I never found any wrong. I looked at wrong, and it is all relative. Wrong is if you havent got any money. Wrong is if your car payment is overdue. Wrong is if the TV breaks. Wrong is if President Kennedy gets killed. Wrong is, wrong is, wrong is you keep on, you pile it in your mind. you become belabored with it, and in your confusion. I make up my own mind. I think for myself. I look at you and I say, Okay, you make up your own mind, you think for yourself, then you see your mothers and your fathers and your teachers and your preachers and your politicians and your presidents, and you lay in your brain with your opinions, considerations, conclusions. And I look at you and I say, Okay, if you are real to you its okay with me but you dont look real to me. you only look like a composite of what someone told you you are. You live for each others opinion and you have pain on your face and you are not sure what you like, and you wonder if you look okay. And I look at you and I say, Well, you look alright to me, you know, and you look at me and you say, Well, you dont look alright to me, Well I dont care what I look like to you. I dont care what you think about me and I dont care what you do with me. I have always been yours anyway. I have always been in your cell. When you were out riding your bicycles I was sitting in your cell looking out the window and looking at pictures in magazines and wishing I could go to high school and go to the proms, wishing I could go to the things you could do, but oh so glad, oh so glad, brothers and sisters, that I am what I am. Because when it does come down around your ears and none of you know what you are doing, you better believe I will be on top of my thought. I will know what I am doing. I will know exactly what I am doing. If you ever let me go before you kill me. And then I dont really particularly care anyway, because I still will be there and I will still know what I am doing. In my mind I live forever. In my mind I live forever, and in my mind I have always lived forever. I am only what you made me. I am only a reflection of you.

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I have done everything I have always been told. I have mopped the floor when I was supposed to mop the floor. And I have swept when I was supposed to sweep. I was smart enough to stay out of jail and too dumb to learn anything. I was too little to get a job there, and too big do to something over here. I have just been sitting in jail thinking nothing. Nothing to think about. Everybody used to come in and tell me about their past and their lives and what they did. But I could never tell anybody about my past or what my life was or what I did because I have always been sitting in that room with a bed, a locker, and a table. So, then it moves on to awareness: how many cracks can you count in the wall? It moves to where the mice live and what the mice are thinking, and see how clever mice are. And then, when you get on the outside, you look into peoples heads. You take Linda Kasabian and you put her on the witness stand and she testifies against her father. She never has liked her father, and she has always projected her wrong off to the man-figure. So, consequently, it is the mans fault again, and the woman turns around and she blames it on the man. The man made her do it. The man put her up to it. The man works for her, the man slaves for her, the man does everything for her, and she lays around the house and she tells him what he should do, because, generally, she is an extension of his mother. His mother told him what to do and she trained him for twenty years and passed him on to the wife. Then the woman takes him and tells him what to wear, when to get up, when to go to work. Then when she gets on the stand and she says when she looked in that mans eyes that was dying, she knew it was my fault. She knew that it was my fault because she couldnt face death. And if she cannot face death, that is not my fault. Why should she blame it on me? I can face death. I have all the time. In the penitentiary you live with it, with constant fear of death, because it is a violent world in there, and you have to be on your toes constantly. So, it is not without violence that I live. It is not without pain that I live. I look at the projection that comes from this witness stand often to the defendants. It isnt what we said, it is what someone thought we said. A word is changed: in there to up there, off of that to on top. The

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semantics get into a word game in the courtroom to prove something that is gone in the past. It is gone in the past, and when it is gone, it is gone, sisters. It is gone, brother. You cant bring the past back up and postulate or mock up a picture of something that happened a hundred years ago, or 1970 years ago, as far as that goes. you can only live in the now, for what is real is now. The words go in circles. You can say everything is the same, but it is always different. It is the same, but it is always different. You can but it to death. You can say, You are right, but, but, but. You sat here for nineteen days questioning that girl. She got immunity on seven counts of murder. She got. I dont know how much money she is going to make in magazines and things. You set her up to be a hero, and that is your woman. That is the thing that you worship. You have lost sight of God. You sing your songs to woman. You put woman in front of man. Woman is not God. Woman is but a reflection of her man, supposedly. But a lot of times man is a reflection of his woman. And if a man cant rise above a womans thought, then that is his problem, it is not my problem. But you give me this problem when you set this woman against me. You set this woman up here to testify against me. And she tells you a sad story. How she has only taken every narcotic that is possible to take. How she has only stolen, lied, cheated and done everything that you have got there in that book. But it is okay. she is telling the truth now. She wouldnt have any ulterior motive like immunity for seven counts of murder. And then comical as it may seem, you look at me, and you say, You threatened to kill a person if they snitch. Well, that is the law where I am from. Where I am from, if you snitch, you leave yourself open to be killed. I could never snitch because I wouldnt want someone to kill me. So, I have always abided by that law. It is the only law that I know of, and it is the law that I have always abided by.

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But she will come up here and you enshrine her, you put her above you, and you strive to be as good as something below you. It is circles that just dont make any sense in my reality. But of course again that is my reality and it has nothing to do with you, because you have got your reality and you have to live with what you believe in. But this woman has got here and she has testified. She said she wasnt sure, but maybe. Then the magical mystery tour wouldnt be able to be explained to you. A magical mystery tour is when you pick up somebody else and play a part. you may pick up a cowboy today, and you go around all day and play like a cowboy. You put on a hat and you ride a horse. This is all we have done. We have played like mom and dad. We have loved each other. We have done everything we could to stay outside the frame of the law, the shakedowns. Nothing has been stolen. I have got better sense than to break the law. I give to the law what it has coming. It is his law. If I break his law, he puts me back in the grave again. I havent broken his law yet but it seems as if somebody lays around and somebody needs to fulfill a spot, they snatch it up and say, This will do. We will put this over here, we can hang this on him. Or we can do this to that. Then the words go into another meaning and another level of understanding. Why a woman would stand up and project herself into a man and say, Actually he never told me anything, but I knew it all came from him. Her assumption. Am I to be found guilty on her assumption? You assume what you would do in my position, but that doesnt mean that is what I did in my position. It doesnt mean that my philosophy is valid. Its only valid to me. Your philosophies, they are whatever you think they are and I dont particularly care what you think they are. But I know this: that in your own hearts and your own souls, you are as much responsible for the Vietnam War as I am for killing these people. I knew a guy that used to work in the stockyards and he used to kill cows all day long with a big sledgehammer, and then go home at night and eat dinner with his children and eat the meat that he slaughtered. Then he would go to church and read the bible, and he would say, That is not

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killing. And I look at him and I say, That doesnt make any sense, what you are talking about? Then I look at the beast, and I say, Who is the beast? I am the beast. I am the beast. I am the biggest beast walking the face of the earth. I kill everything that moves. As a man, as a human, I take responsibility for that. As a human, it wont be long, and God will ask you to take responsibility for it. It is your creation. You live in your creation. I never created your world, you created it. You create it when you pay taxes, you create it when you go to work, then you create it when you foster a thing like this trial. Only for vicarious thrills do you sell a newspaper and do you kow-tow to public opinion. Just to sell your newspapers. You dont care about the truth. You take another Alka-Seltzer and another aspirin and hope that you dont have to think of the truth and you hope that you dont have to look at yourself with a hangover as you go to a Helter Skelter party and make fun of something that you dont understand. The Court: Please stick to the issues of this case. Defendant Manson: The issues in this case?! The issues in this case?! The issues are that Mr. Younger is Attorney General, and I imagine he is a good man and does a good job. I dont know him. I cant judge him. But I know he has got me here. He set me in this seat. Mr. Bugliosi is doing his job for a paycheck. That is an issue. He is doing whatever he is doing. Whether he thinks it is right or not, I couldnt say. That is up to him. The only way that I have been able to live on that side of the road was outside the law. I have always lived outside the law. When you live outside the law it is pretty hard, you cant call the man for protection. You have got to pretty much protect your own. You cant live within the law and protect yourself. You cant knock the guy down when he comes over and starts to rape one of the girls, or starts to bring some speed or dope up there. You cant enforce your will over someone inside the law.

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I gave everything I could think of to that old man and that ranch for permission to stay there, and I have given the people that stayed on that ranch my all. When no one wanted to go out in front and fight, I would go out and fight. When no one else wanted to clean the toilets, I would go and clean them. People would see me and they would see what I do and see the example that I set. They see, when I am cleaning out a cesspool, that I am happy and smiling and making a game of it. Like I was on a chain gang somewhere once upon a time and they come and pass the water. I make a game out of it, or I make a pleasure out of a job. We turn it into a magical mystery tour. We speed down the highway in a 1958 automobile that wont go but fifty, and an XKE Jaguar goes by, and I state to Clem, Catch him Clem, and well rob him or steal all of his money, you know. And he says, What shall we do? I say, Hit him on the head with a hammer. We magical mystery tour it. Then Linda Kasabian gets on the stand and says: They were going to kill a man, they were going to kill a man in an automobile. To you, it seems serious. But like Larry Kramer and I would get on a horse and we would ride over to Wichita, Kansas, and act like cowboys. We make it a game on the ranch. Like, Helter Skelter is a nightclub. Helter Skelter means confusion. Literally. It doesnt mean any war with anyone. It doesnt mean that those people are going to kill other people. It only means what it means. Helter Skelter is confusion. Confusion is coming down fast. If you dont see the confusion coming down fast around you, you can call it what you wish. It is not my conspiracy. It is not my music. I hear what it relates. It says, Rise! It says, Kill! Why blame it on me? I didnt write the music. I am not the person who projected it into your social consciousness, that sanity that you projected into your social consciousness, today. You put so much into the newspaper and then you expect people to believe what is going on. I say back to the facts again. How many witnesses have you got up here and projected only what they believe in. What I believe in is right now. I dont believe in anything past now. I speak to you from now.

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Because there is nothing here to worry about, nothing here to think about, nothing here to be confused over. My house is not divided. My house is one with me, myself. Then I look at the facts that you have brought in front of this court and I look at the twelve facts that are looking at me and judging me. If I were to judge them, what scale would that balance? Would the scale balance if I was to turn and judge you? How would you feel if I were to judge you? Could I judge you? I can only judge you if you try to judge me. That is the fact. Mr. Bugliosi is a hard-driving prosecutor, with a polished education. Semantics, words. He is a genius. He has got everything that every lawyer would want to have except one thing: a case. He doesnt have a case. Were I allowed to defend myself, I could have proven this to you. I could have called witnesses and showed you how these things lay, and I could have presented my picture. You are dealing with facts and positive evidence. If you are dealing with things that are relative to the issues at hand, then you look at the facts. What else do you look at? Oh, the leather thong. How many people have ever worn moccasins with a leather thong in it? So you have placed me on the desert with leather clothes on and you took a leather thong from my shoe. How many people could we take leather thongs from? That is an issue. Then you move on and you say I had one around my neck. I always tie one around my head when my hair is long. It keeps it out of my eyes. And you pull it down on your neck. And I imagine a lot of long-haired people do. There are so many aspects to this case that could be dug into and a lot of truth could be brought up, a lot of understanding could be reached. It is a pretty hideous thing to look at seven bodies, one hundred and two stab wounds. The prosecutor, or the doctor, gets up and he shows how all the different stab wounds are one way, and then how all the different stab wounds are another way; but they are the same stab wounds in another direction. They put the hideous bodies on display and they say: If he gets out see what will happen to you. Implying it. I am not saying he did this. This is implied. A lot of diagrams are actually in my opinion senseless to the case.

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Then there is Paul Watkins testimony. Paul Watkins was a young man who ran away from his parents and wouldnt go home. you could ask him to go home and he would say no. He would say, I dont got no place to live. can I live here? And Id say, Sure. So, he looks for a father image. I offer no father image. I say, To be a man, boy, you have got to stand up and be your own father. And he still hungers for a father image. So he goes off to the desert and finds a father image. When he gets on the stand, I forget what he said, whether it had any relative value, oh, I was supposed to have said to go get a knife and kill the Sheriff of Shoshone. Go get a knife and kill the Sheriff of Shoshone? I dont know the Sheriff of Shoshone. I dont think I have been there but once. I am not saying that I didnt say it, but if I said it, at that time I may have thought it was a good idea. Whether I said it in jest and whether I said it in joking, I cant recall and reach back into my memory. I could say either way. I could say, Oh, I was just joking. Or I could say I was curious. But to be honest with you I dont ever recall saying Get a knife and change of clothes and go do what Tex said. Or I dont recall saying, Get a knife and go kill the sheriff. I dont recall saying to anyone Go get a knife and kill anyone or anything. In fact it makes me mad when someone kills snakes or dogs or cats or horses. I dont even like to eat meat because that is how much I am against killing. So you have got the guy who is against killing on the witness stand, and you are all asking him to kill you. you are asking him to judge you. Because with my words, each of your opinions or diagrams, your thoughts, are dying. What you thought was true is dying. What you thought was real is dying. Because you all know, and I know you know, and you known that I know you know. So, lets make that circle. You say, Where do we start from there? Back to the facts again. You say that the facts are elusive in my mind. Actually, they just dont mean anything. The District Attorney can call them facts. They are facts. You are facts. But the facts of the case arent even relative, in my mind. They are relative to the Thirteenth Century. They are relative to the Eighth Century. They are relative to how old you are or what kind of watch you wear on

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your arm. I have never lived in time. A bell rings, I get up. A bell rings and I go out. A bell rings, and I live my life with bells. I get up when a bell rings and I do what a bell says. I have never lived in time. When your mind is not in time, the whole thought is different. You look at time as being man-made. And you say time is only relative to what you think it is. If you want to think me guilty then you can think me guilty and it is okay with me. I dont dislike any of you for it. If you want to think me not guilty it is okay with me. I know what I know and nothing and no one can take that from me. You can jump up and scream, Guilty! and you can say what a no good guy I am, and what a devil, fiend, eeky-sneaky slimy devil I am. It is your reflection and youre right, because that is what I am. I am whatever you make me. You see, it is what happens inside the now that the words just lose meaning. A motion is more real than a word. The Indians spoke with it. They could explain to you with motions what they felt. This is what I intended to do if I could represent myself. Explain to you what is inside of me, how I feel about things. Because words are your words. You invented the words, and you made a dictionary and you gave me the dictionary and you said, These are what the words mean. Well, this is what they mean to you, but to someone else, they have got a different dictionary. And things mean different things to different people, and to match the symbols up as you talk back and forward. Then you put a witness up here to say what you said. I could never say what someone else said. I could only say what I said. You tell me something and, tomorrow, I try to repeat it, if I didnt write it down, I couldnt tell you what you said. Let alone a year ago, let alone eight months ago, let alone a week ago. I am forgetful. I forget one day to the next. I forget what day it is or what month it is or what year it is. I dont particularly care because all that is real to me is right now. But then, the case is real to me, and I say, What do I have to do to make you people let me go back to the desert with my children? You have your world. You are going to do whatever you do with it. I have got nothing to do with it. I dont have the schooling in it. I dont believe in your church. I dont believe in anything you do. I am not saying you are

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wrong, and I hope that you say I am not wrong for believing what I believe in. Murder? Murder is another question. It is a move. It is a motion. You take anothers life. Boom! and theyre gone. You say, Where did they go? They are dead. You say, Well, that person could have made the motion. He could have taken my life just as well as I took his. If a soldier goes off to the battlefield, he goes off with his life in front. He is giving his life. Does that not give him permission to take one? No. Because then we bring our soldiers back and try them in court for doing the same thing we sent them to do. We train them to kill, and they go over and kill, and we prosecute them and put them in jail because they kill. If you can understand it, then I bow to your understanding. But in my understanding I wouldnt get involved with it. My peace is in the desert or in the jail cell, and had I not seen the sunshine in the desert I would be satisfied with the jail cell much more over your society, much more over your reality, and much more over your confusion, and much more over your world, and your word games that you play. And each witness got up here and only testified for what was best for them, they did not testify for what was best for me. They testified for what was best for them, their own benefit. So you say, Okay, and then what else did she say? She said, You only see in me what you want to see in me. you only see in her what you put in her, because when you take LSD enough times you reach a stage of nothing. You reach a stage of no thought. An example of this: if you were to be standing in a room with someone and you were loaded on LSD and the guy says, Do you like my sports coat? And you would probably not pay any attention to him. About two or three minutes later the guy loaded on LSD will turn around and say, My, you have a beautiful sports coat because he is only reacting. He is only reacting to the individual terminology, the person that he has in the room. As you would put two people in a cell, so would they reflect and flow on each other like as if water would seek a level. I have been in a cell with a guy eighty years old and I listened to everything he said. What did you do then? And he explains to me his whole life and I sat there and listened, and I experienced vicariously his whole being,

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his whole life, and I look at him and he is one of my fathers. But he is also another one of your societys rejects. Where does the garbage go, as we have tin cans and garbage alongside the road, and oil slicks in your water, so you have people, and I am one of your garbage people. I am one of your motorcycle people. I am one of what you want to call hippies. I never thought about being a hippie. I dont know what a hippie is. A hippie is generally a guy thats pretty nice. He will give you a shirt and a flower, and he will give you a smile, and he walks down the road. But dont try to tell him nothing. He aint listening to nobody. He got his own thoughts. You try to tell him something, and he will say, Well, if thats your bag. He is finding himself. You, those children there were finding themselves. Whatever they did, if they did whatever they did, is up to them. They will have to explain to you that. Im just explaining to you what I am explaining to you. Everything is simple to me. It is what it is because that is what it is. It doesnt go any farther. What? That is all there is. Why? Why? Why comes from your mother. Your mother teaches you why, why, why. you go around asking your mother why and she keeps telling you, Because, because and she laces your little brain with because and: Because. Why? because. Why? And you dont know any different. If you had two mothers, one to tell you one thing and one to tell you another, then your mind might be left where mine was. If you had a dozen parents that you went around with and couldnt believe anything you were told and then you couldnt disbelieve anything you were told. And its the same thing with this court. I dont believe what these witnesses get up here and say but I dont disbelieve them either. I wont challenge them. If the guy says, Youre no good, I say, Okay. If thats what you want me to believe its okay with me. I dont care what you believe. I know what I am. You care what I think of you? Do you care what I think of you? Do you care what my opinion is? No, I hardly think so. I dont think that any of you care about anything other

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than yourselves because when you find yourself, you find that everyone is out for themselves anyway. It looks that way to me here, the money that has been made, the things that I cannot talk about, and I know I cant talk about, I wont talk about and I will keep quiet about these things. How much all money has passed over this case? How sensational do you think that you have made this case? I never made it sensational. I was hiding in the desert. You come and got me. Remember? Or could you prove that? What could you prove? The only thing you can prove is what you can prove to yourselves, and you can sit here and build a lot in that jurys mind, and they are still going to interject their personalities on you. They are going to interject their inadequate feelings; they are going to interject what they think. I look at the jury and they wont look at me. So I wonder why they wont look at me. They are afraid of me. And do you know why they are afraid of me? Because of the newspapers. You projected fear. you projected fear. You made me a monster and I have to live with that the rest of my life because I cannot fight this case. If I could fight this case and I could present this case, I would take that monster back and I would take that fear back. Then you could find something else to put your fear on, because its all your fear. You look for something to project it on and you pick a little old scroungy nobody who eats out of a garbage can, that nobody wants, that was kicked out of the penitentiary, that has been dragged through every hellhole you can think of, and you drag him up and put him into a courtroom. You expect to break me? Impossible! you broke me years ago. You killed me years ago. I sat in a cell and the guy opened the door and he said, You want out? I looked at him and I said, Do you want out? You are in jail, all of you, and your whole procedure. The procedure that is on you is worse than the procedure that is on me. I like it in there. I like it in there - its peaceful. I just dont like coming to the courtroom. I would like to get this over with as soon as possible. And Im sure everyone else would like to get it over with too. Without being able to prepare a case, without being able to confront the witnesses and to bring out the emotions, and to bring out the reasons why

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witnesses say what they say, and why this hideous thing has developed into the trauma that its moved into, would take a bigger courtroom, and it would take a bigger public, a bigger press, because you all, as big as you are, know what you are as I know what you are, and, I like you anyway. I dont want to keep rehashing the same things over, There are so many things that you can get into, Your Honor, that I have no thoughts on. It is hard to think when you really dont care too much one way or the other. (Interruption.) I was released from the penitentiary and I learned one lesson in the penitentiary, you dont tell nobody nothing. You listen. When you are little you keep your mouth shut, and when someone says, Sit down, you sit down unless you know you can whip him, and if you know you can whip you stand up and whip and you tell him to sit down. Well, I pretty much sat down. l have learned to sit down because I have been whipped plenty of times for not sitting down and I have learned not to tell people something they dont agree with. If a guy comes up to me and he says, The Yankees are the best ball team, I am not going to argue with that man. If he wants the Yankees to be the best ball team, its okay with me, so I look at him and I say, Yeah, the Yankees are a good ball club. And somebody else says, The Dodgers are good. I will agree with that; I will agree with anything they tell me. That is all I have done since I have been out of the penitentiary. I agreed with every one of you. I did the best I could to get along with you, and I have not directed one of you to do anything other than what you wanted to do. I have always said this: You do what your love tells you and I do what my love tells me. Now if my love tells me to stand up there and fight I will stand up there and fight if I have to. But if there is any way that my personality can get around it, I try my best to get around any kind of thing that is going to disturb my peace, because all I want is to be just at peace, whatever that takes. Now in death you might find peace, and soon I may start looking in death to find my peace. I have reflected your society in yourselves, right back at yourselves, and each one of these young girls was without a home. Each one of these young boys was without a home. I showed them the best I could what I would do as a father, as a human being, so they would be responsible to themselves

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and not to be weak and not to lean on me. And I have told them many times, I dont want no weak people around me. If you are not strong enough to stand on your own, dont come and ask me what to do. You know what to do, This is one of the philosophies that everyone is mad at me for, because of the children. I always let the children go. You cant let the children go down there by themselves. I said, Let the children go down. If he falls, that is how he learns, you become strong by falling. They said, You are not supposed to let the children do that. you are supposed to guide them. I said, Guide them into what? Guide them into what you have got them guided into? Guide them into dope? Guide them into armies? I said, No, let the children loose and follow them. That is what I did on the desert. That is what I was doing, following your children, the ones you didnt want, each and every one of them. I never asked them to come with methey asked me. (Recessed) Theres been a lot of tank about a bottomless pit. I found a hole in the desert that goes down to a river that runs North underground, and I call it a bottomless pit, because where could a river be going North underground? You could even put a boat on it. So I covered it up and I hid it and I called it The Devils Hole and we all laugh and we joke about it. You could call it a Family joke about the bottomless pit. How many people could you hide down in this hole? Again you have a magical mystery tour that most of the time theres forty or fifty people at the ranch playing magical mystery tour. Randy Starr thought he was a Hollywood stunt man. He had a car all painted up and like never done any stunts. Another guy was a movie star, but he had never been in any movies, and everybody was just playing a part, you know, like most people get stuck in one part, but like we were just playing different parts every day. One day you put on a cowboy hat and say, Shoot somebody, or the next you might have a knife fighter, or go off in the woods for a month or two to be an Indian, or just like a bunch of little kids playing. Then you establish a reality within that reality of play acting. And then you get to conspiracy. The power of suggestion is stronger than any conspiracy that you could ever enter into. The powers of the brain are so vast, its beyond understanding. Its beyond thinking. Its beyond

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comprehension. So to offer a conspiracy might be to sit in your car and think bad thoughts about someone and watch them have an accident in front of you. Or would it be a conspiracy for your wife to mention to you twenty times a day, You know, youre going blind, George, you know how your eyes are, youre just going blind; we pray to God and youre going blind, and youre going blind. And she keeps telling the old man hes going blind until he goes blind. Is that a conspiracy? Is it a conspiracy that the music is telling youth to rise against the establishment because the establishment is rapidly destroying things? Is that a conspiracy? Where does conspiracy come in? Does it come in that? I have showed people how I think by what I do. It is not as much what I say as what I do that counts, and they look at what I do and they try to do it also, and sometimes they are made weak by their parents and cannot stand up. But is that my fault? Is it my fault that your children do what they do? Now the girls were talking about testifying. If the girls come up here to testify and they said anything good about me, you would have to reverse it and say that it was bad. you would have to say, Well, he put the girls up to saying that. He put the girls up to not telling the truth. Then you say the truth is as I am saying it, but then when it is gone, tomorrow it is gone, it changes, its another day and its a now truth, as it constantly moves thousands of miles an hour through space. Hippie cult leader; actually, hippie cult leader, that is your words. I am a dumb country boy who never grew up. I went to jail when I was eight years old and I got out when I was thirty-two. I have never adjusted to your free world. I am still that stupid, corn-picking country boy that I always have been. If you tend to compliment a contradiction about yourself, you can live in that confusion. To me its all simple, right here, right now; and each of us knew what we did and I know what I did, and I know what Im going to do and what you do is up to you. I dont recognize the courtroom, I recognize the press and I recognize the people. The Court: Have you completed your statement, Mr. Manson? Defendant Manson: You could go on forever. You can just talk endless words. It dont a mean anything. I dont know that it means anything. I can

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talk to the witnesses and ask them what they think about things, and I can l bring the truth out of other people because I know what the truth is, but I cannot sit here and tell you anything because like basically all I want to do is try to explain to you what you are doing to your children. You see, you can send me to the penitentiary, its not a big thing. Ive been there all my life anyway. What about your children? These are just a few, there is many, many more coming right at you. The Court: Anything further? Defendant Manson: No. Were all our own prisons, we are each all our own wardens and we do our own time. I cant judge anyone else. What other people do is not really my affair unless they approach me with it. Prisons in your mind Cant you see Im free? Vincent Bugliosi: You say that you are already dead, is that right, Charlie? Irving Kanarek: I object, your honor. Defendant Manson: Are you trying to goad me into something? The Court: Overruled. Vincent Bugliosi: Did you say you were already dead? Irving Kanarek: May I have an objection? The Court: Overruled. Vincent Bugliosi: Did you say you were already dead, Charlie? Defendant Manson: Dead in your mind, or dead in my mind? Vincent Bugliosi: Define it the way you want to. Defendant Manson: As any child will tell you Vincent Bugliosi: How long have you been dead? Defendant Manson: You didnt let me answer the question. Irving Kanarek: Your honor, if I may make this point? The Court: No you may not. Defendant Manson: As any child will tell you, dead is when you are no more. Vincent Bugliosi: To be precise about it do you know what precise means? Defendant Manson: Yes.

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Vincent Bugliosi: To be exact about it, you think you have been dead close to 2000 years, dont you? Defendant Manson: 2000 years? Irving Kanarek: I object to that question. The Court: Overruled. Defendant Manson: Mr. Bugliosi, 2000 years is relative to the second we live in. Vincent Bugliosi: Suffice it to say, Department 104 is a long way from Calvary, isnt that true? Defendant Manson: Are you trying to goad me into saying something? Vincent Bugliosi: You stated that you want to go back to the desert with your children; is that right? Irving Kanarek: I object, your honor. DefendantManson: That is a very good question. I wouldnt object to it. The Court: State your objection. Irving Kanarek: On the ground that it is solicitation of conclusion. The Court: Overruled. Irving Kanarek: Can I make a point? The Court: Sit down Mr. Kanarek and remain quiet. Vincent Bugliosi: Who are your children? Irving Kanarek: I object, your honor, if I may? The Court: Overruled. Defendant Manson: Everyone that loves me. Everyone that will return my love.

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2
Before I get into the essay itself, I want to first explain briefly what Helter Skelter means, according to the prosecuting attorney Vincent Bugliosi.

What is Helter Skelter?

According to the motive that the prosecution applied to the murders, Charles Manson was released from Terminal Island Penitentiary with years of anger and hatred for society. He built up a gang of misused, derelict, abused, and delinquent doctored mugshot of Charles youths and held them captive while he fed them A Manson: notice the scotch tape drugs and put them in sexual situations to drag holding on the ruler. down their morals and then fed their heads with his philosophies on life, death, and hatred for the privileged. Over the next two years, Charles Manson was in an endeavor to sell his music, but failed. This filled his head with a lot of resentment to the people who have had success in the entertainment industry and especially Terry Melcher, who had rejected him. This was Vincent Bugliosis reasoning for the Sharon Tate home on Cielo Drive being chosen. 10050 Cielo Drive, was once inhabited by Terry Melcher and Charles Manson knew this and picked this house after deliv-

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ering threats to Terry Melcher and Dennis Wilson. The murders were supposed to send a strong message to them. Vincent Bugliosis theory was that Charles Manson picked out that home himself, as well as the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca on Waverly Drive. He then sent in a group of his now brainwashed soldiers to kill everyone in the homes and scrawl racist terms used by the Black Panthers on the walls with the victims blood. This would lead Whitey to believe that Blackie went on a murder rampage, killing all of these model richwhite humans and it would anger the white establishment so much that they would then attack the blacks causing a huge race war. Vincent Bugliosi said that the vision of Charles Manson was that during this time the so-called Manson Family, of 144,000, would make an exodus to their Barker Ranch hideout in Death Valley where they would all crawl into their bottomless pit and wait 40 years for the war to end; a war in which Blackie would be victorious. How would this help Charles Manson and his Family? Vincent Bugliosi stated that Charles Manson felt since Blackie had never lead anything, they would be too inexperienced and would be forced to hand the world over to him the only white man alive. All of this, of course, was laid out in the Beatles 1968 White Album, prophesied to Charles Manson as Gods words and backed up in Revelation 9. However, this was merely a recycled vision from Krishna Venta (see chapter: Krishna Venta) who preached this same race war and nearly verbatim (sans the Beatles) of Vincent Bugliosis theory. It is also a fact that one of Krishna Ventas disciples has admitted that he was one of the individuals who implanted this into Charles Mansons head. Sound far-fetched? Sound humorous? Sound absolutely insane? Well believe this: there are millions of people who believed this theory. Surely, since the prosecution proved this motive, it had to be right. But did the prosecution prove it? This essay will also explain how the prosecution won this motive by forfeit and there was absolutely no evidence to support the theory aside from second and third-hand hearsay. In fact, most of the people who testified against Charles Manson and the other defendants did it for some sort of incentive and personal gain whether it is for money, for immunity to crimes, or some other lucrative and selfish deal.

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A staged photo by the media. (AP Press Photo)

In my mind, a case cannot be proved unless the defense actually puts on a case; puts forward evidence, testimony, and witnesses for their clients. Since this never happened during the trial, everything the prosecution put forward on Charles Mansonno matter how absurdbecame fact by forfeit, by the guilty verdict. This essay does not condone murder, nor does it defend the actions of any of the people who were convicted for these crimes. The point is to finally bring out the truth that the victims and the victims families deserve and to expose those who lied. Hopefully one day true justice will be served.

Helter Skelter means confusion. Literally. It doesnt mean any war with anyone. It doesnt mean that those people are going to kill other people. It only means what it means. Helter Skelter is confusion. Confusion is coming down fast. - Charles Manson

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Why Helter Skelter Doesnt Fit

November 16, 1970, was the day that the prosecution rested their case against Charles Manson and the three defendants; Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel and Susan Atkins. Three days later, on November 19, 1970, the prosecution stunned everyone including the prosecution, jury, and defendants when they concluded their defense and rested without Charles Mansons day in court was to an empty courtroom and putting on a second of defense and without jury box. No one heard his testimony. (Rosalie Litz courtroom calling any witness, or submitting any evi- sketch) dence to substantiate their case. Charles Manson was easily convicted with a conspiracy theory.

According to Family member Lynette Squeaky Fromme, she helped secure at least seventeen witnesses to testify on his behalf. Not one of these people who were subpoenaed to testify ever had the opportunity to do so.
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Could have this made the defenses case? If anything, it could have helped challenge testimony from key witnesses for the prosecution. Some of these people could have testified as a character witness to disrepute the prosecutions theory that Charles Manson was a dictator-like ruler of the so-called Manson Family. This theory not only stated that he kept tabs on everyone, but they simply did nothing unless he knew about it and directed their moves. This notion is not only absurd, but downright wrong and not to mention impossible. For example, according to Susan Atkins, she was pushed out of the Family a couple times including a stint where she and other people from the group moved upstate in an attempt start their own commune. Here is an excerpt from Susan Atkins book, Child of Satan, Child of God, where she speaks of this. Charlie, for reasons unclear to me, decided we should split up. I never understood Charlies reasoning in this. He seemed to feel the Family concept would never work, that we were just getting on each others nerves, or we just needed a change of scene. Mary, Pat, Ella, Stephanie, and I headed North in the old black school bus. We rented a house in the little town of Philo, and launched a female duplicate of life at Spahns. It seemed that I was in charge although others may have disputed this. It was outstanding even to me now how I could control people. The spookiest thing about it, however, was that I seemed to have the same sort of mind control over the girls. I found that I could actually read peoples thoughts. I knew what the other girls were thinking and could manipulate control over them. We were using drugs as much as we had been at Spahns, perhaps even more so. Susan Atkins has never admitted to the Helter Skelter theory, in fact from day one, she has stated that the killingsto her understandingwere an attempt to free Bobby Beausoleil. Charles Watson has said similar, however he says the Free Bobby theory or the Love of Brother theory was only partial reason for the killings. He goes on to say that, Beyond getting money and bringing down Helter Skelter, there was a third, less important purpose: to clear Bobby

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Beausoleil of the Hinman slaying by committing a similar crime while he was in jail. Susan Atkins also testified to this during her December, 1969, Grand Jury testimony, stating that during the killings, no mention of blacks or pinning the murders on blacks ever happened. Surely, if these murders were in any way to try and start a race war by making it seem like hits from black gangs, there would have been some mention of it. Vincent Bugliosi: As you were watching the television news coverage at the Spahn Ranch did anyone say anything inside the trailer? Susan Atkins: The Soul sure did pick a lulu, but the Soul did a good job, or something to do with the Soul, not meaning Charlie Manson picked a good one, meaning infinite Soul. Vincent Bugliosi: Did you say anything else when you learned who those four people were? Susan Atkins: Something to the effect that it served its purpose. Vincent Bugliosi: Do you say why this had been done? Susan Atkins: To instill fear into the establishment. Vincent Bugliosi: Did you say anything about black people at that time? Susan Atkins: Not at that time, no. Vincent Bugliosi: Did you ever say anything about black people with respect to what took place at the Tate residence? Susan Atkins: No. So, both Susan Atkins and Charles Watson state the Bobby Beausoleil connection. This of course doesnt make the Love of Brother motive the key reason behind the murders, but it does add validity to the claims of key Family members who claim the Love of Brother motive. Bobby Beausoleil himself has also admitted this connection in the interview with Truman Capote. Truman Capote: The truth is, the LaBiancas and Sharon Tate and her friends were killed to protect you. Their deaths were directly linked to the Gary Hinman murder. Bobby BeauSoleil: I hear you. I hear where youre coming from. Truman Capote: Those were all imitations of the Hinman murder-to prove that you couldnt have killed Hinman. And thereby get you out of jail.

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Bobby BeauSoleil: To get me out of jail. (He nods, smiles, sighs-complimented) None of that came out at any of the trials. The girls got on the stand and tried to really tell how it all came down, but nobody would listen. People couldnt believe anything except what the media said. The media had them programmed to believe it all happened because we were out to start a race war. That it was mean niggers going around hurting all these good white folk. Only-it was like you say. The media, they called us a family. And it was the only true thing they said. We were a family. We were mother, father, brother, sister, daughter, son. If a member of our family was in jeopardy, we didnt abandon that person. And so for the love of a brother, a brother who was in jail on a murder rap, all those killings came down. If this motive is unfitting, what does he have to gain by lying? He has nothing to gain and everything to lose. Its obvious that he wants out of prison. He has communicated this desire from his first interviews. Going against the prosecutions theory only hurts his parole chances and until he admits to the prosecutions theory he probably will never be paroled. But to this day, he denies any connection to the Family as a member, and only as a friend. He also claims that the murders of Sharon Tate, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, Stephen Parent, Jay Sebring, Rosemary LaBianca and Leno LaBianca were merely copycats of the Gary Hinman murder, in which he was the slayer. The link between the Tate and LaBianca murders and the Gary Hinman murder, to the prosecution, was merely the blood inscriptions on the wall. The prosecution also concluded that Charles Manson wanted Gary Hinman dead in a hope to claim the $20,000 jackpot that Gary Hinman had on his person. But no money was ever found at the residence. This makes no sense. If Gary Hinman had a large sum of money, hed have something of value on him from a recent purchase or perhaps a few hundred dollars spending cash on him. He was, in fact, so broke that he had to sign over his cars to Bobby Beausoleil as payment for the bad drugs. Sandra Good has been one of the most vocal supporters for Charles Manson since he was convicted in 1970. In the 1990s, she began a campaign to make the real motive for the murders known, which in a way did nothing but go unnoticed; it did put Charles Manson back in the media spotlight. This was a double-edge sword; the media regularly

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begged Charles Manson for interviews and didnt hesitate to edit them out of context to make him seem scarier than he really was. However, it did put the Charles Manson case back out there for a new generation of people to research it worldwide. Germany produced a documentary in the mid 1990s, titled: Menschensohn, or translated as Mans Son. In this documentary Sandra Good spoke out in defense for the convicted in what a lot of people would consider a very cold statement as she tells the reason for the murders, discounting the Helter Skelter theory. The main reason, the main catalyst for those killings, Sandra Good said, were to get a brother, Bobby Beausoleil, out of jail. Hed been arrested for killing Gary Hinman. Tex and Susan Atkins owed Charlie favors. She went on to day that Charles Manson had put his life on the line a number of times for Susan Atkins and Charles Watson. She said that they both offered their services to the proverbial cause without any true direction from Charles Manson. When Bobby got arrested for the Hinman murder, everybody wanted to get Bobby out. Charlies strong thought, coming from years in prison, means you stand by friends; you stand by your brother. He was raised by war veterans, World War II, World War I. Brotherhood. Brotherhood goes deep. There is a time to kill, believe it or not, its called war. When those young people went out to do what they did for Bobby, there were other reasons for killing also which I can speak of because I was complicit and I can explain to you our war on the system. In that same documentary, Charles Manson tells the interviewers that the participants in the killings killed for their own reasons and most definitely not under his direction, repeating what he has been saying for 20 years like a broken record. Of course we are all tired of hearing him deny that he ever ordered the murders. But I will add that from the start, his story has remained consistent as the others involved have told different stories that change with every interview. What does that tell you? Charles Manson: Now these other kids, they say they wanna stop the Vietnam War and they wanna do this and they wanna do that, and they got these thoughts. What can I do about it? Im supposed to stop everything? Im not a policeman, what am I supposed to say, Youre wrong? How can I sit down and tell the generation of children that theyre wrong because theyre fighting for

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what they believe in? They believed in what they picked up, even when they didnt understand it and it all fell back down on em, what did they do, they grabbed for me. It was all my fault, I was responsible. Why [do] I got to be responsible? Because they THINK they were doing it for me? I wasnt in the job of influencing, I dont care if people are influenced or not, you know. I ride a motorcycle, guy, you know, Im not in business. Interviewer: Maybe you didnt want to but they were still influenced. Charles Manson: Alright, well thats not my fault, what do you want me to do, Im spending the rest of my life in jail because people like me? You know, Im trying my best not to be liked anymore so that maybe, you know, maybe they wont punish me as much. Bobby saved my life and I owed Bobby one life back. So I said to Tex, You go pay Bobby what you owe me. He said, Well how do I I said, I dont wanna know nothing, man. I dont want any part of no conspiracy, Im not breaking no law, I dont wanna go back to jail. You know what to do, do what you do, dont come to me with it. Just get the brother out of jail. Thats all there is to that. He said, Whoa whoa, I said, No whoa whoa to it. I said, Susie! she said yeah, You remember those dudes I fought for you when they were gonna rape you and take you off? She says yeah, I said, Go with him and do what he says. Bobby Beausoleil even told Oui Magazine in 1981, why he murdered Gary Hinman and of course he did not implicate Charles Manson as the man who gave the orders. He also says the $20,000 motive is incorrect. A. Bardach: Who actually wrote Political Piggy on the wall in Hinmans blood? Bobby Beausoleil: I didnt, but I had it written. Well, it was my idea to do it. Susan Atkins was on that wall. The whole thing was to take the heat off the trail. Gary Hinman was into his revolutionary communism. His whole living room was a library of Communist literature. I figured Id make it look like one of his cohorts, you know. A. Bardach: Make it look like a Black Panther killing? Bobby Beausoleil: I wasnt thinking about blacks necessarily. A. Bardach: That was Mansons trip? Bobby Beausoleil: Its never really been his trip. I mean, hes from the South. West Virginia. Since hes been in, he gets along with blacks better than anybody.

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I didnt go there with the intention of killing Gary. If I was going to kill him, I wouldnt have taken the girls. I was going there for one purpose only, which was to collect $1000 that I had already turned over to him, that didnt belong to me. A. Bardach: When had you given him the $1000? Bobby Beausoleil: The night before. A. Bardach: You paid Hinman $1000 for 1000 tabs of mescaline and then returned to the Spahn Ranch? Bobby Beausoleil: The whole transaction with the Straight Satans motorcycle club took place at Spahns Ranch. There were a few Satan Slavers hanging out there as well. The Straight Satans took the mescaline back to the motorcycle club at Venice where they were intending to party, they were really mad about it. A. Bardach: Alright. You arrive at Hinmans and asked for your money back? Bobby Beausoleil: I demanded it. I wasnt going to take no for an answer. I had a motorcycle band on my back. A. Bardach: And Hinman refused to return the money? Bobby Beausoleil: Right. I was carrying a knife in a sheath at the time, more for utility than anything else. A. Bardach: Who gave you the gun? Bobby Beausoleil: I gave the gun to Susan Atkins. We were sitting at the kitchen table. I was looking for something worth $1000 that I could take back to these people. If he moves, I said, shoot him. She wasnt going to shoot him. I was right about that. But he decided to be a hero and dove at the gun. A. Bardach: Both prosecutor/author Vincent Bugliosi and Ed Sanders maintained that Charlie Manson came to Hinmans during the night and slashed off Hinmans ear with his knife. Bobby Beausoleil: Yeah, yeah. That was the prosecutions theory because they wanted to get Manson into the act (laughs). They tried every trick in the book and Ill tell you why. You see the Sheriffs Homicide Department wanted to get Manson involved in my case, which was very difficult because Manson was not involved. A. Bardach: When did you decide to kill Hinman and why? Bobby Beausoleil: Gary Hinman would not have died if he had not told me that he was going to blow the whistle as soon as I was gone.

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This story is noticeably a lot different than the story Vincent Bugliosi presented to the jury during the trial. What does this mean? This means one of them is lying. When we ask which one is lying, we have to wonder who has the most to gain from this lie. Most of the people who have testified to the $20,000 motive were not directly related to the murder. Most of it was based on I heard someone say and I was told. It was second-hand hearsay presented as a first-hand account. On Vincent Bugliosis side, putting Charles Manson at the top of this murder secures a conviction. Charles Manson had already been convicted for the Tate and LaBianca murders and theres no way a jury would not convict him of the Gary Hinman murder. Linking Bobby Beausoleil to Charles Manson would also secure his conviction. Bobby Beausoleils first trial ended with a hung jury, but his second trial was a circus and in the end he was convicted rather easy. He blamed Charles Manson for the conviction and held a grudge; because of the Charles Manson link, he was sentenced to death. It is common practice for an attorney prosecuting a case to pick the motive that he or she feels is the most likely to convict the person or persons who they feel is accountable for the crime. This motive is not always the right motive. Do I feel that Vincent Bugliosi believes Charles Manson is to blame? I unquestionably believe that. However, I also believe that he doesnt necessarily believe that the murders were committed for the reason that he says. In fact, in a Manson: 40th Anniversary documentary for the I.D. Channel, he spoke to Bill Curtis and he sort of let it slip out that he didnt believe that Charles Manson believed in all aspects in Helter Skelter. Bill Curtis: Do you think Manson actually believed all that [Helter Skelter race war]? Vincent Bugliosi: [laughs] Thats a very good question, Bill; very good question. In fact people dont ask me that question. [laughs] Um, I dont believe that he, himself, believed in all aspects of Helter Skelter. My view is that everyone that did it, they already had murder to a certain degree coursing through their veins. Bill Curtis: Really?

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Vincent Bugliosi: But I also believe they wouldnt have committed these murders if they didnt already have something inside of them a deep hostility towards society, their parents, et cetera. I think they defendantsWatson and the otherssincerely are sorry for what they did. Another fascinating thing that Vincent Bugliosi stated in this interview was that he felt that the killersLeslie Van Houten, Charles Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krewnwinkel, Bobby Beausoleil, Bruce Davis and Steve Groganalready had murder coursing through their veins. This challenges his theory that Charles Manson broke down their morals and inhibitions to program them to kill. Having murder inside of them responsible for their own actions and not someone over top of them pulling their proverbial puppet strings. Something that Charles Manson was regularly accused of doing and was convicted of doing. My opinion on the motive may not be popular opinion, but I am in good company as many high profile individuals also believe in the Love of Brother motive, or simply that Charles Manson did not order the murders. I would rather not name these people to protect them, but I mention Charles Mansons own grandson, Iggy Pop and Hank Williams III. Three people who have verbally supported him. Doris Tate, the late mother of Sharon Tate, has also stated that she does not feel Vincent Bugliosis Helter Skelter theory is accurate. In the book Restless Souls she mentions it. Though Im grateful for Vincent Bugliosis Helter Skelter motive and the convictions it brought, I dont buy into it for a second. Theres something more, some deeper motive for the killings. Doris Tate said, Even though Manson talks in riddles, he seldom lies. So I watch and wait for that morsel of truth that might slip from his lips, revealing the true motive. During the Ronald Reagan Jr. Show in 1991, Doris Tate also stated that she felt that the true killers have made Charles Manson a scapegoat. I am not saying that Doris Tate in any way supports Manson she does not and has been more than vocal on her belief that he is at fault. This man was not guilty of murdering my daughter. Of all of the seven murders, he did not commit none of them. I feel he has taken the blame for all of

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them. And the ones that should be blamed should be Tex Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Susan Atkins Reality is created by the court room, whether I want it to be reality or not, Charles Manson stated on a previous Ronald Reagan Jr. Show. The District Attorney is responsible for Helter Skelter. The District Attorney created Helter Skelter, I didnt. Throughout the entire trial the defendants were struggling to tell the real motive. Charles Mansons supporters on the outside were also trying to tell the real motive, but no one would listen. Every time an alternative motive was spoken, it was quickly nay-sayed. If the motive didnt include the words Helter Skelter, the media refused to cover it or believe it; or simply sneer at anyone who denied the Helter Skelter theory as someone simply programmed to parrot Charles Mansons words. Wrapping this chapter up, here is a quick Q&A session between Laurence Merrick, the producer of the 1973 documentary Manson, and some of the Manson Girls. This was printed in the book Death to Pigs by Robert Hendrickson. Sandra Good: Actually Linda suggested the Tate house, because she had been there, and she got in the car and she drove to the Tate house. Laurence Merrick: Linda who? Sandra Good: Kasabian, which that was not allowed to come out (in court) either. Brenda McCann: She got burned on a dope deal there. And another girl wrote us a letter and told us about a contract that was out on some of the people in the Tate house, because they were selling some bad dope, that may have caused a couple people to die. Laurence Merrick: Who sold bad dope? Brenda McCann: Somebody outta that house. Sandra Good: In fact it wasnt planned, it was just done. Laurence Merrick: Some of you knew about the, before the murder? Sandra Good: It wasnt planned, as things were moving, some people could feel it was going to happen. We knew wed do anything to get Bobby outta jail. Susan Atkins went to her grave saying that the Helter Skelter motive was incorrect and that the murders were to free Bobby Beausoleil. She did say that it was Charles Manson who suggested the copy-cat murders to free

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Bobby Beausoleil in fear that he may snitch on him for shooting Bernard Crowe and provoking the Gary Hinman murder. Susan Atkins also wrote a book titled The Myth of Helter Skelter, that was never published except on her website SusanAtkins.org. That book breaks down the true motive and contradicts the motive of Helter Skelter. The book Charles Manson Now, by Marlin Marynick, stated that before Susan Atkins death, Charles Manson tried contacting her on numerous occasions, begging her to tell the truth before she dies. In 1970, before the trial started, Aaron Stovitz, who was the first prosecutor on the Manson caseand was pulled off the casemade a statement to the newspapers that coincided with this theory. Chief prosecution council Aaron Stovitz has since admitted he was interviewed. In the interview the prosecutor was said to have claimed the Tate murders took place to throw police off the trail after Manson follower Robert Beausoleil (22), was arrested for the murder of Gary Hinman (34). The prosecutor said he believed the reason for the Tate murders was to show the police that Hinmans true murderer was still at large and was not Beausoleil. Was he pulled off of the case by Vincent Bugliosi because of his dissimilarity of opinion on the true motive? The Official Tate/LaBianca Murders Blog interviewed Aaron Stovitz in 2004, before his passing, and had a scandalous statement. Hey Son, your interest is grand, and you arent wrong about Manson being wronged, at least legally, but before you go get too stressed, ask yourself- dont you think hes happier now that Vince made him who he is? Yes, Mr. Stovitz, Charles Manson is happy that Vincent Bugliosi made the world believe he is a monster.

Its obvious they have the right people. It was the motive for the crimes that was absurd. - Charles Manson

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The Drug Connection

Before I get into this chapter, I will start off by saying that I do not believe the Tate and LaBianca murders were direct actions in order to secure drugs. However, I do feel that the victims were selected because they were known names in the drug circle that Charles Watson, Linda Kasabian and Susan Atkins ran in. I also believe that they may have been selected due to some sort of Charles Watsons drug supplier and Black Panther Bernard botched drug transaction between these Lotsapoppa Crowe. (NBC News Archives) three and at least one of the victims on a prior date. All logic points towards the fact that they knew that this home was a known drug den whether it be by hearsay or first-hand accounts. Absolutely nothing backs up the prosecutions theory that the house was chosen becauseto Charles Mansonit represented elegance and success.
When these murders are spoken about in any capacity it is rarely noted that drugs were indeed found on the premises. Not only were drugs found,
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but Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger and Jay Sebring were all tied to drugs both as dealers and habitual consumers. In fact, the very night of the murders Jay Sebring and Wojciech Frykowski had drugs delivered to 10050 Cielo Drive, by an individual named Joel Rostau. Here are some excerpts from the homicide report from the murders at 10050 Cielo Drive, also known as the Tate Murders. Joel Rostau was later murdered in an unrelated case. This was also posted in various newspapers. On 9-8-69, investigators received information from Karlene Ann McCaffrey, receptionist for Sebring, Inc., that Joel J. Rostau, residing at 840 North Larabee Street, apartment 119, had delivered narcotics to the Tate residence on the night of the homicide. Rostau informed McCaffrey that he had delivered cocaine and mescaline to the house but that Frykowski and Sebring wanted some additional narcotics and that he had gone back down the hill but was unable to locate the other narcotics they requested and therefore he did not return to the Tate residence. McCaffrey stated that on August 7, 1969, she had talked to Sebring and he had informed her that he had been burnt on $2,000 worth of bad cocaine. McCaffrey stated that in her opinion Sebring would do almost anything to get back at the person who had burnt him. McCaffrey was arrested on 4-13-69, along with Rostau after two armed men had entered Rostaus apartment at approximately 0600 and tied both Rostau and McCaffrey up and subsequently shot Rostau in the foot. When Sheriffs investigators arrived at Rostaus apartment, they conducted a search and found a quantity of marijuana, cocaine and hashish. The District Attorney refused to file on McCaffrey, but did file Possession of Narcotics for Sale against Rostau. Rostau is presently out on $5,000 bail awaiting trial in Beverly Hills. On 9-16-69, investigators Bachhelder and Lee interviewed Rostau at which time he stated he had only met Jay Sebring once or twice, but he was on friendly terms with Frykowski. The follow up to the Tate Homicide Report was the progress report, in which each of the victims was investigated in an endeavor to find out more about them. Hopefully this investigation would give an insight on potential suspects. This investigation also provided a lot of drug activity between Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger and Jay Sebring.

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Thomas John Sebring , 9810 Easton Drive, Los Angeles, male Caucasian, 35 years of age, 5-6, 120 pounds, black hair, brown eyes. The victim was a hair stylist and had a corporation known as Sebring International with a statewide distributorship featuring male cosmetics, hair sprays, etc. He was unmarried and had been engaged to the previous victim, Sharon (Tate) Polanski. He was considered a ladys man and took numerous women to his residence in the Hollywood Hills. He would tie the women up with a small sash cord and if they agreed, would whip them, after which he would undress them and have sexual relations. He was a well-known user of cocaine, staying high on the drug most of the time. Sebring put on a big front, living in a large house with a butler, an expensive foreign car and at times hosting expensive parties. It is believed that all of these actions were to impress potential backers of his corporation in his financial worth, while in fact his capital resources were very limited. Abigail Anne Folger, female Caucasian, 25, 5-5, 120, hazel eyes, brown hair, residence since the first of April, 10050 Cielo Drive. Prior to that she lived at 2774 Woodstock Road. She is an heiress to the Folger coffee fortune and has a financial statement of somewhere in the neighborhood of $500,000. She has been living in a commonlaw relationship with another of the victims, Wojiciech Frykowski, for the past two years. Folger supported Frykowski, paying for the rent at the Woodstock address and supplying him with money for his drug habit, which included marijuana, hashish, mescaline, MDA and cocaine. Folger also used these drugs in large quantities. Folger saw her psychiatrist, Marvin Flicker, M.D., for one hour a day, five days a week. Her standing appointment was 1630 each day. She discussed her use of drugs and her disappointment with Frykowski. Doctor Flicker stated that he thought she was almost ready to leave Frykowski. She was building up enough nerve in her own mind to go it alone. This, of course, is Doctor Flickers opinion.. Wojiciech Frykowski, male Caucasian, 32, 5-10, 165, blond hair, blue eyes. Frykowski was a writer; however, he has been unable to sell any of his work in the past years. He has been living in a common-law relationship with Abigail Folger at both 2774 Woodstock Road, prior to April of 1969, and since April of 1969, at 10050 Cielo Drive. Frykowski was a native of Poland and had lived in England, France, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He met Abigail

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Folger in New York and accompanied her to San Francisco and then to Los Angeles. He had no means of support and lived off of Folgers fortune. He used cocaine, mescaline, LSD, marijuana, hashish and MDA in large amounts. He was an extrovert and gave invitations to almost everyone he met to come visit him at his residence. Narcotic parties were the order of the day, and the parties continued on into the early morning hours. According to the LAPD, Roman Polanski not only allowed, but invited drug dealers and addicts to live with his pregnant wife. Theres no way in the world that he did not know what kind of people they were. Obviously, its safe to say that he was very much a part of that lifestyle and allowed it in his home. Seventy-seven grams of marijuana was hidden in the night stand near the sofa where Wojciech Frykowski was asleep. That is nearly 3 ounces. In Paul Krassners book, Confessions of a Raving Unconfined Nut, he talks about Jay Sebring getting burned on $2,000 worth of cocaine and says that he sought vengeance on the burner by tying him to a chair and sodomizing him. According to him, Wojciech Frykowski also participated and the incident was recorded and reviewed by the LAPD after the murders. This story was also brought up in the book Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders. Joel Rostau, according to the investigation report, was found battered tied to a chair. The Official Tate Murder Investigation Report also stated that Joel Rostau was found tied to a chair. Kinky. Oddly enough, in the book Charles Manson Now, by Marlin Marynick, it was written that Charles Manson had been in the car of Abigail Folger prior to the murders in a drug-related sale. It was written that he even identified razor cut marks in her glove compartment, verifying he had knowledge of that. However, the source of that information was sketchy and this may or may not be true. In that same book it was also printed that Roman Polanski did know of the drug exploits of Wojciech Frykowski; he even knew he may have had mob hits against him and feared that those hits may occur while he was living at his residence. So if this is true, I again ask: Why did he allow that element into the home of his pregnant wife? Heres another question: Why did William Garretson, the individual living in the guest home at 10050 Cielo Drive, tell the investigators that he

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heard nothing and saw nothing on the night of the murders? But in 1999, he appeared on an E! documentary where he not only disclosed he heard gun shots that sounded like firecrackers, but he heard Abigail Folger screaming, Stop, I am already dead. He also said that he saw Patricia Krenwinkel turn the door knob in an attempt to enter the guest home, but hastily turned around and ran away. William Garretson also let out a bombshell; he went hitchhiking up Benedict Canyon to get cigarettes and on his way back he was picked up by a man who cautioned him not to go back to the Cielo Drive home. If this is true, this is huge regarding motive. It not only blows the doors off of the prosecutions theory, but puts someone else in the know and a suspect at the home long before the murders happened. Perhaps someone scoping the home? Charles Manson has never disclosed that he gave the orders for the murders. He has admitted knowing about them. His excuse for not going to the police was simple: He doesnt snitch. With someone like Charles Manson, who lived his life in prison and lives by prison law, this is completely understandable. It may not be right morally, but to someone who is institutionalized, it is purely survival law. The motive Charles Manson gives for the murders seem to change often. One interview he will say they were trying to stop a war. While in other interviews he states the murders were to free Bobby Beausoliel. But he has never admitted anything that even resembled the Helter Skelter motive. Even Northeastern University criminologist Jack Levin believes he is telling the truth when he says he did not order the murders. Jack Levin has studied killers for decades and I think his opinion is more than valid. BBCs Bill Murphy has also researched the motive extensively, and according to him drugs were involved in the murders. His version includes Charles Manson returning to the Cielo Drive home to clean it up. I personally believe that Charles Manson did, or he sent people to clean it up. Witnesses have stated that voices arguing from the home were heard around 4am. This was long after the murders were committed. So someone did return. It was also written by Neil MacKay in the article Charles Manson vs. The Mafia in 1999, that Bill Scanlon Murphy says he has proof that Tex, and

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other Family members had been at the Polanski house on at least one previous occasion in connection with drugs. The article told a pretty descriptive story of connections between the victims and the Family. This version included Charles Manson being a part of the planning and hoping that they would succeed in taking whatever was at the home; whether it was money or drugs. However, it does state that he was expecting a robbery and not a murder spree when the robbery went amiss. They knew on the night of the murders that Jay Sebring had $40,000 worth of mob drugs on him and they, more precisely Tex, went to rip him off. Manson did not go to the house or take part in the killings, but he was aware of the plan and keen for it to succeed. The robbery blew up in the gangs face when Sharon, Sebring and the coffee heiress Abigail Folger and her lover Wojciech Frykowski tried to bolt. They were shot and stabbed to death by Watson, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkle. A fourth member, Linda Kasabian, remained as a look-out outside. When they told Charlie what happened, he freaked, says Murphy. He started swearing, saying Im just out of the fucking can and you are gonna put me right back inside, you assholes. One of the most staggering new claims made by Bill Murphy is that Charles Manson effectively admitted that he returned to the Polanski house more than an hour after the killings to tamper with the murder scene. Until now, it has been believed that Charles Manson had never so much as set foot in the Polanski house. Mansons close friend, Bobby Beausoleil, had killed Gary Hinman in a wrangle over drugs. To cover his tracks Beausoleil daubed the words Political Piggie in Hinmans own blood on the walls of his house. Hinman was known to associate with members of the Black Panthers and hoped the slogan would attach blame to the black movement. With that in mind Manson rearranged the Polanski house bodies to put the Panthers in the frame. Hes never going to get out, he knows that, says Murphy. Why should he throw away the only thing that makes him feel alive. And, anyway. Hes so incapable of rational thought, he wouldnt be able to even attempt to express the truth.

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After hours of interviews, Manson finally said to Murphy, Im not an entertainer, Im not a cult leader, Im a thug. But all Ive got left is my rap, if you take that away from me, Im nothing. My take on this is that Susan Atkins left her knife at the Tate residence which probably happened when Kasabian dropped itand returned to Spahn Ranch. When they told Charles Manson of what happened and the fact that evidence was left, he freaked out and went back to the residence to help clean it up and plant false evidence. It is a fact that a pair of hornrimmed eye glasses were left at the scene. None of the victims wore those glasses and it had to be from the killers. In the book, Manson In His Own Words, it was stated that he planted it to throw off the investigation. It worked. The investigation and each interrogation of the participants all mentioned those horn-rimmed glasses. In the 1988 interview with Geraldo Rivera, Charles Manson speaks about the confrontation with Susan Atkins after the murders and it is similar. He doesnt make a remark about going back to the Cielo Drive home, but his version is very close to Bill Murphys version. Geraldo Rivera: Susan Atkins comes home to you with bloody fingers. She says, Charlie, look what I did for you. Charles Manson: Yeah. I give you the world. I just killed myself and I give you the world. Geraldo Rivera: So, howd you react? Charles Manson: I says, You dumb fucking cunt, I already had the world, you just put me back in jail again. And thats what she did, she put me right back in jail. Its not any secret that the so-called Manson Family used drugs and used them a lot. But it is a fact that their drug use was mainly limited to natural hallucinogens like mushrooms, LSD, peyote, belladonna and jimsum. Charles Manson forbade drugs like speed, which Charles Watson abused along with Susan Atkins, Bruce Davis and Patricia Krenwinkel. Strangely enough, these four were involved in the murders. Charles Watson lays it all out in his book, Will You Die for Me?, in great detail, many times throughout the book. Charlie, for all his use of acid, was absolutely against speed. He believed it was bad for your body. But when a young guy from one of the neighboring

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ranches began sneaking it over, Susan-Sadie, and Bruce Davis, and I started carrying it around in the bottom of a cigarette package. Later we hid it in a Gerbers baby-food jar under the porch of one of the buildings. Even after the murders, when I was up in the desert, I tried to get Bruce to find our little baby-food jar of speed, but somehow it had disappeared. I was willing to kill for Manson, but I wasnt willing to give up my speed. Sadie, Katie, and Linda, I reeled over to the porch where Sadie and I kept our Gerbers jar of speed hidden. Despite all wed been taught, I was spinning inside, trembling. I took a couple of deep snorts of speed and went to get the clothes and rope and bolt cutters. On my first try, the speed Id sniffed before we left threw my balance off and I ended up tumbling down to the pavement. One of the many effects of speed is to make the intention or thought of an action and that action itself almost inseparable, as if you leap ahead in time and experience your next move before you actually make it. I slept very late Saturday, then spent part of the afternoon working on dune buggies and snorting speed with Bruce Davis. Charlie gave me a light tab of acid. While people were getting things together, Sadie and I took the opportunity to hit our speed bottle and I gave myself three good snorts in each nostril. So, heres my question to Charles Watsons statement: How were you brainwashed enough to blindly kill for a man, but you were not brainwashed enough to listen to him when he demanded no speed be at the ranch? That makes no sense at all. The story goes on in the book Charles Manson Now, by Marlin Marynick where Vickie sated something similar. Tex Watson got into drug dealing after he left the ranch and went to LA. Apparently Tex owned a wig store. He fell in love with a woman named Luella (editors note: I am assuming Luella and Rosina Kroner are one in the same, so I will refer to her as Luella) and she got pregnant, but Luella went to Mexico and had an abortion. Tex became angry with Luella for terminating the pregnancy and at the same time he grew upset over one too many drug deals gone wrong. So, he relocated back to the ranch, a move Vicki described as a huge mistake for everyone there. Vicki said that Charlie eventually moved Tex and Susan Atkins out of the main part of Spahn Ranch because they were going out and

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starting there own little drug ring, and they would bring speed all this other stuff to the ranch, which Charlie didnt like. Vicki told me that the drug ring was the beginning of the end. She assured me that judging by the extensive interactions she witnessed at the ranch, Manson never tried to manipulate anyones mind. Even in Charles Watsons book, Will You Die for Me?, he fondly speaks of selling drugs as if it were a glamorous lifestyle. After a brief stay at Spahn Ranch, he left for Hollywood where he dated a girl named Rosina Kroner, or Luella and quickly started a drug sales ring, in which he even mentions that an individual from the mafia supplying him drugs. The first time I hitchhiked over to her apartment I ended up moving in. Luella was like a lot of good-looking, hip (but not hippie) women living in Hollywood at that time. She didnt have a real job; she kept herself going by dealing a little grass and LSD among her friends-nothing big time but enough to get by. She had an old Hollywood-Spanish apartment with eucalyptus trees all around and a patio that overlooked the driveway to an exclusive private club for professional magicians and entertainment stars. Sometimes wed sunbathe on the deck, drinking beer and smoking grass while we watched all the big limousines drive up for parties, dumping out beautiful people whom we could never quite recognize. It was an easy life that Luella and I fell into. Combining her contacts with mine, we found we could sell a lot more dope than shed been doing on her own. We charged $15 a lid on grass that we bought from our vending-machine friend in $95 kilos (2.2 lbs.) and then broke up into 36 lids. We discovered affluence: a new stereo system and records (one of the first albums we bought was the Beatles White Album, and we played it over and over until I knew it by heart), expensive clothes, clubs and restaurants where you laid down five bucks just for a beer. I even had my hair cut and started getting it styled by a friend Id known back in my wig-shop days. And there were parties. As our dealing got more extensive, I ended up keeping different batches of grass in numbered olive jars, since each kilo had its own distinct taste and high, and when people came over to party wed give them a choice, eventually all the way from number one to number eight. Notice in this excerpt that he mentions listening to the Beatles White Album over and over. This was something that was put on Charles Manson. Charles Watson also references having his hair styled by an old friend. Was this hair stylist Jay Sebring a fellow drug dealer and hair

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stylist? I will also add that Charles Manson refers to Leno LaBianca as the Mafioso. Was this the same Mafioso that supplied Charles Watsons drugs? We all are aware that Nikolas Schreck has also written extensively about the mafia ties to the Family. Again, not a coincidence. I also suspect that his supplier during his glory days may have been Bernard Crowe. Charles Watsons book quickly mentions this era of his life and then skips to his return to Spahn Ranch in March of 1969. He fails to mention the real motives behind the Bernard Crowe incident or why his relationship with Luella failed. In many theories relating to the Bernard Crowe drug burn it has been noted that it may have been Charles Manson who set up this burn and that may also be true. But as far as I am concerned all evidence and logic points towards Charles Watson. For the ones who may not know, the Charles Watson/Luella situation lead the the Bernard Crowe shooting, which was a drug deal that he set up to rip off Luella and Bernard Crowe for $2,500 (Bernard Crowe later admits that the $2,500which would be about $13,000 todaywas a down payment for a $20,000 total). One thing lead to another and Bernard Crowe called Spahn Ranch looking for Charlie, in which Charles Manson answeredand by proxyassumed responsibility for Charles Watsons drug burn. Charles Manson ended up shooting Bernard Crowe in the stomach to protect Luella or so he claims. This lead to Charles Manson thinking that he had died, and with all of the rumors that he was a Black Panther, he feared retaliation by the Black Panthers. That sounds like a logical fear to me. During 1969, Charles Mansons bus was regularly seen parked on Loyal Trail, which was a short and narrow no-outlet road that ran directly behind the mansion of Bernard Crowe who lived at 7008 Woodrow Wilson Drive. During this time Loyal Trail was known for hardcore drug deals by black gangs. In fact, Bernard Crowes home had been complained about to the police numerous times for excessive loudness and drug dealing. Theres no doubt in my mind that Charles Manson was very close to Bernard Crowe during this time. Diane Lake even stated that Bernard Crowe was the negro member of the Manson Family. Youd have to be completely blind to ignore that.

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The fact is: Woodrow Wilson Drive was notorious for Hollywood drugs. Mama Cass Elliot lived just down the road at 7708 Woodrow Wilson Drive. Her home was notorious for drug parties and some of the people who were killed at 10050 Cielo Drive, would frequent the parties. It is also a fact that the primary suspect for the Cielo Drive murdersPic Dawsonwas not only a friend of Cass Elliot, but frequented her drug parties and the drug parties thrown at 10050 Cielo Drive. When he was asked to leave a party, he even threatened to kill Wojciech Frykowski. Nuel Emmons wrote in his book, Manson in His Own Words, about Charles Mansons thoughts on the Watson/Atkins situation. Those twoSadie and Texwho screamed the loudest and cried the hardest that I influenced their lives and actions, where themselves instrumental in what I feel was the biggest blow to the life of love we were living and led to murder and chaos. Vincent Bugliosis theory was that Charles Manson kept them sober for their murder spreeso they could be keen, crafty and thoroughthis contradiction was never introduced as evidence. If you remember what I wrote in the chapter: Why Helter Skelter Doesnt Fit, no evidence at all was introduced by Charles Mansons defense team. In Ed Georges book, Taming The Beast, he wrote that in 1976, Charles Manson gave his versions of the crimes and here was his motive behind the Gary Hinman murder. That [Hinman murder] was another drug deal gone bad. Some bikers said Bobby [BeauSoleil] sold them some bad shit and they wanted their money back. When Bobby went to the supplier, Hinman, he refused to make good, leaving Bobbys life on the line. They argued, and Bobby and some of the girls ended up killing the guy. They even wrote a message on the wall in Hinmans blood, something like Political Piggy, That Beatles album writing stuff was not me. That was kids idea all along; I wasnt even around. But get this: the man who found Gary Hinman deadMichael Burke Erwinwas also a UCLA student and was later involved in a huge drug bust in San Diego. This is yet one more link to drugs within the Gary Hinman circle.

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Its no secret that these people were huge parts of the same drug circle. Its no secret that the participants in the murders were all huge drug (speed) consumers. Here is what www.KCI.org [http://www.kci.org/] has to say about the abuse of meth, something that Charles Watson, Susan Atkins and Bruce Davis had admitted to abusing. This may explain the psychotic actions of the aforementioned. The drug literally changes the brain in fundamental and long-lasting ways. It kills by causing heart failure (myocardial infarction), brain damage, and stroke and it induces extreme, acute psychiatric and psychological symptoms that may lead to suicide or murder. Symptoms of prolonged meth abuse can resemble those of schizophrenia and are characterized by anger, panic, paranoia, auditory and visual hallucinations, repetitive behavior patterns, and formication (delusions of parasites or insects on the skin). Methamphetamine-induced paranoia can result in homicidal or suicidal thoughts.

My total sellout to LSD, marijuana, and hashish, and to sex with virtually any attractive man, landed me in the hospital for four months. I was half dead from gonorrhea and a complete physical breakdown. Susan Atkins, 1967

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A UPI report on narcotics being found at the Cielo Drive murder site.

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5
The Bug

Anyone familiar with the Manson case knows the name Vincent Bugliosi; to the masses he is the man who put away Satan. He cracked the Tate/ LaBianca murder cases and The LA Times article about Vincent Bugliosi being sued for libel for the second time. uncovered a sick, deranged hippie cult and its leader Charles Manson. This is the generic and ridiculous story that we have all seen plastered over newspaper article, magazines, tabloids and television shows.
His theory was that Charles Manson took a gang of disturbed and impressionable youth and indoctrinated them with his racist views on the establishment and fed them with hatred through the use of drugs and used them to commit a string of heinous murders in hopes to spark a race war dubbed Helter Skelter. (See the chapter: What is Helter Skelter?) On the other hand, to a lot of others Vincent Bugliosi is nothing but a crooked attorney who bent and fabricated evidence, coerced, extorted, and used anyone and everyone who would talk to testify on his behalf. He didnt care about the credibility of the witness or their ulterior motives of testifying

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for some incentive. In fact, he made the evidence fit Charles Manson and not Charles Manson fit the evidence. But why would he do this? Well, I do believe that he believed Charles Manson was guilty of conspiracy to murder and should be put away. I do not think he believes in most of the motives that he presented in the trial as well. He did what he had to do to convict Charles Manson, who was now on the front of publications all over the world before his trial even started. He knew that if he convicted Charles Manson that he too would have a lot to gain. The election for Attorney General was right around the corner. There is no doubt in my mind that he took this case with personal gain in mind. This was a case he simply could not lose. Losing this case would not only break his perfect record as a prosecutor, but hurt him politically. But sadly when it comes to the Manson case, Vincent Bugliosi is the goto guy. It seems that whenever there is any Charles Manson-related event, the news shows scurry to interview him to once again regurgitate his weak, tired theory. In any debate, there is no way that the media personalities will listen to anyone who disputes him, either. Its like he has the public brainwashed with his theory on Charles Manson; look at the publics general perception of the case. Anyone who knows the name Charles Manson will tell you that he brainwashed a bunch of girls to kill a movie star. That theory is just horribly simplified and nothing could be further from reality. I have seen time and time again, that whenever websites reference the crimes, it will quote Vincent Bugliosis book Helter Skelter like it was a bible with citations as if some reverend was quoting a bible verse. The main source for information for manWikipediais one of the most notable for using that book as its main source of information. As stated in the chapters; Why Helter Skelter Doesnt Fit, False Witness, Who is Charles Watson?, and Demystifying Susan Atkins, you will get an idea of the tactics that he used to secure his conviction. And hopefully it will open some eyes as to the character of this man, because he is nothing more than what he has accused Charles Manson of being: a con artist, a manipulator, and a man who used the lives of others to make a substantial amount of money blood money. It is a fact that he was sued at least twicethat I know offor printing defamatory or libelous information in his book Helter Skelter. So my theory

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of that book being full of sensationalistic, embellished misinformation, isnt all that far off. In 1974, a newspaper ran a headline about him lying at the Manson Trial. Transcripts indicate Bugliosi Lied in Manson Case This was the start of a long string of lies and criminal activity exposed by Attorney George V. Denney III, which started during the Manson Trial in 1969. While Vincent Bugliosi was preparing to prosecute Charles Manson, he was using his powers in office to unmercifully stalk and harass a man named Herb Weisel, whom he alleged had sex with his wife and fathered his child. This incident resulted in harassment, criminal activity, lies, cover-ups, extortion and pay-offs. He used his power in office to commit crimes against people in which he had personal problems. May 7, 1974, George V. Denney III went public with the dirt he unearthed on Vincent Bugliosi and it wasnt pretty. News Release: George V. Denny III, attorney in two Bugliosi cases, charges Attorney General candidate with committing perjury, fabricating false evidence for and lying to police investigators, and making hush money cover-up payments. Vincent T. Bugliosi, who is now seeking to become Attorney General of California, has lied to you ladies and gentlemen of the press, has lied to the people of this State, has lied to officers of the Santa Monica Police Department in the course of their investigation of a charge involving Bugliosi himself; and has conspired to fabricate false evidence to further thwart that investigation. In addition, Mr. Bugliosi has committed willful and deliberate perjury in a deposition which I personally took of him in connection with the civil action which arose out of slanderous statements he made about a plain citizen of this State at the close of Bugliosis campaign for District Attorney of Los Angeles County in 1972. I am here today to document these charges for the news media and for the voters. My wife has joined me here because in laying ALL of the facts before you, I subject usmy whole familyto a potential liability of $15,000. The liability is real enough if Mr. Bugliosi wishes to avail himself of the hush money contract he insisted be signed before making a cash pay-off to keep the press and public from learning the truth.

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When I came before some of you reporters on the last day of the D.A.s race here to announce my filing of a slander action on behalf of Herb and Rose Weisel against Bugliosi, I told you that it was not a campaign trick or publicity gimmick. I told you that the suit would not be dropped after the election but would go forward until Mr. Weisel was vindicated. Well, it wasnt dropped and it did go forward, and Mr. Weisel has been vindicated. Mr. Bugliosi had harassed Mr. and Mrs. Weisel unmercifully over a three month period in 1969, using his position as deputy district attorney to get their unlisted phone number and to locate Herb Weisels place of employment. Bugliosi had apparently become obsessed with the idea that Mr. Weisel might have fathered Bugliosis son during the few months when Mr. Weisel was employed as a milkman at Arden Dairy. When Bugliosi discovered that the Weisels would hold a press conference four days before the D.A.s election, he didnt wait to hear what they were going to say about that period of harassment. He jumped the gun the night before the Weisel press conference and gave two reporters a phony story. The public was supposed to believe that Mr. Weisel was the suspect in a purported $300 theft from Bugliosis home. A theft which was never reported to the police and which if it occurred while Mr. Weisel was a milkman between October, 1964 and January, 1965 was well past the three year statute of limitations when Bugliosi started harassing the Weisels four to four and a half years later in March, 1969. Well, the Weisels had guts enough to stand up and be counted back in 1972. They filed their action against Bugliosi, and even though unfortunately it was literally election eve, some of you reporters observed that what they said in their suit was important enough to tell the voters about. Today, May 7th, isnt election eve. And today I want to tell you all the conclusion of the milkman case. The complete story is given in the Bugliosi Fact Sheet which has been given to all of you along with supporting materials. But briefly, in the course of his deposition Mr. Bugliosi perjured himself not just once but many times. Willful, deliberate perjury on material matters concerning admissions of his harassment of the Weisels; admissions made in the presence of two attorneys and Bugliosis own distraught wife. But Mr. Bugliosi has sought to cover himself and to cover his tracks. He settled the Weisel case. But he did so in a way that should earn him the title of a one man mini-Watergate. He insisted that he get all of the court reporters

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steno-tapes of the nine un-transcribed depositions I had taken. He required all parties and attorneys to sign the Liquidated Damage Agreement requiring a $15,000 payment from anyone who disclosed its terms or even its existence. And when he paid to keep everyone quiet, his payments were all cash $100 bills. I know because I am the attorney who received $12,500.00 in cash for the Weisels from Vincent T. Bugliosi so that he could try to sweep under the rug the misuse of his office as a deputy D.A., his slander of an innocent citizen, his lies to you of the press corps, his own ignoble perjury, and his final cash capitulation. And now I lay down a challenge to Mr. Bugliosi through whatever medium he hears or reads these words: IF ANYTHING I HAVE STATED OR WILL STATE IN THIS NEWS CONFERENCE ABOUT YOU IS NOT TRUE, THEN SUE ME FORTHWITHIMMEDIATELYFOR LIBEL AND SLANDER. YOU HAVE A READY-MADE FORM IN THE PLEADINGS FILED AGAINST YOU IN THE WEISEL CASE. BUT DO IT NOW, VINCE, WELL BEFORE THE ELECTION, SO THAT I CAN PLACE YOU UNDER OATH IN A CIVIL DEPOSITION, A DEPOSITION THAT WILL BE TYPED UP AND FILED IN COURT, NOT SECRETED OR DESTROYED BY YOU. After this, what could Vincent Bugliosi say? In the chapter Demystifying Susan Atkins, I ran down how much money her public defender Richard Caballero made off of her confession. This was small beans compared to what Vincent Bugliosi has made off of the Manson case. His book sold nearly 10 million copies, which also had a movie deal and then decades of paid appearances. Charles Manson spoke about Vincent Bugliosis swindling in a 1985 interview with High Society Magazine. Let me ask you the same question: Do you people think you got an unfair deal? You got a guy up there representing the people, and he picked off your whole generation. I am talking about the district attorney [Bugliosi]. I put an ad in Free Press for defense funds, I got $14.93. Some woman put an ad in the paper for a dog with a broken leg, and she got something like $8,000. Its partly the publics fault, and partly the systems fault, because they cover up the truth. You say to the lawyer, Let me tell you like it is, and the lawyer says, Oh no, we cant sell it that way. When the district attorney can make himself millions of dollars on a defendant, what does that do to the initiative?

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Vincent Bugliosi apparently found it easier to sell a case that was full of sex, drugs, murder, manipulation, brainwashing and chaos than it was to sell a simple case of copycat killings. If the motive of the murders being committed in an effort to free Bobby Beausoleil was the motive, do you think Charles Manson would have been on the cover of LIFE Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Time Magazine? No way. It is quite obvious that he used this case as a catapult himself into the seat of Attorney General. After the Manson case was over he retired as Deputy District Attorney and started his campaign for Attorney General. The release of his book Helter Skelter, as well as a movie deal, coincided with the start of his campaign. But the allegations from George V. Denney III put a serious hurting on his campaign, especially when George Denney let loose of a revolting claim that he had beat a pregnant lady who he believed was pregnant with his child for not getting an abortion. In typical Vincent Bugliosi fashion, he paid her off and fabricated evidence to wipe the crime out of the system. Here is an excerpt from that police report. On 6-25-73 at 1900 hours, Officer Rahm was detailed to 2220 Ocean Park Blvd. #A regarding an assault and battery. Upon arrival, contacted the victim, Virginia Cardwell who related the following. She stated that at approximately 1600 on this date, she was in the bedroom of her apartment when her boyfriend, Vincent T. Bugliosi, (The former Assistant District Attorney of Los Angeles County) entered her apartment through the rear door. He came into her bedroom and began to beat her. She stated that he threw her onto the bed, jumped on top of her and began pulling her hair and choking her. He then struck her in the face several times with his fists, then threw her to the floor and pulling her off the floor by her hair. He then grabbed her throat and choked her approximately three more times. Approximately 1 weeks ago, she told him that she believed she was pregnant. Upon hearing this, Bugliosi became very angry and threatened to kill her if she had the baby. He then gave her $448.00 in cash for an abortion. Cardwell told him that she did not believe in abortions and be again became very angry and threatened to kill her. She was in fear for her safety, so she told Bugliosi on Friday, June 22, that she did have an abortion. She stated that she have him the name of a doctor which she picked out of the phone book.

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When he came to her apartment this afternoon and began beating her, she stated that he accused her of being a liar and told her that he checked with the doctors office and with the hospital and had learned that she had not been treated there. Cardwell could not remember the name of the doctor that she gave to Bugliosi. While beating her, he stated such things as Ill break every bone in your body this will ruin my career. He also demanded that she tell him the truth as to whether she had had an abortion, stating that she would not leave the apartment alive if she lied to him. She described him as being extremely angry and upset. After remaining in the apartment for a few minutes, he then left. Cardwell was insistent that a police report be filed, stating that she wished to press charges for the assault and battery because she fears he will attempt to harm her again. She also gave a description of his vehicle a 1973 Buick silver/black with possible California license 327 HEY. Notice the part: While beating her, he stated such things as Ill break every bone in your body this will ruin my career. Yikes. He certainly only cared about his career or more accurately, how much money he was set to make or lose. He was only concerned with the publics opinion on him and not the welfare of anyone else. This is obvious in his self-serving book Helter Skelter as well as how he prosecuted the case. I do believe that his book is accurate when it comes to the depiction of the trial and the investigation. However, his motive and theory is nothing but a modern day witch hunt. His history on Charles Manson is weak, biased, and clearly an attempt to make him look so horrifying and evil, so that in the end of the book Vincent Bugliosi emerges as a superhero. He was so concerned about the publics opinion on him because until this report came out he was sure he was a shoe-in for Attorney General. It is sufficient to say that after the Denney Report that he would not win that coveted Attorney General spot and he didnt; he was killed in the elections and didnt even come close. It was probably what George Denney wrote about the Virginia Cardwell incident that shut the doors on his campaign. Mrs. Virginia Cardwell, a young divorced medical assistant who lived with her young son in a small apartment in Santa Monica. I am not here today to leer

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over Mr. Bugliosis adulterous affair. It is important, however, because of his response in mid-June to her announcement that she thought she was pregnant. Again, the particulars are laid out in the Fact Sheet, provided you. The situation exploded when Bugliosi discovered that Mrs. Cardwell had not gotten an abortion which he had paid for and had insisted she get. On Monday afternoon, June 25, 1973, Bugliosi burst into Mrs. Cardwells apartment, enraged at his discovery, and beat her up and choked her. Whether by accident or design he only left marks on her in two places, her left eye and right arm. (These 8 X 10 photos show them several days later.) Once again, being a criminal defense attorney, I well understand such lovers quarrels, and such exercises may not necessarily disqualify one from holding high office. It is what followed that makes Vincent T. Bugliosi unfit for Attorney General or any other office in this State. The story of his assault on Mrs. Cardwell hit the press and the airwaves; so next morning, using his secretary to gain entry, Mr. Bugliosi accosted Mrs. Cardwell in her apartment. Using his not inconsiderable persuasive talents, he worked on her for almost four solid hours to recant her report of his assault and present a totally false story to the Santa Monica detectives waiting to question her. Overborne by his threats and pleasas well as feelings she still retained toward him despite the beatingshe agreed to follow his scenario. According to the new Bugliosi script, their relationship was purely that of attorney-client which it had never been. Supposedly they had never seen each other socially, and the reason she had made up the whole assault and battery complaint was that he had refused to refund to her $100 she had supposedly paid when she purportedly consulted with him on June 14th to get delinquent child support. Not satisfied with concocting this false story for Mrs. Cardwell to tell thereby subjecting her to criminal charges based on her original complaint Mr. Bugliosi and his secretary conspired to fabricate a false receipt for the non-existent $100 payment of June 14th. The secretary did, in fact, prepare such a receipt there in the apartment using plain bond paper and Mrs. Cardwells old portable typewriter for the job. That was supposed to be good enough to fool the detectives. Well, Mrs. Cardwell went and told the new Bugliosi version to the police. And so did Vincent T. Bugliosi almost word for word the same as they appear in the follow up police report.

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And the City Attorney came within a hair of filing false report charges against Mrs. Cardwell. But he dropped those plans at the urgent pleading of Mr. Bugliosi when Bugliosi discovered that his compliant girlfriend wasnt going to be represented by a lawyer chosen and paid for by him, a lawyer who would quietly plead her guilty, pay her fine (with money provided by Bugliosi) and then let the whole matter quietly disappear. He begged the City Attorney to drop any charges and forget the whole thing when I informed him that I would be representing Mrs. Cardwell and that I would be cross-examining him when he took the stand as the prosecutions star witness in a really contested jury trial on such a false report prosecution. But again, thats not the end. After the criminal aspect of the case had disappeared, Mrs. Cardwell acquired a civil attorney who contacted Mr. Bugliosis attorney concerning a projected civil damage action for the assault and battery. To make what is now a very long story shorter, suffice to say that Mr. Bugliosis penchant for pay-off cover-ups once more came to the fore. According to what Mrs. Cardwell told me before anything was ever signed or any money paid, the old Liquidated Damages Agreement was trotted out again this time with a $50,000 stinger for anyone who divulged the settlement. And the rather considerable sum of $5,000 cash plus retention of the still unspent $450 abortion money was offered by Bugliosi and accepted by Mrs. Cardwell. Was the Liquidated Damages Agreement signed? Well, I have never seen the Agreement, but Mrs. Cardwell just wont discuss with me anything about the case any more. Was the $5,000 in cash paid? Well, on December 11, 1973, I received a check for $713 from the trust account of Mrs. Cardwells civil attorney, and I was only to get that reimbursement of costs from a settlement or judgment against Mr. Bugliosi. And I know too that any time I have mentioned the Bugliosi case to Mrs. Cardwell since the first of the year her smile reveals over $1,000 worth of dental work that she suddenly could afford at just the time I received my reimbursement check. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Bugliosis attempts to cover up his attack on Mrs. Cardwell, his own lies and his fabrication of phony stories and phony evidence may bind others to silence, but his payment of hush money to Mrs. Cardwell doesnt bind me.

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The people of this State deserve to know about Mr. Bugliosi all about Mr. Bugliosi. I am no politician. What I have said today may be too blunt for some people. I have used words like liar and perjurer and fabricator of false evidence. I have used those words because they fit Mr. Bugliosi. And because they do fit himand fit so horrifyingly wellVincent T. Bugliosi is UNFIT for the post he now seeks. Unfortunately these incidents are all but forgotten. For a while these accusations certainly most certainly hurt him, but he had made so much money off of the Manson case that he really didnt need that Attorney General seat the sales of his book Helter Skelter and the following movie set him for life. So what am I getting at? Why did I feel the need to relay all of this? Well, it was my way of showing that if he was caught fabricating evidence, coercing witnesses into testifying what he paid out, paying off people who cooperate, and used violent force on a witnessthings that Charles Manson and other Family members accused him of doing during the Manson Trialthen what makes him above doing the same thing in a more substantial case? A case that would not only earn him a large sum of money, but put his name in the history books eternally known. But at what cost? The publics opinion on Vincent Bugliosi may be positive, but according to The Vincent Bugliosi Story, by George V. Denney III, his wife Gail Bugliosi was at the end of her patience with her husbands actions; stalking their ex-milkman and then the Virginia Cardwell incident. I told her [Gail] that he [Vincent] should be seeing a psychiatrist. She said that she had been after him for a long time to do it, but he wouldnt go. She said, I know hes sick. Hes got a mental problem. She apologized for all of the humiliation her husband [Bugliosi] has caused us. She then cried and pleaded that they not go public with her husbands actions. They not only went public with the stalking case, but she then denied even talking about her husband and testified under oath to that. Two peas in the pod. With all of this being said, I am hoping to open the eyes on Vincent Bugliosi and what he was capable of. This is just a small portion, feel free to find The Bugliosi Story by Attorney George V. Denney III and read for your-

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self. Theres also a website up that covers these facts simply named www. BewareOfBugliosi.com. Charles Manson has never quit defending himself against Vincent Bugliosis words, casually dismissing his book as a ploy to make a lot of money. In 1981, Charles Manson was interviewed by Tom Snyder and he said, I am not the guy you try to make out of me. Thats not me. Thats some guy in someones imagination who wanted to make a couple hundred million dollars for himself. He got rich. He had a good game going he had a better game going than I did. For people who know this case very well; even the people who are antiManson mostly agree that Vincent Bugliosis theory was partly fabrication. But people accept his Helter Skelter theory as a necessary evil. Heck, even people who testified against Charles Manson have since admitted this. You will read in the chapter False Witness how Paul Crockett stated that Vincent Bugliosi really didnt care about the real story at all. Below is part of a recorded phone call between a woman named Judy and Harold True. Harold True was the Charles Manson confidant who lived next door to the LaBiancas and eventually testified against him. Vincent Bugliosi goaded him into testifying by having him arrested for murder. Harold True: See, youre reading shit into it; just like everybodys read everything under Charlie Mansons case that could be read into it. Especially that scum-of-the-earth Bugliosi. The way he wheeled and dealed and connived and did anything to push his career and he didnt give a fuck at whose expense. He fucking put me; threw my ass in jail for murder. How is this an airtight alibi I was in Ethiopia and he told me that dont mean a fuck. Because I knew about it and conspired with them. Judy: How did you get out? Harold True: I got a good fucking lawyer, thats how I got out; told him to shove it up his ass. Its not hard to see that like other attorneys in this case, Vincent Bugliosi has used it as a business venture a way to make money. He was out for himself and he saw Charles Manson as an easy target. With the media frenzy that surrounded this case it was a golden ticket to the Attorney General seat that he was eyeballing. In a case like this where the defendants are obviously

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The LA Times article about Vincent Bugliosis perjury during the Manson Trial.

guilty, it was a no-brainer. It was an easy win. However, Vincent Bugliosi used the strangest, most out-there motive because he knew that it would feed the media and make him a celebrity attorney a perfect candidate for Attorney General.

Bugliosi looks in the mirror every morning when he shaves, thats the only person in Bugliosis world. Just him. Ask his wife, she knows it. He had the dates right and the names right, but he had a million illusions that had nothing to do with my reality. - Charles Manson, 1985

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6
Pictures: Part I

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Charles Manson and most of his associates. Contrary to what is commonly believed, the Family was not mostly females. In fact, the Family had a good amount of violent ex-cons, vagrants, thieves, rapists, murders, and fugitives who had criminal history

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Charles Mansons LAPD mugshot for a May 1968, arrest for possession of marijuana. Contrary to the way he is depicted in most movies and documentaries, he did not grow long hair and a beard until he was on the run in Death Valley in the Winter of 1969.

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Catherine Gypsy Share at a very neat and tidy Barker Ranch. Most reports state that the Family lived in squalor and have even stated they lived among feces. (Life Magazine)

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The Family during a more together time; (L to R: Paul Watkins, Sandra Good, Sue Bartell, Kevin, Dennis Rice, Catherine Share, Charles Lovett (hidden), Lynette Fromme and Steve Grogan (Photo of unknown origin)

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Some art Charles Manson sent me; Night Owl dont eat, Night Owl is good shi(t)? (Source: JC)

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Who is Charles Watson?

Who is Charles Watson? This is a serious question, because quite frankly the name Charles Watson is rarely murmured in context to the Tate and LaBianca slayings. This is disquieting because he is the confessed slayer of all seven victims; he admitted in his book, Will You Die for Me?, that he physically took the lives of all seven victims when Patricia Krenwinkel and Susan Atkins Charles Watsons 1970 LAPD mugshot. couldnt. He often speaks about being the lead of these murders when it suits his need, almost bragging about them. However, when he is in front of the parole board he cries victim.

Conspiracy theorist Mae Brussell may have some very out there theories, but in 1971, she spoke on her radio show about Charles Watson and the lack of media attention on his trial. The Manson Trial was a media frenzy and it seemed like once he was convicted and sentenced, no one longer cared. Meanwhile Charles Watson was on trial alone for his part in

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the murders and was tried separately and he should have been tried first since he was the lead killer. I call it the Manson trial because nobody talks about it being Charles Watsons massacre, Mae Brussell said. Thats the boy who killed seven people, but the news media associates the name Charles Manson [with the killings]. He made the picture on the cover of Life; He is the man that you associate with killing Sharon Tate. Many people dont even know the name Charles Watson, because youre not supposed to know it. Mae Brussell seemed to think that Charles Watson was at fault and Charles Manson was a scapegoat. I kind of agree with her theory. Whether or not Charles Manson is morally liable for the murdersor at least accessory after the factit seems that people rarely mention Charles Watson. Right now theres a hung jury in Los Angeles on the decision of whether Charles Watson is guilty of murdering seven people. He was in the home. He did the stabbing forty times. He wrote death to the pigs on the door. The jury cant decide if he was guilty. In fact, on blogs when the Tate and LaBianca murders are mentioned, 95% of the time the post is tagged #Charles Manson and not #Charles Watson. How can this be? How did the name Charles Manson become so powerful that the name Charles Watson is commonly ignored? Its all about media attention. In Paul Watkins book, My Life with Charles Manson, he mentions speaking with Charles Watson after he testified. His description of him was pretty scary; as if he was describing one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. Maybe he was? If I have ever seen a specimen of death, it was Tex. When we asked him what really happened at the murder scenes, he told us. He didnt explain, he just narrated the events in a monotone as they happened. The bodies of the Tate and LaBianca victims had a total of 159 stab wounds; most of them inflicted by him. I just killed them that is what I had to do. I heard Sadie cry, Help me, and I helped her. Then Katie needed help and I helped her. It seemed like I had to do everything. It almost sounds like even back then Charles Watson was bragging about his deeds. Like most sociopaths who murder, they want credit for their

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deeds. According to Diane Snake Lake, as written in Tex Watson: The Man, The Madness, The Manipulation by Bill Nelson, he was quite proud of his deeds and felt the need to boast about them. This was his time in Olancha, California when he was staying alone with Diane Lake. Charles Watson was now back in California, ready to face the charges against him. He boasted to Family members at Spahn Ranch, confessed to Diane Lake in the desert showing her the newspaper article about Sharon Tate, even said it was fun to trash the Tate house at Barker Ranch, and confessed to his Texas attorney Bill Boyd, who told him to keep quiet. Before his capture in Texas, the girl he was perusing as a love interest, Jeanne Mallett, testified that he seemed normal. That there was no sign that he had actually murdered seven people. She dated him from 1966, to 1967, and then met him again in November of 1969; this was after the Barker Ranch raids and Charles Manson was in jail. Here is part of her testimony at his trial. Vincent Bugliosi: How did he look to you in November of 1969? Jeanne Mallett: He looked great, you know; he looked just like he had always looked. He was a little thinner, but thats all. Vincent Bugliosi: You say he looked great? Jeanne Mallett: Yes. Vincent Bugliosi: What about his personality? Jeanne Mallet: Well, he seemed pretty well the same; he had a lot of new ideas and things, but other than that he seemed, you know, he seemed pretty much the same. Vincent Bugliosi: Did he seem to be happy? Jeanne Mallett: Yes, some of the time. Vincent Bugliosi: Did had fun with him? Jeanne Mallett: Yes. How can someonewho isnt a sociopathmurder seven people, then go back to life like nothing has happened? This was of course before he was arrested and extradited back to Los Angeles. That is when his story turned; he became insane and suicidal. This excerpt is also from the Bill Nelson book, Tex Watson: The Man, The Madness, The Manipulation explaining just why he had this change.

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His new attorney, a public defender for Los Angeles, instructed Watson to keep quiet. Now in California, he seems demented, strange, quiet, losing weight. It was nothing more than his manipulation of the system. He did whatever was necessary to achieve a goal. In Bill Nelsons other book, Manson: Behind The Scenes, he states that Catherine Gillies told him in 1990, that Charles Watson once threatened to slit her throat. This shows his psychotic tendencies and it also showed that he had rage. It also shows that he was not programmed by Charles Manson. Charles Manson loved Catherine Gillies and surely would not want him to slit her throat. A similar example was written in the John Gilmore book, The Garbage People. Much like Bill Nelson, John Gilmore was not convinced with his act. Tex, finally extradited to California, was to lose fifty pounds vegetating in a solitary cell. While the others were being tried, he was being force-fed with tubes through the nostrils. Described by medical examiners as catatonic and in an acute psychotic state, he was sent to Atascadero State Mental Hospital. He saw himself getting off scott-free, beating it, getting out free. He once joked about the gun busting while he beat one of his victims in the head. He said something about his fist being more powerful than the way the gun was made. But he believed in killing, and killing with a knife was the way to do it. Not kicking in heads, though he felt a lot of joy in that too. But he still would not fess up to his crimes. He fought extradition for many months in an attempt to miss the Manson Trial in hopes the media coverage would die down and it did. This was advice given to him by his attorney and it was purely a legal tactic. While he was awaiting extradition, he mentions in his book, Will You Die for Me?, that he asked to have every Beatles album sent to his cell a cell in the jailhouse ran by his uncle, the Sheriff. Not only did he eat very wellas his mother sent him food dailybut he had the music of his favorite band: The Beatles. Nuel Emmons wrote in his book, Manson in His Own Words, how Charles Manson felt about Charles Watson and how the media had ignored him. Most reports on Tex Watson overlook his activities in California before he became associated with me the two years he spent using drugs and pushing

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dope, burning everyone he came into contact with is forgotten. What has mostly been established is that prior to meeting me he was the pride of Capeville, Texas and I corrupted him. Not true. He was such a freeloader that even the bighearted Dennis Wilson sent him packing. Charles Manson met him at the home of Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, but he joined the gang at Spahns Ranch much later after Dennis Wilson had asked him to leave his home, and after his relationship with Luella failed. Story goes that he traded his pickup truck to Charles Manson for rent to stay at the ranch. Throughout his time at the ranch, Charles Watson had a history of burning people in drug deals and being a sketchy individual fixated with money. His LAPD arrest reports listed his aliases as Mad Charlie and Crazy Charlie. How would one acquire such nicknames? One could only imagine what he did to get called Mad and Crazy. Could it have been from his overdose on belladonna root in 1968? According to Family lore as written in the Ed Sanders book, The Family,Nancy Pitman (alias Brenda McCann) acquired belladonna root from a local kid and began to cook it in the saloon at Spahns Movie Ranch. To cook it indoors is a big no-no, and it turns out the vapors from the cooking root poisoned Nancy Pitman for days. But this didnt stop Charles Watson from grabbing a whole root and devouring it. He proceeded to jump on a motorcycle and take it for a ride. He was found tripping on the side of the road near Van Nuys High School, crawling. He was arrested and booked. Later in the yearas the story goeshe decided to earn some extra money selling drugs. He brought his partner in crime Luella into the drug scene and with Black Panther Bernard Crowe on Woodrow Wilson Drive, right outside of Hollywood. Later on, he had Bernard Crowe front him some money to acquire drugs or sell drugs the story changes. In the end, he burned Bernard Crowe and Luella for $2,400 and fled, leaving her behind. Later in the day Bernard Crowe called Spahn Ranch asking for Charlie, and of course Charlie Manson answered. He assumed that he had Charlie Watson on the phone and told him if he doesnt return his money, that he was going to fuck Luella to death. According

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to Charles Manson, he told him that he has nothing to do with that; that he has the wrong guy and hung up. According to a 1994 interview with Bill Murphy, Charles Manson said that Bernard Crowe called back again and threatened to burn down Spahn Ranch unless the money was returned. At this time Charles Watson had taken the money and absconded, leaving him to deal with his problems. Feeling cornered, he asked Danny DeCarlo to come along, and he stated that, All of a sudden, DeCarlo was too busy shoveling shit to help me out. Tom Walleman ended up with the task of going with him to the Franklin Avenue residence in an attempt to fix the problem. They grabbed Danny DeCarlos .22 caliber revolver and left. According to the Ed Sanders book, The Family, while Charles Manson was en route to Franklin Avenue, Charles Watson made it back to Spahns Ranch. He then bragged about his burn to Danny DeCarlo, fanning the $2,400 loot in his face. Charles Watson didnt stick around much longer. Once Charles Manson made it to the Franklin Avenue apartment, Bernard Crowe would not give up Luella and one thing lead to another and he was shot. Charles Manson, Luella, and T.J. Walleman fled thinking that he was dead. This created a lot of panic and paranoia, but I will get to this in a later chapter. Why did he decide to burn Luella and subsequently, Bernard Crowe? Was it because she had an abortion? He seemed pretty displeased with her over her abortion in his book, Will You Die For Me?. Or was she just a casualty in the Bernard Crowe burn? Was this just a money move and he didnt care who he hurt? Except for improving her drug business, it seemed that I was pretty much bad news for Luella. After wed been together for a while she had to go to Mexico for an abortion that was messed up so badly she ended up spending a week at the U.C.L.A. Medical Center. Then, when I decided to show her a special good time, just for the two of us, and took her on a trip down through Mexico and back up to Palm Springs, we got caught in a dust storm in the desert and I smashed her VW into the back of a truck. The car was totaled and she got a bad gash on her head. When it came to money, it seemed like no matter what, he was there to take it.

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Theres Bill Murphys theory that Charles Watson chose the Cielo Drive home because Jay Sebring was there with $40,000 of mob drugs. Its also commonly reported that Linda Kasabian stole $5,000 from her ex-husband and gave it to Charles Manson and it is often stated that he conned her out of the money. Not only is this false, but it was actually Charles Watson who conned her out of the money and in the style that its regularly reported that Charles Manson had conned her. Here is a portion of Linda Kasabians testimony on July 31, 1970. What she says about Charles Watson sounds a lot like what they have put on Charles Manson. Linda Kasabian: Okay. I met Tex, and Tex took me into a dark shed, shack, whatever you want to call it, and he made love to me, which was an experience that I had never had before. Paul Fitzgerald: You had never had sexual intercourse before? Linda Kasabian: No. I am saying that the experience I had in making love with Tex was a total experience, it was different. Paul Fitzgerald: In what respect? Linda Kasabian: That my hands were clenched when it was all over and I had absolutely no will power to open my own hands, and I was very much afraid, I didnt understand it. And I questioned Gypsy about it later and she told me it was my ego that was dying. And I told him that I was on my way to South America, and we had all this money, and we were going to do these things. Paul Fitzgerald: You had all what money? Linda Kasabian: We had some money that Charlie Melton had inherited. Vincent Bugliosi: The way it developed is that apparently Tex told her to go steal $5,000, whereupon she did go and steal the $5,000, and gave it to Leslie, I believe. She didnt keep it for herself. She is about to testify to this. And I think the defense is now bringing in through the back door what the court indicated it could not do. Judge Older: I dont see it that way. She is now relating a conversation that she had with Tex, one of the defendants in this case. I think it is permissible. Paul Fitzgerald: Would you continue with the conversation you had with Tex Watson? Linda Kasabian: Yes. I told him that we and these people were going to go to South America by boat and sail around the world. And we had this money, and

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it seemed to me as soon as I mentioned money he started going on this trip, and telling me that it wasnt their money; that it was everybodys money and it was just there to take, and that there was no right and wrong. It was just theirs, ours. I said, Hey He told me, you know, that I should go and take this money. I said, Hey, I cant do that, hes my brother. He said, But there is no wrong. And he just kept going on and on. And I accepted it and that was about the conversation. While I am on the motive of money, I would also like to point out what Charles Watson said in his book, Will You Die for Me?, about money and the Cielo Drive murders. When mentioned alone, it seems insignificant, however, when grouped with these situations where he worked dirty to get money, it sort of makes sense and comes together. He was a con man; why would he want their money if these murders were to incite a race war? I want all the money youve got here, I barked, and Abigail took Sadie into her bedroom and gave her the money in her wallet. When they came back with only seventy dollars, I shouted: You mean thats all youve got? How much do you want? Frykowski asked. We want thousands! When all of this is put together, in my mind it points directly to him. He admitted in his book, Will You Die for Me?, That he chose the Cielo Drive home because hed been in it before. The prosecution contended that Charles Manson selected it because of a previous altercation with property owner Rudy Altobelli, in which he noticed Sharon Tate. The prosecution stated that the Cielo Drive home to Charles Manson symbolized the establishment and reminded him of his failures in the music industry. Now if this were true, why wouldnt he have killed Terry Melcher or Dennis Wilson instead? I also want to point out that it is probably a fact that when Susan Atkins made her jailhouse confession to her Sybal Brand Institute sisters, the Charlie she was referring to was probably Charles Watson. The prosecution has discredited this claim by saying that There was only one Charlie: Charlie Manson. Not true at all. There were several other Charlies including Charles Lovett and Charles Beard whose AKAs were actually Charles Manson and Tex. Weird. Charles Manson giving the nickname Tex is also untrue. It was actually George Spahn who gave him that nickname and he actually gave most of the

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Family the nicknames that they ended up being known by, not Charles Manson. So, turn the clocks almost a year forward when the Family was on the run in Death Valleyin a state of panic and paranoiawaiting for an impending retaliation for the Bernard Crowe shooting as well as expecting the Feds to come in any minute to bust them for the Tate, LaBianca, Hinman and Shea murders. During this time the prosecution stated that Charles Manson begun teaching everyone how to murder and armed everyone with knives and guns. It may be true that hewith help from Danny DeCarlodid arm everyone. He was expecting some sort of retaliation from shooting Bernard Crowe. This was also one of the reasons he made the exodus to Death Valley. However, when everyone started speaking to the presses, the prosecution took notice and put them on the stand. Barbara Hoyt told the jury that it was actually Charles Watson who ran a school for murder. And on August 6, 1971, the newspapers reported it. Charles Tex Watson conducted a school for murder for female members of the Charles Manson Cult shortly after the seven Tate-LaBianca slayings, a state witness testified Wednesday. Watsons instruction on how to use a knife were not to stab straight to turn it to the side and move it around to cut up more stuff, said Barbara Hoyt. She said stabbing instructions followed a discussion of how to kill if it came down to it. Watson said when using a knife, its either them or us. Since the Manson Trial had no defense portion, contradictory evidence like this was not put forth. This revelation is huge as it proves that he was a violent, psychotic individual who prided himself on murder and mayhem. He absolutely loved the outlaw lifestyle. Barbara Hoyt also testified a similar story that Diane Lake had. She said that Charles Watson kept buying newspapers, and she thought it was weird because we were trying to get away from everything. She added that there was little money to buy food because he was spending it on newspapers.

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Why would he be buying so many newspapers? Simple: he was proud of his work and he loved to read about it. Something that is uncharacteristic of the mindless robot he claimed to be from the works of Charles Manson. Vincent Bugliosi told the jury that Charles Manson knew Sharon Tate lived at 10050 Cielo Drive, and that he sent his robot, Charles Watson, to murder her and anyone else who stood in the way. He said that he saw Sharon Tate as an elegant symbol of the establishment. Truth is, he knew a lot more famous people than Sharon Tate who wasnt that famous. Certainly not as famous as others he knew or had met like; The Beach Boys, Neil Young, Jane Fonda, Yul Brenner, Michael Caine, Deanna Martin and Deidra Lansbury. If he wanted to make a statement to Hollywood, he would have ordered one of their deaths. July 12, 1971, Charles Watson went under psychiatric evaluation. During this evaluation he not only blamed everything on the girls, but completely minimized his role in the murders stating that Linda Kasabian drove, and they ordered him what to do. Here is an excerpt from his evaluation as well as an excerpt from his book, Will You Die for Me?, that proves Vinent Bugliosis theory wrong. Interviewer: Had you actually been in the house before? Charles Watson: Id been in the house before. Id been in the front room. From Will You Die for Me?: I told the girls we were going to the house where Terry Melcher used to live because I knew the place, the layout, and that when we got there we were going to kill everyone we found and get their money. I had Linda wrap up the knives and gun in a rag on the floor and hide them at her feet. If we were stopped by the police on the way, I told her, she was to throw the whole bundle out the window. Not only does that prove Vincent Bugliosis theory incorrect, but it also puts Linda Kasabian in as a major co-conspirator of the murders. That is something that she had denied on the stand and stated that she had no previous knowledge that the murders were going to happen. She also stated that it was Charles Manson who tied up the LaBiancas, which was something that she would have absolutely no knowledge of since she never went into the LaBiancas home. This fact was probably coached via the prosecution. In fact a lot of the things she testified were incorrect. I will get to that in a later chapter.

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Vincent Bugliosis theory included the explanation that Linda Kasabian drove because she had the only valid license and was included strictly for that reason, but this is not true. Charles Manson actually had a license issued to him in 1967, and was valid until November, 1969. Various other Family members also had licenses as well as fake licenses. What is even more perplexing is that Vincents Bugliosis theory that Linda Kasabian drove is false. Charles Watson admitted in his book, Will You Die for Me?, that he was the one who actually drove. Let me get this straight. These people were willing to killwhich is a felonybut they were not willing to break the lawa misdemeanorand drive without a valid drivers license? Come on, now! During Susan Atkins December, 1969, Grand Jury testimony she too pinpointed him as the one who chose the home because he knew it. She also stated that he was the one who drove, not Linda Kasabian. Vincent Bugliosi: Who drove the car? Susan Atkins: Tex. Vincent Bugliosi: Did Tex tell you where you were going to go? Susan Atkins: He told us that we were going to a house up on the hill that used to belong to Terry Melcher, and the only reason why we were going to that house was because Tex knew the outline of the house. Vincent Bugliosi: Did Tex tell you that he knew the interior of the house? Susan Atkins: Yes, he described it to us as we were traveling. Vincent Bugliosi: How did Tex describe the interior of the house to you? Without going into detail, did he describe where the rooms were located in relation to each other? Susan Atkins: Yes. Vincent Bugliosi: Did Charlie Manson ever tell you that he had been to Terry Melchers former residence? Susan Atkins: No, not to my recall. Vincent Bugliosi: What did you discuss in the car, Susan, as you drove to Terry Melchers former residence? Who said what? Susan Atkins: Tex did most of the talking. In fact, to my recall, he did all of the talking. Vincent Bugliosi: Did Tex tell you why he and you three girls were going to Terry Melchers former residence?

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Susan Atkins: To get all of their money and to kill whoever was there. The prosecution disregarded that information, and chose to go with a different scenario all together, which was a recurring element in this case. April 14, 1971, Charles Watson had a court-appointed medical evaluation with Dr. R.D. Walter. As he spoke to Dr. Walter, he actually laughed when talking about how he mangled the body of Wojciech Frykowski. He also referred to the victims as running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Its interesting to say the least, but it is also pathetic how he blamed everything on the girls. Poor Charlie Watson the girls blamed everything on innocent little Tex. Notice that when he tries and blame Charles Manson, the doctor doesnt buy it. Charles Watson: I had a gun and a knife in my hand. The car stopped and I just pulled the triggerabout ten days later I couldnt believe Id done it there was no hesitation, she said get him, and I got him no thought I could just feel my body get sucked in like a monkey. No feeling at all. Dr. R.D. Walter: So? Charles Watson: The next thing I knew, I was walking into the door of the house and there Sadie was. Nothing happened for a little while. then all of a sudden people started coming into the other rooms to the effect a man was coming after me I looked I had the gun in my hand I shot around or at the person and he fell on the floor no more shells. Dr. R.D. Walter: How did you feel then? Charles Watson: I had no feeling. Sadie would kick me to get me going. Then I saw Katie stabbing and stabbing this guy and I had a knife in my hand and I did the same thing the guy was all messed up. (defendant laughing at this point) All of a sudden Sadie hollered again the second guy was real big and she was stabbing him all over and blood was spurting everywhere and she was hollering for me and I came over and he fell outside of the house I got over and the body was totally messed up so I decided to hit him again and again in the head until his head cracked open. Dr. R.D. Walter: So? Charles Watson: All of a sudden Katie was outside and had the woman on the lawn and she was already dead but I stabbed her anyway. The girls told

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me to and when someone tells me to do something I do it. Charlie told me over and over to make sure everybody was dead. Dr. R.D. Walter: Why are you denying everything? Examiners note: At this point the defendant is angry and raises his voice. Charles Watson: Im not denying, Im telling the truth. Dr. R.D. Walter: How do you feel about what you did? Charles Watson: It was fun tearing up the Tate house, OK. Dr. R.D. Walter: It was fun? Charles Watson: You should have seen it, people were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. (Defendant is laughing) Dr. R.D. Walter: What do you feel who are the victims of this situation you are in. Charles Watson: Myself. Classic sociopath thinking; he feels no remorse for the victims and feels as if he is the victim. He certainly is the definition of sociopath. He found comedy in the death of the victims; joked about it, pushed all of the blame off on the girls and Charles Manson, and thinks he is the victim. It is just as scary that other people actually believe he is a victim. I wonder if the faceless blobs that he murderedas he called themthinks he is a victim? Dr. R.D. Walters summation of Charles Watson included the diagnosis that he was in fact in a psychotic state as well as a walking time bomb. Watson has a large amount of suppressed hostility and anger and is considered to be a walking time bomb. He can be a dangerous individual under certain circumstances and his violence potential is above average. During this time Charles Watson intentionally starved himself in a part of an insanity act and was checked into a mental home, he was deemed medically insane and then pleaded innocent on the grounds of insanity. He then began an elaborate hoax that he remembered nothing that everything was a blur. This may actually be true since he admitted that he was on speed during the murders; everything may have been a blur to him. Ironically, when he wrote his book he remembered every tiny, bloody detail. Was this because he actually remembered, or did he just regurgitate the prosecutions case against him and the others?

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He definitely wasted no time blaming everyone but himself. He was on trial alone, and the Manson Trial ended abruptly when no evidence was put to support Charles Mansons claim that he did not order the murders. This meant that there was no information from that trial that could be used against him. During the Manson Trial the prosecution put forth the theory that Susan Atkins murdered Sharon Tate. So at his trial, Charles Watson went with that at as well as various other errors the prosecution put forth including putting Leslie Van Houten as Rosemary LaBiancas killer. Within Susan Atkins December, 1969, Grand Jury testimony she stated it was he who had murdered Sharon Tate. Something he later admitted. She also said he was the one in charge and gave the orders. Vincent Bugliosi: Did Tex do anything to Sharon Tate at that point? Susan Atkins: Tex told me to kill her. Vincent Bugliosi: To kill Sharon? Susan Atkins: Yes, and I couldnt. I just in order to make a diversion so that Tex couldnt see that I couldnt kill her I grabbed her hand and held her arms and then I saw Tex stab her in the heart area around the chest. Vincent Bugliosi: You saw Tex stab Sharon in the heart area? Susan Atkins: Yes. Vincent Bugliosi: You saw Tex stab Abigail three or four times? Susan Atkins: Yes. While he was doing that, Katie and I were looking for Linda because she wasnt anywhere around. In fact, we started calling for her. We didnt want to call too loud, and then Tex walked over to Frykowski and kicked him in the head. Vincent Bugliosi: He was lying down when Tex kicked him in the head? Susan Atkins: Yes, and the body didnt move very much. I believe it was dead at that time. Vincent Bugliosi: What happened next? Susan Atkins: Then Tex told me to go back into the house and write something on the door in one of the victims blood. Vincent Bugliosi: Did he tell you what to write? Susan Atkins: He said, Write something that would shock the world. Something to that effect. I had previously been involved in something similar to

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I am the Devil Do you feel remorse? Leave something witchy.

this where I saw political piggy written on the wall so that stuck very heavily in my mind. This following text will be various excerpts from Charles Watsons trial, and then a contradiction printed in his book, Will You Die for Me?

Frykowski stirred at the sound of my voice and mumbled something like: What time is it? I kicked him in the head. As he struggled up in confusion, mumbling: Who are you? What do you want? I answered, Im the devil and Im here to do the devils business. (from the book: Will You Die for Me?) Interviewer: Do you remember where you got the line I am the devil and I am here to do the devils business? Charles Watson: I didnt say anything like that. (from a 1971 psychiatric evaluation)

I told him (Manson) what had happened-it had been messy, like he wanted, lots of panic, everybody dead. Sadie told him my line about the devil, and he grinned, pleased. When he asked why we didnt go to any other houses I just shrugged. Then he looked each of us in the eye solemnly. Do you have any remorse? he demanded. No, we each replied. (from the book: Will You Die for Me?) However, Charles Watson tells a drastically different story in front of a jury during cross-examination of his trial. Vincent Bugliosi: According to record, you told Mr. Manson that there was a lot of panic, that it was very messy. Charles Watson: I didnt tell him that. Vincent Bugliosi: Did the four of you say no when Mr. Manson asked you if any of you had remorse? Charles Watson: I dont remember him asking that question, or not.

Leslie went out of the room and got Tex and he came back in and we left the room And he, on the way out, he told me to do something witchy. (from Patricia Krenwinkels 1993 parole hearing)

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Who tied up the LaBiancas?

So, this sounds like Charles Watson inculcated the girls to leave something witchy? Oddly enough, in his July 9, 1971, psychiatric evaluation, he was asked if Charles Manson gave him any explicit orders prior to the murders and he said, He told me to go with the girls. The girls know everything to do. And when the interviewer asked if he saw Charles Manson that night he responded, Yes, but I didnt talk to him. The scary thing is that for some odd reason, the general consensus on the killings is that the girls did mostif not allof the killing. Mostly, he is regularly overlooked as a participant. In the German Menschensohn documentary, Charles Manson tells them flat-out of Charles Watsons participation, correcting the interviewer. Let me tell you something and heres the truth: the girls didnt kill anyone. Im telling you, the girls didnt kill anyone. Tex killed em. Tex went stone crazy and killed anybody in his path.

The prosecution used Linda Kasabian to put Charles Manson as the man who tied up the LaBiancas. Here is Charles Watsons versions of this event. Charlie pulled off a leather thong that had been looped around his neck and had me tie LaBiancas hands with it. I must have cinched him up pretty firmly, because he immediately protested that it was too tight, especially when we turned him onto his back again with the weight of his body pressing down on his wrists. (from the book Will You Die For Me?) He admits in his book that he was the one who tied up the LaBiancas. However, when questioned during cross-examination at his trial, he denies it. Vincent Bugliosi: Do you remember what he [Manson] told you [when he returned to the car]? Charles Watson: He said that he tied up the people inside the house. To go in and do what we did last night. Truth is that he went in first with Charles Manson, and he tied them up. Does this make Charles Manson blameless of any charges related to these murders? Not at all, but it does count as a yet one more strike against the

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prosecutions theory. It also puts Charles Watson as an active, willing participant and not a robot. During his trial and his 1971 evaluation he had stated that it was Susan Atkins who had killed Sharon Tate. However, it seems now he takes full responsibility for that murder. In fact, Susan Atkins had never confessed to killing Sharon Tate, contrary to popular belief. She had told her cellmate that she did kill her in a long elaborate story in which she said she made up to scare the inmates in an attempt to create fear, so they wouldnt mess with her. Charles Watson seems to almost brag about killing Sharon Tate almost every opportunity that he gets. In his book, Will You Die for Me?, he admits that Vincent Bugliosi got it wrong. Later, Prosecutor Bugliosi-because of some things Susan-Sadie bragged about in jail in one of her attempts to get attention-was convinced that it was she who killed Sharon Tate, but his suspicion was not true. It was my hand that struck out, over and over, until the cries of Mother, mother stopped. Suddenly it seemed very quiet. It was over. In 1978, Charles Watson spoke with the LA Times and again admitted that he was Sharon Tates slayer, as if he was very proud. She was pleading to me and pleading to me, but I didnt even have a moment of hesitation. I took a knife and just slit a big slit across her face. And I just kept cutting her and carving on the body and started stabbing her in the chest Id say maybe 15 cuts and stabs. She was crying and saying, Oh mother, oh mother. She said, Just let my baby live. You can kill me, but let my baby live. I was actually the executioner. Later in 1978, Headquarters Detective ran a story on Charles Watson and his upcoming parole hearing date. This article featured an interview with his ex-cellmate named Chet, who made some very unsettling claims. A lot of guys in the prison think theyre bad. Some of them are, but when it comes to being bad in every sense of the word, I have been bad before and I can play the role pretty good. When I killed those people, they didnt exactly stand there and not do anything. I stabbed that guy [Frykowski] fifty-one times in the chest. I stabbed him so many times in the chest that my hand was sinking into it up to my elbow. I stabbed him so hard that the handle of the knife broke off. These people dont know what bad is. I wrote the book on bad and I did it more than once.

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Chet stated that he went on and bragged how he forced Leslie Van Houten to stab an already deceased Rosemary LaBianca, and how he let her take the fall for committing the murder. Leslie Van Houten was granted a retrial in 1977, which ended in a hung jury. She had a third trial in 1978, in which she was re-convicted with second-hand hearsay testimony from Barbara Hoyt, Paul Watkins and Linda Kasabian. Charles Watson could have testified the truth on her behalf since he was an active participant in the murders, but his reasoning why he did not was purely selfish and sociopathic. Charles Watson: She should be allowed to go free. She didnt kill anyone. I was standing over this woman and I noticed Leslie down on the floor. She was terrified! I saw her knife lying beside her and there wasnt a drop of blood on it. But I was dripping blood all over the place and some got on the handle of her knife. I didnt want to leave without everyone having at least stuck a knife in the body of one of the victims. I told her to do her part. She was like a wet rag. I pushed her towards this lady sprawled out face down on the floor. The lady was dead. I pushed Leslie down beside her. She shook her head. I turned her face up towards me. I had blood all the way up my arms and I had a knife in my hand. She was one scared girl. HQM: If she didnt kill anyone, I said, arent you going to help her out? Charles Watson: What! If I brought that kind of attention down on me, Id never get out. No way am I going to blow my chance to get out just to testify in Leslie Van Houtens behalf. He repeated something similar in his book, Will You Die for Me?. He also stated in that book that he was the one who carved WAR on Leno LaBianca, not Patricia Krenwinkel as the prosecution had said. Patricia Krenwinkel claimed to not recollect if she did or did not that she just went with what the prosecution said happened and not what she remembers. Theres also more than enough evidence to link Charles Watson to the LaBianca home, a home that the prosecution stated was picked out of random. Not only did Linda Kasabian live with Harold True for a short time, right next door to the LaBiancas, but he also lived very closeless than 200 feetfrom their daughter Suzanne Struthers. This was another link to the LaBianca home.

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To add even more coincidence to this situation, after the murders, she stated that he should go free and even defended him publicly on the television show The 700 Club as well at his 1985 parole hearing. Suzanne Struthers is said to have inherited as much as $2 million from her mothers death. Could this have been murder for hire? Charles Watson sure loved money and wasnt against killing anybody to get it. What great plots; to kill, get paid, and then push it off on the Gary Hinman murder. Suzanne Struthers was also linked to a biker named Joe Dorgan, who Charles Manson has claimed to have known. Joe Dorgan may have been a part of the Straight Satans or the Satans Slaves motorcycle clubs who both frequented Spahn Ranch. This link has never been proven, but backed with all of the other coincidences it stands pretty strong. Here is an excerpt from the Bill Nelson book, Tex Watson: The Man, The Madness, The Manipulation. Suzanne, the daughter of Rosemary LaBianca. At the time of the murders, she was a rebellious youth. She was known to keep company with motorcycle members, some believe to be the same group that ran with the Manson Family. She lived with Joe Dorgan, her live-in lover rode with the Straight Satans club, a few doors down from Charles Watson. She went with Joe Dorgan to the [LaBianca] house. She entered the house through the kitchen. Joe and young [brother] Frank saw Lenos body badly butchered by [Charles] Watson. Two days later, without consent, she emptied the contents of the house with a moving truck. Suzanne became the executor of the estate of Rosemary [LaBianca]. The 2.6 million dollars that was written about in Helter Skelter was not really hers. Rosemary was wealthy, but she did not get it through conventional means. Suzanne began writing Charles Watson in 1990, and was at his parole hearing. She says that she forgives Watson, and that 21 years is long enough, Charles has changed. He should be free. Suzanne expresses forgiveness, but only to Tex [Watson.] No communication with the other killers. Deputy District Attorney Stephen Kay told her after the hearing, Suzanne, you disgraced your mother today. Her character appeared in the made-for-TV-movie Forgiven: The Charles Tex Watson story. She also appeared on The 700 Club in 1991, defending

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him. Even the movie, Forgiven: The Charles Tex Watson Story, was partially based on her efforts to get him out of prison. Strangely enough, days before the murder of her mother, Bill Nelson believes that Family members Catherine Share and Steve Grogan were inside of her home. Even more odd, after the murders were committed someone went back into the home and arranged the fireplace logs in an odd sequence in front of the fireplace and put a door knob in the refrigerator. According to author Bill Nelson, Suzanne Struthers is the prime suspect of doing this since she was into odd black-magic type rituals. Remember that she was also made the executor of her mother Rosemary LaBiancas estate inheriting as much as $2 million. Bill Nelson also claimed that she and Charles Watson and lived in the same apartment complex at the same time prior to the murders. Additionally, Charles Watson has said the primary motive for these murders were for money to bail Mary Brunner and Sandra Good from jail. He was a burn artist who had burned at least one man for money, so in his world money talked. A murder-for-hire job would not be out of line. Someday I will be famous, Suzanne Struthers once remarked. And I dont care what I have to do to get there. Maybe she was not famous, but she did get a good amount of media attention. Doris Tate has always had a bad feeling about the relationship between the two. According to Doris Tates journal, she said that, I couldnt put my finger on it, but there was more going on than mere forgiveness. She has been very vocal about not believing the Helter Skelter motive as the reason for her daughters murder. I honestly believe that she believes that Charles Watsons connection to both victims homes is more than damning. I am not alone with this assumption. In fact, it seems like everyone but Vincent Bugliosi thinks that this connection explains why the LaBianca home was targeted. Vincent Bugliosis the LaBianca home was chosen out of random theory is incorrect. We have already learned that the home was not a random hit. February 25, 2012, the New York Post ran an article written by Suzannah Chalanwho after reading the Alisa Statman book Restless Soulsalso

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strongly believes theres more to the Watson/Struthers relationship. In fact the article mentions Charles Watson using Suzanne Struthers as his Trump Card as a ticket out of jail, and even bragged about it to his a fellow inmate, much like Chet in 1978. The journalist refers to Suzanne Struthers by her married last name LaBerge. But none of this stopped LaBerge from writing to Watson, after she discovered that he had, like she had, found God. She reached out to Watson through his mail-order ministry, called Abounding Love Ministries. She wrote to Watson for a year anonymously, until 1987, when she visited the killer and told him that she was Rosemary LaBiancas daughter. They continued speaking for three more hours, and she followed up with several more visits and regular correspondence. Patti Tate had no inkling of this when, in 1990, she met LaBerge at her daughters middle school, where LaBerge had coincidentally (or not) sent her own daughter. They began to chat and Patti revealed the name of her sister, Sharon. Suzans (si c) eyes grew wide; Youre never going to guess who I am. Rosemary LaBianca is my mother! LaBerge said. Patti was taken by the coincidence and felt comfortable with another victim. So she let her daughter stay the day at LaBerges house, which was just two miles from her own. Meanwhile, Suzan (si c) shared the news with Watsons wife, who relayed the message to him in prison. He thought this was the key to getting his parole date set. Suzan (si c) LaBerge, ne LaBianca, is my ace in the hole, Watson boasted to another inmate. The Tate kid is playing in Suzans yard as we speak. Patti learned about the connection only a few hours later and ran to LaBerges house to collect her daughter. It was just horrifying. Possibly the most horrifying experience of her life, Statman told The Post. Later that year, LaBerge did testify on Watsons behalf, but the Tate family was also there to speak out against parole. LaBerge went on about Watsons loving side as Doris, Sharons mother, looked on in disgust. LaBerge proved not to be an ace his parole was denied (and continued to be a total of 14 times).

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And according to Statman, no one believes the story of the prison meeting, especially when they likely knew each other long before. That maybe the random targeting of the LaBianca house wasnt so random. Suzan (si c) and Tex lived an estimated 200 feet apart in nearby apartments in Los Angeles for six months prior to Watsons move into Mansons home base, Spahn Ranch. Suzans (sic) then-boyfriend was a member of the motorcycle gang Straight Satans that often frequented Spahn Ranch. Theres lot of speculation that they knew each other. And take that where you will you can only imagine what that might mean, Statman said. When author Bill Nelson learned that Vincent Bugliosi was going to do a 20th year anniversary revised edition of his book Helter Skelter, he jumped at the chance to aid him in the revisions with the extensive amount of new facts and contradictions to the errors of the book including the information on Charles Watson and Suzanne Struthers. He claimed that Vincent Bugliosi snubbed the majority of the newly discovered information, aside from information and contacts with certain Family members. When he turned down his offer, Bill Nelson ranted on his now defunct website Manson Family Murders. I contributed greatly to the up dated edition receiving calls often from Bugliosi to learn the location of different Manson family members. The only criticism I have of the up date is the publisher and prosecutor/author missed a golden opportunity to put to rest many of the statements in the original book. Mr. Bugliosi now knows that neither the Tate house nor the LaBianca house were random selections. Bugliosi also knows that Tex Watson lived in the immediate area of the LaBianca house, and that Watson knew the boyfriend of Rosemarys daughter and indeed Suzanne Struthers! (Rosemary LaBiancas daughter) Struthers dated Joe Dorgan, member of Satans Slaves, who was deeply involved with Manson and others. Manson has admitted I rode with Dorgan and this information is accurate. Manson still has ties to the lake where Leno and Rosemary spent their last day alive. They also learned, during the research for the update, that Gypsy confirmed that she and Susan Atkins had been swimming in the Tate pool. Gypsy also confirmed, and Bugliosi knew it, that the Manson family had creepy crawled the LaBianca house within two weeks of the murders of Leno and Rosemary. When

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Nelson asked Bugliosi about some of these changes, he indicated it would mess up the galleys. Well, It sure could have been included in the up-dated portion! Many people had negative opinions on Bill Nelson, as do I, but its hard to deny that he had a lot of information on the Family due to many years of extensive research and stalking. Sadly, the true information he had acquired made the opinion in Vincent Bugliosis coveted book Helter Skelter fall down like a house of cards regarding the motive: Helter Skelter. In Charles Watsons book, Will You Die for Me?, he disclosed that he did lie during the trial, as well as any interview he gave during that time. He casually dismisses the lies as him trying to protect himself. However, he has stood firmly on the notion that he was indeed a mindless robot programmed by Charles Manson. Here was his conclusion to the lies as printed in his book. Self-preservation won out in court and I admitted only what I felt I had to, what the prosecution already knew. I admitted shooting or stabbing everyone at the Tate house except Sharon. I denied killing her since Bugliosi and a previous jury was convinced Susan Atkins had done it. I claimed that Linda had driven to 10050 Cielo Drive, and tried to lay all the evidence of premeditation on Charlie or one of the girls. Also, since all the other witnesses to the events outside the LaBianca house had said that Charlie went in alone to tie up the victims, I went along with that story, figuring it made me look that much less responsible. At the end of his trial, the jury was hung on whether or not he was guilty on seven murder charges. He was never indicted on an eighth charge for the murder of movie stuntman and Spahn Ranch hand Donald Shea. During Bruce Davis 1994 parole hearing he had stated that Charles Watson was there and he stabbed Donald Shea. Charles Watson has never mentioned that murder a murder that he was never charged in participating. He is smart enough to know that there is no statute of limitations for murder. Being indicted on new murder charges could mean the death penalty a fate he escaped from in 1972 when the death penalty was temporarily abolished in California. Charles Watson still dismisses his active, viable role in the murders and puts it off as either possession of demons or programming by Charles Manson. In 1978, the Ellensburg Daily Record printed this account by him, again pushing blame off of himself.

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I feel Manson was possessed by demons and I think I was possessed by the same spirit that Charles Manson was possessed by. The psychiatrists called it shared madness. That is, we were all in one devil and we did what the devil said do. I am not blaming what I did on him, or evil spirits. I yielded myself to it, so I take the blame. However, in that statement he did say, I am not blaming what I did on him. But quite recently, he posted an interview on his website Abounding Love, which he was asked something similar. Question: Do you think you were possessed by the devil? Charles Watson: Possessed? I dont know, but I was definitely influenced by the power of sorcery. Im not saying the devil made me do it, or that Manson made me do it; but there were powerful demonic influences that I had given myself to. I was totally out of control. Again, he states that the devil made him do it and not Charles Manson. But of course, not being able to keep his bullshit in line, he changed his story again on his website, Abounding Love. Manson was a sorcerer, Charles Watson accused. A false prophet. He was a charismatic leader who used magic, rituals and drugs. After the Manson Trial had concluded, Vincent Bugliosis theory was that Charles Manson indeed programmed Charles Watson and the other defendants; Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten, and Patricia Krenwinkel, to kill for him and he used the same theory during Charles Watsons trial. However, in his book, Helter Skelter, he either in accident or simply to make Charles Watson look worse admitted the opposite. By the time Id finished [cross-examining Watson], it was obvious to the jury that he was in complete command of his mental faculties and always had been. I tore to shreds his story that he was simply an unthinking zombie programmed by Charles Manson. So, his decision was that Charles Watson was not programmed by Charles Manson; that he was not controlled by Charles Manson and that he acted out from his own will, and killed because he wanted to kill. Which means he did not kill because he was forced to kill, or brainwashed into killing. This, Mister Bugliosi, makes the Helter Skelter theory null and void since Charles Watson was an admitted lead of the rampage.

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If you remember what I wrote in the chapter: Why Helter Skelter Doesnt Fit, you will recall that in 2009, Vincent Bugliosi said that he doesnt believe that Charles Manson believed in all aspects of Helter Skelter. To convict him for trying to create an apocalyptic race war, Charles Manson would most definitely have had to believe in all aspects. In 1988, Geraldo Rivera asked Charles Manson about Charles Watson and he dismissed him as a man who tried to emulate him, and did not do it successfully referring to the Bernard Crowe/Luella drug burn. What did Tex do?, Charles Manson asked. Tex went crazy, man. He tried to stand up and walk where I was walking. He tried to be a man in a womans body and it didnt work to well. And he, he went out of his mind. Charles Manson further explained, Tex went to pay the brother back. He went to pay the brother back to get Bobby out of jail. Charles Manson has always stated that Charles Watson participated in the Tate and LaBianca slayings to pay Bobby Beausoleil back. It makes sense since the people who partook in the Tate and LaBianca murders were all linked to Bobby Beausoleil in some way, and even Charles Watson. Susan Atkins: Was at the Gary Hinman slaying, involved with Charles Watsons drug ring and even swam in the 10050 Cielo Drive pool. Patricial Krenwinkel: Involved with Watsons drug ring, may have known Cielo Drive guest house resident William Garretson. Leslie Van Houten: She was one of Bobby Beausoleils girls. Linda Kasabian: She was infatuated with Charles Watson, involved with his drug ring and admitted that she knew the Tate and LaBianca homes.

Facts are that if Charles Manson sent people to murder, he would have sent people he trusted and knew could do the job; people he knew well. He barely knew Linda Kasabian and Leslie Van Houten, so why would he send them? In my opinion, if he wanted people dead, he would have sent Bruce Davis, Steve Grogan, Nancy Pitman, Catherine Gillies, and Catherine Share.

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Secondly, if Charles Watson was willing to not only burn Luella for money and/or drugs and leave her for dead, it clearly shows that he lacks conscience. Whatever it may be, theres a lot more to this story and a lot of unanswered questions. Charles Watson has stood on the story that it was Charles Manson who brainwashed him into committing at least 7 murders. This excuse is more than convenient as it takes a lot of the blame off of him; makes Charles Manson to blame and makes him a victim. The amazing thing about this is that it is widely believed as fact. It is not coincidence that when he came to live at Spahn Ranch is when everything started to turn to death and murder. He introduced hard drugs like speed to the ranch and brought a lot of baggage baggage that lead to the Bernard Crowe shooting, extreme paranoia, and subsequently the Tate and LaBianca murders.

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THE OTHER MURDERS LINKED TO WATSON

In 1968, a couple murders were committed in close proximity to Charles Watson that are still unsolved. Marina Habedaughter of actress Eloise Hart and writer Hans Habewas murdered December 29, 1968, and left on Mulholland Drive, near Beaumont Drive. This is in very close proximity of Beverly Hills, right on the other side of Runyon and Benedict Canyons where Cielo Drive is located. Oddly enough, Woodrow Wilson Drive where Bernard Crowe livedruns into Mulholland Drive, as does Franklin Boulevard where Charles Watson lived and Bernard Crowe was shot. According to many sources and rumors, Charles Watson may have met Marina Habe while she was in Hawaii. This may or may not be true, but there certainly isnt any evidence to back up that claim. Her autopsy said that her last meal was a vegetarian meal, characteristic of meals at Spahn Ranch. The Wikipedia page for Marina Habe also references that a Manson Family member stated that she was friends with one of them and may have been slain by one of the them. Other rumors say that Charles Watsons Hollywood apartment may have been close to her apartment. I am assuming they are referring to her home where she lived with her family. It is true that she did live a few miles from Franklin Avenue in West Hollywood. It is also a fact that Charles Watsons wig shop, Crown Wig Creations, was very close to where she lived with as well. Theres no indication that she had lived alone. She was also murdered by multiple stab wounds, much like the ones he inflicted onto many of his other victims. Some reports say she was raped, others say she was not. Here is an excerpt from the Mansons Day in Court blog, where the Marina Habe case was studied. Marina Habe was beator at least she had contusions in the eye area and had her throat slashed as well as stabs to the heart. Some books stated that she was raped, but the LAPD has stated that the autopsy found that to be untrue. Her body was found mostly naked. Her purse and clothes were found about 50 yards from her body. Her purse was missing her ID and credit cards. We all know how the Manson Family loved to hoard up on the IDs and stolen credit cards!

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[She] lived at 8962 Cynthia Street in West Hollywood, which was about 5 miles from where Watson was living at 6933 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood. Her body was found not far away on Mulholland Drive where it meets Bowmont Avenue. Watson could have driven from Franklin to Cynthia Street and to where her body was found in under 40 minutes. Charles Watson left Spahn Ranch in early December when Charles Manson asked for his help to build a cabin off of a creek near Spahn Ranch. He was away from Charles Manson and the Family during the time of Marina Habes murder and returned to Spahn Ranch in early 1969. This isnt the only murder that happened in close proximity to Charles Watson. Earlier that year, on November 15, 1968, an elderly man named Karl Stubbs was murdered in Olancha, California. Olancha is a small town on the outskirts of Death Valley in close proximity to Barker Ranch. In fact, Olancha is on the other side of the Panamint Range from Ballarat, where Barker Ranch is located. Its also a known fact that he stayed in Olancha in 1969 with Diane Lake at the Hanum Ranch. Olancha is nothing but a gas station, a store, a cafe, and homes. Its not a large town by any means. He knew the area well because it was his home for a short time. What does that mean? Well, if he was responsible for this murder, it means that he had killed before Charles Manson and without any manipulation by him. Sadly, the link was quickly investigated and excused despite an eye witness putting Charles Watson at Stubbs home. According to at least one person, they saw Charles Watson in Olancha at the time of the murder. Let that sink in for a second, then proceed. Why wasnt this link properly investigated? Probably because it went against the Helter Skelter motive and would have created a lot of reasonable doubt as to the notion that the Tate and LaBianca killers were seemingly normal teenagers who fell victim to the mind of Charles Manson. If this is the case, Karl Stubbs may never rest in peace due to legal tactics. Below is the verbatim report from a police officer from Olancha, California. I spoke to the witness that lived behind Karl. She told me that Karl crawled to her trailer and told her husband that there was a boy and two girls that came in his house demanding money. Every time the boy would kick him in the head the girls would laugh. The witness said that Karl was totally lucid but he could not see. He died hours later. A year later, Tex Watson confessed the Tate/LaBi-

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anca murders to Diane Lake while there were in Olancha. Olancha is the gateway to the Barker Ranch via Hwy 190. The case was investigated by the California Department of Justice. Tom interviewed the investigator who said that the investigation fell through the cracks. It was not until Tex was finally extradited from Texas, after everyone else was tried, that the clerk at the store recognized Tex on TV as one of the kids that followed Karl home from the store. It is unknown if this was ever reported to Law Enforcement. The local Olancha newspaper, The Journal, ran a story about Karl Stubbs murder and it made some creepy parallels to the Tate and LaBianca murders and especially Charles Watson. 82-year-old Olancha Man Dead of Nov. 12 Beating Attackers Laughed The article proved to be very interesting, backed up with an eye witness who claimed he saw Charles Watson enter his home. Before he died, Stubbs told deputies that the two young men and women who assaulted him were laughing and giggling as they ransacked his house and stole between $40 and $50. Money. He was murdered over money. With his history of taking money; burning Bernard Crowe, weaseling Linda Kasabian out of $5,000, and of course telling Wojciech Frykowski and Abigail Folger that he needed thousands after she offered him $70, I can see him beating a man for money even if it is $50. When you are stuck in Death Valley and disparate, I reckon $50 goes a long way. Obviously, whoever assaulted Karl Stubbs may not have intended to kill him, but he did die and it is a murder. If this is indeed Charles Watsons murder, it may not prove that he is a cold-blooded killer, but it does prove that he was an ostensibly angry, violent man. Who were the laughing girls, laughing as the assailant beat Karl Stubbs? Was it Susan Atkins? Patricia Krenwinkel? Nancy Pitman? It wasnt Linda Kasabian or Leslie Van Houten, because this was long before they attached themselves to the group. This was 1968, and before all of the paranoia started. Charles Watson was out on his own freelancing, if you will. The link with the Family and Olancha is that during the Barker Ranch days one of their own had a homestead there a guy by the name of David

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Hanum, who helped a lot with their exodus from Los Angles to Death Valley. Maybe Karl Stubbs murder is not Family related, but the fact that the murder was so poorly investigated is a tragic error in my opinion. Its true that the murder did happen before the Family was in Death Valley in 1969. But it is also true that Charles Manson, Paul Watkins, Brooks Poston, Susan Atkins, and many others, left for Death Valley around Halloween of 1968. Then if you go to 1969, while he was in Death Valley, a mysterious death happened in a small town not too far away from Olancha, called Bishop. In Bishop a man was found dead in a hotel on Main Street from an apparent gunshot wound to the head. The death was ruled a suicide and nothing much was said about it. The deceased was a man named Felippo Tenerelli (spelling of his named varies by source) from Culver City, California. Culver City, oddly enough, is in Los Angeles and not too far away from Charles Watsons old stomping grounds in West Hollywood where he dealt drugs and lived. Debra Tate once said that she was told by a Family member that Felippo Tenerelli was indeed linked to the Family as a drug supplier. I personally dont believe a word that she says, but it still may be a rare fact that has come from her mouth. We all remember her words during a television interview where she stated that Charles Watsons attorney Bill Boyd personally told her that the Tex Tapes included recorded confessions of additional murders. But then it is revealed by the LAPD that the tapes contained nothing useful. Charles Watson being the prick as he is, snidely commented on his website that I told you so. In the Ed Sanders book, The Family, he connected Felippo Tenerellior Dagoto the Family through the Gypsy Jokers. I do believe that he was probably connected to the Family somehow, but as it turns out it wasnt through the Gypsy Jokers. The Evil Liz Blog researched the murder and found Phil Ross, the club photographer-turned-author who wrote the book Gypsy Joker to a Hells Angel. He not only dismissed any allegation of Felippo Tenerelli being a Gypsy Joker but also shot down Ed Sanders allegation that Felippo Tener-

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ellis alias was Dago. This wasnt the first time that content within The Family was proven to be false. Dagos name was Donald Ragante, and there was no Gypsy Joker named Filippo Tenerelli. One other thing you might post is that Ed Sanders statement that the Gypsy Jokers were heavily into the occult is complete bullshit. With all of that being out of the way, the Felippo Tenerelli death was reopened as a homicide. Authorities found his 1969 Volkswagen bus driven over Father Crowley Vista outside of Panamint Springs and right before the turnoff that leads to Ballarat. Inside the bus was the blood of Felippo Tenerelli. The estimated time of death was October 2, 1969, and Charles Watson fled Barker Ranch October 3, 1969. Bishop is right outside of Olancha where he spent some time. Father Crowley Vista isnt very far from Ballarat and he chose to take the Ballarat way out of Goler Wash, which tells me that he was familiar with that route. The Family generally accessed Barker Ranch, not through Goler Wash, but through Warm Springs via Mengel Pass and onto Badwater Road. These are the things that do add up. Charles Watson had a thing for fleeing right after he had killed someone. If Felippo Tenerelli was indeed suicidal and committed suicide, I dont see any reason for him to drive 4 hours to Death Valley to do it. What in the world was he doing way out there? He really had a lot to live for he had a good job as a machinist, a loving family, and was just granted American citizenship. He was most definitely murdered and if he was murdered, his murder was an attempted cover up. Someone tried hard to make it look like a suicide. Much like Bruce Davis, it seemed like wherever Charles Watson went, death followed. There were other murders in his vicinitylike Mark Walts that I wont get into due to lack of information. But if you read the chapter Bruce McGregor Davis, you will read about the murders of Doreen Gaul and James Sharp. A theory that was floating around was that there is a chance that he may have helped Bruce Davis with those killings. Certain authors claim that they have evidence to back those claims up. I personally feel that those claims are absurd.

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UPI article on Charles Watson being found insane.

Tex took the witness stand, and this is record, and he said I dont know whether I am Charlie Manson or my mother. Tex didnt have his own mind one way or the other. - Charles Manson, 1981

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When Susan Atkins passed away in 2009, she took a lot of secrets to the grave, as well as the public opinion that she was the worst of the Manson girls. She has also been dubbed as an insane character that stabbed the pregnant Sharon Tate to death. So, is societys image of Susan Atkins accurate? And if it isnt, is it at least fair?

Demystifying Susan Atkins

I am not justifying her actions, nor am I saying Susan Atkins testifies to the Grand Jury on December 5, 1969. (UPI that she did not deserve prison time. She actively Press Photo) participated in the killings and she was at the Gary Hinman slaying and she was at the Cielo Drive massacre. But when she made her jailhouse confession, stating she not only murdered Sharon Tate, but drank her blood, that engraved the worlds impression of her. The problem with her confession, is that it was not a confession. It was a story to entertain and scare her fellow inmates. It seems like no matter how many times Charles Watson confessed that he was indeed the killer of Sharon Tate, the media, the prosecution and everyone else still blames her. In a way it is justice because she did hold Sharon Tate down, allowing Charles Watson to murder her. However the
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person who actually killed her (as laid out in the chapter Who is Charles Watson?) seems to escape all blame. He allowed her to take 100% of the heat until he decided to come clean when he wrote his book, Will You Die For Me?, in 1978. He called it self preservation. In the 1973 documentary, Manson, case informant and former Sybil Brand Institute inmate Ronnie Howard spilled the beans to the media and prosecution on Susan Atkins. The story she told was disgusting, violent and almost unbelievable. She stated that Susan Atkins told her that she had murdered Gary Hinman and balled John Philip Haught when he shot himself. She also stated that Susan Atkins had told her that she licked up the blood. This testimony, supplemented with the confession that she had stabbed Sharon Tate to death after murmuring, Look bitch, I have no remorse for you, was used to convict her and make her one of the most hated females in American history. In fact its probably the most known quote attributed to Susan Atkins. Susan Atkins said, on SusanAtkins.org, that she only told that story to scare her cellmates. She stated that at one time Charles Manson told them that, If they get arrested and are in jail, they have to exaggerate to make themselves look tough so they dont get victimized. This is advice that he gave most of the people in his gang and advice that he was given and lived by in prison himself. When Vincent Bugliosi caught wind of this confession, he instantly went to her with a deal to testify for the prosecution to the Helter Skelter theory. He also guaranteed immunity to the gas chamber. That prompted her to testify in front of the Grand Jury where she stated that she stabbed Wojciech Frykowski in the leg, but did not kill Sharon Tate and that the murders were copycat killings and not to spark a race war. Vincent Bugliosi did not like this and dropped the idea of giving her a deal to testify. When she was alerted that her testimony would be used against her she said, I understand this, and my life doesnt mean that much to me, I just want to see what is taken care of. So if she didnt kill Sharon Tate, how do we know Charles Watson did? Well, in his book, Will You Die for Me?, he went in great detail and took complete responsibility for it. When Susan Atkins wrote The Myth of Helter Skelter, she also spoke about that and the fact that the knife she handed

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Linda Kasabianher knife that she lost had no blood on it. But Vincent Bugliosi conveniently dismissed that bit of evidence. I told Mr. Bugliosi the truth. I hadnt killed Sharon Tate. Years later, when he wrote his book about the crimes, Mr. Bugliosi stated he got the impression I was lying to him about this that I had, in fact, killed Sharon Tate. Mr. Bugliosi was wrong about a lot of things. And he was wrong about me killing Sharon Tate. Even though hes wrong about a lot of things, Ive never caught Mr. Bugliosi deliberately lying about anything. I can also point to the fact that I said I hadnt killed Sharon Tate during my Grand Jury testimony in 1969. This was the testimony I was told by the Prosecutor had to be true or I could be executed. Thats a strong incentive to tell the truth. Mr. Bugliosi, of course, believes I lied about that part of the crime in my Grand Jury testimony. I am happy to point out that even Mr. Bugliosi admits my rendition of the crimes as told to the Grand Jury was corroborated in every instance by the version Linda Kasabian gave. Charles Watson has stated I didnt kill Sharon Tate. In addition, the Prosecutor has since admitted the knife I was carrying the night Sharon Tate was killed was actually found at the crime scene. It was tested for blood and it was found to be clean. It had never struck anyone. There is no dispute it was my knife, as Linda Kasabian was the one who handed out the knives and she identified it. And there is no dispute there was no blood on it. The Prosecutor has apparently insisted the fact my knife wasnt used doesnt prove I didnt kill Sharon Tate at all claiming I could have borrowed Charles Watsons knife. Pretty much everyone who knew her has dismissed her as a liar, or more precisely as a habitual liar. This extends to the media and the public. Everyone feels that everything she says is a self-serving lie. I also believe that she is a liar, but is being honest about this. All of the evidence backs her claims up. After her testimony to the Grand Jury, an attorney named Richard Caballero wedged himself as a representing public defender on her behalf. He convinced her to tell him the entire story and let him tape it. During those sessions, she spoke about the murder of Tate.

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So I went over and put Sharon (Tate) in a headlock. Then she began begging to me to let her go so she could have her baby, and wow, I realized she was pregnant. Sharon was so quiet. Tex came back in and said Kill her! Then Katie (Patricia Krenwinkel) like an echo said Kill her! Then I said Tex, I cant kill her. Youve got to do it. So, Tex stabbed her in the heart again and again. Richard Caballero then somehow talked her into selling him the rights to her words and life story. Here is a timeline breakdown of how he took advantage of her and bled her dry, earning a significant amount of money in a very short amount of time. This was taken from an article written by Ed Sanders in the L.A. Free Press publication. November 18, 1969: Susan Atkins cell mates spill the beans on her conversations with them. November 26, 1969: Richard Caballero shows up to Susan Atkins hearing in Malibu. December 1, 1969: Richard Caballero takes Susan Atkins to his office in the presence of Vincent Bugliosi and records her story. December 4, 1969: Susan Atkins is taken to Richard Caballeros office for another taping session. According to Susan Atkins, Caballero attempted to touch her. December 5, 1969: Susan Atkins testifies to the Grand Jury of the story she told Richard Caballero. December 7, 1969: Richard Caballero announces to the press that he is afraid Charles Manson will conjure up a vision and hurt his client, Susan Atkins. December 8, 1969: Susan Atkins signs over rights to her story to Richard Caballero including the writing and/or sales of the story of my life. 40% will go to attorneys, and the rest will be split 40/60 between Caballero and Atkins. December 9, 1969: Richard Caballero publishes Atkins confession and opens an escrow account. December 10, 1969: Judge Keene issues a gag order on Susan Atkins, despite presiding over and signing the court orders on her deal with Richard Caballero. Richard Caballero is officially assigned as Susan Atkins attorney as a public defender, using county money.

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December 11/12/13, 1969: Time Magazine, Newsweek and LA Times attempt to buy the rights to Susan Atkins story, but Caballero decides not to sell it to them because he feels he can make more money selling it to a European publication. December 14, 1969: Paul Caruso double-deals and sells his xeroxed copy of Susan Atkins confession to the LA Times, never disclosing the amount. December 18, 1969: Royalties start to come in to the escrow account created by Caballero; $81,000 ($506,000 today) as of July, 1970. January 22, 1970: Richard Caballero makes Susan Atkins sign over 50% of her 60% for attorney fees despite being her public defender, paid by the county.

Its quite obvious why he wanted to defend her and did a horrible job at it. This conflict of interest would have entitled Susan Atkins to a retrial, but in doing so she would again face the death penalty. So she never sought a new trial. She was caught between justice and the gas chamber. When justice is 1960s anti-communist and anti-radical justice, I dont blame her for choosing not to go with a new trial. I will admit, though, that she was no angel and she was certainly deserving of prison. But she was obviously a very mentally disturbed individual who prided herself others believing she was evil. Then when the entire world bought the media lies hook, line and sinker, she resented it. Soon after she left the Grand Jury, her story was being fed to every newspaper in the nation and they all ran the story. During the trial itself, she was put back in the spotlight as the one who confessed these murders to numerous people while in the Sybil Brand Institute. Ronnie Howard was one of them who testified a false story to the jury against her. After the fact, she received a nice letter from Susan Atkins. I am going to save my soul, the body my soul is housed in can be destroyed for all I care. To live forever is all I want, and I really dont care about that. When I first heard you were the informer I wanted to slit your throat. I snapped that I was the real informer and it was my throat I wanted to cut. Well thats over with now as I let the past die away from my mind. You know it will turn out okay in the end anyway. M or no M, Sadie or no Sadie. Love will still run forever. I am giving up me to become that love a little more every day.

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No matter what she said, no one believed her. No matter how much she back-peddled her story, no one would listen. Even Vincent Bugliosi hopped on the bandwagon stating that it was Charles Manson who was ordering her to change her story. Theres no doubt that she talked too much and even lied. But in this case she was telling the truth and that truth would not be substantiated until Charles Watson came forward in 1978, admitting his part in murdering Sharon Tate. Even in a 1981 interview with OUI Magazine, Bobby Beausoleil summed her up with very few words: Susan Atkins has a motor mouth. She did it to herself. She was convicted of the LaBianca killings despite never even stepping into the Waverly Drive home. The prosecution stated that she knew about the murders, therefore she is responsible through the conspiracy law. But also in that car that delivered the killers was Steve Grogan, who also knew about the murders, but the prosecution said that he was too stupid to prosecute for the murders. So stupid that he acted a death penalty conviction, down to a parole date. She also confessed to many people that she was the killer of Gary Hinman, which is absolutely absurd. In her book, Child of Satan, Child of God, she said Charles Manson ordered her to kill Gary Hinman and programmed her to do so. Why dont you go kill Gary and get his money? His eyes stared hard into my face. The tension between us was palpable. But within me, I could hear the words, Ill show him. Ill show him I can be just as tough as he can. My body was frozen. I knew I wasnt rational. Ill show him, I had said. I was out of control. I was a scared young woman. But somehow I sensed Charlie was a scared little man. It is a fact that Gary Hinmans slayer was Bobby Beausoleil and he stated that the murder was over bad drugs, not a large sum of money that Charles Manson wanted. It makes no sense why she chose to write this version of events. The only reason that I can think of is that she has convinced herself that this was the true story. In the end she was roped into testifying in front of the Grand Jury. She testified to a story that the prosecution disagreed with, and and subsequently they dropped the offer to be States witness. She was back to where

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she started. She also sold her rights to her name and story and subsequently was bled dry by her own attorney. The entire world saw her as a blood-drinking baby killer and she was the only one to blame. Her Grand Jury testimony was used against her, and rightfully so. Vincent Bugliosi stated in his book, Helter Skelter, that they needed her testimony very badly. Without Susan Atkins testimony on the Tate case, the evidence against two out of the five defendants [Manson and Kasabian] is rather anemic. Without her testimony on the LaBianca case, the evidence against five out of the six defendants [everyone except Van Houten] is non-existent. That was it. Without [Susan], we still didnt have a case. She ended up being hated by her own Family, and it seemed that even before then, they were already growing tired of her. She had a reputation for having a big mouth and being completely untrustworthy, as Danny DeCarlo once put it. When it comes to the crimes, I personally believe that her memory is cloudy. Her story of what happened after the murders differs from Charles Watsons version (see chapter: Who is Charles Watson), and she seemed to want to tell everyone about the murders. She most certainly was not Charles Mansons favored girl as the media seems to report and the movies love to portray. Its more accurate that she was so out of control and on Charles Mansons last nerve that she decided to factionionalize with Charles Watson and his speed circle, completely disregarding the words of Charles Manson. In the Ed Sanders book, The Family, he too painted a picture of the residents at Spahn Ranch disliking Atkins. July 28, 1968, Bobby Beausoleil and Diane Lake overheard Susan Atkins telling Spahn Ranch hand Donald Shea that, Charlie killed a black man and I dont know who else. That was obviously untrue. When Mary Brunner heard of her motor-mouth, she became furious and told her that she is going to kill her if she doesnt keep her mouth shut. She apparently slammed her head against the wall stating that Shorty knew too much. At least one account of this event put Charles Manson as the one who did that to Susan Atkins. That was false. There was also a time when they were on the run after the murders. She, Charles Manson, and a few others wanted to stay at the Fountain of the

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World Church on Box Canyon Road and she had them all kicked out by running her mouth, calling the sisters the ugliest pigs I ever seen. Charles Manson had some choice words for her after that. Again it goes to show you that she was not liked very much at Spahn Ranch, which explains why Charles Manson actually exiled her from the Family. Even before that, he sent her, Mary Brunner, and Patricia Krenwinkel to Mendocino to try and scope out a place to live. She was later arrested up there for contributing to a minor. That arrest took her out of Charles Mansons hair for a good 6-8 months. Sources also say he told her to leave the ranch for using drugs while pregnant with Zezoes Zadfrack Glutz. Upon her return to Spahn Ranch, she came back with the Clap, spreading it to most of the Family. It was written in Nuel Emmons book, Manson in His Own Words, that She blamed it on Clem, but the girls beat her up pretty bad for it. It was said that Juan Flynn had it so bad that it took months to cure him. Bobby Beausoleil stated that Susan Atkins had it so bad that her feet blistered up and was not able to wear shoes. Yummy. The fact that Charles Manson sort of exiled her probably made her want to prove herself to him even more. It also probably drove her towards Charles Watson and his drug ring. According to the Marlin Marynick book, Charles Manson Now, Charles Manson asked her and Charles Watson to leave the ranch because they were consuming speedsomething he forbadeand told them to live on the side of the creek. This was right before the Tate and LaBianca murders. With all of this said, it doesnt make her look any better. I do hope it will open peoples eyes and realize that what the media and judicial system reports isnt always the truth. Susan Atkins is wrongfully branded the worst so-called Manson girl. This completely ignores the fact that Patricia Krenwinkel not only took control of the murders, but stabbed close to 100 times. Susan Atkins, she may have only stabbed Frykowskis leg and then could not follow through, as per Charles Watson. Even before she met Charles Manson she had the same issues with law enforcement. She started her life of crime in drugs, armed robberies and run-ins with the police long before she met Charles Manson and it extended

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past him. Charles Manson did not create Atkins she created herself, the media fed it. In 1987, Manson spoke to LIFE Magazine and had this to say about her. If they let Susie tomorrow, shes still going to be in jail. Shes imprisoned herself. Shes playing Jesus for parole. But I got nothing against Susie. I love her. But I wouldnt want her around me. Charles Manson also told me that he will forever be bonded to her. He also has stated that she knew a lot more than she has ever revealed. In fact before her death in 2009, he told author Marlin Marynick that he begged her to reveal the truth. He said that she never responded, or perhaps never even received the letters. In 1999, author and comedian Paul Krassner wrote an article for GettingIt.com as a part of a 30th anniversary remembrance. He was a good friend of Lynette Fromme for some time and has researched the case. The article he wrote mentioned an investigator named Hal Lipsett, and his findings on Susan Atkins and her association with the victims. When Hal Lipset, the renowned private investigator, informed me a few years ago that the Los Angeles Police Department seized pornographic films and videotapes found in Polanskis loft and, additionally, certain LAPD officers were selling the tapes, that seemed like a clue. One police source told Lipset that there was seven hours worth of Polanskis homemade porn, and that it was worth a quarter of a million dollars. Lipset gave me a litany of those private porn flicks. There was Greg Bautzer, an attorney for Howard Hughes, with Jane Wyman, the ex-wife of then-California Governor Ronald Reagan. There was Cass Elliot in an orgy with Yule Brynner, Peter Sellers, and Warren Beatty. This trio, along with John Phillips, had offered a $25,000 reward for the capture of the killers. There was Sharon Tate with Dean Martin. There was Sharon with Steve McQueen. And there she was with two black bisexual men The cops werent too happy about that one, Lipset recalled. I eventually tracked down a reporter who told me that when she was hanging around with the LAPD, they showed her a porn video of Susan Atkins, one of Charlies devils, with Voytek Frykowski, one of the victims. This contradicts the official story, which is that the executioners and the victims had never met until the night of the massacre.

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But apparently the reporter mentioned the wrong victim, because when I wrote to Charlie and asked directly, Did Susan sleep with Frykowski? he answered, You are ill advised and misled. Sebring [one of the victims] done Susans hair and I think he sucked one or two of her dicks. Im not sure who she was walking out from her stars and cages, that girl loves dick, you know what I mean, hon. Yul Garretson Brynner, Peter Sellers. This holds a lot of merit. It is true that videos were found in the Polanski/Tate residence and even William Garretson, the lone survivor of the Cielo Drive Massacre, had said he witnessed them making films when he appeared on the E! Networks Manson special in 1999. The films were explained by Roman Polanski as private videos of he and his wife. However according to the Tate homicide report, it stated that victim Jay Sebring was known for filming videos with girls he had just met. In a Truman Capote interview with Bobby Beausoleil, he too mentioned these videos and told Truman Capote to even ask the cops, not they theyd tell you the truth. In 2009, after battling cancer, Susan Atkins passed away and took the answers to all of these questions to the grave. I sincerely hope that she found the peace in her afterlife that she could not find while being alive. She contributed to a lot of horror and she had to do her time in prison. I do believe that she found God and that she was honest about it. I am also sure she was forgiven. Charles Manson never hesitated to call Susan Atkins nasty names. Its clear that he still held a grudge against her for lying in the first place and causing them all to get busted. Her confession to Ronnie Howard was all based-on-truth lies, so he sort of has a point. But he has always said that he still loved her. In fact, when asked about her death by Crime Magazine in 2009, he said the same. She believed that Jesus was coming on earth. She was preparing herself for Jesus on earth. She left the hospital with Jesus. Susie dont die. Susie never dies. You believe everything people tell you but you wont believe what I tell you. You know, we go through changes and we change bodies. Susan Atkins is an angel. Susan Atkins lives in eternity with God. If you believe, she still lives. I think he is right. Susan Atkins was definitely no saint and I feel like she had her share of mental issues, but she certainly was not this woman the

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Susan Atkins Grand Jury testimony is sold to the media.

media made her to be. That persona was an image created by the media and peoples imaginations.

I dont believe this claim that Susan is under a hypnotic spell of Manson. I think she is just trying to talk her way out of it. Shes sick and she needs help. I have tried for three years to get the courts to keep her of the streets; had they done so, this might have never happened. Edward Atkins, Susans father

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Stupid Cupid
Charles Manson and the Family met Bobby Beausoleil at some parties probably at the now infamous Spiral Staircase. He said in a 1981 interview with Oui Magazine that he met him in Topanga Canyon, around 66. However, this is not true because Charles Manson was still in prison in 1966. More accurately, he met him in late 1967, or 1968, when he auditioned for Mansons band The Milky Way.

Bobby Beausoleils retrial March, 1970. (Argenta Images)

I joined a band, The Milky Way, that Charlie was in. Thats how I met him. He was a very talented songwriter, good musician lyrically, just excellent. He was somebody with an incredibly intense, vivid expanded imagination because of all the time hes done. On his website Beasoleil.net he expanded further on his meeting of Charles Manson. The best thing, though, was Charlie and his singing, and his kind of Dylanesque sounding lyrics. At that time I didnt listen to them too closely, but when I did I liked them, I liked the songs. I wanted to work with him and get him into

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the studio. He strummed a guitar and he strummed it well, I will say that. He provided a good rhythmic foundation for his own music. He could have been a really good drummer, had he gone that way. He was also working on a film called Mondo Hollywood with Jay Sebring, who was a victim of Charles Watson in the Cielo Drive massacre. This may be purely coincidence, but also it may also prove what Manson has said before; that we all ran in the same circle. Quite recently a man has even come forward with an allegation that he owns a photo of Charles Manson with Dennis Wilson, Elvis Presley, and Jay Sebring in the living room of Elvis Presleys home. Think about that. In the Nuel Emmons book, Manson in His Own Words, he said that when he met Bobby Beausoleil that the girls just loved him and admired him. He was an actor and musician with bands called Love, The Grass Roots, and Orkustra and had sang backup for Frank Zappa. He had a bright future ahead of him thats if he played his cards right. He commented that his appeal to Charles Manson was his creativity, not the girls. He mentions this in an Oui Magazine interview. Charles Manson was lonely. He used his women to attract a man because he liked having other men around to do men things with. What man couldnt be attracted by having the opportunity to go to bed with several womento cater to his every fantasywhatever? I didnt have that attraction to that group. I didnt need it. His women could not attract me. He could attract me because I admired his creativity. Of course, this sort of breaks the myth that he was a true die-hard Family member and proves that he was basically there for the girls and for the companionship of Charles Manson and purely on a creative level. In a 1970 trial testimony, Paul Watkins testified that his job was to recruit girls to join the Family and recruited Leslie Van Houten as per the theory the prosecution laid out. He was lying. Leslie Van Houten was Bobby Beausoleils girl, and she only stayed with the Family after his arrest for the Gary Hinman murder. However, she had spent time with them off and on before then, but only as a guest with Bobby Beausoleil. In a 1977 interview, Leslie Van Houten expanded that Charles Manson respected the fact that she was Bobby Beausoleils girl, and would not speak to her or touch her. So if this is true, then how did he program her?

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When I first met Charlie, he was kind of upset that I was there because I had been with a friend of hisBobby Beausoleiland he was frightened that my being therestaying at the ranchwould come between he and this other fellow. Not only does this make her a prime candidate to help with the copycat murders to free Bobby Beausoleil, but it backs up the things Charles Manson has said pertaining to his respect for Bobby Beausoleil and barely knowing her. It is a fact that her did not even want her there. He obviously dug Bobby Beausoleil way too much to ruin their friendship. This is heavy coming from someone whose prime focus was getting with as many girls as he could. Charlie made a commitment that he would be willing to die for his family. And when you make this commitment, its very easy to fall into the trap of: I would be willing to kill for the Family. The John Gilmore book, The Garbage People, had an entire chapter dedicated to Bobby Beausoleil. In those pages it painted him as a man who truly envied Charles Manson, and vise-versa. According to the Ed Sanders book, The Family, Bobby Beausoleil followed Charles Manson to Death Valley in 1968, but hitchhiked out of there with Paul Watkins as his guidewhen he became bored of the scene. Not only did he hike out of Goler Wash, but hiked down some unforgiving terrain that spanned the 6 miles of Goler Wash and 18 miles of the long, dusty and rocky Wingate Road. This was just to get to the ghost town Ballarat. He still had 25 miles to go to the nearest town of Trona. He must have been very bored. Needless to say, if Charles Manson had any control of his followers, this wouldnt have happened. The book John Gilmore, The Garbage People, summed up Bobby Beausoleils opinion on the relationship between he and Charles Manson. Our relationship right from the start was what you might call open-ended. And right from the start I was sure something was going to be coming down. If we merged the two personalities, I knew, and so did he with the way he knew things, that wed indeed raise Hell on earth. The book also mentioned him meeting Leslie Van Houten and it is obvious that she was his girl.

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Leslie claims that Bobby had the most beautiful face on any man shed ever seen. He was an angel, she says, and I told him I would love him forever. She told Bobby, Ill go anywhere in the world with you. He said, Would you come to hell with me? Take me, she said to him. Although he has denied being a part of the group, in 1973, he actually told Truman Capote something similar; contradicting his explanation that he was not a Family member. Everybody always wants to know how I got together with Manson. It was through our music. He plays some, too. One night I was driving around with a bunch of my ladies. Well, we came to this old roadhouse [The Corral], beer place, with a lot of cars outside. So we went inside, and there was Charlie with some of his ladies. We all got to talking, played some together; the next day Charlie came to see me in my van, and we all, his people and my people, ended up camping out together. Brothers and sisters. A family. A year later Leslie Van Houten participated in the LaBianca murders, part of a string of murders the Family claimed were orchestrated in what key Family members said was an attempt to make it look like Gary Hinmans murderer was not Bobby Beausoleil and still at large, thus freeing him. Leslie Van Houten was not a Manson girl, she was Bobby Beausoleils girl. In fact she barely knew Charles Manson at the time of the Tate/LaBianca murders. She admitted this in the excerpt of the 1977 interview that I previously posted. It is also a fact that Bobby Beausoleil went his separate ways from the Family many times. He left Barker Ranch in late 1968, and returned to Spahn Ranch in the Summer of 1969, and he sold the resident motorcycle gang at Spahn Ranch some bad mescaline that he was supplied from his friend Gary Hinman. He held Gary Hinman responsible plain and simple. In the 1981 Oui Magazine interview he lays out what escalated his confrontation with Gary Hinman. A. Bardach:. Why did you go to Gary Hinmans home on July 25th, 1969? Bobby Beausoleil: I didnt go there with the intention of killing Gary. If I was going to kill him, I wouldnt have taken the girls. (Mary Brunner and Susan

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Atkins). I was going there for one purpose only, which was to collect $1000 that I had already turned over to him, that didnt belong to me. A. Bardach: When had you given him the $1000? Bobby Beausoleil: The night before. A. Bardach: You paid Hinman $1000 for 1000 tabs of mescaline and then returned to the Spahn Ranch? Bobby Beausoleil: Right. The whole transaction with the Straight Satans motorcycle club took place at Spahns Ranch. There were a few Satan Slavers hanging out there as well. The Straight Satans took the mescaline back to the motorcycle club at Venice where they were intending to party, they were really mad about it. A. Bardach. Why did you bring Susan Atkins and Mary Brunner to the Hinman house? Bobby Beausoleil: Because they were friends of Gary Hinman. Mary Brunner was close to him because she stayed with him for a while. She was as close as anybody could be with him. The girls didnt even know what was going on. They just wanted to go and party and see him. No one was going there with any intention of killing Gary Hinman. A. Bardach: In neither of your trials, nor in Ed Sanders or Bugliosis books, is there any mention of the Hinman murder stemming from a drug burn. Bobby Beausoleil: I never testified about it. I never told anybody. I didnt know how to deal with it. What happened to me that day was the culmination of a whole lot of pressures that had been on me for several years. A. Bardach: Alright. You arrive at Hinmans and asked for your money back? Bobby Beausoleil: I demanded it. I wasnt going to take no for an answer. I had a motorcycle band on my back. Needless to say, his version of the truth is very much different than the prosecutions version and wholly contradicts that Charles Manson sent him there to take $20,000 from Gary Hinman in the name of Helter Skelter. But when he made it to Gary Hinmans residence, he refused to give him his money back. Bobby Beausoleil told Oui Magazine that they got into a scuffle and he beat him up pretty bad. Later on, Gary Hinman threatened to call the cops, and instead he called Charles Manson for advice on how to diffuse the situation.

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Bobby Beausoleil: He told me that he was going to the police (and tell them) that I had come and assaulted him to get money from him. I had my back against the wall. He said, Im going to tell the police what you did to me. Up until that point I had assumed that everything was square between us. This guy is a drug dealer. Hes playing the game. And if youre going to dance, youve got to pay the fiddler. You burn somebody, thats the way it is. A. Bardach: How did Gary Hinman die? Bobby Beausoleil: Stabbed in the heart twice. He did immediately. A. Bardach: Did Susan Atkins and Mary Brunner simply stand around and watch you kill Hinman? Bobby Beausoleil: Well, no one wanted to kill him. They had just come along for the ride. A. Bardach: What did the girls do? Bobby Beausoleil: They didnt know what to do. He (Gary) was closer to them than he was to me. Susan Atkins seemed to think, Oh what fun, how interesting. Mary Brunner was just scared to death. Mary Brunner just faded into the woodwork. She was a librarian. Susan Atkins is now a Jesus freak in jail. She gave five different testimonies and in one of them, she claimed she killed Hinman. (laughs.) A. Bardach: Who actually wrote Political Piggy on the wall in Hinmans blood? Bobby Beausoleil : I didnt, but I had it written. Well, it was my idea to do it. Susan Atkins was on that wall. The whole thing was to take the heat off the trail. Gary Hinman was into his revolutionary communism. His living room was a library of Communist literature. I figured Id make it look like one of his cohorts, you know. A. Bardach: Make it look like a Black Panther killing? Bobby Beausoleil: I wasnt thinking about blacks necessarily. A. Bardach: That was Mansons trip. Bobby Beausoleil: Its never really been his trip. I mean, hes from the South. West Virginia. Since hes been in (prison) he gets along with blacks better than anybody. As you can read, his first-hand account of the murder is a lot different than the versions the prosecutions witnesses tell. They obviously testified

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hearsay and second-hand information as fact or more accurately were coerced/extorted/bribed. He goes on with his theory in a 1981 interview with Seconds Magazine speculating on how Danny DeCarlo knew about the crime and claiming that he never talked to him about it. Bobby Beausoleil: I called the Ranch and got Charlie on the phone and said, Look, man, youve left me with this problem. You came and cut this guy, there was no need for that. Its your problem. And he essentially told me, Well, you know what to do as well as I do. He just kind of put it back in my court. Seconds: And later that was alleged to be an order from Manson, telling you to kill Gary. Bobby Beausoleil: Yes, as in: You know what to do thats how it was characterized. Seconds: Which is completely meaningless, really. Bobby Beausoleil: Similar words in a completely different context. Seconds: Who testified that he had said this? Bobby Beausoleil: I dont remember. It was probably Danny DeCarlo. He was one of the star witnesses against me. The other star witness was Mary Brunner. Seconds: What was DeCarlos motivation in testifying? Bobby Beausoleil: He stood to go to prison for a federal gun charge, and grand theft auto. I think it was for a stolen motorcycle. Seconds: He was just trying to save his ass on charges that were absolutely unrelated to your whole situation. Bobby Beausoleil: He admitted as much on the witness stand. He testified that I told him, in a conversation after-the-fact, what had happened. He related, Well, this is what Bobby told me at the trial, and of course that had never happenedI never had any such conversation with him. But one of the girls that had been with me, Susan Atkins, was his live-in girlfriend in his shack out at the ranch. Now I assume what happened is that she had told him, and he later changed it to Bobby told me Seconds: Thats a fair assumption, given her predilection for telling everybody everything, all the time. Bobby Beausoleil: No doubt about itits completely in character for her. Seconds: It seems like she would tell anybody anything they wanted to hear.

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Bobby Beausoleil: Seems that way. Mary Brunner testified that she was there, and that she saw me stab Gary the second time. I stabbed him twice in the chest. I had stabbed him once, and then she heard something and came running into the room and saw me stab him again. She was threatened with the loss of her child if she didnt testify. It was insane. Everything about my second trial was absolutely incredible. It is true, Mary Brunner testified to elude murder charges of her own in connection with the Gary Hinman slaying. She also had her baby, Michael Valentine Pooh Bear Manson, taken from her in an attempt for authorities to gain leverage in having her turn prosecutions witness against him, Charles Manson and Bruce Davis. She went with it and testified to what the prosecution laid out for immunity to murder charges to get her son back. During that trial she went public with her claims that she was coerced when she gave Sandra Good her statement to read to the news cameras. Friday morning I testified as a witness to Bobby. What I said at that time was true. Bobby did not stab Hinman and neither did Charlie, Bruce, Sadie or me. I cant say who did it, but he was not a part of the Family. I would not say who did it before, and when the police told me that Bobby was blaming it on me and threatened me with parole violations, and murder charges, and the loss of my kid, I was frightened and put it on Bobby. I only testified to thing things I said in the original statement because I was told that I would be prosecuted if I didnt. The affidavit I made in May is true. And I offered to Mr. Graves to take a lie detector test, however the judge did not permit it. They said either I cooperate with the investigators or I be arrested immediately for murder. Judge Keene doesnt want the truth, he wants the conviction of Bobby and the only other man he would accept as the killer was Charlie. Additionally, Mary Brunner went on record in the 2006 documentary, Inside The Manson Gang, with a claim that she was drugged and then interrogated and threatened with the loss of her son to implicate Charles Manson and/or Bobby Beausoleil. She also mentioned the fact that Bobby Beausoleil tried to blame the murder on her. The Detectives Whiteley and Gunther offered me some kind of drugI cant remember whichand a couple drinks to get me less nervous. And then they were seeing about getting my probation violated immediately behind my connec-

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tion with the Family. Then they say, Sadies been telling us all about you. Sadie said you helped kill Gary Hinman. But, then Bobby said you did all the killing of Gary Hinman. You got a son, dont you? You got your son to think about. It was easy to see that once he was connected to Charles Manson, that Bobby Beausoleil will be easily convicted. When he was convicted, according to newspapers, Mary Brunner stood up and shouted. My lawyer told me to go along with you because you indicated Id be arrested for murder! You are a corruption of the Constitution! I told you that Friday and I would have stuck with that If you wouldnt have come up with your jackass statements! Obviously it was Bobby Beausoleil who killed Gary Hinman, but even he stated that when all of the friction started, Mary Brunner disappeared off into the woodwork. But who was the other man there? Was she lying, or may it have been a Straight Satan who were burned on Gary Hinmans drugs? Recently the website BiblicallyIncorrect.com wrote an article on who this other man may have been. Bobby Beausoleil didnt kill Gary Hinman out of anger or rage. He didnt kill him for love or money. In fact, Bobby Beausoleil didnt want to kill Gary Hinman at all. He had absolutely not motive for killing Gary Hinman except self-preservation. Danny DeCarlo gave Bobby a gun and sent him to Gary Hinmans house for the sole purpose of getting his money back. He told him to use that gun on Gary Hinman if he didnt give him his money. He told Bobby to act like a man. Danny scared the beJesus out of Bobby. Bobby knew that if he didnt get Dannys $1,000 back from Gary Hinman that Danny and his motorcycle gang, the Straight Satans, were going to be coming after Bobby. Bobby was a 20 year-old kid in fear for his life when he went over to Gary Hinmans. He wasnt afraid of Charlie Manson. He was afraid of Danny DeCarlo and his motorcycle gang. He knew that if he failed in this mission, or ran, that he was going to be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life. And, one day this motorcycle gang would catch up with him and torture him to death or worse yet they would go after his family. In Danny DeCarlos testimony he put Charles Manson at the top as the man who ordered Bobby Beausoleil to kill Gary Hinman. Bobby Beausoleil

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vehemently denies this and aside from his trialwhere he actually blamed it all on Charles Manson, saying he killed Gary Hinmanhe has stuck to this story for 40 years. His reason for blaming it on Charles Manson during the trial was based on the fact that he had already been given the death penalty for the Tate and LaBianca slayings, and he figured the Charles Mansonmade-me-do-it plea would get him off scott-free. He explains this on his website Beausoleil.net in a small taste of his upcoming book Dead End. I had rationalized that it would be better for my parents and siblings if they believed that I hadnt killed anyone. My decision to create an elaborate deceit would never rest easy with me. Even then, as I examined my face in the mirror, my misgivings heckled me; the inner voice, unbidden, like a distant shout: liar! Time and times innumerable that voice would be silenced. I insisted that I was innocent (liar!), that it was really Charlie who had done that awful thing (liar!). I lied to myself most of all, rationalizing that that rationalization was valid (liar!), when deep down I knew that I had told the big lie because I was a cowardbecause I lacked the courage to look my parents and my brothers and sisters in the eyes and tell them the truth. In the Nuel Emmons book, Manson in His Own Words, he tells a similar story on why Gary Hinman was killed. This seems to be the most legitimate motive. For several weeks, Bobby was moving Garys stuff off on a group of bikers, without any problems. But one morning three of the bikers came riding into the ranch and wanted to see Bobby. The bikers said the latest batch of stuff he had sold them was bad, laced with poison. Some of their own group had gotten deathly ill and some of the people they sold to were also sick. They wanted their money back. Bobby told them to give him the unused mescaline and he would return it to his connection and then give their money back. It was bad shit and we dumped it. Just give us $2,000 back, said the leader. Man, I cant buy that, my connection wont go for it, replied Bobby. The leader said, Tell us where your connection is, well get our bread. I spoke up, You guys know better than that. Well see our man, if he thinks the shit could have been bad, hell make it good for you. Give us time to talk to him. Three guys fired up their bikes and pulled out of the yard, saying they wanted to hear from us the next day. Bobby and I discussed the validity of their

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complaint. None of our group had gotten sick, but we werent sure if we had used the same batch. The only thing to do was to go talk to Gary about it So what happened to Gary Hinman after Charles Manson arrived? He has stated that Charles Manson never gave the orders for Gary Hinman to be killed, and the prosecutions reasoning behind the murder was wrong. He did claim (see chapter: False Witness - Danny DeCarlo) that Danny DeCarlo was the one who told him to go get his money and how to do it. Danny DeCarlo was a part of the motorcycle gang The Straight Satans, whom had been burned with the bad drugs. He also said the sword Charles Manson used to cut Gary Hinman was given to him by The Straight Satans. In 1998, he laid it out for Seconds Magazine. Bobby Beausoleil: He had a couple of beat-up vehicles, however. A Fiat with a Toyota engine and a VW bus with a smashed-in front. They were both junkers, but I figured that between the two of them they might be worth a thousand bucks, so I said, How about those two cars? and he signed over the pink slips for the two wrecks. Im figuring the business is concluded, weve balanced the score as well as we can and Ive got something at least which I can take back, and hopefully it will be good enough. What I didnt know was that while Gary and I had been wrestling over the gun, one of the girls had called the Ranch. They didnt tell me afterward. Gary and I were in this tense situation, and I didnt know that one of them had called the Ranch. Shortly after all this, while Im concluding business with Gary and getting ready to leave, suddenly someone comes to the door. At this point the gun was put away, and Gary was not being held against his will. Hed got a couple of lumps on the top of his head from being hit with the gun, but other than that he was unscathed. There was a bullet hole in his kitchen sink, but we were both okay with walking away from it and letting it go at that. He was not real happy about losing his vehicles, but he was writing them off. Now suddenly there was someone at the door, and Gary answered it. It turned out to be Manson, with Bruce Davis standing behind him. Now following my previous line of conjecture, I would assume that Manson believed that Gary was still in control of the situation, because Gary answered the door. Manson didnt give him a chance to say anything more than Hi, Charlie before he struck Gary across the face with a sword. Seconds: Manson had brought a sword with him?

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Bobby Beausoleil: Yes, it was a little, short sword that one of the Straight Satans had given to him. It was something he affected at that time, and hed brought it with him and slashed Gary across the face with it. He walked in and kind of blustered around for a few minutes. I assume he realized his mistake fairly shortly thereafter. Seconds: You had the situation resolved and then it suddenly erupts in a whole other direction. Bobby Beausoleil: Yes, and now Ive got a situation where Gary had a severe slash across his face and a kind of nick where the sword had cut his ear. I heard Manson say something to me like, Thats how you be a man. He called this showing me how to be a man. Then he and Bruce left. Gary was bleeding pretty badly from his face, and I didnt know what to do. The girls were still there, but Manson had left. He was gone in five minutes or less. One of them, either he or Bruce, drove one of Garys vehicles away. I dont remember how or why this came about. Seconds: Did Manson see what hed done as just an act of taking control of the situation? Bobby Beausoleil: I guess. Like I said, I can only assume that he thought his girls were in jeopardy, and he had to come and save the day. He slashed Gary across the face before hed given himself enough time to really assess what was going on, because had he done that, he would have realized that Gary didnt have the gun, and wasnt threatening anyone and there was no need to slash anyone across the face. But what resulted from this was that now I had a severely wounded guy on my hands who Im afraid is going to go to the cops. He wanted to get medical treatment, understandably, and he wanted to go to the hospital. I didnt want him to go to the hospital, because I knew if he did, that would bring the cops in. I was in a panic, and the only thing I could think of to do was to try to fix him up myself. Id had some experience sewing up my dog, Hocus. I wanted to try to just cool him out. I was desperate. It was a desperate effort to try to make things right with Gary so that he wouldnt go to the cops. He would seem to cool out for awhile, he would chant for a while, and then he would decide, No, this is isnt gonna work, I need to get to the hospital. Seconds: The situation had spiraled out beyond any point of salvaging it.

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Bobby Beausoleil: So it seemed to me at the time. I didnt know what to do. I drove back to the Spahn Ranch with the two girls in the VW bus. Now how all this evolved into the theory that Manson ordered me to kill Gary . Seconds: Which is what is claimed in Bugliosis book? Bobby Beausoleil: Thats what was alleged at my trial. That was the sort of framework that the prosecution was trying to establish as the explanation for the so-called Manson Family Tate/LaBianca murders, that Manson was directing everything and issuing orders, and that I was under his orders. That being said, he lays it out as a drug burn that spiraled out of control. Charles Manson tried to step inprobably in place Danny DeCarloand save the day. He explained that one of the girls called Charles Manson at the ranch, and in my opinion he may have thought it was the Bernard Crowe (see chapter: Who is Charles Watson?) situation repeated. Sadly, Charles Manson ended up taking the fall for masterminding the entire situation. Bobby Beausoleil summed up his attitude during this point of his life as being just a greasy kid in a greasy leather jacket and boots, with chips on both shoulders the size of ammunition boxes. Charles Manson did not make Bobby Beausoleil. After his trial, he has tried to be as vocal as he could be defending the fact that Charles Manson was not involved. He sums up the reason for the prosecution getting Charles Manson into his case as merely a money move. And I believe that to be true. Look at how much money one man mad off of Susan Atkins (see chapter: Demystifying Susan Atkins) with just a little pull. In 1981, he explained it to Oui Magazine. That was the prosecutions theory because they wanted to get Manson into the act. They tried every trick in the book and Ill tell you why. The Tate/Labianca Murder fell under jurisdiction under the Los Angeles Police Department. However, Shorty Shea and Gary Hinmans murders both came into jurisdiction of the Sheriffs Department/LASO and the Sheriffs department were in competition. Actually Hinmans ear was never cut off- never gone. It was more that his cheek was sliced that intersected the edge of his ear and you can see it in his autopsy report. That slash on his face occurred the night before he died. Bugliosi told the jury Manson cut his ear off, but its there in the autopsy [report]. You see

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the Sheriffs Homicide Department wanted to get Manson involved with my case, which was very difficult because Manson was not involved. What would he have to gain by this lie? He has everything to lose and it makes absolutely no sense that he would lie to protect Charles Manson, while hurting every chance he has for parole. And I do believe that he has a small chance for parole. While he doesnt blame Charles Manson, he has said over the years that he is quite bitter towards the Family, including Charles Manson. His first trial ended with a hung jury and there was a good chance that hed be acquitted. But once they connected him to Charles Manson, he was convicted instantly. Its obvious that he resents that connection and that connection, he believes, was the reason he was convicted and still in prison. It is true. During the trial for the Hawthorne Shootout in 1973, he was asked to speak as a character witness for the defendants which included some former Manson Girls. Other character witnesses included other incarcerated Family members namely Charles Manson. When he took the stand he used his time to express his contempt with the system and the people he was connected with. Im at war with everybody in this courtroom. Its nothing personal, but you better pray I never get out. Simply put: he is not protecting anyone but himself and certainly not Charles Manson. It was written on Beausoleil.net on how he really felt about the fictitious Helter Skelter theory and discredited it as merely an attack on the 60s hippie subculture, much like the Kent State shootings. I guess because I know the truth, to me that explanation seems ridiculously simplified. How can anybody not see through that? Murder by Beatles records this is what happens if you listen to Beatles records and take LSD!? What could be a more blatant attempt to discredit the youth movement of the 60s than that? To use that theory as the basis of convicting these people stretches credibility to the breaking point. All of those books that were written about those eventsBugliosis, Ed Sanders, and othershave a certain thread of factual truth, these collections of facts. I suppose these chronological recordings of events that happened are reasonably accurate in terms of these facts, but the real truth of it does not come through those books.

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Thats happened at my parole hearings as well. On more than one occasion Ive seen Vincent Bugliosis book, Helter Skelter, sitting right there on the table in front of the D.A. attending the hearing, where you can be sure that everyone in the hearing room is going to see it. And then, despite the fact that he wasnt even working in the district attorneys office at the time when I was convicted, he begins this account of what he believed my relationship with Manson to be, based vaguely on something that is in this book not based on the facts of my crime or the evidence that was presented at my trial. Its just conjecture, presented as truth. That wasnt brought about by any sort of death cult or any sort of Satan worship or any of those things that were alleged. None of those things were happening. There were more guns around; there were more hard people around the bikers and so forth. But that was because of the times and also the fact that all communes, and any groups of mostly young people, were targeted by law enforcement for harassment, at the very least. So there was a certain element of desperation that was present with everyone involved in the youth movement, it extended pretty much across the board. This was because of the backlash, this threat from law enforcement and politics and all of that. The National Guard went onto a college campus and shot four kids this is what was going on in those times! In 1981, he again told Oui Magazine something similar. Once more, the Helter Skelter motive seems to be very weak. A. Bardach: How accurate are the descriptions of Manson and the family in Bugliosis Helter Skelter and Ed Sanders The Family? Bobby Beausoleil: They are both so pathetic because neither one took the proper approach to begin to understand what happened. Everything gets lost in blood and guts, devil worship, all that stuff that never went on. This satanic crap and brainwave master never went on. These things were taken out of lighthearted conversations. There is truth in all these books. There are facts. Period. A. Bardach: Where did the writers go wrong? Bobby Beausoleil: They were never in a situation where they experienced that kind of desperation. A. Bardach: Describe that kind of desperation. Bobby Beausoleil: The desperation which leads somebody to go out and almost Yeah. Kill crazily. Just throw away their lives and murder people.

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A. Bardach: What created this so-called desperation? Bobby Beausoleil: They were a bunch of people with their backs against the wall. This wasnt mere discontent. This was lunacy. At least in their minds, they were at the end corner of the world. They couldnt travel any more together without a caravan of law enforcement people behind them. The only place left to go was the desert. They were at the end of the edge of the world and they were scared to death of being pushed off the edge. The desert is death. They wound up in Death Valley trying to live off the bugs. Upon his conviction, Judge Keene stated that he felt no remorse for Gary Hinmans murder, in which he struck back with venom. Youre right when you say I have no remorse. Because the definition of remorse is a strong feeling of guilt and I have none. Let me quote my favorite book: He who judges his brother, shall be judged. He who leads into captivity, shall be lead into captivity. When the bailiffs lead him out he shouted at Judge Keene, You cant judge me. Only God can judge me and God is on my side! Later when asked about this by Oui Magazine, he excused it by admitting that it was pure cockiness. My biggest mistake was simply in killing Gary Hinman. I told the judge that I didnt feel any remorse, because I wouldnt give him that satisfaction. Thats the only reason I told him that. As far as Im concerned, that man is a helluva lot more diabolical than Charlie Manson ever was. But the thing is Ive felt a great deal of remorse within me. Ive worshipped life my whole life. Whats heartbreaking to me more than anything else is that killing Gary Hinman has negated all of my creative efforts. The world doesnt concentrate on anything other than that one mistake I made in my life. And it was a big mistake. You cant give a life back. After reading this chapter along with the chapters; Why Welter Skelter Doesnt Fit, Who is Charles Manson?, and Demystifying Susan Atkins, give it some good thought. If you still think that the murders were for what the prosecution theorized (to spark a race war Manson dubbed Helter Skelter) or a more simplified copycat string to mirror the murder of Gary Hinman in hopes he would be freed from jail on the premise of reasonable doubt. If the shoe fits, wear it. I find it humorous that people so quickly discount this motive when it is the motive that Bobby Beausoleil, Charles

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Victim has multiple stabs in chest Gary Hinmans blood on wall Political Piggie Gary Hinmans cheek is slashed Pillow over Hinmans head Gary Hinman dealt drugs House was in disarray Gary Hinman burned Bobby Beausoleil on drugs Participants: Bobby Beausoleil, Susan Atkins, Mary Brunner Tate/Labianca murder scenes: Blood on walls, similar phrases Chest stab wounds Abigail Folgers cheek is slashed Sharon Tate has a cut on her cheek Pillow cases over victims heads

Manson, Susan Atkins and even Charles Watson have admitted. Even if Helter Skelter was being discussed, it does not mean the killings were in the name of Helter Skelter. That excuse is just way too convenient and way too simple. As a bookend to this chapter I will explain some of the more obvious similarities between the murders. Vincent Bugliosi told the jury that there no similarities between the Gary Hinman and the Tate/LaBianca slayings. Other than the physical evidence, its impossible to ignore the participants and the fact that during the trial, Leslie Van Houten even claimed to have been at the Gary Hinman murder. She even contradicted Susan Atkins testimony that she was the one who stabbed Hinman because he fired a shot at Charles Manson and feared for his life. We all know that Susan Atkins did not kill Hinman. But was Leslie Van Houten at the Gary Hinman murder? I say it is unlikely, but it should be considered. Not all of the participants were named in the Donald Shea murder and Steve Grogan was not mentioned in the LaBianca slayings. It would make sense that she would have participated in the LaBianca slayings because of her infatuation with Bobby Beausoleil. But it would make even more sense if she was at the Gary Hinman slaying. Hinman murder scene:

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Wojciech Frykowski & Sebring were drug dealers Rosemary LaBianca may have been a suspected dealer Both homes were in a disarray Bobby BeauSoleil hinted that Wojciech Frykowski burned them on drugs Participants: Leslie Van Houten (Bobby Beausoleils girl), Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkle, Charles Watson (owed Bobby Beausloleil his life via Charles Manson), Linda Kasabian (Charles Watsons girl)

Not only were these crimes similar, but probably the only fact they were not connected was the fact that the Los Angeles investigators would not cooperate with the Malibu investigators. Remember that the LASO would not even link the LaBianca slayings with the Tate slayings. They blew them off as coincidences or copycats. From day one, the investigators refused to work with each other. But when the media became involved, and the case had become world news, it seems like every county in California where the Family had been were in a scurry to find unsolved cases to pull the publicity their way. In the early 1990s, Charles Manson and other Family members spoke with a German crew for a documentary called, ManSon: Menschesohn. In that documentary Sandra Good explained in more detail than before exactly why the murders were committed. She stated that the murders were indeed to free Bobby Beausoleil, but were also as a statement that the Family as a whole were at war with the system. The main reason, the main catalyst for those killings was to get a brother, Bobby Beausoleil, out of jail. Hed been arrested for killing Gary Hinman. Tex and Susan Atkins owed Charlie favors. He had put his life on the line a number of times for Susan Atkins, he had helped Tex out of a real sticky situation. When Bobby got arrested for the Hinman murder, everybody wanted to get Bobby out. Charlies strong thought, coming from years in prison, means you stand by friends, you stand by your brother. He was raised by war veterans, World War II, World War I. Brotherhood. Brotherhood goes deep. There is a time to kill, believe it or not- its called war. When those young people went out to do what they did for Bobby, there were other reasons for killing also which I can speak of because I was complicit and I can explain to you our war on the system.

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One more valid thing to point out is that it is a fact that the Family was connected to Gary Hinman in early 1968, and through drugs. In the arrest report for the May, 1968, arrest of Charles Manson, Sandra Good, Susan Atkins, and many others, Sandra Good implicates Gary Hinman as the man who sold them the capsules that were in their possession. Theres no doubt in my minddespite what Hinmans family and the prosecution claimsthat he indeed sold drugs. Isnt it kind of weird how most of these murders and shootings revolved around a person or people who sold drugs? No coincidence at all. One common thread in the entire Manson Gang saga is that there were enormous amounts of drugs being bought, sold and consumed.

[Manson] had his people, I had mine. If anybody was influenced, it was him. By me. - Bobby Beausoleil

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Slashed cheeks and blood writing werent the only things that linked Gary Hinmans murder to the Tate/LaBianca murders.

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Bruce Davis first met Charles Manson in 1967, while he was heading through North California to Washington State. They both quickly realized that they had a lot in common they promised to meet again at a later time.

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Authors Howard Davis and Bill Nelson both suspect that during this time he was actively murdering and terrorizing innocent people and pub- Bruce Davis turns himself in on licly bragged about it. The media dubbed this killer two murder counts on December 2, 1970. (UPI Press Photo) The Zodiac Killer. They both believe that he may have had a hand in at least some of the killings, actually Howard Davis wrote a very compelling book about it called The Manson/Zodiac Connection discussing the parallels with the Zodiac Case with Bruce Davis and his activity with the Family. In 2010, Bruce Davis told me that he made it to California in about 1962, and by 1966, he was living in Anaheim, California. This was about the same time a woman named Cheri Jo Bates was murdered a Zodiac killing. Before his time in California, he grew up and lived in Tennessee. He left Tennessee after he and his father had a falling out and did not get to see his
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father until 1967, right before he passed away. Bruce Davis told me that it was devastating and he began to medicate with hard drugs and acting out violently much like his father. He was so well known in school that the tag under his 1961 high school yearbook photo was Angry Young Man. In 2011, he and I were discussing how pivotal parenting is in how a child turns out. He agreed with me on that and while he did not blame his father for the crimes that he committed, he stated that his fathers influence on him did not help at all. Grandaddy was a harsh and violent person and Daddy inherited it from him. He was a hard drinker and a fighter. He met Mama in Mobile, Alabama in 1940. GrandmamaMamas momdied during the birth of my uncle and Granddaddy fell apart. Mama was the eldest child and took it upon herself to help support the kids. My sister was born ins 1941, and I in 1942. My parents marriage was chaos from the start and didnt get much better until my father passed away in 1968. Daddy was mean when sober and worse when drunk. His example to me was, Do whatever you want just dont get caught. When I visited Tennessee in 1967, with Manson, Daddy was very different. I was still hurt and angry. He gave me the use of his Buick Riviera and credit card I knew something was different, but I didnt care. The next year he died, he was only 55. I was still angry and did not attend his funeral. The Tate Family Legacy website wrote that Bruce Davis had not only been molested by his uncle at age 12, but raped by his English teacher at age 13. This may have contributed to his approach on the lifestyle he sought, and the lifestyle he lived at Spahn Ranch, however it does not excuse it. He has admitted that his draw to the Family was indeed the girls, motorcycles, guns and drugs. He also stated that he saw a father-figure in Charles Manson, even though Charles Manson was only a few years older than him. It was said at his 1994 parole hearing that in Charles Mansons absence, he ran the Family. This is probably true. In fact, during Charles Watsons 1971 trial, Charles Watson and Brooks Poston said the same thing. Charles Watson testified that, Bruce was always real loud, loud talking, and he was just running around kind of trying to be Charlie all of the time

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putting out all he would do is just go around preaching Charlies philosophy all the time, you know. He was trying to be Charlie. And later, when Brooks Poston was called as a witness against him, he was asked about Bruce Davis and his response mirrored that of Charles Watson. It seemed to me that Bruce was competing with Charlie. He was trying to be an equal with Charlie or even he was loud-mouthed. But Bruce would interrupt Charlie when he was talking and he talked in a real loud voice, and it seemed like that he like the power that he had when Charlie wasnt around because he could have one of the girls run and fetch him something. Ironically, in the 2006 documentary, Inside the Manson Gang, film director Robert Hendrickson spent time with the Family. During their music jam and tripping session he remarked to Catherine Share how similar Bruce Davis looked and talked compared to Charles Manson. She then remarked back to him, I told you we were all going to be here tonight. One of the times I spoke with Bruce Davis he told me that doesnt hate or blame Charles Manson at all. He also shocked me with a statement he made that completely contradicts what he tells his parole board when I asked him if he would have turned himself in if he was never indicted on murder charges. He tells his parole board that he is genuinely sorry for his actions and I am positive that he is. But he told me in 2010, What would I have done if I beat the murder case? Likely, I would have walked away thinking I was pretty hip, slick and cool. This may seem like an honest, simple statement. But to me, this sounds like he is acknowledging that he was working on his own and not by the program of Charles Manson, as he tells his parole board. To me he is saying he would have gone on with how he was living his life prior. One thing that I have always wondered, was if the Family using Bruce Davis as a substitute for Charles Manson? It was said in the Ed Sanders book, The Family, that he not only intentionally acted like Charles Manson but could sing just like him and was an excellent musician. He would also preach with the same mannerisms and wording. Basically he was Charles Manson.

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My opinion is that he was so envious of Charles Mansons life at Spahn Ranch and his music, that he wanted to be Charles Manson. And when Charles Manson was arrested in November of 1969, for the final time, according to the book The Family, he stepped in to sort of lead and direct the Family. This leadership didnt last long because in 1970, he was indicted for the murders of Gary Hinman and Shorty Shea and this pushed him into hiding. At his 1994, parole hearing he stated that when the murders started hed known Charles Manson about a year, but had only been with him 2 or 3 months all together. Remember that two of those months were after the murders. So whatever he had done, he did at his own will. He had the ability to come and do when he pleased. He left and returned because he wanted to. This guy was under no ones control. In 2013, author Nikolas Schreck was interviewed by Star City Radio, and he stated that during his decades of research on the case that Bruce Davis was very actively travelling. That was something that Bruce Davis had also told me and commented about how beautiful Africa was. Nikolas Schreck also stated that, He (Bruce Davis) got involved with the IRA Irish Republican Army, he smuggled the drugs through Ireland, and got into Manchester. For those unaware, the Irish Republican Party had formed in 1969, and were responsible for violent acts such as bombings, robberies, murder, kidnappings, and drug smuggling. I personally have never found any evidence to substantiate this claim, but I am the first to admit that what I dont know about the case could fill Death Valley. It is widely known that he was a Scientologist and a lot of his philosophies rubbed off on Charles Manson. Charles Manson also studied Scientology a little bit while being in prison, but here was Bruce Davis a fullfledged Scientologist who not only went to their churches, but traveled to England to help the cause. Throughout 1967, and 1968, he would come and go from the Family, doing Lord knows what. Author Howard Davis suspects that he was masquerading as the Zodiac Killer during these hiatuses. When he finally returned to Spahn Ranch, he claimed it was after the Bernard Crowe shooting and the entire Ranch was in a panic waiting for a

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retaliation. He subsequently helped the Family prepare for their exodus to Death Valley, and was a part of the Gary Hinman murder. The gun Bobby Beausoleil took was his and Bobby Beausoleil (see chapter: Stupid Cupid) says he called him to come and get Gary Hinmans car(s). Bruce Davis recalls it at his 1978 parole hearing. Heres what happened: I did buy the gun. Bobby took the gun when he left initially from the ranch. When I got to the house Bobby still had the gun. I may have had the gun in my hand. He might have handed me the gun. I know I didnt put it on the man while Charlie did whatever he was supposed to have done. I wasnt even when that happened, I wasnt present. I was there but I didnt have a gun on me. I was in the kitchen looking at, there was other people in the house. And they had a scuffle. Something was going on. I didnt see it. But when I got back Gary had like a towel or something like this on his head. I dont know. But there was you know, like he had been cut or something. He has never denied his connection to the Gary Hinman or Donald Shea murders; he also only admits he was at the Gary Hinman house prior to the murder, which I believe is true. However, I dont believe he is being completely honest about the murder of Spahn Ranch hand Donald Shea. In his 1977 psychiatric evaluation, he stated that, I didnt kill them, I am not sure [Shorty] Shea is dead, which is pure bullshit. He knew Donald Shea was dead. He was the one responsible for stashing the car owned by Donald Shea. And he again spoke about it at his 1993 parole hearing. I was right there. I cut him on the shoulder after he was dead. Again, he insinuates that he knew Donald Shea was dead in his 1994 parole hearing. I stayed in the car for quite a while but then I went down the hill later on and thats when I cut Shorty on the shoulder with the knife, after he was well, I dont know I I dont know if he was dead or not. He didnt bleed when I cut him on the shoulder. It was mere days before the Family left Spahn Ranch in Chatsworth and headed to Death Valley in a convoy of stolen trucks, dune buggies and semi-trucks full of supplies. Bruce Davis joined them and lived in Death

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Valley until their bust on October 12, 1969. He was arrested, booked and released a few days later and boy was he active. November 5, 1969, he was staying in Venice Beach with other Family members Catherine Gillies, Madaline Cottage, Sue Bartell, Nancy Pitman and John Phillip Haught (a.k.a. Christopher Zero Jesus) at Mark Ross home. Mark Ross was director Robert Hendricksons connection to The Family. He was an actor that was starring as Jesus Christ in the movie Well, Here I Am. He was often seen with the Family during the early days of the trial and Charles Manson later entrusted the rights to his music to him. But again, I digress. John Phillip Haught came to the Family a day or so after the Tate murders and had run with Charles Manson and the gang in Death Valley prior to the arrests and according to sources, may have known too much. On that day, he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head or so they told the police. I dont buy the he knows too much reasoning for a murder. A few dozen people knew too much and none of the were dealt with. Madaline Cottage said that she had been lying in bed next to him when he noticed the gun in the leather case, picked it up and removed the gun from the case. She said that he had spun the cylinder and placed the gun muzzle to his right temple and fired. The others said, Cottage exclaimed that Zero had shot himself, just like in the movies. They then called the police. Bruce Davis told the officers that he had indeed picked up the gun. When the gun was dusted later for prints, neither John Phillip Haught or his prints were found. The leather case was also devoid of prints. It was obviously wiped down probably to hide key evidence. So, I ask why? Later a author and case researcher Bill Nelson would state that he was told that Bruce Davis prints were actually found on the gun. Theres no proof of this. The gun was found to have been fully loaded. The officers were also not aware that Bruce Davis and the girls were members of the Manson Family. So, no further investigation happened. I suspect that if the investigators knew that these people were affiliated with the group of people accused of the Tate and LaBianca murders, that a thorough homicide investigation would have happened.

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Almost a month later, they connected this suicide with the Family and on December 3, 1969, the papers ran the story. Suicide Youth Member of Hippie Cult The youth was identified as Christopher Jesus, 20, shot himself in the head while playing Russian Roulette with a fully-loaded revolver. We have the death listed as a suicide, said a detective. The gun was fully loaded; he would have to be blind to not have seen that. November 21, 1969, two more murders happened. During the Manson Trial, the newspapers ran articles trying to link the murders of Doreen Gaul and James Sharp to the Family. They dubbed the murders The Scientology Murders. The Manson/Zodiac Connection book had a lot of information about the Gaul/Sharp murders and a lot of circumstantial evidence that pointed towards Bruce Davis. On November 21, 1969, the bodies of James Sharp, 15, and Doreen Gaul, 19, were found in an alley in downtown Los Angeles. The two had been killed elsewhere then dumped there. Each had been stabbed over 50 times. Both James Sharp and Doreen Gaul were Scientologists, the latter a Scientology clear who had been residing in a Church of Scientology commune less than two miles from the Labianca residence. According to several sources, Doreen Gaul was a former girlfriend of Manson Family member Bruce Davis, who, like Manson himself, was an ex-scientologist. [Davis] disappeared shortly after being questioned [about another murder]. According to the book Helter Skelter, they were stabbed 50 times each, and Doreen Gaul was beat with a motorcycle chain. There were motorcycle parts found near the dump site of Marina Habe (see chapter: Who is Charles Watson?) and she too was stabbed multiple times a trademark of the Family murders. Bruce Davis denied knowing Doreen Gaul, but admitted he dated several women from her boarding house. I personally feel that the Gaul/Sharp murders may be linked to the Maria Habe murder even if the Family is not involved and they are still unsolved. Much later, when he was questioned about these murders and offered immunity if he would confess, he retorted with a cocky statement, I am not very impressed with your offer of immunity since I am serving a life sentence for two murders. I will be the first to admit that this makes him sound

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guilty, but I also think that people like Bill Nelson has over-analyzed that statement. It was also stated that he was also heard saying that he was going to get Manson out of jail, or kill somebody around the time of the murders of Doreen Gaul and James Sharp. There is also a possibility that Charles Watson may have had something to do with them with or without Bruce Davis. Realistically the possibility that Bruce Davis killed them is pretty small, but there is still that small chance that he did. There has been other suspects in the murders and suspects that fit a little better than he does. But the facts are that he does fit enough to have been a viable suspect. I will say though, that there is a lot of evidence that points away from Bruce Davis as the killer. But it doesnt help his case that a few days after the murders, November 24, 1969, he again left for London to work at the Scientology Headquarters; or was it to flee after a string of murders? A week after he flees to London, December 2nd, 1969, Family member Sandra Goods husband Joel Dean Pugh, 29, was found dead in a hotel room at the Talgarth Hotel, in West Kensington. His throat was slit twice, his forehead was bruised, and there were slash marks on both wrists. Two bloody razor blades were lying near the body a suicide. Hotel Manager Joseph Falk said he found it unusual on the morning of December 2nd, when the maid found his door locked. Joseph Falks seven year old son would often visit Joel Dean Pugh and they would read comics together and he never locked his door. This made it quite easy for an intruder to enter without leaving any forced entry evidence. Later that afternoon Joseph Falk unlocked his doorwhich was oddly lockedwith his passkey, but could not fully open the door feeling a weight on the other side. He saw blood on the walls and immediately called the police. According to the Pathologist Dr. Richard Pearce, There were no wounds that could not have been self-inflicted. But there was no sign of struggle or violence. The Coroner John Burton therefore concluded that he had taken his own life. The constable did not try to find prints in the room or on the window.

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Apparently a letter from an unknown Family member, found in Sandra Goods vacated motel room in Independence, California. It read, I would not want what happened to Joel to happen to me somewhere in it contents. Bruce Davis was in England at this time, and was back in Los Angeles some time before February 24, 1970, when he was arrested in Bakersfield, California, in an attempt to buy firearms with a fake license. He attached himself with the Family once again and appeared in the 1973 documentary, Manson, and regularly attended Charles Mansons hearings at City Hall. During the filming of that documentary, a warrant for his arrest was issued and with the help of the Family, he hid out presumably in Death Valley and maybe even in the sewers of Los Angeles with Nancy Pitman, who was wanted for forgery charges. When I asked him where he actually was during that time, he never answered. During this time, Charles Manson had become unhappy with one of the defense attorneys, Ronald Hughes, and told him I never want to see you in this courtroom again. He failed to appear when court resumed on November 30th, 1970. This was not the first delay in the trial caused by him, who was trying his first jury case. In his absence, the trial went on and this was one of the key reasons that Leslie Van Houten being granted a retrial. On December 2nd, 1970, Bruce Davis and Nancy Pitman turned themselves in to a media frenzy of newsmen at the Hall of Justice. Missing Member of Manson Hippie Family Surrenders The fugitive family member, barefoot, bearded Bruce Davis, 27, made a dramatic street corner surrender Wednesday amidst a crowd of newsman and giggling Manson girl followers. He had been sought for nine months on murder charges of the musician Gary Hinman. His companion Brenda McCann, 18, also surrendered on an outstanding warrant. She and Davis were reportedly married recently in Las Vegas, Nev. Asked what relation his surrender might have to Mansons trial, Davis said, He would do it for me. They want to kill bodies; theyre putting murder charges on everybody. He later said without further explanation that some other people were supposed to be cut loose as a result of his arrest. After several days, Ronald Hughes failed to appear and search for him was launched. His Volkswagen bus was found in the parking lot at Piedra

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Blanca trailhead parking lot outside of Ojai, California, near Sespe Hot Springs. His Volkswaken had some of his trial transcripts in it, but supposedly a psychiatric report on Leslie Van Houten was reported missing. Author Ed Sanderswho wrote the book The Familylater investigated his mysterious death and also reported the missing transcripts, but from his home and not his van. He also stated that near his death site, he found a postcard of a wolf, addressed to Sharon Tate. On March 23rd, 1971, an anonymous caller told Los Angeles County officers that Hughes body was buried behind the barn at Barker Ranch, and two Inyo County deputies spent four hours searching the ranch to no avail. March 29th, 1971the day Charles Manson and his co-defendants were found guiltyRonald Hughes body was found. Paul Fitzgerald viewed the body in the Ventura County Morgue and said that he was, Firmly of the opinion it was Hughes. The cause and nature of his death was ruled as undetermined. Later, Sandra Good said that he had been murdered; the first of the retaliation murders. In 1978, Headquarters Detective spoke to a Family insider who made said he knew why attorney Ronald Hughes was murdered. Apparently Ronald Hughes was trying to get Leslie Van Houten to spill the beans on some of the unsolved murders surrounding the Family, and shortly after he went missing. The day the guilty verdicts were read, his body was found in Death Valley. Watson stated that Bruce Davis and Lynette Fromme were the ones who would have benefited from Hughes death, being involved in those other murders. This article is a bit incorrect, because his body was found in the Sespe River, which is nowhere close to Death Valley. I will admit that Ronald Hughes didnt seem like the type to hike along a rough trail through the Sespe Wilderness being a pretty big man and having to be back at the courthouse Monday morning. That part makes no sense to me. However, this can lead someone to believe that perhaps Ronald Hughes may have had some dirt on a Family memberperhaps Bruce Davis and one (or more) of the many other murders that he was suspected of committingand using as ammunition for his client, Leslie Van Houten. Maybe, Ronald Hughes got too closeand coincidentally when Bruce Davis was on the runhe was murdered and thrown into the Sespe River to

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make it seem as if he was a victim of drowning. The Sespe River is known for flash floods and in 1969, a Boy Scout troupe has been caught and killed. But again, Ronald Hughes did not seem like the hiking type. This hike is not an easy one. And some sources state that he was found dead near Sespe Hot Springs, which is a 15 mile hike and is it only accessible by foot. Bruce Davis was known in Bakersfield, California, which is not that far from the area. If he was indeed hiding out in the Sespe Wilderness, well this makes four people dead in places that he was or recently had been; two unsolved, two ruled suicide. But could there be a more reasonable explanation of the death of attorney Ronald Hughes? It wouldnt be impossible to fake a drowning to disguise a murder in 1970. To make the death of Ronald Hughes even more confusing, June 2012, Robert Hendrickson was interviewed by EarCandyMag.com and they put yet one more twist on this case. Ear Candy Mag: You mention [in Death to Pigs] that Leslie Van Houtens lawyer Ronald Hughes was supposed to marry Nancy Pitman at Spahn in order that she may become legally emancipated. Hughes disappeared on November 30th, 1970 and then on Dec 2nd Bruce Davis and Nancy Pitman turned themselves in to the police. Do you think Hughes might have been murdered for not following through on this? Robert Hendrickson: Of course he might have been? But, because he knew too much! For the play to be performed as planned, ALL the defendants attorneys had to be onboard. What if this is true? What if Ronald Hughes was supposed to marry Nancy Pitman? What if he decided not to? Would she actually kill himor have him killedbecause of this? It is fact that she and Bruce Davis were in hiding together and both turned themselves in after he went missing. When they turned themselves in, a reporter even said to Bruce Davis, We heard you got married. One thing is certain, and that is we will probably never have an answer in the death of Ronald Hughes. If his death was a murder, it was probably because he was not cooperating with the other defendants and trying to make his client Leslie Van Houten guilty by association, which makes the co-defendants guilty by action of that defense.

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I personally feel that his death was an accidental drowning by flash flood. There has been no evidence to support any other claim that I know of aside from the occasional accusations by Vincent Bugliosi. One of the only known people who saw him at Sespe Hot Springs was a man named James Forsher who gave him a ride. Debra of the Evil Liz Manson Blog contacted him and he refused to answer any question about that day. ooEEEoo March 14, 1972, Bruce Davis was convicted of two counts of murder for his participation in the Gary Hinman and Donald Shea slayings. Other than being question, he was never indicted or charged in the murders of Doreen Gaul, James Sharp, John Phillip Haught, Joel Pugh or Ronald Hughes. Upon sentencing, Judge Choate remarked to the jury, Bruce Davis knew what the intent of the Manson Family was and willingly engaged in their activities. Basically stating that he was not under Charles Mansons program, nor was he brainwashed, which is a common explanation for these string of murders. Judge Choate went on to really lay it into Bruce Davis. These were vicious murders indicating a depraved state of mind on the part of the defendant. I dont want to give the impression that he was at all a dupe or the foil of Charles Manson. (Bruce) Davis is older than most of the youngsters who were led by Manson. He is more intelligent and educated and capable of independent reasoning. For reasons known only to him he did not exercise this capability. It wasnt over for him. In the mid-1990s, the aforementioned authors Howard Davis and Bill Nelson started to link him to the string of unsolved Zodiac killings. The mainstream media pushed this off as simply another Zodiac conspiracy theory, but ex-Family confidant Larry White Rabbit Melton was also claiming the same thing. He even claimed that it was Sandra Good who made the infamous black Zodiac hooded outfit. He also claimed that he received a personal letter from Charles Manson telling him to shut up about the Zodiac. In the 2000s, he went public with his claims that he knew were there were bodies buried at Barkers Ranch and he had personally seen Charles Manson shoot three hitchhikers and he personally help bury them. However, in 2008, after a long search for these graves, nothing turned up. As

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Larry Melton pointed to where people were buried, and officials dug, no bodies were found. He was a liar, probably out for attention like everyone else. Larry Melton claims to be a Manson supporter, and still regularly wears an X on his forehead. Yeah But as silly as the whole Manson/Zodiac thing may seem, Howard Davis compiled a timeline in his book, The Manson/Zodiac Connection, with interesting parallels between the Manson case and the Zodiac case. Howard Davis theory is that key Family members aided Bruce Davis to carry out some of the Zodiac crimes. In fact, it seems that anytime something substantial happened with the Family, it was then retaliated with a Zodiac letter, a Zodiac attack/murder attempt, Zodiac phone call or a Zodiac murder. 1966 Bruce Davis lives in Anaheim 10/30/66 Cheri Jo Bates murdered (Zodiac) 07/??/67 Bruce Davis meets Charles Manson 12/30/68 Marina Habe murdered (suspected Family murder) 12/??/68 Bruce Davis leaves for London 04/25/69 Bruce Davis returns from London 05/18/69 Rose Tashman murdered (Zodiac) 05/27/69 Darwin Scott murdered (suspected Family murder Mansons uncle) 06/24/69 Virginia Smith murdered (Zodiac) 07/01/69 Bernard Crowe shot (Family) 07/04/69 Ferrin/Mageau attacked (Zodiac) 07/17/69 Mark Walts murdered (Family friend, Family suspect) 07/27/69 Gary Hinman murdered (Family) 07/29/69 Jane Doe of Santa Barbara murdered (Beausoleil suspect) 07/31/69 Gary Hinmans body found 07/31/69 Three Zodiac letters sent to papers 08/05/69 Jane Doe of Santa Barbaras body found 08/07/69 Bobby BeauSoleil indicted for Hinman murder 08/07/69 Zodiac letter sent to paper 08/09/69 Tate murders (Family) 08/10/69 LaBianca Murders (Family)

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08/27/69 Donald Shea murdered (Family) 09/27/69 Hartnell/Shephard attack (Zodiac) 10/01/69 Fellippo Tennerelli suicide (Family friend, Family suspect) 10/09/69 Manson, Vance and Davis go to L.A. 10/11/69 Paul Stine attack (Zodiac) 10/12/69 Barker Ranch raid 10/13/69 Zodiac letter sent to paper 10/22/69 Charles Manson indicted for arson 10/22/69 Zodiac phone call to police 11/05/69 John Phillip Haught suicide (Family friend, Davis suspect) 11/08/69 Zodiac letter sent to paper 11/21/69 Sharp/Gaul murdered (Bruce Davis suspect) 11/24/69 Bruce Davis goes to London 12/01/69 Joel Pugh suicide in London (Family friend, Davis suspect) 12/01/69 Bruce Davis leaves London 12/10/69 Tex Watson court hearing 12/10/69 Zodiac postcard sent to paper 02/21/70 Hood/Garcia murder (Zodiac) 02/24/70 Bruce Davis arrested for firearms 03/15/70 Bruce Davis released from jail 03/21/70 Marie Anstey murdered (Zodiac) 03/22/70 Kathleen Johns attacked (Zodiac, later identified Davis) 03/24/70 Paul Watkins almost burned to death (Family) 04/18/70 Pan Tan hanged (Zodiac?) 04/20/70 Zodiac letter sent to papers 11/27/70 Ronald Hughes found dead (Van Houtens attorney, Family suspect) 12/02/70 Bruce Davis surrenders for murder 04/24/78 Final Zodiac letter sent to papers, same year Davis first parole hearing

If you couple this list of case parallels with the some actual police sketches of the Zodiac Killerthat look striking similar to Bruce DavisI can definitely see why he would be a suspect. Do I actually believe that he is the Zodiac? No, I dont. But I do believe that he may be responsible for some of the murders on the aforementioned list; Mark Walts, Doreen Gaul,

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James Sharp, Joel Pugh, and maybe Ronald Hughes. I do believe that Bruce Davis was a serial killer. During the height of the whole Manson/Zodiac craze, Bill Nelson wrote Bruce Davis a letter with his claims a letter that he never responded to or has mentioned since. If he has nothing to hide, wouldnt he have mentioned it? Whether it be mentioned in jest, in humor, in anger, in denial or in annoyance contradict it! I was the one who introduced television cameras into your parole hearing. You know that for a fact. I was the one who said on television prior to a parole hearing that you should be the primary suspect in the unsolved Zodiac murders. I have read the 1973 interview by Lt. Earl Deemer, retired-now deceased regarding your knowledge of Doreen Gaul and her murder with James Sharp. You retorted at the time I am not very impressed with your offer of immunity since I am serving a life sentence for two murders. Now that you believe you are near a parole date, I wonder if the authorities had enough insight and ability to haul you in for another interview, if you might sing a different song. You did know Doreen Gaul. You knew her intimately. She was in Scientology, had achieved the Clear status the night of her murder. November 21, 1969, should be a date that lives in the recesses of your mind as you close your eyes at night. There was a letter from the Zodiac found in her belongings after her murder. My personal opinionnot that you asked for itis that you and Tex did the dirty deed together, then left for Las Vegas, where four days later you both were bragging that you were going to raise some money to get Manson out of jail, or start killing some people. You did not count on a snitch calling the LAPD about that did you? That is how we know about it. You lived in the same Scientology house as she did. She had been threatened prior to her murder, hit in the head (September) like it was some kind of warning. Her father told me that she was asking to come home and he replied that he would send a round trip ticket. Doreen Gaul said to her father, No, Dad, I want to come home for good. This Scientology is a bunch of crap. Witnesses heard her screaming in the alley Oh no! Jimmy. Jimmy! Just like the case with the murder of Shorty, in the back of the Spahn Ranch and not in the middle of the day driving down the Santa Suzanna Pass, Barbara Hoyt was not supposed to hear his screams but she did!

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You have been to Riverside, California but you have refused to admit it. I only learned about it when I met your church going buddy from Morrow Bay, the talented Black former Kansas City Chiefs pro football player, Bruce told me he had been to Riverside. Riverside is the scene of an unsolved murder of Cheri Jo Bates, 10-30-66, a young attractive future flight attendant, like Beth. Zodiac left a note after that murder too. The language matches that of Doreen Gaul. But, you knew that. Riverside PD has tried in vein to match DNA with their favorite local boy, but are now silent that there is obviously no match with Bill Bennett. The poor man has been drug through the mud for decades for her murder but he did not do that one either. You admitted in the recent parole hearing that you went to Tahoe. Bruce, that is another unsolved scene from the Zodiac murders. Donna Laas. The sister of Darlene Ferrin has identified you as the man seated in the white four-door sedan, in Vallejo, CA that July 4, 1969, night at Terrys restaurant. Positive ID! I have it on videotape. You are fortunate that the SFPD is not interested. Putting her hand to her chest, she said, I never thought I would see that man again! Remember Modesto, and the horror filled night ride for Kathleen Johns from Riverside? The wheel that came off, the offer to give a ride, and the silence for many minutes before she asked a question? Well Bruce, Kathleen gave a pretty interesting response, hyperventilated, and had to catch her breath when I showed her your photograph from the day you surrendered in Los Angeles, December, 1970. If what Bill Nelson wrote in this letter was trueand he claims that is is then what do you think? Do you think Bruce Davis may be the Zodiac, or perhaps have killed some of the people that were later linked to the Zodiac? I believe the latter. When he surrendered December 2, 1970, reporters asked him if he was aware he was going to be tried for two counts of murder, in which he laughed and responded, Is that all? In one of our conversations, he had told me that his wife begged him to tell her about all of the bad things he has done. I wonder what he told her. He also explained to me why he surrendered. When I surrendered in December, 1970 it was the first albeit unconscious step in my rehabilitation. I knew the charges were seriousmurder is the most serious and that Manson and the others had already been convicted. So,

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anyone associated with him could never be found not guilty. I knew I was going to prison I couldnt imagine how long. That was 40 years ago this December. I believe my 40 years in this desert are coming to an end. In 2009, BruceDavis was suggested by parole a suggestion that was overturned by then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was again suggested for parole in 2013, with the same fate, this time by Governor Jerry Brown. He is currently appealing that decision. He will be free from prison in the near future. In one of our last conversations, he was telling me about accepting his parole denial and the analogy he made was a bit interesting and a bit like he accepts his fate. What if someone came at you with a sharp knife? Not good, right? But what if that someone was a doctor who was going to cut something left inside, would kill you? If you knew it was life or death youd try to hold still even without a painkiller. Fear increases pain accepting it does not make it go away, just easier to take.

I dont hold anything against Manson. I wasnt a kid that got manipulated. I was just looking for sex, drugs and rock n roll and to ride on a motorcycle. I was never a vicious person, but I was indifferent. I wanted the immediate approval of the people I was with, and I didnt care what they did. - Bruce McGregor Davis, 2010

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Bruce Davis didnt only sing like Charles Manson, but he also sounded like him and looked like him.

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11
Pictures: Part II

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Family friend Harold True lived next to the LaBiancas. He claims that Vincent Bugliosi threatened him with murder charges, despite being in Ethiopia at the time of the murders. (AP Press Photo)

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Thomas T.J. The Terrible Walleman was present at the Bernard Crowe shooting. (Manson, 1973, Press Photo)

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Bruce Davis (left) Steve Clem Grogan (right) on trial for the Donald Shorty Shea murder. (NBC News Archives)

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Bruce Davis (left) compared with Zodiac Killer sketches (right)

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12
False Witness
Throughout the Manson Trials many people testified for the prosecution. Many of them could only testify to the facts of the murders and what happened inside the homes of the actual murders. The others were direct witnesses against Charles Manson and the other defendants or merely character witnesses. Most of them just repeated hearsay or things they had read in the media and newspapers. And some of them downright fabricated their stories and some were given incentives to testify.

Paul Watkins (left) and Brooks Poston (right);the prosecutions main witnesses to the Helter Skelter theory. (Photo courtesy of DiRT)

This chapter will take a look at seven most devastating witnesses; Linda Kasabian, Brooks Poston, Danny DeCarlo, Diane Snake Lake, Ronnie Howard, Virginia Graham, and Paul Watkins. All of the witnesses testified against Charles Manson and I will give you an insight as to why these people were not honest, credible, or reliable and even caught in their own lies sometimes on the stand. However, their testimonies were still used.

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There are a lot more testimonies that I would like to have included in this chapter, but I felt including them would have made this chapter a bit too long-winded for my taste

The Los Angeles Herald Examiner reported on January 15, 1971, when the defense announced that they were not going to call any witnesses and they rest (without defending Manson or the three girls) a nineteen year old shapely blond named Juli Shapiro stood up and asked to testify that she had proof that a key prosecution witness had been coerced, bribed and threatened she was removed from the court and the trial went on. - The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme

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PAUL WATKINS, BROOKS POSTON & PAUL CROCKETT

I lump these three together because they appeared together in various newspapers, documentaries and testified against Charles Manson together. Their stories about him were also very similar and they were often interviewed together. Brooks Postons history proves that he was a lost soul. Theres allegations that he had met cultist Jim Jones sometimes in the middle-to-late 60s. Sometime during this era he met minister Dean Morehouse and followed him like a little lost choir boy. Dean Morehouse introduced him to Beach Boys Prospector-turned-guru Paul (Psychic Magazine; drummer Dennis Wilson, and he eventually chose Crockett. Gary Richardson) him as his personal guru and lived in his Malibu home for some time. At a party in 1968, Dean Morehouse introduced Brooks Poston to this wild man that he had met in Northern California Charles Manson. When he witnessed Charles Manson kneel down to the feet of Dean Morehouse and kiss him, Brooks Poston saw him as Jesus Christ. It would take nearly a year before he joined the Family full-time, but he never forgot this moment. He was a misfit at Spahn Ranch and never really participated with any sex with the girls, LSD parties, and basically shoveled manure during his entire time at Spahn Ranch. When Charles Manson and a handful of others visited Barker Ranch in Death Valley in 1968, he was left there and began mining with a Scientologist-prospector named Paul Crockett. He once remarked that he was terrified of Charles Manson and his move to Death Valley was something he needed to stay alive. Even though he has said many times that he shoveled horse manure as payment for room, food, and a pack a smokes a day for George Spahn, in an interview in 1972, he blamed all of that on Charles Manson, too. I was right on the point listening to all of Charlies words. He conned people into all kinds of things. He conned me into working. He conned me into shoveling horse shit. I must have shoveled tons of it.

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In my opinion, Brooks Poston was a disturbed individual. He not only saw Charles Manson as God, but claimed that he had put in in a trance for three days in which he died under his order to go die, when he was unable to perform sexually during an orgy. He also claimed that Charles Manson verbally assaulted him regularly and picked on him for his lack of sexual prowess. I admit that was a dick move by Charles Manson, but we have all done it. Whether or not it was simple picking on, how does this constitute any form of mind control? I personally dont think that Charles Manson did this for the reason the prosecution had given to break Brooks Poston down, to use it as a tool to program him. He did it to be a dick. Brooks Poston just took it literally. In a 1988 monologue by Paul Watkins, he stated that Brooks Postons problems continued long after Charles Manson was put away. Brooks wasnt able to function in a lot of cases, Watkins remembered. Therefore he was seen as sort of a hanger on who couldnt do very much, couldnt function sexually, or musically, or wasnt ever very assertive about anything; generally screwed up. It got to be sadder and sadder. There was something wrong, so I eventually just pulled away. Oddly, in the Robert Hendrickson book, Death to Pigs, Brooks Poston had nothing but good things to say about Manson almost protecting him. Laurence Merrick: Did he teach the girls to steal? Brooks Poston: I dont know. Laurence Merrick: How did they make money, how did he get the money? Brooks Poston: Well, through panhandling hed have the girls go out and panhandle the streets. Some of the girls had pretty rich dads and hed get the girls to write home and ask for money, and out would come a check for $500. Laurence Merrick: And who would they give money? Brooks Poston: Theyd give it to Charlie. Laurence Merrick: And what would he do with it? Brooks Poston: Sometimes he gave it away, sometimes be bought candy with it. Sometimes hed pay taxes with it, not his, George Spahns. He gave $2,000 once, to pay Georges property tax. Laurence Merrick: Why would George let him be at Spahn Ranch?

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Brooks Poston: George pretty much liked the girls. Laurence Merrick: George made love to the girls? Brooks Poston: Not that I know of, but the girls were there constantly. They were always paying attention to George and keeping him company. His own family wouldnt come around often. And the people that worked there, really didnt pay attention to him. Laurence Merrick: George used Charlie and the Family as much as Charlie used him? Brooks Poston: Yeah. Laurence Merrick: Did he ever steal a horse and sell it? Brooks Poston: No, he got some of Georges cars running. He brought George an old Studebaker once, fixed up some trucks; made sure the ranch had food. Not only did he shoot down a lot of the prosecutions theories in this interview, but substantiated Charles Mansons story of how he helped George Spahn pay his land bills. The whole Charles Manson conned George Spahn to live at the ranch for free motive isnt close to being true. That being said, Brooks Poston did go on the stand and play victim, (probably) as coached by Vincent Bugliosi. In Charles Watsons book, Will You Die for Me? he stated that after the freakout, which was essentially an LSD party gone bad with a batch of LSD, that Brooks Poston was damaged and never recovered. All the same, what was said this LSD party was early on in the game according to Paul Watkins book, My Life with Charles Manson, and was in no way a tool for Charles Manson to damage the participants. It was just a bad experience even for Charles Manson who ended up running down Santa Susan Pass, freaking out half-dressed and in a state of horror and panic while his beloved Family were in a scurry to find the missing guru. In the same interview, from Death to Pigs, Brooks Poston speaks about it and you can get a really good idea of how damaged this guy really was even after his deprogramming by Scientologist Paul Crockett. Paul Crockett was interviewed in 2012, by Star City Radio, and he said that Brooks Poston was nearly insane and spouting suicidal words like, I will be dead before I am 19, and basically starving himself to death.

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Most people believe that the so-called freakout was the turning point in the Family, and the moment where a lot of them went off the deep end. Brooks Poston: During the freakout there were a lotta people who took large doses of acid. And people jumping in and out of the fireplace. Its a wood fireplace and the people were laying in it with their hair in the fire. People were flying through the windows, laying on the floor, hitting other people in the face. Charlie wasnt even there at that time. Charlie done took off. In a stark contrast to their versions of the freakout, Juanita Wildbush was interviewed by Win Cormack, and she too spoke about it. However, her version differed greatly than what Paul Watkins, Brooks Poston and Charles Watson. Her version is also the most neutral since all of the aforementioned had their own reasons to skew the reality to benefit their own agendas. I never saw that man do anything that was hurtful. I really didnt. [] I did see him cry one time. Things got really out of hand. I mean really royally. People were hitting each other. The place was literally destroyed. I remember Little Paul Watkins hit me that night. There was pandemonium. And Charlie came in to get a pair of shoes and he said to me, I cant stay here, because theres no love here anymore. He said, Tomorrow you have to tell them that they drove me away. And the tears were just flowing down on his face. I asked him to stay, and he said no, he couldnt stay. He said that the animal had come out in them and that love had fled. Going back to Brooks Poston, here is some more of the interview with Laurence Merrick. Laurence Merrick: Why didnt you fuck the girls? Brooks Poston: I didnt fuck the girls, what all I did was die. Laurence Merrick: Why? Brooks Poston: They didnt turn me on for one thing. Laurence Merrick: Were they pretty? Brooks Poston: I dont know, maybe Im weird. Laurence Merrick: Why did Charlie tell you to go die? Brooks Poston: Because I wouldnt fuck. Laurence Merrick: Did you believe he was Christ? Brooks Poston: Yeah, I believed he was Christ. Charlie, like the whole idea of what Charlie was scared the shit out of me.

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Christ?

Laurence Merrick: What manifestation did he give you, that he was

Brooks Poston: Mostly it happened when I was on acid. Like hed tell me nothing means anything, to give up my thoughts. In my case its closer to a miracle that Im alive, because when I was on acid Charlie was Christ and to me if he told me to do something, Id do it. He told me that I should go die, and so I tried every way that I could think of to die. Laurence Merrick: Did he teach you to hate? Brooks Poston: No, I learned that by myself. Later on, Paul Watkins was sort of pushed out of the Family by Charles Manson. Whether it is because he didnt like Paul Watkins and didnt trust him, or just had bad feelings about him. He did send him off to Death Valley. He claimed that this was to prepare for Helter Skelter. When he left Spahn Ranch, he was reunited with Brooks Poston and was introduced to Paul Crockett at Barker Ranch. Brooks Poston told him how Paul Crockett deprogrammed him and now is free of the grips of Charles Manson. After much persuasion, Paul Crockett also deprogrammed him like a modern-day Jesus Christ curing people of Satanism. One of the tasks in the deprogramming was making him stare at a doorknob for days, as stated in Paul Watkins book, My Life with Charles Manson. He then put them both to work in the nearby mines. In my mind, Paul Crockett was a very intelligent man and he used these two as his personal slave miners and filled their heads with fear probably so they would stay by his side as his personal slaves. So, obviously, Brooks Poston was in no way, shape or form a credible witness against Charles Manson. In fact, he was in desperate need psychiatric help, not some power-hungry wannabe-guru prospector telling him to stare at a doorknob all day. A few months after Charles Manson and the Family invaded, the three left Barker Ranch and hiked 20 miles to Warm Springs. When Charles Manson pestered them at the Warm Springs camp it forced them to take the 40 mile trek to Shoshone and started to bunk in the Dublin Gulch caves. When they became tired of living in the caves, they decided to go to the police and were responsible for finalizing Shoshone Sheriff Don Wards campaign to capture the hippies creating havoc in Death

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Valley. Law enforcement were way too familiar with those hippies and wanted them behind bars. Sheriff Don Ward recorded their stories, and shockingly none of them spoke about any murders. They all did implicate Charles Manson and the Family in auto thefts and arson. In the interview Paul Crockett basically poked fun at the fact that he had stolen Charles Mansons men to use for physical labor. I had already stolen Charlies, top man or one of his men. And so, he didnt like this at all, Paul Crockett told Don Ward. I had stolen this Paul Watkins because was supposed to be a good fucker, as the word was put around. He went on to boast about stealing Brooks Poston and Juan Flynn, as well. I had stolen Brooks Poston. And then later on, another one of the guys. And so, by this time I had stolen from himin his mindthree of his men. And so he was very angry with me. He had never seen me. He didnt know who I was. But I must be some kind of big medicine because, people were leaving him, to go with me more-or-less to speak. And so I was using these men to pack ore off the mountain. And so his first idea when he came to the top of, what is called Goler Wash, or to the Barker Ranch. He told me that, did you know that I had planned to kill you? And I said, Yes, I knew that you had planned to kill me, because of the way you acted. And so, by this time I had figured that, I had best make myself valuable to this man, or he would kill me. Both Paul Crockett and Brooks Poston ended their interviews similarly and implied that Charles Mansons only crimes were basically limited to being a nuisance and a thief. Brooks Poston also told the Sheriff that if need be, he will testify that he saw Charles Manson driving hot dune buggies. He offered, If its necessary to testify as to the fact that hes driven a dune buggy, that was, that is hot. Paul Crockett had a lot more to say about Charles Manson, but still nothing about murder. So the only way we can stop this man, is to be able to catch him in a vehicle, that he is driving, that is hot. Or catch him in some situation to where he has become deadly, or something like that, because he is a very clever man, and he

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borders on genius. And yet, hes so idiotic, its ridiculous. But you cant overlook the fact that he is doing what hes doing. And you guys should know best that he is doing it. Because you trying to put the make on him. After all of the arrests at Barker Ranch and Charles Manson was in jail, the trio were living in Shoshone, California; starving and destitute they became desperate. So they decided to sell their story to the presses and their story that they sold was oddly full of murder and madness. This was purely a move to make money and nothing more. Since day one, Paul Watkins was a man who starved for the spotlight. He regularly called himself Mansons second-in-command, and pushed himself in front of the cameras. In his book, My Life with Charles Manson, he told the story of Brooks Postons three day death from the mind of Charles Manson. In that same book he also gave a very interesting description of his new messiah Paul Crockett when he met back up with Charles Manson at Spahn Ranch. Theres this old prospector up therea far out old dudehe put a psychic gate up across the canyon. No one can get in unless they have true love in their hearts. When Don Ward interviewed Paul Crockett, he casually poked fun at the two for believing his psychic gate. I cant help but feel that he was doing the very same thing to Brooks Poston and Paul Watkins that they have put on Charles Manson: mind control and the use of fear to control. I even implanted them with the idea that I had the power to keep Charlie from coming back up there, Paul Crockett told Don Ward. And so, they accepted this idea. So was he protecting them or was he trying to keep them up there so he could essentially use them as his slaves? Whatever the reason, he told Sheriff Don Ward that his plan worked and it kept Charles Manson away from Barker Ranch. And so, poor ol Charlie later on, in his ventures, tried to come back. He would try to come, and the truck would blow up and wouldnt go. Or the Police would stop him and arrest him. And it was all my fault. That I was some kind of a big deity, sitting up on the hill, that was trying to keep him from doing what he had to do for all the people of the world. And that I was in his way.

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In a very odd change of opinion, in 1988, Paul Watkins made a tape where he mentions Paul Crockett with a very different opinion on him and he largely dismissed him as a crazy man. One of my theories was that he kept Paul Watkins and Brooks around purely as slaves, feeding them with a bunch of psychological hogwash. What Paul Watkins says about him sort of solidifies this theory. I dont have something going with Crockett, I dont run to him all the time, as a matter of fact I see him as quite destructive. For example: he would have kept me there with this tumor growing on my neck, paying him a $100 a session, telling me to think the tumor away. He told me to get rid of my wife because she was causing it. Get rid of my children because they were causing it, divorce myself from my life and come live near him and keep paying $100 a session until I was cured. I probably would have died. The chances were very good and I probably would have died had I not gone and gotten some help. The scary thing is that at one time Paul Watkins truly believed his words and combined with his own messed up mind, you kid a troubled kid with a very active imagination that is very susceptible to influence. He was easily influence by Charles Manson, Paul Crockett and eventually the District Attorney. In the Jess Bravin book, The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme, it was written that it was actually Paul Watkins along with Lynette Fromme, and Patricia Krenwinkel who first started to decipher Beatles lyrics. This was something that was of course always attributed to Charles Manson. On November 5, 1970, Paul Watkins testified against Charles Manson. When asked about how Charles Manson programmed him, by Ronald Hughes, he said something even more confusing. Attorney Ron Hughes: Can you tell me about Charlies powers? Paul Watkins: Its a maze of agreements and implied agreements. What does that even mean? Charles Manson brainwashed people with lies? This is something straight out of the mind of Paul Crockett. One of the things Paul Crockett told him was that if he wanted to be free of Charles Manson all he had to do was ask him if he would release him from all agreements and voil, the spell would be broken. During this same testimony Paul Watkins stated something else that was beyond belief. This was reported in the L.A. Free Press publication.

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Clem, had his member bit off by a girl named Bo in the Spring of 1969, at the Gresham Street house in Conoga Park, and blood spurted in all directions, Paul Watkins stated. Manson, through magical healing powers, was able to sew it together and heal the sutures, that even the scars were removed. Magic? Is he serious? This may have seemed to be a bit of comical relief for the jury, but he was serious. On many occasions he mentioned that Charles Manson was a High priest of Black Magic. How could he get such an absurd thought? December 5, 1969, the papers started to run that story that Paul Watkins, Brooks Poston and Paul Crockett sold whilst living in the Dublin Gulch caves of Shoshone. In these articles he again repeated these claims that Charles Manson was simply a magician. They also made these outlandish claims that somehow Charles Manson was crazy because he forbade the consummation of meat. Crocket (sic) and his young friends have been negotiating for big money, Maybe hundreds of thousands, the miner says, for their version of life in Charles Mansons netherworld in the desert. Its got everything, Watkins said. Everything. Yeah, said Poston. Sex, black magic and murder. The whole thing, Watkins said. Was held together by black magic. You dont believe it? Well, it really exists, and it is powerful. We could show you. He [Manson], Poston said. Believes that heand all human beingsare God and the Devil at the same time. He believes that all human beings are a part of each other. The three nodded in agreement, and Crocket laughed, But you cant kill a bug, not an animal, not a snake. Nothing. There were snakes all over the desert. They would get in the cabins. But you could never kill one. They picked up the snakes in the house and carried them outside and turned them loose. And you couldnt eat meat, Watkins said, Because you were killing an animal. It was crazy. To this day two girls [Good and Fromme] who were a part of the [Manson] family, living in Independence, wont eat meat. Paul Watkins actually admitted in this article that they were out for money. It was obvious that he only came forward because he saw an opportunity to make money. He not only loved the money, but he loved the spot-

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light. Paul Crockett loved the money. If he was the type of man to charge a dying Paul Watkins $100 a session to help him think away his Cancer, then something is wrong. In that said 1988 tape, Paul Watkins paints him as being a conman whose even cost people their homes. Hes been doing it now for a few years and theres a lot of ugly stories, really sad stories of people that have been not helped in the least, and who are suffering, and who have lost property and a lot of their money to Crockett and Sylvie. It paints a really ugly picture. In the 2006 documentary, Inside the Manson Gang, Paul Watkins stated that, Wouldnt it be far out to have someone follow you around with a camera? I always dreamed of being followed by cameras. That statement sums him up perfectly. Even after Paul Watkins and Co. went to the media, he somehow wedged himself back into the Family in an attempt to take Charles Mansons place. He lead the singing groupas seen in the 2006 documentary, Inside the Manson Gangand Steve Grogan somehow got an idea that he was acting as an informant for the prosecution. Before he knew it, he woke up inside the van of actor Mark Ross burning alive. He narrowly escaped that fire with his life. And like clockwork, he went to the prosecution as a star witness against Charles Manson to the Helter Skelter theory. Its a known fact that it was Paul Watkins who was the man that brought the theory to the prosecutions table. Scorned, marked for death, and without his beloved Family, he went to the jury, telling his version of events. But Paul Watkins was not a part of the Family during the time of the murders. In fact, he did not even learn about them until many months later as he heard about them from gossip, second-hand, third-hand, and bunk information. He knew nothing about the murders, yet he became the star witness against Charles Manson and the three defendants. Sounds a little weird to me. Also, keep in mind that in 2012, Paul Crockett spoke to Star City Radio, and he completely denied Brooks Poston and Paul Watkins talking about Helter Skelter. In fact, it is fact that they were the last to find out that the Family were responsible for the Tate and LaBianca murders. But Paul Crockett being Paul Crockett, he did imply that he foresaw the Family

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being responsible for the Tate and LaBianca murders before he even met Charles Manson. Star City Radio: Were they telling you about Helter Skelter? Paul Crockett: They never talked about that. Star City Radio: No mention of the motive Helter Skelter? Paul Crockett: None. Star City Radio: Interesting. Paul Crockett: I was up there with these guys for eight months. Star City Radio: They were just telling you what life was living with Charlie Manson. Paul Crockett: Saw news about the Tate murders on TV and I said You reckon Charlie did that? and they said Oh, no Charlie would never do that. He went on to answer, when asked about what he testified in court, that he testified a bunch of crap. He went on further by saying that Vincent Bugliosi wouldnt listen to him when he wanted to give the real motive for the murders and that the story was never told. Imagine that the prosecutions main (1/3 of) witness to the Helter Skelter theory saying that perhaps the real motive was not put forthunder oathin the Court of Law. During all of this second-hand, third-hand gossip Paul Watkins heard about the murders and more accurately, the murder of movie stuntman and Spahn Ranch hand Donald Shea, he developed his own story on what actually happened. The story that he told the prosecution included Steve Grogan beheading Shea and the rest of the Family cutting the rest of his body up and buying their pieces separate. In the 1973 documentary, Manson, Paul Watkins stated that it was Steve Grogan who told him that he had stabbed Shorty over and over, and Shorty wouldnt die, and that Steve Grogan, took a machete and lopped his head off, and his head went bloop, bloop, bloop. However, during his testimony December 1970, he stated that it was Charles Manson who had told that story. How did he confuse the two? Well, he didnt confuse the story he made it up and made it fit his situations at the time as it was Charles Manson on trial and not Steve Grogan. Though, he would also testify as Steve Grogans trial.

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Now, I do believe that Steve Grogan may have bragged about the murder. But the story he had supposedly bragged about was proved false. In 1977, Steve Grogan lead authorities to the body of Donald Shea and he was not only completely intact, but in one piece. Part of the story given to the prosecution was that he was indeed cut into nine pieces. October 21, 1971, newspapers reported that Steve Grogan would be indicted for murder, partly based on Paul Watkins testimony at the Charles Manson trial. The State claimed that Grogan, 20, while following Mansons orders; decapitated Donald Shorty Shea, 36, after the family tortured the dying man with knives. In Vincent Bugliosis book, Helter Skelter, the same thing was written, but he went further saying that he had evidence. Meanwhile Clem, t/n Steve Grogan, pleaded guilty to a grand theft auto charge stemming from the Barker raid. Van Nuys judge Sterry Fagan heard the case. He was aware of Grogans lengthy rap sheet. Aaron (Stovitz) also informed the judge that Grogan was exceedingly dangerous; that he had not only been along the night the LaBiancas were killed, but we also had evidence that he beheaded Shorty Shea. Since Donald Shea was found intact, this was incorrect. So, how did the prosecution have evidence of this crime if it never happened? Was it based off of Paul Watkins words? That is hardly evidence. But it does show how Vincent Bugliosi used Paul Watkins as a parrot for his theory. During the 1994 parole hearing of Bruce Davis, he not only implicated Charles Tex Watson in the murder, but said he stabbed Donald Shea. Why wasnt Charles Watson ever convicted for this murder? Why doesnt he ever speak about it? But more importantly, why didnt Paul Watkins know this or testify these facts being the star witness in the Donald Shea murder? Its obviously because he knew nothing at all. Bruce Davis also stated in his 1994 parole hearing that he took a machete to Donald Sheas neck, not Steve Grogan. It is a fact that there was machete marks on the back of his skull; Bruce Davis is being vague he hit Shea with the machete, not Steve Grogan. Steve Grogan did not murder Donald Shea, but he did help and was just as guilty as anyone else. Paul Watkins lies put him at the top of the murder

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and it also failed to involve three key players in the murder: Charles Watson, Bill Vance, (Aliases: William VanSickle, David Lee Hamic. Real name: William Rex Cole), and Larry Bailey who were never question or tried for this murder. All of this was backed up by Bruce Davis himself while speaking to his parole board. I was in the car when Steve Grogan hit Shorty with the pipe wrench. Charles Watson stabbed him. I was in the backseat with with Grogan. They took Shorty out. They had to go down the hill to a place. I stayed in the car for quite a while but what then I went down the hill later on and thats when I cut Shorty on the shoulder with the knife, after he was, well, I dont know. I dont know if he was dead or not. He didnt bleed when I cut him on the shoulder. When I showed up, you know, he was incapacitated. I dont know if you asked if he was unconscious. And I in fact I did touch Shorty Shea with a machete on the back of his neck, didnt break the skin. I mean I just couldnt do it. And then I threw the knife and he handed me a bayonet. I just reached over and. I dont know which side it was on but I cut him right about here on the shoulder just with the tip of the blade. Paul Watkins lies proved advantageous for the prosecution at Steve Grogans trial (and Van Houtens retrial) to rightfully convict him, but his lies took blame off of at least two killers who were never charged for the crime. This is not justice, and the people only cared if Charles Manson was found guilty for these crimes. No one seemed to actually care about the truth. In the Nuel Emmons book, Manson in His Own Words, Charles Manson also complains about the same thing. Of course, no one will listen to his words, right? We all know he is such a liar. Much later Bruce Davis, Clem Grogan and I were convicted for the slaying of Shorty Shea. At the time of our conviction, Sheas body had not been discovered. However, when Sheas body was found it was still intact. Testimony also indicated that numerous members of our group participated in his slaying, but somehow the prosecuting attorney saw fit to ignore that part of the evidence. The D.A. was so caught up in his theory of Helter Skelter and obsessed with making the world believe I was a satanic pied piper, looked over many participants. Until Paul Watkins death in 1990, he stayed on his story and never budged. Why would he have kept his lie? Well, he did get a book deal out of it, and it was reported that prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi helped edit it. When I say edit, I mean makes sure his book, My Life with Charles Manson sup-

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ports his Helter Skelter theory. Paul Watkins also joined Vincent Bugliosi on his Helter Skelter book-signing tour, again in his beloved spotlight. He never admitted his lies or acknowledged that he may have been wrong or simply put: out of his mind. Paul Watkins did record a monologue in 1988, where he admitted that Bugliosi made some things up. In a twist of ironic fate, when Steve Grogan was paroled in 1985a sentence in which Paul Watkins testimony was key evidence, which turned out to be pure speculation, conjecture and liesPaul Watkins gave him a phone call. Did he forget that Steve Grogan was the one who set Mark Ross van ablaze with the intent to kill him? Did he call him because he felt bad that he had put him in prison with lies? Whatever reason it may be, the conversion was transcribed and posted on the now defunct Manson Family Today website. Here it is abridged for length. Steve Grogan: Is this Paul? Paul Watkins: Yes. Steve Grogan: So whats happening? Paul Watkins: I thought Id call and see how you were doing. Steve Grogan: Im ok. Its really surprising how expensive everything is now, you know, after being in the joint 15 years. Paul Watkins: Im living in a shack in the desert in Tecopa. Steve Grogan: Are you nervous? Paul Watkins: No. Steve Grogan: Hey its cool, thats all over. Paul Watkins: Well, Charlie always did have a way of knowing everything. Steve Grogan: You know its against my parole to associate with anyone in the Family. Paul Watkins: Well, if its not cool, maybe I shouldnt be talking to you. Steve Grogan: You know if I hadnt got put in the joint, I dont know how far I would have gone. I sure was a crazy kid. Ive been working with kids who are just like I was, there right into the same thing. Paul Watkins: Yeah, will things ever change? Steve Grogan: Hows Brooks doing?

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Paul Watkins: Hes playing around a little hes really into his music. You know how this is costing me a bit, maybe I should call you later. When are you there? Steve Grogan : Hows your father? Paul Watkins: Oh, he died a few years ago. Steve Grogan: Oh thats too bad, you know what I really found out? Your parents are really important to you. Mine stuck with through this whole thing. Is your Mom still out in Calabases? Paul Watkins: I havent kept in touch with her for years. After my dad died she became reclusive. Steve Grogan: You should go see her, go find her. Its important. Steve Grogan went on to assume a new identitywhich I do not feel the right to mentionand became a very well respected session musician virtuoso of many stringed instruments in San Francisco. Brooks Poston followed Paul Crockett to Washington State and is living within a few miles of him, so I am told. On January 10, 2014, Paul Gaylord Crockett passed away at the age of 89. One of the oddest things that I found while researching these three, was that in the very early 1970s, Paul Watkins and Brooks Poston recorded this 77 minute conversation where they mostly talked about their philosophies that strongly mirrored those of Charles Manson. However, they did mention Charles Manson as a guy we met a couple thousand years ago. And Paul Watkins sort of spilled some truth, stating that what they did with that guy [Manson] was, they took the words that he said and they had this big vision, then they started this big revolution, and they killed a whole bunch because of that! Brooks Poston, using a very exaggerated southern draw, then responded, No kidding? You mean they went around using his words and everything and turned it around the words? I am pretty sure that they never believed that anyone interested in the case would listen to this recording 40 years later. Believe it or not, this recording was found in the attic of a desert home and nearly discarded.

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DANNY DECARLO

Its only right to go onto Danny DeCarlo, because in my opinion he was a key player in the Gary Hinman and Donald Shea slayings. Maybe he wasnt directly involved, but most certainly indirectly. Danny DeCarlo came to Spahn Ranch in late 1968, or very early 1969, while Charles Manson was in Death Valley. He later became sort of the Ranchs defense contractor, supplying the ranch with guns, ammo and drugs. He was a player in the Straight Satans Motorcycle Clubs Venice Beach The always trustworthy 1% Satan Danny DeCarlo. chapter and quickly became a key Family Straight (AP Press Photo) member; or at this time they should be called a gang. His arsenal proved important after Charles Tex Watson had pulled his drug burn, which lead to the shooting of Bernard Crowe. The following day, T.J. Walleman had told Charles Manson that he heard that a high-ranking Black Panther member had been killed, and they vowed to retaliate. T.J. Walleman fled, saying that I aint into no snuffing. This scared the hell out of Charles Manson and he was sure that the Black Panthers would retaliate. It was a fact that Bernard Crowe was a Black Panther member. It was in his L.A.P.D. arrest jacket, but the media and prosecution downplayed this and said it was untrue. The Family album compiled during the investigation by Sgt. E.G. Williams concluded as follows: Crowe, Bernard: Male Negro, LAPD# 838 344C, Member of Black Panthers. The prosecution and many witnesses had stated that it was Charles Manson who had armed the Family, and taught them how to shoot in preparation for Helter Skelter. However, Danny DeCarlo claims that it was he who not only introduced guns to Spahn Ranch, but taught them all to shoot including Charles Manson. Here is an excerpt of an interview conducted in the mid 1970s, by a Canadian TV show The Fifth Estate.

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Reporter: You taught the girls how to shoot, how to clean a weapon and how to break it down? All that stuff. Danny DeCarlo: Yeah. Reporter: Who was the best shot? Danny DeCarlo: The best? Reporter: Sadie? Danny DeCarlo: Id say Sadie was; just on a machine gun firing a machine gun. Reporter: Did she get off on that? Danny DeCarlo: Well, everybody did. I did too watching them. Reporter: You made your own ammunition? Danny DeCarlo: Yeah, we made everything. Itd take maybe an hour to make 700 rounds and in a matter of minutes it was all gone. Reporter: When did Charlie start to change? He didnt like your stolen credit card racket, didnt like the weapons, didnt like the guns. Was it after you started teaching the girls how to shoot? Danny DeCarlo: It was a couple months, because at first he wasnt into it. When I first went to the ranch I brought my whole arsenal up. He [Manson] said what are we going to do with a machine gun? I said thats protection. He said man, we dont need nothing like that. I show him how to use a gun. Then he started getting into it. Then we brought him an M1 and hed just fire it into the sky as long as he could hear a lot of noise and see dirt kick up, it made him feel good. We had fun shooting guns. Its quite obvious that he was pretty proud of his deeds and he definitely took pride in his work. When Vincent Bugliosi put him on the stand, he pretty much regurgitated anything the prosecution laid down for him in exchange for immunity to felonies including aggravated assault, drug possession, firearms and grand theft. He absolutely had every reason to lie, especially since he now owned a gun shop in the Pacific Northwest and was trying to go on the straight and narrow, however, that did not last long. Other rumors were that DannyDeCarlo was given $5,000 to testify, which probably is true. Another witness for the prosecutionRonnie Howardsaid that she too was given money to testify ($25,000, sometimes stated as less). Danny DeCarlo once confirmed that he was offered money, but did not accept it. Theres really no proof that he did accept the award.

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With that being said, he had more than enough reason to lie and probably did lie. In fact, I believe it goes without saying that he did lie and involve himself as little as possible so he could secure these plea deals. In my opinion, he wanted Donald Shea dead as much as anyone else. If they did believe Donald Shea snitched to the cops and had the ranch busted, then he was a target to anyone who was impacted by the bust. Danny DeCarlo was not only arrested during the Spahn Ranch raid on August 16, 1969, but he and his fellow Straight Satan, Robert Reinhard, were publicly humiliated when their Straight Satans jacket was shredded by L.A.P.D. on film. He also lost all of his guns and ammunition, motorcycles, parts and anything else he had at the ranch since everything there was confiscated by the police as evidence. This was more than enough motive for a hardened biker in a 1% gang to have a man murdered. In fact, this is a lot more motive than the reason the prosecution gave for Charles Manson ordering the murder: Donald Shea was once married to a black woman. In the aforementioned 1970s interview on The Fifth Estate, Danny DeCarlo recounted the Donald Shea murder with girlfriend and exManson girl Sherry Cooper, and actually broke out in laughter. To me, it seemed like he was quite proud of it and made some unsettling comments. Sherri Cooper: Yeah, Shorty was pretty stubborn, himself. He didnt like Charlie, and he let him know. I cant say that I got along with him, or if I really liked him as a person. I never hated him or nothing, but if I liked him or not Reporter: You didnt want him in nine pieces, especially? Sherri Cooper: I mean, no, I wouldnt care. [laughs] I mean I can have a personality difference, but I dont care what they do as long as they aint doing it to me. Reporter: But Charlie didnt like people to talk back, and Shorty talked back a lot? Sherri Cooper: Well, I guess it was towards the end and Shorty was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Danny DeCarlo: [Laughing hysterically] Sherri Cooper: He was off and on, he left, he just got off there at the wrong time and the wrong place.

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Reporter: So, it was timing? Someone who happened to be at the wrong place, the wrong time? Danny DeCarlo: Thats it. He got dismembered. [Smiles] Yeah, he must have felt bad about it. Reporter: Who? Danny DeCarlo: Shorty. Yeah, I mean nine parts? Not too much meat can be in nine parts. [Claps hands and laughs] Donald Shea was obviously not dismembered, but at this time the truth had not been discovered yet. So, of course he will still go with what had been proven, beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. He and Sherri Cooper conclude the interview with some more braggart, cocky statements about how they loved the lifestyle with the Family. Danny DeCarlo: It will never be again. It will be nothing but be talked about. It will never be Sherri Cooper: It was an experience. All it was was an experience. Danny DeCarlo: And I would not want to Sherri Cooper: I wouldnt trade it for nothing, either. But I think we have been through a couple experiences since then that wouldnt you know. Weve been through a couple experiences since then that were not going to talk about. I mean, you do something. You do it. And its done. What can you do? Its done. Snivel about it for years? What can you say? Im sorry, you know? Big deal. Danny DeCarlo: We have no restrictions on life to what we want to do. We just do it. [Snaps fingers] What does this say to you? Would you trust Danny DeCarlo on the stand in a case against someone he aided in a crime spree? After he testified for the prosecution, he left town. A few years later, the L.A. Free Press ran an article about L.A.P.D. Narcs wearing Straight Satans jackets, which were seized in the Spahn Ranch raid: Biker club warns about narcs wearing Straight Satans colors Danny DeCarlo, had been living with the Charles Manson tribe at the time of the Tate-LaBianca murders, and for that reason he was forced to appear in court, although he could testify no more that he had been living with the Family and that he knew the members. The Man told Danny if he did not appear theyd off the Straight Satans.

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He could testify no more than he had been living with the Family ? Are you kidding me? Danny DeCarlo basically substantiated 95% of the socalled Helter Skelter theory, as suggested by the prosecution to the jury. His testimony was just as, if not more damning than anyone elses. I will give the Straight Satans the benefit of the doubt that they are not lying to protect a snitch, but this is what Danny DeCarlo had told them to justify him snitching. Straight Satan Alan Springer was just as much of a snitch snitching must run in the gang. When Charles Manson got his day in court November 20, 1970, right before the jury deliberatedin which the jury had been removed from the courtroom to avoid him brainwashing one or all of them into a not-guilty verdicthe spoke about Danny DeCarlo. Of course it was all lies, right? Since he never told the truth. In my opinion, he was spot-on with his description of Danny DeCarlo. With Danny DeCarlos testimony. He said that I hate black men, and he said that we thought alike, that him and I was a lot alike in our thinking. But actually all I ever did with Danny DeCarlo or any other human being was reflect himself back at himself. If he said he did not like the black man, I would say, Okay. I had better sense than tell him I did not dislike the black man. I just listened to him and I would react to his statement. So consequently he would drink another beer and walk off and pat me on the back and he would say to himself, Charlie thinks like I do. But actually he does not know how Charlie thinks because Charlie has never projected himself. Lets not kid here, Danny DeCarlo had a lot to gain by lying and/or reciting what the prosecution laid down. Not only had his gun been used in the Bernard Crowe shooting, but it was the gun used in the Tate murders. It was also a gun that was linked to Charles Manson, this is true. But it was the same gun that was traded to movie stuntman Randy Starr for Danny DeCarlos bread truck as laid out in the Ed Sanders book, The Family. With the way the prosecution was getting people left and right on conspiracy charges, this could have easily had him in prison with the rest of the defendants. The prosecution convicted Susan Atkins on conspiracy charges to the LaBianca slayings and she was not even there. They convicted her on the fact that she simply knew about them.

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The gun backed with the fact that Danny DeCarlos sword was used in the Gary Hinman slaying would almost guarantee that he would have been a prime candidate for conspiracy-to-murder charges. His motives for testifying against Charles Manson and even Bobby Beausoleil were purely selfish to avoid his own criminal charges. He had an ongoing trial for smuggling drugs over the border and the prosecution made that charge disappear. He even told the papers that there were three federal charges pending against him including illegal registration of a firearm. So, what was the other charge? It was a charge he would rather not mention a rather violent charge. According to a police report from March 24, 1969, Danny DeCarlo was charged with Assault with intent to do great bodily harm on his own wife Miriam DeCarlo. According to the report, Miriam called the police on him after being beaten when she tried to retrieve their son. Officer Smith #12696, Unit #27633, LAPD Devonshire district, stated that the above victim called from Topanga Canyon stating she had just been beaten up by her husband while at the above location (Spahn Ranch). We then question the victim, who stated that approximately 11:00pm, she arrived at the Spahn Ranch and entered the main building where there were approximately 25 persons sitting about. She then confronted her husband (Suspect #1), and requested that he return their 10 month old son to her or she would take him to court. She stated that he stated that if she takes him to court, that he and the Straight Satans would kill her. The report goes on to include Charles Manson as one of the assaulters; that he dragged her from the room by her hair. This was after Danny DeCarlo kicked her all over the body with steel-toe engineer type boots. Ouch. Was Charles Manson just trying to get her out of there before Danny DeCarlo killed her? Or was he, too, trying? Charges were dropped on him. I wonder if Danny DeCarlo was serious when he threatened to kill her? Of course he did not want to mention this case to the media or the jury. It would have completely blown the false facade that he put up as a biker who followed Charles Manson for the girls.

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Subsequently, he told the media that he was hesitant about testifying, that I dont dig it, man. Its bad news among bike people. A snitch gets killed. He also said Charles Manson persuaded him to live at Spahn Ranch. Bullshit. He was there before Charles Manson had returned from his October 1968, Death Valley excursion. This does explain why he left Los Angeles. There are rumors that he was put in some sort of witness protection. I personally have never seen any evidence of this. The truth is, Danny DeCarlo prided himself on being a gun expert. It was the gun that was traded for his bread truck that shot Bernard Crowe and was used at the 10050 Cielo Drive, massacre. He could easily identify it. But at the trial he identified it as Charles Mansons gun. Irving Kanarek retorted with the accusation that Danny DeCarlo was no gun expert. The newspapers stated that Danny DeCarlo turned his head, spit on the floor, uttered an obscenity and proceeded to point the gun at Irving Kanarek and pulled the trigger. This is fact. What a great witness for the prosecution. Its also fact that his testimony was damning to Charles Manson; it was planned to be that way. The prosecution found Danny DeCarloa man who was heading to prisonand gave him a sweet deal of a clean record. Much like they did to Linda Kasabian, Virginia Graham, Mary Brunner (see the following chapter: Stupid Cupid), and now Danny DeCarlo. More often than not, if you give someone immunity to crimes, they will talk. Its the selfishness everyone is born with. This selfishness carried on to the Beausoleil/ Hinman case. The Ed Sanders book, The Family, reported that after the Gary Hinman slaying, the Straight Satans took the sword used in the murder and destroyed it. This proves the conspiracy to murder link at least in the Gary Hinman case. The Gary Hinman murder was essentially over bad drugs. Not to repeat myself, but story goes that he sold some bad mescaline to Bobby Beausoleil and the bad mescaline was then sold to the Straight Satans. Bobby Beausoleil stated in an interview with Seconds Magazine that it was Danny DeCarlo from the Straight Satans who told him to go to Gary Hinmans and get his money backand how to do itand not Charles Manson as the

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prosecution stated. He also explains that Danny DeCarlo lied and testified that it was he confessed the murder to him. It was something that I felt that I had to deal with. Gary said that he didnt have the money. I reached desperation, and actually did what Danny DeCarlo had suggested, which was to hit Gary with the gun, to make sure he knew that I was serious. I hit him a couple of times on the head with the gun, which shocked him. He said, Bobby, this isnt like you! And it wasnt. He then explains how Danny DeCarlo lied to avoid prosecution for his own felonies. He testified that I told him, in a conversation after-the-fact, what had happened. He related, Well, this is what Bobby told me. at the trial, and of course that had never happened I never had any such conversation with him. But one of the girls that had been with me, Susan Atkins, was his live-in girlfriend in his shack out at the ranch. Now I assume what happened is that she had told him, and he later changed it to Bobby told me. Truth is of this case was not involving Charles Manson, he could have easily turned prosecutions witness against Danny DeCarlo with these facts, but he didnt. His first trial ended in mistrial, then in his second trial after Charles Manson was thrown into the acthe blamed it all on him. Later, he said he did that in an attempt to avoid a murder charge since Charles Manson had already been convicted of 7 other murders. Much like the Donald Shea trial, these trials were mostly built up from hearsay. For instance, Vincent Bugliosi had told the jury that Charles Manson completely cut off Gary Hinmans ear. This was completely false even the autopsy documents showed that Gary Hinmans cheek was cut and his ear intact. He even admits that Charles Manson was not responsible for him murdering Gary Hinman in a 1981 interview in OUI Magazine. That was the prosecutions theory because they wanted to get Manson into the act. They tried every trick in the book. Actually Hinmans ear was never cut off- never gone. It was more that his cheek was sliced that intersected the edge of his ear and you can see it in his autopsy report. Bugliosi told the jury Manson cut his ear off, but its there in the autopsy [report]. You see the Sheriffs Homicide Department wanted to get Manson involved with my case, which was very difficult because Manson was not involved.

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Susan Atkins is now a Jesus freak in jail. She gave five different testimonies and in one of them, she claimed that she killed Hinman. Gary Hinman was into his revolutionary communism. His whole living room was a library of Communist literature. I figured Id make it look like one of his cohorts, you know. I wasnt thinking about blacks necessarily. Its never really been his [Mansons] trip. I mean, hes from the South. West Virginia. Since hes been in, he gets along with blacks better than anybody. I didnt talk to anybody about it. But Susan Atkins has a motor mouth. She was the one, not me, that Danny DeCarlo had the conversation with. The district attorney and Danny DeCarlo were drinking buddies and that is how he [DeCarlo] got the two felony charges and a federal gun charge dropped in return for his testimony. In 2010, Bobby Beausoleil updated his website BeauSoleil.net with the news that he will be writing his book. In this update he posted a rough-draft of the prefix of the book. In this he again admitted that Charles Manson wasnt to blame, but he was to blame for the murder of Gary Hinman. My decision to create an elaborate deceit would never rest easy with me. Even then, as I examined my face in the mirror, my misgivings heckled me; the inner voice, unbidden, like a distant shout: liar! Time and times innumerable that voice would be silenced. I insisted that I was innocent, that it was really Charlie who had done that awful thing. I lied to myself most of all, rationalizing that that rationalization was valid, when deep down I knew that I had told the big lie because I was a coward because I lacked the courage to look my parents and my brothers and sisters in the eyes and tell them the truth. In a 1994 BBC interview with Bill Murphy, Charles Manson had stated that the only advice he gave Bobby Beausoleil was to go and get your money. He has never denied cutting Gary Hinmans cheek, but his murder happened three days later after he was long gone hundreds of miles away in Big Sur. In my opinion, Danny DeCarlo is as responsible as Charles Manson for the Gary Hinman murder, if not more. Now I do agree that Charles Manson should haveat the very leastbeen charged with aggravated assault for cutting Gary Hinman, but not with murder charges or conspiracy-tomurder charges since theres absolutely no proof he ordered the murder.

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Theres even versions of the story where Danny DeCarlo drove Bobby Beausoleil, Susan Atkins and Mary Brunner to the Gary Hinman residence. Regardless if it is true or not, Danny DeCarlos name is deeply embedded in the case and it is just too convenient that Vincent Bugliosi never pursued him for any criminal charge.

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DIANE SNAKE LAKE

Diane Snake Lakes life before Charles Manson was pretty similar to her life with him. At a young age she was on her own at a bikers commune among derelicts, vagrants, and a bunch of bad seeds. She was there for most of 1968, and 1969 as well as the Familys exodus to Death Valley. She also lived with Gary Hinman for some time before his murder. She came to live with the Family off and on and was part of the group that fled Los Angeles to Death Valley in late 1969. Her trial testimony was also a combination of It was clear that Diane Snake knew nothing about the coercion, trade for immunity to crimes and her own Lake murders but chose to testify lies. Most of the above was proven at the trial, but anyway. (LAPD Mugshot) her testimony still stood and was used against Charles Manson and the other defendants. She was also asked to testify against Leslie Van Houten in her 1977 retrial with a testimony that was merely second and third-hand hearsay conveyed as fact. November 5, 1970, while the Manson Trials were in full swing, the newspapers reported that Lake had been caught in a lie that hurt her credibility. The defense was prepared to show that the young woman had testified in front of the Grand Jury that she was in Death Valley at the time of the slayings, although she said at the trial that she was at Spahn Ranch Barker Ranch is about 5 hours away from Spahn Ranch, unless they entered from the West, via Warm Springs which was their entrance of choice. Entering from the west could easily take an extra 4 hours. The Hanum Ranchwhere she was atin Olancha is a bit further, so this proves that she was not even around at the time of the slayings. So her testimony should be treated as hearsay, not fact. Even though she was charged with perjury, she was allowed to continue to testify. Later on during her testimony she admitted that she had read the book which was written based on the confession of Susan AtkinsThe Killing of Sharon Tate prior to testifying.

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Miss Lake said a technician at Patton State Hospital gave her a copy of the book The Killing of Sharon Tate shortly after she was admitted. I asked her if I could read it, and she said, Yes, but dont let anybody see it, said Miss Lake. You cant get any more blatant than that. My question to this would be was it just a coincidence that the technician gave her the book, or did someone from the prosecution ask the technician to give it to her? Of all things, why would that book be in the hands of a technician? A November 5, 1970, newspaper reported that she had actually dropped the bombshell of reading that book. However, without the jury present, so they could not factor that into her testimony. This is not only ridiculous, but it pretty much makes it impossible for the jury to weigh any doubt into credibility of her as a witness. It gets better; the same newspaper reported that Diane Lake had said she was held at Patton State Hospital without anybody knowing. and that she asked the psychiatrists why she was being held there and they told her, Because of the Manson Trial. Mind control? This sounds like they were trying to pump her head full of information to testify. Sound like an absurd conspiracy theory? It may not be that far out of line. We will never know the root of it because the judge cut off any crossexamination of Diane Lake after she had stated that fact even after the defense had evidence to prove that she was coerced into testifying. The evidence was that she that she was given immunity to the previously stated perjury charge if she would continue to testify. When cross-examination was ceased, Charles Manson yelled, Deaf, dumb and blind. Of course, this was blown off as yet another Manson outburst. During Diane Lakes time at Patton State Hospital, she was at one time diagnosed schizophrenic, but it was quickly changed to normal after she began to figure out something was amiss. This too was reported in newspapers on November 5, 1970. Newspapers on November 10, 1970, reported that she officially admitted that she had lied on the stand. Lake admitted that the prosecution had promised her immunity from prosecution if she agreed to testify at the trial of Manson and the three defendants. So in short, the prosecution fed her head with lies and she in turn testified those lies, was caught and they charged her with perjury.

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However, they promised shed walk on those charges if she would still testify against him. Her new story was that she lied because she felt that she would be killed by the Family if she told the truth. I wonder who fed her with that! Sketchy. November 11, 1970, the press ran more stories on her testimony, and this one she was caught in even more lies. She had stated on the stand that she told the technicians at Patton State Hospital that she feared for her life. She also once again confessed that she was not at Spahn Ranch at the time of the murders. Later on in her testimony she said she possibly told a doctor that she feared for her life. Even later on she changed this to that she has never told anyone that Charles Manson threatened me. During her statement she also implemented Sandra Good in the murders, and was questioned and re-question and on the named Sandra Good many times. Kanarek then reminded the young witness: Isnt it true that Sandra Good was in jail at that time? Lake then summed up her entire testimony by saying that her memory was bad, and that it was possible that she was mistaken about the things she testified to Monday and Tuesday. Even though she admitted that her memory was bad, her testimony was kept. Not only was it kept, but the judge would not allow the defense to cross-examine her. After she testified, she briefly re-joined the Family, criticizing the prosecution. You see, things that goes around comes around the same way. Youve decided to kill Charlie, Sadie, and the others. So you see, theres twelve of us, and what that means is that there were twelve who were standing beside Jesus long before the Romans came up to do away with him and nailed him to the cross which is what youre doing to Charlie; nailing him to the cross. It is your sins, not his. See, what you have done in that courtroom has been an act of propaganda. You have sentenced people to death for actually giving heart to life. You have taken what is true, and turned it into a lie. That is how you live, how you all live. After all of this, it is absolutely amazing that her testimony was not only allowed at Leslie Van Houtens retrial, but also aided in helping re-prosecute her as it helped prosecute her in 1970.

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Virtually everything Diane Lake testified was proven lies, opinion, hearsay, conjecture and basically false. Her testimony was essentially what you would get if you got three jigsaw puzzles, dumped out half of each box, and mixed the remaining pieces together and tried to construct it. It was considered legit and the defense had absolutely no way to prove otherwise because the judged would not allow them to cross-examine her.

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VIRGINIA GRAHAM & RONNIE HOWARD

Again, I will be lumping two into one because these two individuals are one in the same. Not only did they share a husband, but both had absolutely no credibility. Both were out for two things: immunity to their jail charges and money. Virginia Graham and Barbara Howard were two of the inmates at Sybil Brand Institute that Susan Atkins had made a confession to while she was being incarcerated for the Gary Hinman slaying. When they went to the police, their stories basically broke the Tate/LaBianca case wide open. While Ronnie Howard added the missing to the puzzle, but admitted their story had a lot of truth in themincluding the pieces she was paid to testify things that not-so-true. (UPI Press names of the actual killerstheir stories were were Photo) severely flawed and full of false facts. Facts that were incredible and some that were comically absurd. Before the Robert Hendrickson book, Death to Pigs, was finished, he posted a little teaser on his website ExclusiveFilms.com. In this teaser, he posted proof that Ronnie Howard admitted that she was paid off. She also admitted that a lot of her testimony was based on Virginia Grahams lies. Eventually in the interview, she refused to say anything on the record in fear that her testimony would be exposed as lies and she would lose her $25,000 award. Ronnie Howard:Virginia and Danny DeCarlo stepping forward. But they told me that the cops uh, have propositioned every one of us, including me, myself They made a deal with me and told me that theyll cinch it, that Ill get the whole twenty five grand. Why wouldnt Robert Hendrickson and producer Laurence Merrick go to the defense team with this revelation? It could easily be used to discredit these key witnesses during the trial. Well, the reason why they didnt was simply stated in the 2006 documentary, Inside the Manson Gang, by Laurence Merrick, himself. Without a conviction, we got no movie. In order to secure a conviction, certain deals have to be made nothing personal, just business.

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This was a reference to the 1973 documentary, Manson. Laurence Merrick was also the individual who gave Charles Manson the infamous Nixon paper. According to SusanAtkins.org, Susan Atkins admitted that the story she told at Sybil Brand Institute was an attempt to strike fear into her cellmates, which would lead to them respecting and even fearing her. This would assure her safety while she was inside. However, this plan obviously backfired severely. The story Susan Atkins told to her cellmates was indeed based on truth, but saturated with lies and exaggerations to make herself seem scarier. Her confession included an elaborate story of how she was balling John Phillip Haught (a.k.a. Zero, Christopher Jesus) when he had committed suicide. This was impossible since he died while she was locked up. Her confession also put herself as Gary Hinmans slayer, and again this was untrue since it was Bobby Beausoleil who killed him. And of course we all know that she also confessed to killing Sharon Tate as well as a very detailed story of how she did it. She did not kill Sharon Tate, which I exlained in the chapter: Demystifying Susan Atkins. In the Robert Hendrickson book, Death to Pigs, in an interview conducted in 1970, and lost in a film vault for nearly 40 years, Ronnie Howard and Virginia Grahams ex-husband (and Howards new husband) Richard Lopez admits that there was money involved in her testifying against Charles Manson and the defendants, and the fact that Virginia Graham admitted she was going to lie. Laurence Merrick: Ronnie, when you were up for an award of $25,000, who muscled in? Say it. Ronnie Howard: You mean the about the deal the cops made with me? Laurence Merrick: How much? Ronnie Howard: Five grand a piece. Laurence Merrick: You afraid of them? Ronnie Howard: Naw, Im not saying Im afraid of them, but I know they could make it very rough for me. Laurence Merrick: And you helped break the Tate-LaBianca case, how?

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Ronnie Howard: Because I gave the cops the names of the people that did it. And thats how Virginia (Graham) got into the act. The only trouble is Virginia has a great tendency to exaggerate Richard Lopez: The truth. Ronnie Howard : With her lies. Anyway, Virginia told me, Steinberg arranged for the press conference, thats when she added anything. She said Well, theyre guilty anyway, she said, So why not add a few juicy facts, why not make it juicer? Laurence Merrick: You call it a lie, you enhance it. You know what Virginia says? Virginia said they She told them they were gonna kill Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Tom Jones, Steve McQueen, The Pope, Elvis Presley. I mean she made it so interesting. Ronnie Howard: Im surprised she didnt add a few more. Laurence Merrick: She added, she added. Ronnie Howard: Well, I didnt wanna I couldnt say anything against Virginia and tell them Virginia was lying, because then, goodness, that wouldnt be good for the prosecution would it? Richard Lopez: Theyre all lying. Ronnie Howard: I just told it the way it was told to me. Laurence Merrick: Yes, yes, built it up big! She basically admits two things: She admits that the so-called celebrity hit list that every news station reported, tabloids still report, and people still believe existed, was a fabrication. That they simply spiced up the story, because its obvious that they are guilty. She also admits that she was indeed paid for her testimony. Apparently, the detectives also wanted a portion of that money she received and in turn they would wipe her record clean. She stated that they did not wipe her record clean and she went back to jail. Sadly, even though She has admitted that Virginia Grahams stories were lies, Virginia Graham still speaks against Charles Manson and the defendants. In fact, she testified against Susan Atkins at her 2009 compassionate release hearings when she was dying of cancer. As we all know, during the trial Virginia Grahams testimony became very important to link Charlie to the murders as the man who ordered them. Over the years there has been a lot of speculation that when Susan

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Atkins made her confession to Virginia Graham that she confused the Charlies and they all melded into one person. Vincent Bugliosi has laughed at this notion with the typical response, There was only one Charlie and that was Charlie Manson. The facts are there; Virginia Grahams confusion between the Charlies and melding them into one person is probably what put the heat on Charles Manson. It was this confession that had him indicted for the murders. When the LAPD interviewed Virginia Graham on November 29, 1969, they were under the impression that it was Charles Manson who was at the 10050 Cielo Drive home doing the killings. Less than a week later they ordered an indictment on Charles Manson for murder. Virginia Graham: [] So she told me this is the other conversation that she and a fellow named Charles Manson and two other girls, there was four of them all together. Sergeant Nielsen: Did she name the girls? Virginia Graham: She did not. She just named the fellow [] Sergeant Nielsen: Manson? Virginia Graham: Yes. She goes on to tell the story of the murders and how Susan Atkins had stated that they happened, and putting Charles Manson as the killer. Charles Watson or Tex was not mentioned once. Later on Charles Manson was brought up again. Sergeant Nielsen: Okay. Now when did she first tell you did she first start talking about this man, this Manson, before she told you about any of the murders? Virginia Graham: No. No. In fact I didnt find out his name. She just kept calling him Charlie. [] And later on Charles Manson was again brought up at the crime scene, not Charles Watson. Sergeant Nielsen: How about cutting the wires? Virginia Graham: She said that she said that they cut the wires. She said that they cut the wires because the people on the inside, they didnt want them to be able to call out. [] She said, No. He knew which wires to cut. Sergeant Nielsen: And since there was only one man, it couldnt be anyone but Charlie.

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Virginia Graham: Yeah, precious Charlie. Virginia Graham has stuck to her story for decades and Ronnie Howard was not available for contradiction because in November of 1979, she returned to Los Angeles from Las Vegas with her husband Richard Lopez and she was approached by a Gypsy Cab while her husband went inside to retrieve their luggage and apparently got inside. She was found beaten and later died from her injuries. Vincent Bugliosi said that it may have been a retaliation murder because, Everywhere she went, she was known as the Manson snitch. Some people also believe it could have been the detectives who she supposedly made deals with. However, it is probably an unrelated, tragic mugging and beating. In the 1973 documentary, Manson, Ronnie Howard concluded her interview by saying, I should have just kept my mouth shut. Another eerie coincidence was that almost two years prior in 1977, the man who conducted the interviewLaurence Merrickwas murdered outside of his Hollywood studio. Eye witnesses claimed they had seen a man hanging around his studio, asking questions about Merrick and the Manson film. An eerie conclusion to that murder is that Laurence Merrick apparently shafted Robert Hendrickson for over $100,000 of earnings from the 1973 Manson film. He claimed that he was owed $100,000 plus fifty-percent of all earnings from the film.

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LINDA KASABIAN

What can I say about Linda Kasabian that hasnt been said before? Why is it that all of the negative facts regarding her are widely dismissed as propaganda used to discredit a witness? I mean her testimony did put Satan away in prison for life. Poor Linda Kasabian was an innocent bystander who was a love-sharing hippie caught up in the chaos that ensued on August 9, and August 10, 1969, right? Truth is Linda Kasabian was a known troublemaker, a known drug dealer, a known drug addict, and a known liar. In fact during Charles Watsons Linda Kasabian was clearly one of masterminds of the killings but trial, his attorney, Sam Bubrick, pointed the finger the was given immunity to 7 counts of to switch sides. (UPI Press at Linda Kasabian; saying she was the ringleader of murder Photo) the murders at 10050 Cielo Drive. Its the same thing that the defendants at the Manson Trial, as well as plenty of witnesses during the penalty phase of the trial, had also stated. Sam Bubricks closing argument included some very defaming remarks about Linda Kasabian. When Watson was in high school back in Texas playing football, what was Linda Kasabian doing? She was going from commune to commune, traveling from man to man, living off boyfriends, shooting speed, selling drugs, living by her wits. I could literally write an entire book on Linda Kasabian alone, so I will try and keep her section as short and to the point as I can. Since there was no defense portion at the Manson Trial, there was no contradiction to her testimony except during cross-examinations. So, much like testimonies from other witnesses, whatever she said was accepted as fact. After the defendants were convicted, the court did give people the ability to testify on Charles Mansons behalf, but this was only to spare him from the gas chamber and not to prove him not guilty. During these testimonies many witnesses testified that it was Linda Kasabian who had wanted these murders to go down. The prosecution defended these accusations with the explanation that they were merely trying to discredit the one wit-

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ness whose testimony was so valuable, that without it there was no case against Charles Manson. That was of course, Linda Kasabian. Over the years, when more and more information leaks, a lot of these accusations that she may have been the mastermind are becoming substantiated. When Bill Nelson wrote his book, Manson: Behind the Scenes, he provided proof that she lived with her husband on Waverly Drive, at the home of Family confidant Harold True. Harold True lived next door to the LaBiancas. Until this, the prosecutions theory was that the LaBiancas were chosen at random something she substantiated on the stand. Even after the prosecution knew of the Harold True link, it was ignored to go with the random theory. Why would she lie? Was it to hide the fact that the LaBiancas were her neighbors? Another odd fact is that before Harold True lived on Waverly Drive, he lived on Chandler Drive, with Paul Watkins, Sandra Good, Lynette Fromme, Sue Bartell, and many other Family members. As for the LaBianca murders, Vincent Bugliosi even said, Nobody knows why the LaBiancas were chosen during a 1970 interview. In 1991, Charles Manson appeared on the television show Hard Copy and he also admitted this link. He went a bit further and said they had crashed in the LaBianca home when it was vacant, before the LaBiancas moved in. When attorney Irving Kanarek cross-examined Linda Kasabian after her testimony, he asked her something interesting. Irving Kanarek: Mrs. Kasabian, on the night, on the second night that you left Spahn Ranch, did you know that you have participated with three other people, who all together, you and the other people, had killed five people? Linda Kasabian: No. This was a lie because she obviously knew they killed the night prior because she saw Wojciech Frykowski pleading for his life and distracted him while Charles Watson stabbed him to death. She absolutely knew that they killed because she also saw Charles Watson murder Stephen Parent. And most importantly, she knew they killed becauseaccording to Charles Watsonshe held the knives on the way to the Cielo Drive house. Irving Kanarek knew he had caught her in a lie, and her reason for the lie is laughably absurd. The jury were obviously gullible enough to buy it.

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Irving Kanarek: Directing your attention, Mrs. Kasabian, to the second night and your state of mind, your thinking as you left Spahn Ranch on the second night, did you know what you and three other people done the night before, causing the death of five people? Linda Kasabian: I dont understand the question. Irving Kanarek: You dont understand that question? Linda Kasabian: Right. Irving Kanarek: What about the question do you not understand? Linda Kasabian: Well, I dont know what the answer is. Irving Kanarek: You mean you dont know the answer that Mr. Bugliosi wants you to say? He was on the right track. It was blatantly obvious that her testimony regarding this night was coached. She was not at the murders, but just in the car that delivered them. She never went into the LaBiancas home on the night of the murders, but she somehow knew everything that the prosecution theorized went on. However that theory was proven incorrect by the actual participants. After the murders were committed, she had many opportunities to leave and go to the police. She used the excuse that she feared for the life of her child to explain why she did not leave Spahn Ranch. If this is so, then why is it that after she fled Spahn Ranch with her child, did she not go to the police? Was it because she knew she was as guilty as anyone else who were inside of those homes on the nights of the murders? In 1970, Laurence Merrick interviewed informant Ronnie Howard in for the 1973 documentary, Manson. In this interview, she stated that Susan Atkins told her that Linda Kasabian was a willing participant and knew what her deed would be. Kasabian got immunity, and she was just as guilty as the rest. Sadie told me that when they left the ranch, everybody knew that they were out to slaughter some pigs that night. Kasabian was one of them and she gets immunity and here I am. I tell the police and I get a few more years added onto my parole for it. Linda Kasabian joined the Family while Charles Manson was off on a hiatus. He returned to Spahn Ranch to meet her. He said in the 1988 Geraldo Rivera interview that he barely knew her and only spoke to her a few times. This makes a lot of sense because in those days he was not at Spahn

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Ranch a lot. He was actually kicked off of the ranch by George Spahn and lived in Conoga Park, at the house they dubbed The Yellow Submarine. I only knew Linda Kasabian; I seen her three times in my life, maybe two minutes of my life. She came up to the ranch for about a week! The biggest thought was getting in her body. I wasnt thinking about sending her down to be no troop. If this is indeed true, then how did he program her to be his personal robot as the prosecutions theory suggested? To make the Helter Skelter theory true, she had to have been under his program. Or is it easier to assume that she went on the murder spree at her own will? If she went on her own will, what did she have to gain for it? Did she have ties to the occupants at the Cielo Drive home? When Susan Atkins took the stand during the penalty phase, she testified that Linda Kasabian had ties to the Cielo Drive home and suggested that home in the copy-cat killings to free Bobby Beausoleil. Linda (Kasabian) overheard our conversation that Bobby (BeauSoleil) had been arrested for the death of Gary (Hinman). I said, Id do anything to get my brother out of jail. I know some people in Beverly Hills that burned me on a drug buy, you can make it (Hinmans murder) look like somebody else did it if you copycat the murders we can make more of the same. Theyll cut Bobby loose. Again, the prosecution discredited this testimony by telling the jury that they were trying to protect Charles Manson. The jury bought that without any doubt in their minds. Did she lie to protect Manson? That could be true, but Catherine Gypsy Share took the stand and said something similar. Irving Kanarek: Did Miss Linda Kasabian ask you to go out to the Tate residence? Catherine Share: No, she didnt ask me to go out to the Tate residence. She asked me to go out and do some killing. Like a broken record, the prosecution discredited this statement with the convenient excuse that, Manson made her say that. Irving Kanarek then put Linda Kasabians ex-roommate and friend June Emmer on the stand August 3, 1970. Her words against Linda Kasabian were harsh and she substantiated the claims that she had problems with

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drugs, lying, and that she was bragging about staying in a $250,000 home inhabited by movie stars. Could this be the Cielo Drive home? That homes value was stated to be $250,000 in 1969. Irving Kanarek: Now, while she stayed at your house did Linda Kasabian discuss with you LSD? June Emmer: Yes. Irving Kanarek: Now, directing your attention to the matter of acid and LSD, would you please tell us whether or not Linda Kasabian told you that she had consumed acid or LSD? June Emmer: Yes. She told me when she was carrying her baby, Tanya, she took it, and for me not to believe everything I see in the papers about taking LSD as far as having a child. Irving Kanarek: What did she tell you concerning her stay in California? June Emmer: She had a ball there and really enjoyed it. Irving Kanarek: Did she tell you that she had been in a $250,000 house? June Emmer: Yes. Irving Kanarek: Mrs. Emmer, at one time while you were discussing a $250,000 home with Mrs. Kasabian, did you ask her why she was at this house? (Objection by Bugliosi; Requested an offer of proof as to the validity of the question.) Irving Kanarek: Well, I believe the Sharon Tate home, your Honor, is worth about $250,000. And it is our belief that Linda Kasabian was in that house, that Linda Kasabian had a participation in these murders that is far and much greater than Linda Kasabian has testified to. June Emmer: Yes. Irving Kanarek: What did she tell you? June Emmer: She told me she couldnt tell me. I said, Why not? I said, What kind of people do you know with that kind of money? She said, I just cannot tell you. Irving Kanarek: Do you have an opinion, Mrs. Emmer, as to the truth, honesty and integrity of Linda Kasabian? June Emmer: I know she lies. Aaron Stovitz: May that be stricken your Honor, as pure speculation, pure conjecture, and pure malarkey? Judge Older: It is non-responsive. The answer is stricken.

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her reputation?

Irving Kanarek: Did her father tell you what his opinion was concerning

June Emmer: Yes. Irving Kanarek: You had occasion to observe her, and among other people besides yourself? June Emmer: Yes. Irving Kanarek: All right, would you tell us what, then, her reputation for truth, honesty and integrity was in the fall of 1969 in the community in which she lived in Miami? June Emmer: She was a liar. Irving Kanarek: What was her reputation was it good, bad? June Emmer: All I can say is she just lied, that is all. Irving Kanarek: Did she ever state to you-did she ever state to you anything concerning the taking of any other drugs other than LSD or acid? June Emmer: She told me she took them all. What does this testimony prove? Well, it proves that even people close to Linda Kasabianwho knew her prior to the Familysaid she had a bad reputation and was a habitual drug user who took them all. Irving Kanarek was trying to disrepute the prosecutions witness with fact not only fact, but first-person accounts. Not second-hand and third-hand hearsay, which the prosecution used against Charles Manson and the other defendants. So, why would Linda Kasabian lie and whats to gain by lying? Immunity to seven counts of murder, in which she was at first indicted. However, after Susan Atkins refused to work with the prosecution during her Grand Jury testimony, the prosecution dropped her as a witness and went on to Linda Kasabian offering her a sweet deal of walking free of all charges. Linda Kasabian fled LosAngeles after the murders and went to Utah, and then to New York. She only turned herself in when she had been told she had been indicted on murder charges. She did not turn herself in for the good of the case, thats for sure. In Vincent Bugliosis book, Helter Skelter, he admitted that before she turned prosecutions witness he went to the County Jail and made sure that she was not harassed the way Susan Atkins is being harassed. He was buttering her up; showing her how easy it is when she cooperates.

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In 1999, author and researcher Bill Nelson wrote an article on the now defunct Manson Family Today website regarding his research of Linda Kasabian for the past thirty years. Heres what he found and not only did it coincide to what June Emmer had said, but various Family members including Susan Atkins and Catherine Share. Linda Kasabian was the states star witness during the Manson family murder trials for the Tate/LaBianca murders. She had only been with the Manson family a brief time and had arrived from a commune in New Mexico with her husband Bob. None other than Tex Watson seduced Linda the first day she arrived and upon learning that Linda had some $5,000 in her truck, Watson conned her out of it. Watson believed this act of theft would endear him even more to his quasi-Jesus Christ figure, Charles Manson. Kasabian had the only valid drivers license in the Manson family and that has always been the reason given as why she was chosen to go along with the killers. Do not think for one moment that other Mansonites ceased driving just because there was no legal license in their wallet or purse. The Manson family lived off stolen credit cards. They mostly all had fake IDs and licenses as well. Charles Manson also had a valid drivers license. Kasabian did not stay at the car as instructed by Tex, and she walked back up the long drive to the Tate property. She witnessed the murder of Voytek and asked Susan to make it stop. Kasabian said she would never forget the eyes of the pained victim as he slumped on the porch and then on the front lawn. Atkins reportedly responded that it was too late. Its hard to believe that she asked for it to stop, she knew what was going to happen. Kasabian could have ran and asked for help, but she chose not to. Kasabian drove the car the second night of murder. She left with Manson, Grogan, and Atkins before the murders of Leno and Rosemary. Thus, Kasabian became an eyewitness to both nights and could testify for the prosecution. The prosecution would rather have her in prison with the rest of them but they granted her immunity when indecisive Sadie backed out of her Grand Jury agreement to turn star witness. After the trials Kasabian has chosen a life of crime. No, not murder. But drugs, drug abuse, weapons caches and is a derelict in society. The daughter she had at Spahn Ranch became known as Lady Dangerous and is a felon. Kasabians son was arrested more than 22 times.

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Why did I think it important to run this story? Because the former star witness who helped put away the Manson family has continued a life of crime. She, and her daughter, have participated in the drug business. Drugs which destroy the lives of everyone they come in contact with. Tanya, just a young child at the Spahn Ranch, is currently known as Lady Dangerous by Washington state authorities. To even consider that Linda would allow drugs in the home of the grandchildren is inconceivable. It is without a doubt, a fact that Linda Kasabian was tied to the Cielo Drive, and Waverly Drive homes. August 10, 1969, it was stated that she, Susan Atkins, and Steve Grogan were sent to Venice Beach, to the apartment of actor Saladin Nader to murder him, but the plan was conveniently aborted when Linda Kasabian knocked on the wrong door. Ironically, she was also associated to Saladin Nader. She and Sandra Good had met him days prior and had sex with him. Three for three. According to the prosecution, Linda Kasabian had stated that Charles Manson told her to do whatever Tex says. But Charles Watson had stated that he had told him the girls know what to do. So, which is it? Of course, since the defense team for Charles Manson and the other defendants never had a chance to put on a defense and state their case, her version became fact by forfeit. Susan Atkins book, The Myth of Helter Skelter, summed up Linda Kasabian in an attempt to prove that her only motive for testifying was to evade seven charges of murder. And doing so she would testify anything that was laid out by the prosecution. Not only that, but she was also used to testify against Leslie Van Houten during her 1977 retrial. Linda Kasabian never went inside the Waverly Drive home, so how would she know what went on inside? First off, she claims that Charles Manson went into the LaBianca home himself and tied up Leno and Rosemary. However, she said she did not enter the home herself. She later states that she had been to the area before, next door in fact. She knew the area very well because she recognized it right off the bat. So was it a coincidence or maybe she picked the house out herself? Who knows, but the house was familiar. Charles Watson said in his book, Will You Die for Me?, that he and Charles Manson entered the house together, discrediting what she said

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under oath. He also goes on to say that Charles Manson told the LaBiancas that they are just there for money and no one will be hurt. He went on to say that the murders were more for moneyto bail Mary Brunnerthan anything else. But he also said the murders were to free Bobby Beausoleil and of course that silly Helter Skelter thing. He even says that it was he who tied up the LaBiancas and then Charles Manson left with a wallet. When the girls entered the home, he asked Patricia Krenwinkle, Did he say kill them? and she said yes. This is also inconsistent with Linda Kasabians testimony that he told the girls to do whatever Tex says. According to the prosecution, Linda Kasabian had no clue that any murders were going to happen that she thought these were going to be robberies. Bullshit. Susan Atkins went on to say in The Myth of Helter Skelter that: Linda had carried a knife that night. Linda stood lookout at the Cielo house. Linda had collected the weapons and bloody clothing after the crimes at the Cielo home. Linda discarded the weapons and bloody clothing after the Cielo crimes. Linda had gone out the next night knowing what would happen. Linda did not go to the police after she left Spahns Ranch. Linda did not go to the police even after she got her daughter back. Linda did not go to police even after she went back to New York. Linda only offered to make a deal with the District Attorney after she had been indicted on murder charges. Linda only offered to make a deal with the District Attorney if she would be given immunity to all counts of murder.

The problem with her book is that nobody believes her. She is still seen as a remorseless baby killeras laid out by the prosecution despite Charles Watson admitted that she killed no one; that he was Sharon Tates slayer. No one will believe anything except what the media reports and that is always that Susan Atkins is a cold-blooded killer of an 8 month pregnant Sharon Tate. And that makes everything she says a lie.

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When Charles Manson was finally able to testifyin front of an empty jury boxhe spoke about Linda Kasabian. You sat here for nineteen days questioning that girl. She got immunity on seven counts of murder. You set her up to be a hero, and that is your woman. You set this woman up here to testify against me. And she tells you a sad story. How she has only taken every narcotic that is possible to take. How she has only stolen, lied, cheated and done everything that you have got there in that book. But it is okay. She is telling the truth now. She wouldnt have any ulterior motive like immunity for seven counts of murder.

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BARBARA HOYT

The first question that I want to ask is why would Barbara Hoyt want to testify erroneous information? The answer is that she, too, was scorned and feared for her life. When the Family heard that she may have overheard a conversation about the murder of Sharon Tate and was subpoenaed to tell that story to the jury, some of the Family asked her along on an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii. I am not too sure why she agreed to go, but while she was there a few of the girls slipped ten tabs of LSD into her cheeseburger and left her. While she was Prosecutors Vincent Bugliosi and Stephen Kay freaking out, fearing for her life, they hopped a (right) (background) with star witness to the Donald Shorty Shea murder. plane back to Los Angeles. (AP Press Photo) She eventually collapsed and woke up in a hospital and was convinced that the so-called cheeseburger caper was anticipated to kill her. When the Los Angeles District Attorneys office heard about it, Ruth Ann Morehouse, Lynette Fromme and Catherine Share were arrested on attempted murder charges. They insisted that it was merely an attempt to scare her into not testifying and eventually the charges went from conspiracy to commit murder to conspiracy to dissuade a witness from testifying and conspiracy to bribe a witness. Barbara Hoyt had every right to fear for her life. I can almost guarantee you that Catherine Share was just itching to kill someone. Susan Atkins stated in her book, Child of Satan, Child of God, that she once threatened her, Susan, if you blow my scene, I will kill you. Even after she severed ties with the Family, she hooked up with violent radical groups that were associated with Symbionese Liberation Army. Even though Barbara Hoyt knew very little about the murders at Cielo Drive, other than what she had heard, she held nothing back when she told the prosecution. Her testimony included facts that have since been factually contradicted or in better words, proven lies. While at Barker Ranch in Death Valley, she said she heard Susan Atkins confess the Sharon Tate murder to Ruth Ann Moorehouse. Skipping back to the chapter Who is Charles Watson?,

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you will remember that it is a fact that Susan Atkins did not kill Sharon Tate. So, this was either Susan Atkins pumping herself up and making herself seem hard to Ruth Ann Moorehousemuch like her Sybil Brand Institute confessionor it was a lie that was coached from the prosecution. Either way, her testimony was nothing but hearsay and conclusions that she built in her own head. Almost verbatim to what the prosecution had alleged happened after the murders, Barbara Hoyts testimony stated that she became suspicious after the Family members watched television reports about the Tate murders with delight. This was also put in the Helter Skelter 2004 movie, in which the Family cheered at the television. Upon watching the movie, Charles Watson wrote a review on AboundingLove.org of the movie stating that, After the crime, we reported to Manson in the bunk house, very low-key with him not happy, and there was no celebration by the Family in front of a television. Two things in this statement stand out; his version was that there were no celebrations: discredit Barbara Hoyts testimony, and that Manson was not happy. Why wasnt he happy? Was it for the reason Charles Manson had said; that he was pissed at the crew when they told him they had murdered the people they were supposed to rob? Her testimony also included facts, such as that they made Sharon Tate die last so she could watch the others die. This was an obvious attempt to corroborate the prosecutions claim that Sharon Tate was the target. Her claim was that after she overheard this confession, she and Sherri Cooper fled Barker Ranch and that Charles Manson caught up with them in Ballarat. And after she and Sherri Cooper expressed that they wanted to leave, Charles Manson gave them money for tickets to Los Angeles and left. Of course, the prosecution had to add that he was planning to send someone to Los Angeles to kill them. Back in the Danny DeCarlo section; notice that his girlfriend who was laughing and bragging about the murder of Donald Shea was Sherri Cooper. Ironically, her testimony also included the murder Donald Shea, and her testimony was the key piece to the puzzle which convicted Charles Manson,

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Steve Grogan and Bruce Davis for the murder and completely missing Charles Watson, Larry Bailey and Bill Vance. Newspapers reported her testimony included statements like Charles Manson told her that Shorty committed suicide with his help, and that on the night of the murders she heard blood-curdling screams from Shea. She said the screams were coming from a nearby creek bed and that they were prolonged and painful like a horror movie, only worse. She later claimed that Charles Manson told her that Shea had been murdered and buried on the side of the stream. She also confirmed the testimony of Paul Watkins when she stated that Shorty was cut into nine pieces by the family. All were untrue, but believed without any questions. This testimony, backed with the testimony of Paul Watkins, nailed the coffin for all of the defendants, however, both testimonies were completely incorrect. How did two different people repeat the same misinformation? During the 1994 parole hearing of Bruce Davis, he told a very different story. Why would he lie? His lie would serve absolutely no purpose, in fact going against the prosecutions theory and stating the truth would do more harm. Lets just admit that he was being honest. When he told the story of Donald Sheas murder, he stated that it was early morning. He also stated that Donald Shea was not buried at that time. Steve Grogan did say at one of his parole hearings that he was the one who buried him, and lead the authorities to his grave which was down a ravine beside a train track about 2 miles from Spahn Ranch. The stories both of them give are nearly identical and both contradict Barbara Hoyt and Paul Watkins. From the October 19, 1978, parole hearing of Bruce Davis: Presiding Officer White: Can we move into the Shorty Shea case? Mr. Bakes: Tell me what happened: Tell your particular version of it. Bruce Davis: We were going down the road toward San Fernando Valley, and Tex stabbed Shorty. He said, Pull over here, and we pulled over and they pulled him out of the car, and pulled him down the bank. Mr. Bakes: Who said pull over? Bruce Davis: Tex told Shorty, who was driving, to pull over. Mr. Bakes: Did he stab him before he pulled him out of the car?

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Bruce Davis: Well, yes. I didnt actually see that. I was the back seat was between us. I would assume he must have. From the October 20, 1981, parole hearing of Steve Grogan: Presiding Member Roos: So Charles Manson was in the back seat with you? Steve Grogan: No. Mr. Robinson: Tex was sitting in the front seat and you were sitting where? Steve Grogan: Then we pulled off the road. Tex got out. The car was still in gear. I think he just had his foot on the break, and they got out and they looked around the bushes like he was looking for some parts. And Tex was urging me, you know, come on hit this guy. I kept hesitating. He pulled out a knife that he had. I guess thats what finally, you know, put me over the edge. I just hit the guy. I wasnt really there was no accurate shot or nothing like that. Presiding Member Roos: Who did that? Steve Grogan: I imagine Tex did. I didnt actually see him stab him. My head was turned, you know. The car had left. My peripheral vision, I didnt catch what was going on. Came out of the car and he was laying on the ground and semi unconscious state. He was already going or something. And at that point Manson arrived on the scene with another person. Presiding Member Roos: Did Manson stab him too? Steve Grogan: I dont know. He might have slashed him. I dont recall if he stabbed him. Presiding Member Roos: So you stabbed him and Tex stabbed him. Anybody else stab him? Steve Grogan: I think Bruce might have stabbed him in the arm. Barbara Hoyt and Paul Watkins testimony that Donald Shea was buried on Spahn Ranch land lead to an extensive grave search, which obviously yielded nothing. Not only were the stories that they told lies, but they also wasted a lot of time and resources. The story that Donald Shea was beheaded was purely lore. Probably something Steve Grogan made up for the same reasons Susan Atkins fabricated her stories to sound hard. Barbara Hoyt had witnessed nothing, she merely heard someone bragging and exaggerating and she repeated it. Later, at Steve Grogans 1981 parole hearing he did say that he was told to tell people that he dismembered Donald Shea.

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Board Member Tong: I think you indicated that at the time of the killing, correct me if Im incorrect, that Manson said to mutilate the body and that you surmised that it was a means of bringing the group more under his control, because the group was beginning to shift away from him; is that correct? Steve Grogan: Yeah. At the time it wasnt really at the time of the murders. It was after the murder, sometime after. The murder that he told me that, you know, calculate that story if anybody asks. Mr. Robinson: Just for clarification, he didnt tell you to mutilate the body? Steve Grogan: No, he told me to say that we had mutilated the body. Why would Charles Manson want them to lie? Why would Steve Grogan lie and why would he take so long to tell the truth? Heres an excerpt from book, The Garbage People that explains why. He basically just wanted out of prison and knew that the whereabouts of Donald Sheas body would be the ticket out of prison and it was. Grogans tier-mate and fellow Family member Bobby Beausoleil told him to just fess up and tell them where Shea was buried. That will surely prove he is telling the truth. Grogan did just that in 1977 and Donald Shorty Sheas body was dug up, all in one piece minus a hand which was removed by an animal. The autopsy report not only proved what he was saying to be true, but verified testimonies from Barbara Hoyt and Paul Watkins were a lie. This should have resulted in a re-trial, but it did not. it remains a mystery why both Charles Manson and Steve Grogan testified in court that they decapitated Donald Shea. It was a lie that basically sealed their fate in this case. The papers even reported on October 29, 1971, that The State claimed that Grogan, 20, while following Mansons orders; decapitated Donald Shorty Shea, 36, after the Family tortured the dying man with knives. They were wrong. I have proved they were wrong and it wasnt that hard. Sadly the key witness to this murder remains to be Barbara Hoyt. Here are the problems with the Donald Shea case; Barbara Hoyts lies caused and questions that still are not answered.

The jury was not sequestered, so they heard all of the (later proven) false stories from Barbara Hoyt published in the media of Grogan beheading Shea, as well as the rumor that he was manually masturbated as he died. When Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi filed for the indictment, he stated I have proof that Steve Grogan beheaded Donald Shea. However, he

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could not produce this proof since he was working on the words of Barbara Hoyt and Paul Watkins, and not legitimate proof. The time of death that the actual killers have stated is different than the time of death Barbara Hoyt states. Charles Manson was convicted of murder for stabbing Donald Shea. However, the real Charlie who stabbed himCharles Watson evaded conviction. Two other named participants in the murder; Bill Vance and Larry Bailey remain at large because the stories Barbara Hoyt and Paul Watkins produced did not tell the real facts, and the real participants. Prosecution listed Charles Manson in the car that took Donald Shea to his death. Ruby Pearl said she saw Charles Manson, Charles Watson, Bruce Davis, Steve Grogan and others force him into the car. The people who murdered Donald Shea were hardened criminals. They would not have murdered him when Ruby Pearl was a witness, they would have waited to be clear of any witnesses. He was not murdered then. The participants also state that there were two cars, not one. If Bruce Davis, Steve Grogan, Charles Watson, Bill Vance and Larry Bailey were all in the car with Donald Shea, there would be no room for Charles Manson in one car. Prosecution said that Charles Manson wanted Donald Shea dead because he caused the Spahn Ranch raid and married a black woman. Donald Shea was once married to a black woman, but long before he met Charles Manson. He was separated from her at the time of his murder. Charles Manson filed for an appeal when Donald Sheas body was found. The court would not even read it. It was pr-oven that he was convicted by perjured testimony. He also later asked for a new trial for the murder, and the court would not even hear it.

In my opinion, people really dont care about the real story of Donald Sheas murder because he was not as significant as the victims at the Cielo Drive, and Waverly Drive homes. He was not a movie star, nor was he rich. He was an out-of-work stuntman who was destitute and living at a horse farm, shoveling manure for his room and board. Sadly, a lot of books, documentaries, and movies completely skip over his murder as if he doesnt even matter. The prosecution used his murder as

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one more notch in the gun of Vincent Bugliosi, one more reason hed surely be a shoe-in for Los Angeles District Attorney. His body was not even found yet, and the entire trial was based on what they heard, what he said, what we think happened. Not fact, nor anything backed by evidence. The prosecutions theory was that Charles Manson stabbed Donald Shea himself and neither of the participants testified that they had seen him do so. Steve Grogan said that he was not even in the car. Bruce Davis stated that he later came in a second car. However, so-called eye witnesses have stated they saw Charles Manson get in the car with Donald Shea. Someones lying. Facts are that most of the people who testified in the Donald Shea trial really did not know anything about the murder. They merely heard about it and they recited what they heard, backed with their own opinion and what they thought the person spilling the beans meant. This extended to the Gary Hinman portion of the trial as well as the prior Tate/LaBianca murder trial. The facts remain that the evidence used was merely opinion stated as truth; assumptions stated as eye witness accounts. In the end, Charles Watson remains un-charged for this murder, yet he was the ringleader spouting out commands and stabbing as he did in the Tate and LaBianca slayings.

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13
Pictures: Part III

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Paul Watkins (left) and Vincent Bugliosi (right) go over the Helter Skelter theory. (AP Press Photo)

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Paul Crockett (left), Paul Watkins (middle) and Brooks Poston (right) testified that Charles Manson used magic to control his followers. (Photo origin unknown)

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Steve Clem Grogan (second from left) and Bruce Davis (right) attend the trial. Both later have their own murder trials.

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William Garretson was the lone survivor of the Tate Massacre. He testified that he heard and saw nothing. He later admits he heard it all and even saw the killers.

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Richard Caballero (left) with his client Susan Atkins (right). Caballero convicted Atkins to sell her story and sign over most of the profits to his escrow account. (AP Press Photo)

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Linda Kasabians roommate June Emmer testified that Kasabia was a known liar and drug abuser. (UPI Press Photo)

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Krishna Venta
I will admit that my knowledge on Krishna Venta and the Fountain of the World is vague at best. I have done quite a bit research on him and his beloved Fountain, but since resources on him are very hard to come by and all state the same facts and some facts are not at all legitimate. I had to use what I found to formulate my opinion.

In the past few years of research, I came across many conflicting stories on him. By far the most accurate source came from Fountain of the World historian Shawn Sutherland. In 2008, he provided information to the International Cult Studies of America on KrishnaVenta and the Fountain of the World and his synopsis on Krishna Venta was alarmingly similar to that of Charles Manson. Here is his profile on him abridged for length. Born Francis Pencovic in the San Francisco of 1911, Venta was an interesting candidate for messiah. Pencovics body (or so he claimed) became the host vessel for the Christ Everlasting, an eternal spirit being who had died on the cross at Calvary 2,000 years earlier. This time around, his Earthly mission was
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Krishna Venta on a cross atop of Skull Rock in Box Canyon for an Easter crucifixion recreation. (Source: Krishna-Venta.com)

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to gather the 144,000 Elect foretold in Revelation and deliver them from an apocalypse heretofore unseen by mankind. Armageddon, prophesied Venta, would begin as an armed race war in the streets of America. If Ventas vision of the future sounds oddly reminiscent of Helter Skelter, it must be noted that strong debate exists regarding whether Charles Manson, who periodically lodged at the Fountain of the World circa 1968 and 1969, was privy to the teachings of the dead cult leader during his respites there. In this conflict, Communist Russia, with its nuclear weaponry, would render military aid to African-Americans. But the Soviets would eventually reveal their true stripes, insisted Venta, by enslaving their African-American allies and terminating religious freedom worldwide. Still, fear was unnecessary, for Venta was actively gathering the 144,000, and knew of a hidden North American valley in which his Elect could hide during the bloodshed until the ordained day came for them to exit their secret refuge en masse, cast out the Soviet empire, free the enslaved, and restore religious freedom to mankind. Anyone who has followed Charles Mansons life knows he has spoken a lot about Krishna Venta and the Fountain of the World. Its quite obvious that the time that he spent here made a huge impact on him and his philosophies. When the old Krishna-Venta.org site was still up, the moderator mentioned meeting Charles Manson and the fact that he observed some of the Fountain brothers rituals. He als mentioned them teaching him many religious practices including feet washing something that he was known to do even after his days at the Fountain of the World. Author and former Fountain of the World member Jon Fisher published a book titled, The Spiritual Teachings & Biography of Master Krishna, and within that book he too mentions Charles Manson and the Family. In the summer of 1968, Charles Manson joined the cult. My stepfather, who served in World War 2 as a tail gunner in bombers over Japan, tolerated Brother Charles until it was discovered that the lunatic was giving drugs to some of the kids. The family was allowed to stay in the cult until they found other housing, but Charles was required to stay in his bus on the upper parking lot. This experience had a traumatic effect on the entire Manson family, and the rest is history. Krishna Venta had tremendous influence on Brother Isaiah of Alaska, Charles Manson in 1968, and even Jimmy Jones. Charles Manson lived at the

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Fountain for a few months and learned a great deal from myself, my step-father, and other Fountain members. During some of the times that I spoke to Charles Manson, he talked a lot about the Fountain. He told me that he loved it there, but the girls always felt really out of place and would end up arguing back and forth with the brothers and sisters of the Fountain causing a lot of friction. From what I have read, the members of the Fountain also really liked Charles Manson, despite them seeing him as a bit crazy. They would welcome him in and talk philosophy with him for hours. Paul Watkins (see chapter: False Witness: Paul Watkins, Brooks Poston & Paul Crockett) seems to be the only Family member who loved to speak about the Fountain of the World. Sadly, most of his words have been proven lies including his words on the Fountain and Charles Mansons ties to it. The problem with his words is mostly due to the fact that he liked to greatly exaggerate his stories. While I was researching Krishna Venta, I ran into the blog, My Search for Krishna Venta, and read a lot on Paul Watkins. The blogs author took great objection to his testimony on many events that he reported happened. He testified in court that Charles Manson would hang on the cross on the top of Skull Rock above the Fountain of the World. He also testified that while under Charles Mansons program that he ordered him to hang from the cross. It was also written in the George Bishop book, Witness to Evil. Watkins testified on direct examination that Charlie asked [Watkins] if he would consent to be crucified on a cross at the Fountain of the World, a minor religious sect with headquarters not far from the Spahn Ranch. Watkins allowed as how he was quite willing to be crucified if Charlie wanted it that way. Fitzgerald asked him how he planned to go about being crucified. Well, Watkins replied cheerfully, I didnt know how I was going to get up on that there cross. I just figured Charlie would take care of it. Do you want to know why he had no idea how he was going to do it? Its because he made this up. Why do I think he made it up? Well, Shawn Sutherlandthe go-to guy for Krishna Ventareplied to this fact on his blog, My Search for Krishna Venta, and what he said was real fact. His extensive research on Krishna Venta led him to the conclusion that Paul Watkins was lying. He also made the case that I have stated in this book many times

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he contended that Ed Sanders took what he wanted to hear, and he printed it as absolute fact. The only problem with this testimony is that, as is the case with Ed Sanders The Family and Paul Watkins My Life with Charles Manson, not one single remaining Fountain member recalls the cross to which Sanders or Watkins were referring. Again, there was the cross constructed as a publicity vehicle for Krishna Venta in the 1950s, but no one from the Fountain can recall what had become of it by the latter 1960s. On this note, some have suggested to this author that the cross appearing in the book 5 to Die was actually erected after Mansons conviction and not even on the Fountain property line. Sadly, even I believed that the Family did re-enact crucifixions on the Fountains cross. But the fact is that the cross only stood up until Ventas assassination and was re-erected after Mansons conviction. This means when Charles Manson was a part of the Fountain in 1968, there was no cross on the top of Skull Rock. In Ed Sanders book, The Family, he too mentioned the cross atop Skull Rock. His version pretty much regurgitated other stories and added his personal summation something he seemed very good at doing. There was a large rock at the Fountain of the World that looked remarkably like a huge skull. At the top of the skull was a wooden upright cross. Fountain members, so one is told, were wont to strap themselves up on the cross for penitential mediation sessions. Shawn Sutherland again shot back discounting Ed Sanders conjecture, opinion and gossip written as fact; he is right. This has been done countless times in both cases. It seems like people will only believe the more sensational story, rather than the truth. Not a single Fountain member whom Ive interviewed can place any cross matching this description. The Fountain did construct a cross in the 1950s, to be used in Passion Plays at Easter in order to generate publicity. However, no one who lived at the Fountain in the latter 1960s, can account for its whereabouts during that period. As well, the bit about Fountain members strapping themselves up on the cross for penitential mediation sessions has been slammed by all Fountain members. The terminology used to describe it is better left unpublished.

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Sanders admission of so one is told says much about the research he conducted in generating this portion of The Family, i.e., another example of a writer incorporating gossip into his text and presenting it as fact. So did Charles Manson crucify himself? If he did, where did he do this? It is fact that the alleged cross that he tied himself to does not even exist. And there is no evidence of any cross being erected at Spahn Ranch, Devils Canyon, Barker Ranch, or in the Malibu areas that the Family frequented. It is my opinion that it was Paul Watkins who was the culprit for all of this misinformation regarding Krishna Venta and the Fountain of the World. He has a lot to say about it in his book, My Life with Charles Manson, again stating that there was indeed a cross at the Fountain. Of course, like many infamous Family events, he put himself in the middle of it as the focal point. Charlie told me what he knew about it as we wound our way up Santa Susanna Pass to Box Canyon and turned left. It might be a good place to hang out you know, hide under the cross when the shit comes down at Spahns. And the way Shortys been running at the mouth, it might be anytime. We got there around ten a.m. and parked the truck on a hill, then trudged down the path to the auditorium. The place was about half full, and one of the brothers was already into his rap. He acknowledged us with a smile as we sat down. After a long uninspired spiel proclaiming the virtues of moderation and human compassion, the speakertall, stoop-shouldered, and clad in a fulllength robetold the history of the Fountain and Krishna Venta, its founder, had undergone a rigorous purification process, part of which included hanging on the cross for three days. Charlie sat beside me fingering the beads around his neck, his hair long and uncombed down his back. He sniggered to himself as the speaker raised his arms to symbolize the crucifixion. For three days the honorable Krishna Venta remained pinioned to the cross you see there on the hillside. He gestured toward a window which fronted on the ravine. For three long days Charlie couldnt contain himself. Hey, brother, that aint nothin, he blurted out smiling.

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Thats nothinthree days aint nothin. Paul here could hang on the cross for a week. No problemright, Paul? Sure, I grunted. Sure, I could do that. Come on! Charlie urged, getting to his feet. Lets go on out there. Paul, so you can hang. Come on. Charles Manson has referenced a cross many times; coming down off a cross, and a lot of other statements that made me believe Paul Watkins stories of hanging on the cross. After reading various posts on the My Search for Krishna Venta blog, my mind changed quickly. It was literally impossible for anyone in the Family to have hung on the cross at the Fountain. There was no cross, so this never happened. The cross was long gone by 1968, to 1969. Someone isnt telling the truth. Lets just conclude this by me reiterating a previous chapter by again pointing out how unreliable of a source Paul Watkins really was. After reading the majority of the Jon Fisher book, The Spiritual Teachings & Biography of Master Krishna Venta, I noticed a lot of similarities between Pul Watkins stories of Helter Skelter as preached by Charles Manson. It is fact that he was the one who brought the Helter Skelter theory to prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi and was a star witness to the motive. Was Paul Watkins too enamored by Krishna Venta that he took his teachings and applied them to Charles Manson? Or was Charles Manson the one who believes Krishna Ventas theories and believed them so much that he applied them to his own visions? While Charles Mansons history on Krishna Venta is at best incorrect, he still looks up to him as a positive influence on his philosophies and outlook on life. But thats not where it ends. In the Jon Fisher book, The Spiritual Teachings & Biography of Master Krishna Venta, there are some very striking similarities with Krishna Ventas teachings and what was later put on Charles Manson. Charles Manson has always said They put that cult [The Fountain] on me. Krishna Ventas teachings included that he believed that there was an impending race war coming to America. In 1965, there will be a racial war in America a racial war of Blacks against Whites. We do not like this, but it is coming, he warned.

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Obviously, in 1965, he was long gone and while there were some race wars around that time like the Watts Riots, his prophecy was inaccurate. So, did Charles Manson hear this and apply this theory with his fears of Black Muslims attacking whites as told to him while at Terminal Island Penitentiary? Krishna Ventas teachings also included his followers of the chosen would total 144,000 as laid out in Revelations. Sound familiar? The true mission of Master Krishna Venta at this time is the gathering of 144,000, by the Elect of God, as recorded in Revelations. For a period of forty years, while destructive and devastating forces of evil encircle the Earth. Vincent Bugliosis theory of Helter Skelter included the Family making their exodus to Death Valley to hide from this race war for forty years. Oddly enough, but most likely not at all related, Krishna Ventas teachings are that most of his people, from Planet Neoprates, landed in the deserts of India when they came over on a rocket ship. I can definitely understand how his story would capture the imaginations of many including Charles Manson and Paul Watkins and even I at one time believed all of the misinformation. Charles Mansons account of Krishna Venta has been ever-changing over the years. Sometimes he says he blew himself up and other times he says he was blown up during a sex orgy. In the 1996 CD, Charles Manson Speaks, he tells an incorrect story on the demise, which to me sounds like he is trying to apply Krishna Ventas ideals and teachings to coincide with his own. Krishna Venta blew himself up in the Fountain of the World in Box Canyon, California. Krishna had a cult and they were based on the water and there was the Feather River project that just started. And Krishna seen it because he had a big fountain in his cult area and when it dried up it stopped, and he said, well, you cant buy and sell the water. There is not a fountain that I know about at the Fountain of the World. However, there is a close by Chatsworth Lake which is relatively close and behind the Fountain area. Even in the Nikolas Schreck 1989 documentary, Charles Manson Superstar, which is generally regarded as a very factual documentarythis misinformation is spewed as fact.

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Krishna Venta built his Fountain of the World commune in the Santa Susanna Mountains, not far from the Spahn Ranch where Manson and his Family would settle over a decade later. Krishna Venta was killed in 1958, in a dynamite blast ignited by a jealous husband who disapproved of the gurus sexual teachings, but his legend lingered in the area to inspire Manson to attempt to take over the cult years later. Atop this skull-like rock formation at Fountain of the World, Manson held crucifixion rituals that culminated in Family orgies. In 2010, in a recorded phone call by World Order Media, Charles Manson again talks about Krishna Venta and his story was different than Nikolas Schrecks. He went from one motive of an assassination to a suicide in later years. A long time ago, like in 1948, they had a guy called Krishna Venta who had a cult called Fountain of the World over in a place called Box Canyon. And his fountain turned off, and he got all his girls together and put dynamite underneath the house and he blew the whole thing up in protest about the water. We stood around the site where he blew himself up. During my conversations with him, I asked him about Krishna Venta and explained to him that his history on him was incorrect. He admitted that he really did not know much about Krishna Venta other than what I heard about him, and what people told me he did. He concluded that, Krishna Venta died like Christ and I always thought that was far out. He did later admit that he believed that Box Canyon was a beautiful place and that they (The Fountain of the World) werent using the land to its full potential. Oddly, in 1969, Charles Manson wrote a song called Going to the Church House which has the lines where he references getting blown up, dying and going to a church. A lot of people assumed that this song was inspired by his days at the Fountain of the World. I asked him if the song was about their experiences at the Fountain he simply replied, No, we did that song in the desert in front of a fire. It should also be noted that the song is a re-working of an old CCC song. I digress. Paul Watkins stories of the Fountain of the World and Charles Manson were even testified at the trial for the murder of Donald Shea. Paul Watkins theory was that Donald Shea was murdered because he was keen to Charles Mansons plot to take over the Fountain of the World. This motive was a

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complete opposite to the theory the prosecution and Vincent Bugliosi surmised which was Donald Shea was murdered because Charles Manson thought he was behind the Spahn Ranch raid and that he disliked the fact that Donald Shea was once married to a black woman. Paul Watkins stated in the 1973 documentary, Manson, that Charles Mansons intention was to overtake the Fountain of the World and use it as a headquarters to bring children to program them to go to the desert. Well, Charlie was trying to take over this religious organization called the Fountain of the World. And Shorty had lived at the Fountain of the World. And, so, he knew what Charlie was doing at the Fountain. Charlie wanted to use the Fountain as a base of headquarters to go out and kidnap kids, bring them there, tune them in or program them, or take them out to the desert. In the end, its quite obvious that Krishna Venta was a huge influence on Charles Manson and his Family, but how did it all get blown so far out of proportion? Was it Paul Watkins who was starved for a father-like Christ character that he was the one obsessed with Krishna Venta? Why did he invent so many incorrect stories surrounding the Fountain of the World and Krishna Venta? Jon Fisher wrote in his book, The Spiritual Teachings & Biography of Master Krishna Venta, that he believed that Charles Mansons experience [a the Fountain of the World] had a traumatic effect on the entire Manson family, and the rest is history. When I asked Charles Manson about Jon in 2014, he again confirmed that he spent a lot of time there. Yeah, I met a lot of brothers there. I dont remember Jon, or anyones name. The Fountain was the flip-side of Spahn. And I would ride a horse there, or my dune buggy, or take the highway. I spent some time under Krishna Venta, hes [Jon] not bullshitting there. Looking back at Krishna Ventas teachings, and mentioning 144,000 followers hiding from an impending Black vs. White race war in an underground cavern for forty years leads me to believe that it was he who invented what Vincent Bugliosi later called Helter Skelter, not Charles Manson. Other than their philosophies and their beliefs on where their former leader Krishna Venta came from, the Fountain of the World seemed like a

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very humanitarian, peaceful, and loving group of people. At the time that Charles Manson attached himself to the Fountain of the World, he was still a peaceful man. This was before everything went to hell. It is a fact that Charles Manson gave the Fountain a $2,000 donation (sometimes noted as $500) which was part of a gift from Juanita Wildbush. He also gave them an old pickup truck as a payment to allow some of the girls stay there. However, it was no secret that Charles Manson himself was not a hit at the Fountain of the World and wore out his welcome quick. In 1988, Charles Manson told Geraldo Rivera his take on how he became known as Jesus Christ and he mentioned Krishna Venta. I didnt evoke any name, they put that on me. The spirit laid that over on my track. They said I was Krishna Venta. Krishna Venta died in Box Canyon in 1949. And they put that cult over on me. That was the cult that was in Box Canyon in 1949, when I was in reform school. Twenty years before I even grew up. They put that guy on me and said I called myself , and I stood up on the cross and I did, I didnt do all that. That wasnt me. Charles Manson has stated many times that Krishna Venta died in 1949 (and sometimes 1948), but he actually died in 1958. I am assuming that he is probably mistaking the 1948 plane crash in the Simi Hills of a passenger plane en route to the Burbank airport. This is a major event in in the Fountain of the Worlds history, which they saved 15 people from certain death. It is my opinion that Charles Manson took Krishna Ventas teachings and prophecy of an impending race war, and applied it to what the Black Muslims told him in prison about their plans on attacking whites and this the so-called Helter Skelter theory was born. During these tumultuous 1960s, this line of thinking was very common. Charles Manson came from prison where a race war was brewing and went straight to the vortex of all of the racial tensions. Brother Jon Fisher mentions Charles Manson in his book, If Republicans Had Hearts, many times. Even he suggests that Charles Manson took great influence on Krishna Ventas teachings. For some strange reason he [Charles Manson] respected me, and would even ask me questions about Krishna Venta [the self-proclamed second-coming of Jesus Christ]. He really dug talking to Dad, who would smoke some pot with him and rap about philosophy, religion, and Krishna Venta. []

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He really dug how Krisha Venta became a spiritual leader, in spite of his past, and maybe it was time for Manson to get religion and lead the world to drugs and love. Do I believe he preached Helter Skelter in the way Vincent Bugliosi had suggested? Not at all, but I do believe Krishna Ventas theory was certainly discussed. My main reason for adding him to this essay was to prove that this theory was not from the twisted mind of Charles Manson, as Vincent Bugliosi has stated time and time again. I know for a fact that Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel were both at the Fountain of the World, as were many other members of Charles Mansons group. It is also a fact that all of the members of the Fountain of the World still saw Krishna Venta as a leader and a God. They were surely still preaching and believing his words. This does not put the blame on the Fountain of the World, but it does shed some light on how this theory and motive may have been born. A great deal of ex-members of the group remember Charles Manson and the group. While they dont have many great things to say about him, they all admit that they taught him a lot of things that he incorporated into his spirituality and philosophies. His time that he spent at the Fountain of the World is another event in his life that is rarely talked about and never mentioned when the Helter Skelter theory is discussed. With all of the movies, books, and documentaries that have been made based on these crimes, it has only been discussed a small handful of times.

Charlie told me what he knew about it as we wound our way up Santa Susanna Pass to Box Canyon and turned left. It might be a good place to hang out, you know, hide under the cross when the shit comes down at Spahns. - Paul Watkins

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Fountain of the World in Box Canyon, California. (Source: Krishna-Venta.com) Fountain of the World in 2013 (Source: JC)

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15
The Real Race War
When Charles Manson was convicted on January 25, 1971, the generic term Helter Skelter became a reality. When it became a reality, so did the Black Panthers vs. Rich White race war that the prosecution and media laid out inno pun intended black and white for the entire world to read.

Do I believe that the murders were to spark that race war? Not at all; Charles Manson was deathly Sandra Good holding a Black sign. (Press Photo from afraid of retaliation by Bernard Crowe and the last Power Manson, 1973) thing on his mind would be to provoke the Black Panthers. Why in the world would he initiate it? He was so afraid that he permitted guns at the ranch (see chapter: False Witness Danny DeCarlo), something that he was completely against. In fact he told Charlie Rose in 1986, that he discarded all of their guns long before then, that he didnt need them. When all of the Bernard Crowe paranoia started, the Family was armed and set up as all night lookouts while the rest got everything together as they intended to all head to Death Valley. This was not Helter Skelter, this was survival.
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The shooting of Bernard Crowe instigated a domino effect that created extreme fear in Charles Manson and the Family. What was going down was real and not one of Charles Mansons cons and certainly not one of his delusions. July 2, 1969, the day after the shooting, Charles Watson flees the Family and takes the money from the Bernard Crowe burn and buys himself a dune buggy from Butlers Dune Buggy Shop. Two days later he meets Linda Kasabian and cons her for the aforementioned (in the chapter: Who is Charles Watson?) $5,000. Around July 6, 1969, Charles Manson breaks the news of the shooting to the Family and tells them that he fears that the Black Panthers are coming for them. This obviously set off a wave panic and fear and probably a lot of resentment towards Charles Manson. It was written in the Ed Sanders book, The Family, that a few days after this news, the Family ate dinner for the very first time without Charles Manson present. This was a first and completely went against all they stood for. They always ate together. They were pissed at his mistake and Paul Watkins once mentioned that this was the turning point the Family started to question Charles Mansons words and go their own ways. July 10, 1969, Charles Manson takes the pile of money that Charles Watson conned out of Linda Kasabian to Butlers Dune Buggy Shop and buys a few. This was the start of the so-called dune buggy assault team. This plan was devised to get everyone out of Los Angeles so that the Black Panthers could not find them. He had a lot of reason to worry, because on July 11, 1969, a black man with a dog was spotted spying on the Family. The very next day a car full of black men (8 of them) drive slowly through the ranch and check out the dune buggies. Charles Manson quickly hides the children at the back of the ranch and puts Danny DeCarlo on the ball to get some guns. The very next day Danny DeCarlo and Bruce Davis acquire an arsenal of firearms. When some of the Family found a pile of food wrappers behind a bush in eye sight of Spahn Ranch, it became obvious that someone spent a lot of time watching them from the brush. This spooks the Family and they pack up and set up camp in Devils Canyon. Less than two weeks later Gary Hinman is murdered.

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The members of the Family have widely stated that Charles Manson never used the term helter-skelter, except in its true meaning; chaos and confusion. He never really called a so-called biblical apocalypse that he foresaw as Helter Skelter. This time in Losa Angelesand especially with the Familywas most definitely full of chaos and confusion. The shooting of Bernard Crowe was the spark that sent these people into panic and paranoia, not Charles Manson personally. In Paul Watkins book, My Life with Charles Manson, he went as far as stating that Charles Manson basically prophesied the White Album by quoting it before its release; interesting to say the least. Truth isand this was repudiated by several members of the Family that he was actually preaching racial acceptance for a long time. It was the Bernard Crowe incident that made him become disenchanted with the Black Panthers, who he blamed for all of the ensuing chaos after the shooting. He personally had no beef with the black man in general. To boil this entire episode down to racism is laughable. In the Jess Bravin book, The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme, he was quoted speaking a lot of anti-racist doctrine to his beloved group. Wethe white mancame to this country. We ran the Indians out. Then we show them a treaty and we say peace and they sign the treaty and we come in and wipe them out. We bring the black people over here to work for us and they are dumb because they are not allowed to live in love. We rape their women and we kill them because they are nothing to us, you know? We have, as a race, we have killed anything darker than us, or put it down, or put it away, or we have controlled it. In 1969, he was interviewed by Rolling Stone Magazine and he was also quoted as saying, The black people were the first to have power. Quite recently, the Order of ATWA blog posted a quote from him explaining his views on race. There is only one mind and it aint got no color. Thats why I told you you gotta be reborn. You only got one people, man. I mean, there are differences in nature a cocker spaniel is not a sheep dog and a sheep dog is not a pit bull but you cant rightly judge one thing against another.

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Charles Watson even went a bit further in his writing, The Terrorist Connection, by claiming that Charles Manson was in fact pro-black and antiwhite, which to me makes sense. I will write more about this in the next chapter, Holy Swastika. Today, Manson is believed by many to be a white supremacist. To the contrary, in the 60s he was anti-white. It has been falsely reported that Charles Manson was driven by his hatred for the Jews. He has been compared to Hitler, having carved a swastika upon his forehead. In reality, Manson hated society in general; who he called whitey. He blamed society for all his failures. His plan had nothing to do with the Jews specifically. Charles Watson was not the only one making these claims. In fact, the entire Family seemed to be spewing this exact thing. So how did this get turned completely around by the media and prosecution? I dont deny that during the paranoia of the feared Bernard Crowe retaliation, that the Family may have become tired of blacks or more accurately the communist Black Panther Party who they had blamed for all of the chaos that ensued after the shooting. But the race war he spoke about was not Black Panthers, it was Black Muslims. In the 2006 documentary, Inside the Manson Gang, director Robert Hendrickson indicated that Charles Manson may have had an inside to the Black Muslims and was linked to them from his days in Terminal Island Penitentiary. He went on to say in a 2012 interview with Ear Candy Magazine that Charles Mansons old prison buddy Phil Phillips said that he and Charles Manson both had a relationship with the Black Muslims in Terminal Island. Nuel Emmons book, Manson in His Own Words, confirmed this. In prison there is very kind of belief imaginable. Some are good, others are bogus. What is good and right for one person isnt necessarily so for the other guy. Though I wasnt black, I picked up on what the Black Muslims were practicing. I found them solid in their beliefs so I watched them and began to appreciate their rituals and traditions. At the end of the 2006 documentary, Inside the Manson Gang, the text read: In 1972, Black Muslims, mostly recruited from North California prisons, tried to ignite an actual Black and White race war, to become known as the Zebra Murders.

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Was this just a strange coincidence, or did Charles Manson really know about these planned attacks on white by Black Muslims? Could they have informed him before he was paroled from Terminal Island? Along with the aforementioned Phil Phillips, key prosecution witness Paul Crockett also mentioned this fact when being interviewed by Sheriff Don Ward in 1969, prior to Charles Mansons arrest. All of these things he told me about being in jail, where the Black Muslims, and this and that and the other. That he has heard through different cells, speaking of having a case of grenades. Another man talked about having a bazooka with three rounds that he was going to make his count. Other people were talking about having Browning automatics, about all types of cellars with cases of ammunition, piles and stores, and stores of all kinds of thing Molotov cocktails. Ive heard some of the weirdest stories. I thought it was all make believe to start with. But Ive of the opinion now that if you could check jail records and such as that, of when he was in jail, who were the black men that were in jail with him. At the time all of this was taking place. He talks to them that they know him. That they tell him these things. And, all this is to meto this pointis hearsay. But the other things that have come in to my consciousness since Ive met the man. Uh, not all of it is hearsay, because things are happening. My theory is that he was either told, warned, or overheard Black Muslims speaking about these planned attacks and it was always something in the back of his mind. When he began consuming hallucinogensnamely belladonnait consumed his mind. The race war that he warned his Family about was nothing more than warnings and certainly not prophesied by the Beatles. The Jess Bravin book, The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme, all but confirms this notion. Throughout the trial, he and the Family spoke about the Black Muslims. In fact, during Paul Watkins testimony, he was using the terms Black Muslims, and not Black Panthers. When Vincent Bugliosi corrected him, he said, No, the Black Muslims. It was obvious that Vincent Bugliosi was so obsessed with getting his Black Panthers motive to stick, that he did not care about the truth or at least where the lie Paul Watkins created had originated from. Paul Watkins basically took Charles Mansons theory of

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the impending attacks and exaggerated them beyond belief. See the chapter, False Witness Paul Watkins, Brooks Poston, Paul Crockett, for more on that. During Paul Watkins testimony, Vincent Bugliosi even used the wording Black Muslims when questioning him. Paul Watkins: Then the Black Muslims would come out of hiding and wipe them all out. Prosecutor Bugliosi: Wipe the white people out? Paul Watkins: Yes. By sneaking around and slitting their throats. Of course, their being whites. It was no coincidence that around the same time, the girls were on the sidewalk holding signs that read Black Power, sometimes surrounded by minorities including Mexicans and Black men. Also, in the Robert Hendrickson book, Death To Pigs, Sandra Good spoke about the same thing. Islam is on the rise and Christianity is goin down. Mostly, they keep quiet. Theyre smart enough to not run off their mouths. They lie low, theyre like snakes. They lie Low and they wait and they strike when the time is right and nobody sees em. So did the prosecution have it all wrong? Or was it Paul Watkins who took this information that Charles Manson shared, created his own story which he first sold to the media,and went to the prosecution with it as revenge for his near-death experience with Steve Grogan? Whatever the reason, the prosecution bought it hook, line and sinker. But in Vincent Bugliosis defense, it was a very fascinating theory one that would gain him a lot of attention. Something required if he wanted to win the seat as Attorney General. During the trial, Charles Manson also spoke about this upcoming attack by the Black Muslims a lot. The Black Muslims they know the way, theyre ahead of us. Fifty years ahead. They are way ahead of the Black Panthers, dig. They know whats happening. And I turn them on because Im the only white guy in here that knows Mohammed. They got things going on in the sewers that you wouldnt believe! Sadly, even as silly as it seemed, people would not even consider anything but the Black Panthers and the rich-White apocalyptic race war dubbed Helter Skelter. The media and the prosecution had essentially

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brainwashed the public. LIFE Magazine dubbed Manson a cult leader and it stuck. Something that never made sense to me was Vincent Bugliosis claim that from the very minute Charles Manson was released from Terminal Island in 1967, that he was full of hate. And his resolution was to head to San Francisco and look for his targets to mould into mindless societyhating robots. However, nothing that has surfaced about Charles Manson (e.g. documents, words, audio) backs up this notion. First off, the first Manson girl, Mary Brunner, actually collected him as did most of his so-called followers. They followed him around; he did not force them or in Vincent Bugliosis words program them to do so. Pretty much everything that has surfaced about Charles Manson in these early years (1967 - 1968) has depicted him as a very peaceful man full of love. He is called a racist, yet there have been many quotes from these years of him actually preaching anti-racism and defending the black race. Even his so-called brainwashed minions were spouting out anti-racist quotes that they no doubt repeated from him. In an interview conducted with him at Universal Studios in 1967when he was recording songs that would later appear on LIE and All The Way Alivehe states he is anti-war. So if he was anti-war why would he be trying to start a war? Truth is that the so-called race war was not aimed towards Black Panthers, but a race war he heard about while in prison of a looming attack between Black Muslims and Whites. This so-called race war actually happened in 1972, and was dubbed The Zebra Murders. Youd think if this man was so full of hate that his followers would have been spouting out hatred, his songs would be full of hate, and his words being quoted 1967 1969, would be full of hate. Truth is that his music is about love, the desert, and anti-war. Most of his quotes from that era are all anti-racist, anti-violent, anti-hate. It just doesnt add up. In the book, If Republicans Had Hearts, Brother Jon Bishopa former preacher from the Fountain of the Worldeven defended this allegation saying, He was always friendly to us monks and the smaller children. And contrary to what has been printed, he was very fond of the black kids in the cult. He even goes on to take responsibility of implanting the foretelling of a race war inside Charles Mansons head.

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I grew up in a religious cult My adult life started when I was a 16 year old preacher, teaching the Gospel to Charles Manson in 1968. [] What really interested Manson were the stories we told him about Krishna Venta. Manson never read anything, but by strange coincidence I was reading the 1948 lectures of Krishna Venta in the summer months of 1968. Manson would stop by and ask me what I was reading and we would talk about each lecture. [] He really dug how Krisha Venta became a spiritual leader, in spite of his past, and maybe it was time for Manson to get religion and lead the world to drugs and love. [] The members of the Fountain were truly terrified after the police announced that it was The Manson Family had been arrested for the murders in 1969. [] Although the FBI interviewed everybody at the Fountain, Isaiah and I were long gone. The remaining Fountain members lied to the police, claiming Manson had only stayed 3 days. And we certainly didnt tell the police that we had preached to Manson the idea that Krishna Venta was gathering the 144,000 Elect to hide in the desert during the Final Battle. Either something drastic and very ugly happened withinalmost instantaneously that turned him from this loving guy into a monster or its all Vincent Bugliosis bullshit. Now even he admits that when Bernard Crowe was shot, and it was discovered he was a Black Panther, that paranoia swept over Spahn Ranch of a retaliation from the Black Panthers. That is quite understandable, but still doesnt back Vincent Bugliosis theory. June, 2012, EarCandyMag.com interviewed director of the films Manson and Inside the Manson Gang Robert Hendrickson. In this interview, Hendrickson mentions Mansons ties with the Black Muslims. He even states that Mansons prison buddy Phil Phillips witnesses Manson associating with the Black Muslims. Ear Candy Mag: I really like how you just present possible motives without forcing them down your throat! But, there is a lot to process: the Muslim angle, the Vietnam War angle, the strike against law enforcement angle, etc. Did all of these become apparent to you when you were transcribing the film? Or did any of these realizations occur when you were actually filming? Robert Hendrickson: The Muslim connection did not become significantly relevant to me until after 9/11, when in 2007, I was putting Inside the

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MANSON Gang together and came across a copy of Clark Howards Zebra. Then, in 2008-10, the transcribing process became a series of ah-ha moments. I remembered Phil Phillips talking about his and Charlies relationship with Muslims in prison, but it was certain dialogue in Zebra, combined with specific transcriptions that really blew the Manson case wide open for me. There are specific keywords, phrases and beliefs that Charles Manson could only have picked-up from the Black Muslims in prison, which are also expressed by the Black Muslims in Zebra. Thus, if Manson talked to Family members about a Black and White race war, he got the idea from the Black Muslims in prison. With regards to the Vietnam War, the Family and I discussed the issue at length. As for law enforcement threats and harassment, back then the friction was always apparent to me, but the issue of an actual violent conflict did not come to a full realization until I understood the transcriptions, more clearly. Ear Candy Mag: You infer that the murders might be devices to draw attention to the horrors of the Vietnam war. You have Katie talking about carving war on Leno Labiancas stomach and saying, Heres one man who wont send his son to war. Not referring to a black and white war, but the establishments Vietnam. I know this is a stretch, but could it be considered a bizarre sort of performance art? Robert Hendrickson: Why would such a thought be considered a stretch? Almost everything we Americans do takes some form of an acted out performance. Every society, culture and civilization that ever existed, since time began, has practiced performance art in the form of human sacrifice before its public. Even war is considered performance art. I know that, at the time, professional performance art was enjoying a resurgence (IE: Andy Warhol works), but to even think that the bizarre Manson Massacre was actually some form of performance art is just downright plausible. Now, heres two relevant questions for you! (1) Did you know that in 40-plus years of dealing with this case, to my knowledge, nobody has ever associated the Tate/LaBianca massacres with performance art? The fact is, no matter what or which motive for the Manson murders you prefer to believe; the actual massacre was and is considered an expression of performance art and the Crime/Trial of the 20th Century is one big epic play/opera without a foreseeable end. (2) Would Mitt Romneys 1960s physical assault on a young mans body, which

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included the cutting of his hair, be considered a criminal expression of performance art today? Back then? Ear Candy Mag: The biggest surprise to me was the possible influence of the Black Muslims on Charlie. Throughout the book, the Black Muslim was talked about by Paul Watson, Sandra Good, and Phil Phillips. Do you think that Bugliosi recognized this? Or did he think that was even too far out compared to the Helter Skelter motive? Robert Hendrickson: At the time in the 1960s, nobody even knew what a Black Muslim was, let alone an ordinary Muslim. First and foremost, Vincent Bugliosi was an attorney/prosecutor, whose job was to get a jury to convict Charles Manson. Thats it! All this BS we hear today about right/wrong, Constitutionally correct, etc. is just that BS. That Bugliosi sold a Black and White race war motive to a bunch of moon rocks, as the failed OJ prosecutor Marsha Clark calls jurists, may not have required a judicial genius, but it sure didnt hurt to have one on-board. That said, if Bugliosi played-up the issue of Black Muslims, he would have had to explain the existence of Black Muslims organizing and preaching against Whitey and Christians in California prisons. Then, if the Black Muslims taught Charlie about the coming Black/White Battle of Armageddon, why were they not also on trial as co-conspirators? Then you have to explain why Muslims have it in for Christians and pretty soon you need a jury made up of all college graduates with history degrees, just to comprehend an otherwise simple. Black/White race war. I doubt that Bugliosi was unaware of the delicate Muslim/Christian conflict connected to his so-called Helter Skelter race war motive, but simplicity SELLS. Complicated things do not. And when a prosecutor builds his case, that means precisely that. He carefully builds (puts together) for the jury, ONLY the necessary information (evidence) needed to accomplish HIS goal, which is to get a conviction. Otherwise, Bugliosi never even had a meaningful conversation with Sandra Good and Phil Phillips (Mansons best friend in prison) isnt even mentioned in the prosecutors best-selling book. Paul Watkins introduced the Black Muslims into his Helter Skelter analogy, but nobody even pressed such an important issue further. So, to me it seems like Bugliosi saw the writing Death To Pigs on the wall, but got hungry and went to the refrigerator, where Healter Skelter was written

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on the door, which caused HIM to have an ah-ha moment. If only we could ask Merrick and his wife what Bugliosi actually thoughtthey all became close friendsbut Merrick was murdered and his wife is in seclusion. Here is a fact: after the trials were over, in 1972, the Black Muslims started attacking whites at random. This lasted a few years and started in San Francisco and branched throughout California. Only sixteen murders could be proven, but the more truthful count was at least 71 in California and 100 suspected related murders total. All the same, Black Muslims attacking whites at random. These attacks were dubbed The Zebra Killings and were largely covered up and ignored by the country afterward. But, its hard to ignore that Charles Manson had mentioned Black Muslims, the attacks, and the murders starting in San Francisco. He also disclosed that he befriended Black Muslims in prison. The so-called Zebra Killers were largely recruited from prisons. So is it possible that when he spoke to his Family about these Black Muslims that he met in prison talking about this attack, that he was being serious? Is it possible that he knew this was happening soon? Somehow, somewhere, in some way, he definitely knew about these upcoming attacks. The words were spoken; you cant erase that. Its really hard to dismiss it as coincidence when there were a lot of Family members screaming it on the sidewalk during the trials. Do I think the Family wanted these attacks to happen? Yes, but not while they were in Los Angeles, but while they were in Death Valley. Charles Manson himself, spoke at ease about the Black Muslims but refused to acknowledgeand still does the race war against the Black Panthers. During the trial he admitted that he believed the Black Muslims would indeed attack the whites because of what they had done to them. The sword of Mohammad will swing back and chop off the heads of the whites, because the Whites have done it to the Mohammedans, which was a love civilization. Does a statement like this make him a racist? For some reason the prosecution made it seem like it did and they made the jury believe the same. In 1971, when Lynette Squeaky Fromme spoke to the papers, she explained that Charles Manson was indeed friends with Black Muslims in prison and that he was at One with the Negros. I believe this without a doubt.

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We understand what Negroes have been through. Charlie had total understanding of them. Hes been close to them in the penitentiaries and understands what they been through. He loves them. Hes his father, the black man is Charlies father. On www.ATWA.com Sandra Good later said something similar to Lynette Fromme and again mentioned Muslims in context to the war the Family was responding. Manson grew up with black people. He spent twenty-two years in prison before we even met him. Hes spent a total of forty- seven years in prisons. Hes lived with them, so he sees. He sees what is. He sees how they see us. He sees their awareness. He knows whats in their mind. He knows them collectively. During the sixties the Muslims were speaking things. They were talking about simply killing whitey. After research I strongly believe that it is quite possible that Charles Manson has some sort of inside knowledge on these murders carried out by the Black Muslims. Its shocking to me that this link has rarely been discussed other than by people who were close with Charles Manson and a few researchers here and there. Director and author Robert Hendricksonwho spent time with the Family for a few years in the early 70shas always believed in the Muslim theory for the killings. He claims to have heard them speak about the Muslim attacks numerous times.

Islam is on the rise and Christianity is going down. Mostly, they keep quiet. Theyre smart enough to not run off their mouths. They lie low, theyre like snakes. They lie low and they wait and they strike when the time is right and nobody sees them. - Sandra Good

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An article about the Zebra Killings. (Source: AP & AAP) An insert for the LIE album with several Latino and black inmates are vouching for Charles Manson (Source: A Joint Venture)

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16
This Holy Swastika
In a weird way the swastika has become Charles Mansons trademark, so to speak. It is easily the most identifiable characteristic about his likeness. Whether we like it or not, take any photo and draw a swastika on its forehead and immediately: Charles Manson.
Most people just accept it as a sign of hatred and a sign of the Manson asking for a copy of this photo of a Native Nazis, so it comes to no surprise Charles American basketball team wearing the swastika. (Source: JC) that those two things are associated with him. He is considered to be a racist-Nazi-Hitler worshiper, but if you read the chapter: The Real Race War, you will read a first-hand account from a Family memberCharles Watsonwho said that Charles Manson was actually anti-White.

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When I spoke to Charles Manson in 2011, I asked him to explain why he put the swastika on his head and was it for shock value. What he told me mirrored that he has said many times before. When I was in prisonI was in prison for a long time. There was this IndianNative Americanthat called Walks on Top. He was in this all Indian cell with a red lock on the door. The red lock was a warning to the guards that the inmate inside was a fighter and Walksontop was a fighter. He would cuss and fuss at the guard and make them come into his cell and hed beat them up. They would always chain him to the wall and let whites beat him up. Walksontop hated whites he stole a pig and brought it to his reservation to feed his family. They beat him up and put him in prison. He beat the people up in that prison and they put him in a tougher prison. I was the only white man he let into his cell. We played cards a lot. He had a swastika on his head and I asked him, Why you got that for? and Walksontop said, Protection from White Man. Protection up here. I ran with some Yaquis in Mexico before I got busted and they called it a turning log. So, when I was busted and the D.A. put me in the gas chamber, I put that sign on me. It made a lot of people mad and cause a lot of confusion that was for me. Later in 2013, Manson confirmed that a man named George Walksontop, or Harry as they called him, actually tattooed the swastika on his forehead. I researched George Walksontop and I found news articles about a Native American incarcerated for shooting law officers and petty thefts like Grand Theft Auto. I found out that George Walksontop has been incarcerated in some of the prisons that Charles Manson had been in, so his story is at least plausible. I also read that George Walksontop spent time in Alcatraz, which he mentions in a 1992 interview with Michal ben Horin. In 1971, when he was convicted for the Tate and LaBianca murders, he carved an X on his forehead and explained it to the media. I am not allowed to be a man in your society. I am considered inadequate and incompetent to speak or defend myself in your court. I have Xed myself from your world. The lie you live in is falling and I am not part of it. You have murdered the world in the name of Jesus Christ. I stand with my X, with my life, with my God and by myself. My faith in me is stronger than all your armies, governments, gas chambers or anything you may want to do to me. Love is my judge. I

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have my own constitution; its inside me. I am not allowed to speak with words so I have spoken with the mark I will be wearing on my forehead. When he was sentenced to death, he branded a left-facing swastika on his forehead. The reason he gave me appears valid. In fact, here is an excerpt from a newspaper article from 1971, where he is trying to clarify it to the Judge but he doesnt buy it. The Judge suggested that swastikas were not suitable for the courtroom because it might offend Jewish jurors. Manson replied that he was wearing Indian symbols and not Nazi signs. A juror of Jewish background was asked if hed be prejudiced by the swastika, despite Mansons explanation that they were Indian symbols. He said he would. So the popular retort to his current explanation of his swastika is that the Native American excuse was something he recently came up with. However, this proves that as far back as his trial he was saying this. In my mind if he was brash enough to put a swastika on his forehead for racist reasons, he would be brash enough to admit its true meaning. In the past years a photo of Linda Kasabian sitting against a wall with a swastika in an observable Native American pattern has surfaced. She is surrounded by people that have been cropped out and one man has a guitar. Was that Charles Manson? If so, this is another piece of evidence that proves the Native American association with the swastika. In the aforementioned 1992 interview with Michal ben Horin, he also tells her the reason for his swastika was an inspiration by Walksontop. He also dismisses the Hitler link as laughable. Michal ben Horin: When you put that X on, did you associate it with Hitler? Charles Manson: You make Hitler into a big person because he was your fear and you were afraid of him. Your mother was afraid of him. Im not afraid of Hitler. Hitler was a little teardrop that fell from the prisons eye. Michal ben Horin: What does the X mean? Charles Manson: You know what it is? It is an Alcatraz Indian. Its an Indian called Walksontop. He also told Geraldo Rivera in 1988, when he suggested that it was to represent his association with the Nazi party that. And he basically gets pretty annoyed with the accusations.

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Geraldo Rivera: You a Nazi, Charlie? Charles Manson: No. No, I cant even spell the word. Geraldo Rivera: I bet you could. Charles Manson: See what Im saying? Now see what Im saying. When you think I lie, then thats because you got a lie in your heart. And then you come back and you say youve got heart, but youve got no heart without, with lie. A lie beats, your heart beats in truth, man, you see what Im saying? In other words, if youre lying, youre not lying to nobody but yourself. Nobody else cares. In 1987, when Penny Daniels interviewed him, she constantly asked him about it and he evidently wanted to talk about other things like his ATWA organization. But, she pressed him and he basically told her that it was for shock value to get people to notice him and listen. How do you communicate to a whole group of people? You take the worst fear symbol and you say there, now I got your fear!, and your fear is your power and your power is your control. I dont care what church you go to, or what race you are, what color you are, or what boogliblababa or any of that nickel and dime self-important trash. His spirituality has been a mystery, but as he talks he lets go tidbits of information regarding it and in my opinion he does take a lot of Native American philosophy mixed with a lot of Eastern religion. He has voiced his beliefand based a lot of his ATWA philosophyon the Sun and the Sun God in a 1998 correspondence with the All The Way Alive website. Theres only one soul; theres little bits and pieces of it. Theres only one Sun. We all come from the Sun; all the energy, every molecule, every element, everything weve got comes from the Sun. The Suns god. Thats why the swastika was always on the Sun. This theory reflected onto his art as well, drawing swastikas in the sun. Most of this puts down the theory that he wears it as a Nazi. He was never really tied to the Nazis or Aryan Brotherhood aside from his early days in prison; they attached themselves to him and he admitted that he used them for protection. Between 1973 1975, he did set up a half-way house for the Aryans when they were paroled. A house maintained by Sandra Good and Lynette Fromme. According to the Jess Bravin book, The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme, when he realized that the Aryans were taking advantage of the girls

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and using them for drugs, sex and to commit crimes, he put a stop to it. Subsequentlyaccording to the Ed George book, Taming the Beast,a hit was put on him by the Aryans. Coincidentally, around this same time other former Family members were attacked and stabbed in prison in racerelated incidents. Another event that sort of disproved the fact that he is a racist and a connection with a Black Panther was printed in Geronimo Pratts autobiography, The Triumph and Tragedy of Geronimo Pratt. Geronimo Pratt is an ex-Black Panther member who was framed and convicted of murder by the same Hall of Justice as Charles Manson and at roughly the same time. His public defender was Charles Holepeter, the attorney that was forced on Charles Manson (and he eventually fired). Evidence was withheld, fabricated and witnesses coerced into lying on behalf of the prosecution sound familiar? See the chapter: The Bug. The only difference is that 26 years later, Geronimo Pratt was released from prison and Charles Manson is still incarcerated. He heard a chirpy voice cry, Geronimo! Charles Mansons hairy face peeked from cell no.1. Pratt nodded. He was glad to see a familiar face. Theyd been held together in the Los Angeles County jail. Manson set an outcry of other yells and shrieks: Hey! They got Geronimo in here! Its the man! Home boy! He began to chant Geronimo! Geronimo! Geronimo! Geronimo! In March 1974, after Geronimo Pratt was given the wrong pills and nearly overdosed, he received a kite from Charles Manson saying Youve been set up, stay out of yard today. Possibly saving his life. It was something that Charles Manson did not have to do and I am sure that he did not win over any whites over doing this. Charles Manson saved the life of a Black Panther. Why would a racist do something like that? Ed George also mentions in his book, Taming the Beast, that Charles Manson and Geronimo Pratt at the least knew each other. One thing that Charles Watson has been vocal aboutthat works for Charles Mansons caseis that Charles Manson was not a white supremacist, nor did he preach Hitler as the prosecution proposed during the trial. On Charles Watsons website AboundingLove.org, he did a review on Helter Skelter and he too contradicted the theory.

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Strange as it may seem, I never heard Manson mention Nietzsche or Hitler. I do remember in the book, Helter Skelter, Vincent Bugliosi had a shocking parallel between Hitler and Manson. He wrote that both men were influenced by Nietzsche, had similar statures and wounded pasts, and were illegitimate children. With their charismatic and hypnotic eyes, Hitler and Manson could easily influence others. I find it hard to believe that Manson was emulating Hitler without my knowing it. But, there were Nazi magazines found at the ranch upon the bust. Whose were they? It may have belonged to the Straight Satans. They were an admitted racist organization, and Danny DeCarlo admitted that he was racist. Charles Watson stated that he vaguely remembers those magazines. I will put this out there: the initials for the Straight Satans are S.S., and to me that says it all. It is also fact that Charles Manson has a connection with World War II. Hes stated many times that, I am locked in the second world war meaning that he has been locked up since 1944, during WWII. Hes also connected through his father who fought in WWII. He also defends the SS Waffen guards who fought in WWII, and were then executed by the United States for following orders. While this opinion may not be a positive one, he has a good point as stated in a 1992 interview with Bill Murphy. When you go to war, and youre a soldier, and you fight for your God and your Country, thats not criminal. Thats honorable. Thats what you must do to be a man. If you dont fight for your God and your Country, youre not worth anything. If you have no honor, then youre not worth Pattys pig. Decrees of the war were written in Switzerland, in Geneva, the conferences that were made, by the men at the tables, clearly stated that anyone in uniform would be given the respect of their rank and their uniforms. Then, when the United States won the war, and got all the Germans in handcuffs, they started breaking their own rules. And theyve been breaking their own rules ever since. Youve got to overturn that decision that hung six thousand men by the neck. You killed six thousand soldiers for obeying orders. Thats wrong, and the world has got to accept theyre wrong. This in no way is saying that he supports the Nazis, but of course people take it this way. He has said that he believes in procedures and ranks. I too believe that when soldiers are given an order, they obey it. Soldiers are

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in no way out there to do what is morally right, they are out there to take orders and fulfill those orders. Quite frankly, whatever Charles Manson says is taken negatively. Even when he says something encouraging, it is nay-sayed and dissected with an explanation that he only said it as a tool to somehow manipulate the situation. He has become the personification of evil, despite rarely saying anything publicly that could be taken as evil. When he is interviewed it seems that the interviewer relentlessly tries and provoke him to do so, but always fail. Lynette Fromme summed it up perfectly. Everyone has wanted to make Charlie small, yet a monster. Stupid. With hypnotic powers. A fascist and a Commie. And prejudiced nigger-lover. A macho punk. Both Christ and the Devil, or on the opposite side of everything. In an odd coincidence he has admitted that he did sort of idolize Irwin Rommel, who fought for the Germans in WWII taking the name Desert Fox from him. The interesting thing about this is that Irwin Rommel was not only anti-Hitler, but he plotted to assassinate him. Hitler became conscious of the plot, and called for his execution. He turned himself in to protect his family and was executed. He was also against the murder of any Jew; he was a hero. But Charles Manson loved the photos of Irwin Rommel in his dune buggies running across the African desert. Perhaps those aforementioned Nazi publications were merely depictions of Irwin Rommel? In one of my conversations with Manson in 2011, he told me straight up that if you are in prison that, you roll with your own race or you become a target. He expanded stating that people who dont stick to their own race on the yard, have nobody no protection. They walk alone on the yard and get called snitches and get stuck. Prison is a concentration camp and we all have to stay with our own race. But he has also admitted that he associates with a lot of Mexicans in prison. He defended that by saying, That is why I am in PC, which is protective custody. He has also told me that he isnt racist because I dont care what fucking color you are, but he doesnt think we should mix races because that is what killed off the Indians and any race inferior to whites. He now wears a tattooed swastika that is right facing. He had it tattooed on in 1985, after an attack by inmate Jan Holmstrom, who doused him with

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paint thinner and set him on fire burning his face and hands. Throughout the 70s and 80s he sported a left-facing swastika that looked like it was lightly tattooed in over his brand scar from 1971. The fire all but erased it as seen in the photos in a 1985 High Society Magazine. The tattoo was apparently meant to replace the one that had been burnt off. In the following years, he has stated that he wanted it back to represent that he never got his rights in the courtroom. He has also stated thats my father. I think that it had become his symbol and trademark. It was what he was known for sort of like Alfalfas hair on the Little Rascals. In the 1990s, Sandra Good ran a Charles Manson website and wrote an essay on the meaning of the swastika in an attempt to change the misinterpretation. The Swastika or Fylfot, a.k.a. gamma cross, croix cramponee, croix gamme, and so on, is found early in Sanskrit, interpreted as equivalent to So be it or Amen. Recorded 10,000 B.C., it has been found on artifacts and structures in Greece, Rome, India, Japan, China, Persia, Libya, Northern Europe, and the Americas. Interpretations of the meaning in the direction of the arms of the swastika masculine/feminine, outer world/inner world, war/peace, sun/moon, and various opposites - lend to a general notion of turns of behavior, of rule, of culture all interpretation. The four arms have been used to signify the four winds of the four directions, the four elements, the four that add up to one. The cross marks the center, which everyone knows is the center of themselves and the center of the physical world. The Runic Swastika comes from Scandinavia, said to have signified recycling, regeneration, a return to Mother Earth, Mother Sea, themes familiar to any pagan or Druid. The Crux Dissimulata and the Gammadion are variations used by Christians as well. If what I read is true, the Cross did not become the principal symbol of the Christians until the ninth century. No ones ever going to believe anything but what the prosecution proved at the trial. As far as I knowand I have researched this case extensivelyI have never heart a first-hand account of Charles Manson making a racist statement other than petty shock-value responses like Hitler was misunderstood, or I was impressed with the 6,000 Germans who were hung for not signing the paper I havent either. Then when he

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states Hitler was a monster and you cant rule a nation with fear, it is ignored. Paul Watkins theory that he brought to the prosecution put Charles Manson as a man who hated all minority races and often degraded blacks, Jews, Mexicans, etc. Even Charles Watson has denied those accusations. Its also quite surprising that the Family consisted of some Jewish people; Catherine Share, Barbara Rogenberg, Mark Ross, etc. There were also Latinos; Juan Flynn, Christopher Jesus, Juanita Wildbush, etc. And there were other minorities that came and went in the circle. This makes no sense if he was a hardcore racist. He often spoke negatively about the white mans oppression of minorities and Native Americans. In fact, the ATWA organization included a correspondence with Charles Manson where he answered a subtly racist piece of mail from someone writing to him asking, What do you think of the United States now having a black president? This question obviously annoyed him because he replied with a long, very detailed letter something he rarely does. Here is an abridged response from him. You cannot color people in the reals real what makes a person man woman is all colors. You can tag people, but you cant color TRUTH, LOVE, compassion. Black is not a person, you can call a person black and if you did that would be an African person if a African person was born in France, he wouldnt be an African person hed be French. To me thats just tags. Your media has lied to you and you are DISTORTED, TWISTED, WARPED, off track and out of line. To disrespect anyone or anything is FOOLS play on the self and thats what I did. I disrespected myself for even responding to this crap letter. He was obviously defending Barack Obama, despite being vocal as someone who doesnt support him at all. When Charles Manson blog MansonAtwar.com, reposted this the post received over 4500 notes and most of them were negative. This was a great lesson to me that people want him to be racist. They want him to be bitter. If he defends anyone who is a minority, it really gets under peoples skin. The average response was basically, How can he defend Obama, he has a swastika on his forehead.

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This quote was printed in the Jess Bravin book, The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme, again it shows that he relates to minorities being in a down position all of his life. We have, as a race, we have killed anything darker than us, or put it down, or put it away, or we have controlled it. During his trial he spoke to the news reporters and a reporter asked him if he is guilty of murder. He responded, Ill plead guilty to the Indians. It seems humans will believe anything that is printed. I hope that this chapter opens your mind to Charles Mansons usage of the ancient symbol that we call the swastika, which means all things good. It has been a positive symbol for 6,000 years and was tainted in the late 1930s, by Nazi Germany. Until around 1940when we ceased using itAmerica used it vastly in our advertisements, food logos, post cards, architecture and Arizona road signs even had swastikas emblazoned on them. It has been a very important sign for Native Americans for centuries, often referred to as whirling logs. They etched swastikas on arrows for good luck, painted them on loin cloths as a sign of fertility and painted them on their headdresses as a sign of mental strength. Charles Manson said, I picked the symbol up from the bottom when it was broken and unwanted like me. I took it from the last cell at the bottom. I believe it is a symbol of honor. The website AllTheWayAlive.com, has a few quotes from him regarding the swastika. Here are some. You say its me thats prejudiced and its not that way. I am a reflection. Bottom line is not to prejudge is almost impossible because its nature to be for self first and look out for number one your own life, and if thats not what you look out for, youre prey and food for who is eating you. This swastika to me is four Lsa wheel, a sun circle, a teepee polea symbol for the complete all, forever. Dad, chief, knowing, truth, peace, wisdom. Im not trying to lead or follow or do nothing but have peace on earth. And thats what that thing on my forehead is; its a peace symbol. One world. He goes on to state that, People put it on Hitler, but Hitler put it on himself.

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Charles Manson (left) with his Vacaville buddy who he called Running Water (right). (Source: JC)

It may never be known exactly what provoked Charles Manson to don the swastika on his forehead, but I personally believe that it definitely was influenced by the Native American culture that he followed very closely. Even today, he credits the Natives for helping him form his philosophies on life, Earth, and ATWA.

The swastika is a Sun God symbol, symbol as the sun as God, not a dead man on a stick. - Charles Manson

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Charles Will is Mans Son

The prosecutions theory of Helter Skelter incorporated the fact that Charles Manson called himself Jesus Christ as well as The Devil. The theory stated that he lead his followers to believe that was Charles Mansons California Drivers License. indeed Jesus Christ. One of the key pieces of evidence to back up this theory was Charles Mansons drivers license. His name printed on it was Charles Willis Manson. Vincent Bugliosi stated that he chose that name as an alias because it simply read Charles Will is Mans Son, signifying his claim to be the Son of Man, or Jesus Christ.

Charles Manson laughed at that idea, discrediting it as trash. His justification for the alias made a lot more sense; it was an alias he used on his license because he planned on driving around, which was against my parole. He stated that he took the name from his ex-wife Rosalie Willis, who he married in 1955. This alias was one of the nearly dozen that he used including other plays on his factual name, Charles Milles Manson, such as;
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Charlie Deer, Charles Miller, Charles Miller Manson, Charles Mills, Charles Miller Benson, and Charles Mills Manson. When Family members are asked about this, half of them laugh at the idea that he called himself God. It seems like the only ones who agree that he did were the ones who testified against him (see chapter: False Witness). Lynette Fromme made a statement on the now defunct website SqueakyFromme.org, laughing at the idea of calling him God. He didnt ask me to call him God. We thought that was really funny. You think wed be with somebody we had to call God? So, how did that get started? Some people were clearly under the impression that he was calling himself Jesus Christ and that license has absolutely no evidence supporting this. That was just a piece of evidence that the prosecution forced to fit as evidence. Truth be told, Susan Atkins admitted how this rumor started and of course she was the one behind it she started it. In her book, Child of Satan, Child of God she made numerous references to it. I longed to see Charlie. I walked out of the bus. Charlie was there, alone. He was wearing a long white robe. I knew immediately that he could be God himself, if not, it was something close to it. And later on in the same chapter, she spoke more about this Jesus man she had just met, summing him up instantly. The men were clustered around him. I counted: there were twelve men. With his long hair and beard, his eyes staring from face to face, he seemed to Jesus speaking to his twelve apostles. The thought struck me while and touched me. Thats when I felt he might be Jesus Christ. As stated in the chapter: Demystifying Susan Atkins, she was obviously a bit off-kilter. She acknowledged that she had great problems both emotionally and conceptuallybefore she met Charles Mansonin 1966, to 1967. Its more than obvious that she was searching too hard for a Christlike figure and accepted anyone as that. Paul Watkins wrote in the book, My Life with Charles Manson, that Charles Manson would actually become annoyed with her claims that he was Jesus Christ; that she was telling everyone that he was indeed Jesus Christ. But Paul Watkins did say that Charles Manson started to go with the idea and when someone would ask him if he was Jesus Christ, he would

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just smile or wink at them. I do agree that this was a dick move on his part, but we have all done similar things in our lives. This notion goes along with one of his common adages: However you see me, is who I ill be. I am just a mirror on the road. Susan Atkins also has stated that Charles Manson also called himself The Devil. But during her Grand Jury testimony she was asked if Charles Manson ever told her that he was evil. She said no. Vincent Bugliosi: Did Charlie show you how to become a real woman? Susan Atkins: He didnt show me, he gave me my in other words, I gave myself up to him and in return for that he gave me back to myself. He gave me the faith in myself to be able to know that I am a woman. Vincent Bugliosi: During this one to one-and-a-half year period on the bus were all of you girls Charlies girls, so to speak? Susan Atkins: We were called Charlies girls, but Charlie often, in fact every day he told us, You people do not belong to me, you belong to yourself. Vincent Bugliosi: Did Charlie ever tell you that he was evil? Susan Atkins: To my knowledge, no. If he never told her that he was evil, which means he did not tell her that he was The Devil. And he never told him that he was Jesus Christ. So, how did this get so out of hand? During one of my many conversations with Charles Manson, he explained one of the reasons this story got out of hand. I always told them kids that everyone is God, and everyone was the Devil. Everyone has good and bad. That turned into Charlie thinks he is God and the Devil by the DA, and I went with it. They reflected that on me and I reflected it back. In 1991, he spoke with Ronald Reagan, Jr. Show, and said the same thing. He was clearly being honest with me and had no reason to beat around the bush. It was he who had brought it up. The devils inside you, man. Each guys got his own little devil, and thats the doubt and fear that youve got inside yourself. However, he later said that, If I knew that 40 years later Id still be fighting it, Id never have said that. I think if he had hindsight in 1968, he would have filtered a lot of the things that he had said.

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In 1987 ,the NBC network got their hands on Charles Manson for an interview. The entire time he was battling erroneous information and a young interviewer who was trying to ask edgy questions ones that Manson will get every interview. Early in the interview, he became annoyed with her and said a lot of pretty mean things. She constantly asked him if he was Jesus Christ, and his answer was a little more than she wanted. I think the public is full of it. Theyre a bunch of ants that want to eat me up. And they feed on fear and things they are insecure about. They want to blame someone else like a bunch of chickens pecking on each other. Well, I fell under that pecking order and I was convicted for being the father of this country. I was convicted of being Jesus Christ and the Devil. Now if that makes any sense to your reality, public, theres something missing in your world. He does admit that while he and the Family would play Magical Mystery Tour, they all recreated the crucifixion of Christ, but it was never a ritual. He later explained that he respected Krishna Venta, a man who called himself the second-coming of Jesus Christ and ironically led a cult in the same vicinity of Spahn Ranch just two miles away on Box Canyon Road. It was he who staged crucifixion recreations, not Charles Manson. (See chapter: Krishna Venta) What is even more interesting that virtually the entire Family has said this very same thing observably other than the ones who testified against him. In 1970, Catherine Share stated in the LA Free Press publication that the Feds busted into Barker Ranch and asked for Jesus Christ specifically. Wheres Jesus Christ? Were here to crucify him! Then they put it on the Inyo transcript Charles Manson AKA Jesus Christ. They put it on him. He never deemed himself a holy man, nor anything else. Charles Manson has a better explanation on how he became called Jesus Christ in 1985, on a KALX radio show. I used to run with this man named Christopher Jess (get it Jesus Christ?) who spelled his name J-E-S-U-S and we called him Zero. And the cops had this list of whos who and they come up to me and asked if I was Jesus. (asking about Christopher Jess). I said, No, my name is Manson. And they said Yes, youre him. Manson, son of man, youre him. So when they booked me in jail they booked me as Jesus Christ.

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If you search down his booking sheet after the Barker Raids, you will see that someone later hand-wrote in Jesus Christ over a typed report. Also, Christopher Jesus was suspected Bruce Davis murder victim, see chapter: Bruce McGregor Davis. I personally think that he may have said things that led some of the Family think he called himself Jesus Christ. Family members like Steve Grogan stated in the Marlin Marynick book, Charles Manson Now, that he thought Charles Manson was Jesus Christ because he saw him breathe on a bird and bring him back to life. Brooks Poston stated that, Charlie never said he was Christ, but he represented Christ to me. He said that Charles Manson only said things like they crucified me and I was on that cross. Nevertheless, Charles Manson still talks like that and says similar things, perhaps in metaphor which he speaks a lot of. With much coincidence, in the LA Free Press, Nancy Pitman gave the same story as Catherine Share regarding the police giving Charles Manson his Jesus Christ moniker. This story was widely repeated by other Family members, so I believe it to be true. I was sleeping in the sun with my shirt off they threw a rock at my back to wake me up. And when they had us all lying on the ground together and Charley wasnt there, one of them asked, real rough-like, Wheres Jesus Christ? We want to crucify him! Then they put on his Inyo transcript Charles Manson, AKA Jesus Christ. They put it on him. We never deemed himself a holyman, nor anything else. In another newspaper in 1971, Nancy Pitman went on to tell a similar story to what Steve Grogan had told Marlin Marynick. One time we were out in the desert and there was this little bird that had died and Charlie just picked it up in his hand and breathed on it and it flew away. And I never considered it until the police came asking, Wheres Jesus Christ? We want to crucify him! In an attempt for Paul Watkins to justify why he coalesced with Charles Manson and the Family, he explained it in his book, My Life with Charles Manson, why he personally saw him as a Jesus Christ-like man. People would ask me how a man like Charles Manson could ever be considered Christlike and the answer is simple: he listened to each of them. He concen-

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trated on what they said. He sympathized with their problems, knew their idiosyncrasies. He allowed them to express their fears, hopes, aspirations. He didnt judge, he merely listened and focused all of his attention on them. He became friend, brother, lover and father. He taught the girls not only to love their minds, but love their bodies. So, his evil was simply being a good man to them? Paul Watkins also mentioned that Charles Manson using brainwashing tactics for laughs. In the same book, he remarked how Charles Manson had Diane Lake so paranoid that she believed that there were satellites in space taking pictures of her. She was so paranoid that she was actually hiding from them. And she became really afraid and hid all day in a bush, much to Charles Mansons hilarity. Yes this is yet another asshole move, but it doesnt prove what Paul Watkins tried to imply and that was the fact Charles Manson was using this to program Diane Lake. Another event was a time at Spahn Ranch when Charles Manson had become annoyed with Paul Watkins. He told him to walk to Box Canyon and get on the cross at The Fountain of the World and hang there. He got up and started to walk in the direction of Box Canyon Road and he was called back, undoubtedly wondering how someone could be so simple minded. People are just so quick to believe anything said in the presses against Charles Manson. In fact, another perfect example would be when a satyr website called GlossyNews.com ran an article about him and his run-in with prison officials when he was caught with a cell phone. People actually believed it was actually his words explaining his situation. When I got back to my cell, I started punching a bunch of sixes into the thing, you know, like 666 and stuff and then I heard some guy yelling hello, hello. Jesus Christ, said Manson. Most of the comments were of those who thought this really happened! What is scary is that he will forever be known as Jesus Christ and a man who has hypnotic eyes and the ability to make people who what he wants. Its accepted that he brainwashed people to kill for him. That is an accepted theory as laid out by the prosecution and won albeit by forfeit. But it was won and it is regurgitated in virtually every book on the case, websites, encyclopedias, documentary and news shows.

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He has also accepted his fate as the figurehead of evil and embraces it with more of a cynical approach. But, nevertheless, he knows his role in history as the ultimate bad guy and he plays that bad guy well. Im God, Im the devil, Im every kind of thing you can think of but at the same time Im nobody. Im a maniac, Im keen, Im clever, Im sharp, Im insane. Im everything, but at the same time when I say something, they say no, you cant say anything. But, if Im everything why cant I defend myself in court? If Im so smart to overtake the world I must be some kind of genius. Yet, Im so inadequate that I cant even walk into a courtroom to put on a defense. Come on! If I had any real power, like theyve said, I wouldnt be here, would I? Id put everyone under my spell and just walk out of this shit hole. But every time I believe the stories and try to do that, some dumb-ass guard slams a door in my face! On February 16, 1970, before his trial had begunand he was representing himself he filed a writ to the judge for two things; a change of venue and a public opinion poll. He stated that he thinks the publicwhich his jury would be selected fromactually believed all of the propaganda that had been printed in the presses and it concerned him. He once said, They had me on the front of LIFE Magazine and convicted before I ever stepped a foot in the courtroom. The judge shot down both notions. I think its not anywheres like anything we have ever done in this country. You know it is getting so far out of proportion that actually to me it is a joke, but actually the joke might cost me my life. It might be a joke to a lot of people, and a lot of people have made a lot of money, but I think it is very serious. I think a hearing should be called so we could get these very same people who wrote these articles and find out from them where they get their information to write the articles, who feeds them the information to write the articles. The media is used by the District Attorney to try a man before, trial. Dont be fooled, he will talk a lot about the concept of God. He goes in and out of rhetoric and its really hard to understand if he believes in God, or doesnt. He has said that he does believe in good as stated in a 1991 Hard Copy interview where he said, Im so dumb, I still believe in God. Man, you have to be stupid to believe in God.

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In a 1987 interview with Penny Daniels, he even stated that he disagrees with the Christian interpretation of Jesus Christ on the cross, as it represented something negative. Life is God. All life; bugs, birds, trees, everything that is alive is God. The sun is God. But, weve got God over here on a cross. We got a dying man on a cross, were all kneeling down, and hoping if we die theres a better place somewhere else. You got a whole bunch of people hoping that they die creates a hell of a big energy. And I call it a death wish; its mothers death wish. His philosophy definitely isnt simple; it puts all humans as a part of a complete all. An all that includes good, evil, God, Satan, Air, Trees, Water, Animals, the sun and stars. To him, this makes everyone One and everyone is God, as well as Satan. He spoke to Nuel Emmons in 1985, and had this to say, once again referencing the holy crucifix. Jesus on that cross: we know hes there. Is the cross there? I know the cross is there. You dont have to put me on the cross to witness the cross. I can see the cross. In the will of the child. The child has a will. You tell a child to come here and the child will walk over. You tell the child to sit down, he will sit down. Hes just in the will of the child. God and his children are in the will of the child. Its just as simple as the Bible said you must believe the little children before you get into the Kingdom of Heaven. If the Christians had believed in the Bible, then we wouldnt have all this conflict. Evidently, the only ones that are in conflict now are the Christians. They dont seem to believe in their own God for some reason. Someone asked me if I was Christian. I said what else could I be? Like it or not; I was born in a Christian hospital, I walk on Christian streets, we are Christian armies, Christian governments. Everything here in America is Christian, so how could I be anything else? This is your religious freedom. Needless to say Charles Mansons philosophy is complex, but people still flock to him and treat him as the prosecution stated that he symbolized himself to his Family, and that is a some kind of prophet. In my opinion, all of these websites who call him a messiah, or a prophet or put him on a holy pedestal, are only hurting his cause. In reality, they are endorsing the theory that the prosecution put on him. A lot of them are fighting tooth and nail to discredit it, while subliminally confirming it.

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He even told a terrified Geraldo Rivera in 1988, that I am Jesus Christ, whether you want to admit it or not its a thought. Hes right; people think it and in turn it is. Its obvious that his spirituality transcends father than organized religion as he allies himself with a lot of Native American spirits. Its known that he has a lot of beliefs that coincide with Native American philosophies (see chapter: This Holy Swastika) as he explained to Charlie Rose in 1986. Im spiritually allied with the scorpion and the wolf. Spiritualism scares you people because you got this little stereotype church that youre buying and selling and youre trying to put God in a building. God is much bigger than that little church. Spiritualism is a lot more than they put in libraries and books. Im allied with certain awarenesses of the desert. At times it also seems that he has quite distaste for Christianity. Hes been more than vocal on that as of late, but this has gone far back. I personally believe Charles Manson has a love-hate relationship with Christianity, and blends Christian philosophy with other religions and spiritualties to sort of form a belief that he is contented with. He explained it on the Ronald Reagan, Jr. Show in 1991. If you go behind the church and look at the preacher; theyre playing with the boyscouts in the dark. And theyre as nasty as anybody in the streets and theyre without conscience and without morals. And then you pass into the church, through the doors and its Aw, theres so much love, and we love you and youre so wonderful! Im God to my friends, the Devil to my enemies, to my own and my Family I am the warrior. In 1994, Diane Sawyer from ABC News asked him straight out and he answered her straight out. Diane Sawyer: You had them thinking you were Jesus Christ; how did you do that? Charles Manson: Just being myself. All men are Jesus Christ. Diane Sawyer: They are? Charles Manson: Sure. Thats basic Christian philosophy. Id like to share something he said to me in late 2011, right before he started his 15 month sentence in solitary; I dont believe in death, man. I

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believe that when I die I will wake up the next day and have to deal with the world that I have created. When it is all said and done, its hard to know what exactly Charles Manson told his Family in 1967, 1968, and 1969, but it also isnt hard to see that the things that were said about him during the trials of 1970, and 1971, were greatly exaggerated. I will never deny that Charles Manson may have told people that he was Jesus Christ, because I am sure once they started to call him that, he went with it. In theory, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing that. But it is in very bad taste. Charles Manson has never been one to follow societys interpretation of right and wrong, anyways. I will say, though, that there is a big difference between saying you are Jesus Christ and actually believing that you are. Then you can even go further and say that it can be a scary thing when a person feels as if Christ is speaking through them. Just take a look at all of those late-night TV evangelists. All of them say that Jesus Christ is speaking through them and they all want your money. Thats legit, though.

Charlie used to sign his name Charles Willis Manson, which read: Charles Will Is Mans Son. - Vincent Bugliosi

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A clip from Charles Mansons Inyo County arrest file where someone wrote in Jesus Christ. Discovery of the Familys dune buggies prior to the Barker Ranch raid (Source: Unknown)

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Part of the prosecutions theory that Charles Manson ran Spahn Ranch and Barker Ranch like a Hitlerian dictator. This part of the prosecutions case is huge, because Charles Manson had to be put at the top as a man who reigned his Family with an iron fist. Vincent Bugliosi stated that he kept such close tabs on all of his Family that he knew what they were LAPD photo of Charles Manson handcuffed during the Spahn doing at all times. He contended that since Ranch raid. Charles Manson ran his Family that way, he had to of known where they were at on the nights of August 9, and 10, 1969. In fact, he said that the Family did nothing unless it was so ordered by Charles Manson.

The prosecution also introduced the notion that food was rationed and there was a certain pecking order of who ate; first it was Charles Manson, then the guys, then the kids, then the dogs, then the girls. They also stated that Charles Manson took everyones IDs and credit cards as a way to hold

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them captive. As Lynette Fromme once stated that the ID holding was a way for George Spahn to know who all was at the ranch, and that she was the one who took them, not Charles Manson. She was one of the girls who helped George Spahn run the ranch and keep everything in order. Not only were the prosecutions claims completely unfounded, but they were straight from the his imagination of Vincent Bugliosi, proposed as opinion and displayed as fact. This was one more theory the defensive team never even attempted to contradict. Instead they rested without even putting one word up in defense and absurd theories like this became fact. Charles Watson has not only contradicted most of the prosecutions theory on Charles Mansons so-called dictatorship, but Charles Watson has dismissed a lot of it on his website AboundingLove.org when he reviewed the 2004 movie Helter Skelter. The movie did tell the story, but roles were overplayed, especially Susan Atkins, and there were factual errors. For instance: IDs were not all put in one box. Dogs did not eat before the family did. There were no girls kissing one another, and there were no orgies as depicted. I dont remember Manson ever physically abusing the girls. Even though that is a review for a movie, it is huge because the movie was based on the prosecutions theory almost verbatim. Most of the Family have long expressed that there were no leaders. In the 1973 documentary, Manson, Nancy Pitman stated that Charlie wasnt our leader, he followed us around. During the penalty phase of the Manson Trial, Lynette Fromme had a chance to take the stand and testify. Lynette Fromme: Periodically, a lot of people would come. Paul Fitzgerald: Many would come, but in a sense few were chosen? Lynette Fromme: Oh, we did not choose anybody. They would choose themselves. Paul Fitzgerald: But you stayed for a long time. Lynette Fromme: Forever. Paul Fitzgerald: When you arrived at Spahn Ranch, was Manson your leader? Lynette Fromme: Manson was never our leader in the first place.

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Even Susan Atkins has said that, Charlie told us that we belong to ourselves, during to her Grand Jury testimony. Vincent Bugliosi: Did Charlie show you how to become a real woman? Susan Atkins: He didnt show me, he gave me my in other words, I gave myself up to him and in return for that he gave me back to myself. He gave me the faith in myself to be able to know that I am a woman. Vincent Bugliosi: During this one to one-and-a-half year period on the bus were all of you girls Charlies girls, so to speak? Susan Atkins: We were called Charlies girls, but Charlie often, in fact every day he told us, You people do not belong to me, you belong to yourself. This was repeated many different Family in many books including: My Life With Charles Manson, The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme, Manson in His Own Words, and Taming the Beast. In order for the prosecution to get a guilty verdict, they had to put Charles Manson at the top. In order to do this, they had to make him the leader. Its obvious that he was the eldest of the bunch (aside fro part-timers like William Rex Cole and Deane Morehouse) and in like most hippie communes, theres always a sort of capricious leader who makes sure everything is flowing right and the go-to person whenever there is a problem. The so-called Manson Family was nothing more than a commune, not a cult. The Family fit no criteria to be a cult. The word cult was put on them by the media and it stuck. Needless to say that in these said communes and groups, the people commonly called themselves a family. The so-called Manson group calling themselves the Family, or a family was not out of the ordinary and so much has been made on such a small detail. During 1968, and 1969, several people came to the group and left the group. If this group was a cult, this would not have happened so easily. In fact, so many people came and wentestimated to be over 100 people that no exact figure could be put on the amount of people that came to Spahn Ranch. Even Phil Kaufman once said that when he visited the Family, that everyone did what they wanted and that it was nothing but chaos. This is an excerpt from a 1985 High Society Magazine where Charles Manson explains the Family concept.

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group of people?

High Society: How did the family get started? How did you gather this

Charles Manson: Whoa, now thats another false premise. I didnt gather no group of people. This gathered a group of people [he gestures towards his crotch]. If I lay down, and I fuck it, it generally follows me around and it does the washing, and it does the cleaning. High Society: I read that you beat the women. Charles Manson: I dont have to hit a woman, man. I throw rocks at them and run them off. If you want to hang around, behave yourself. If you dont, go somewhere else. High Society: What was the intent of this group of people, this commune? Charles Manson: I didnt have a commune. I had a motorcycle, a sleeping bag, and a guitar I used to do this [he mocks guitar strumming]. The broads would come and say, Could I be with you? High Society: What about the Family? Charles Manson: The D.A. had to have a family in order to win the conviction. He put the Family on me to win. That was one of the things that the prosecution put on him that he used fear to control the group. That he would regularly beat the girls to sort of keep them in line. With this fear, he broke down their morals and then injected his warped philosophies with the use of LSD. To me, this sounds like a bunch of fantasy. But the scary thing is that a lot of people accept this as fact. Other people truly believe that Charles Manson has this way that he can con anyone to do anything and this was how he kept all of his followers with him. In the Paul Watkins book, My Life with Charles Manson, he claimed that Charles Manson was so good at it that he walked up to a random home and talked the man into giving him his car. If this is true, I will definitely admit that he must be a good talker. This wasnt the only account of his amazing ability; he also had a woman give him a brand new 1968 Mustang, in which he later gave to a young boy. Then there was Paul Watkins friend, Juanita Wildbush, who gave her RV and $15,000 to him. Even years after the fact, Juanita Wildbush has said nothing but positive things about Charles Manson. She was interviewed by Win McCormack in

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the article The Manson Girl Who Got Away, stating that Charles Manson was indeed a very tender, caring man. Win McCormack: Charles Manson was tender? Juanita Wildbush: Very. I never saw that man do anything that was hurtful. I really didnt. There is a very incongruous aspect to all of this for me. Win McCormack: How did he show his vulnerable side? Juanita Wildbush: I remember one time it was at Spahns, and it was even very possibly that same night I gave him all my money. There were kittens all over the place. The mother cat had stopped cleaning up after them. They had messed in the kitchen. And Charlie got down on his hands and knees and cleaned the kitchen floor. He cleaned up after the kittens. He picked them up and put them inside his shirt and went and sat by the fire and warmed the kittens and played mother cat. I remember him looking up and saying, I now understand the pain of too much tenderness, because it hurts not to hug them. But if I were to hug them I would hurt them. It was those kinds of things. He showed himself or acted like a very, very gentle man that would never hurt anything. These people barely even knew Charles Manson and it goes without saying that he did not program these people, nor did he brainwash them. The easiest clarification was that in the 1960s, it was common practice for people to disassociate themselves with their belongings. Much like Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys; he gave him most of his belongings. Here Charles Manson speaks to Penny Daniels about that ability in 1987. Penny Daniels: Charlie, people have said that you have powers that you can make people do what you want them to do. Charles Manson: Why, certainly. Penny Daniels : How so? Charles Manson: By making them do what I want them to do. Penny Daniels: How do you do it? Charles Manson: See these two guys here with that stick? He has power with that stick to do what he tells me to do. Ive been under that stick for 43 years. Penny Daniels: Whats your stick? Charles Manson: Turn it around and give it back to you. Penny Daniels: Are you saying you use violence? Charles Manson: No, I dont deal in violence. I aint a violent person.

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I am not saying that I dont believe that he became violent. I do believe that after the Family left for Death Valley in 1969, that he indeed became very violent and paranoid. The fact that he has admitted to me that he was using belladonna root a lot during this period, combined with lack of sleep and the exhaustive paranoia of the Bernard Crowe, Gary Hinman, Sharon Tate and LaBianca happenings on his mind, he became an emotional wreck. In 2011, Charles Manson himself told me that one night he was so deprived of sleep and loaded on belladonna that he saw blue demons rise out of the dirt and chase him. He stated that he jumped in his dune buggy and tore out and when I looked to my right, I saw the demon running beside me. He went on to say that this was a day or so before they came and got me. That was a few days before he was arrested in the Barker Ranch raid. In 1970, Ruby Pearlwho was the caretaker of Spahn Ranch and friend of George Spahnwas interviewed and she too said nothing but positive things about the Family. Now if he was running the ranch like a compound, I am sure she would have seen. Ruby Pearl: They were actually wonderful people. They were artists and musicians, they were singers and they had wonderful personalities. Each and every one of them. They never quarreled and never caused or caused any trouble. They did everything we asked them to do. They did the dishes, the cooking and they took care of our cowboy clothes. They did the washing and little chores all around the ranch. They even helped with the horses. R eporter: What about Charles Manson, himself? Ruby Pearl: Well, Charles came later. He was introduced to us as their idol and leader. And he was always interested in music. That was the sole interest of Charlie Manson. He sat on the rock and played guitar, hed get up and walk around. Hed get a pen and paper and go write music. Everywhere he went some of the girls would try and follow him and laugh and talk and sang. Reporter: You painted a very poetic picture of this community. How do you relate this to the fact that some of them have now been accused of being involved in one of Americas bizarre murders? Ruby Pearl: The only thing that I can say to that is that after their music fell through they became morbid and started thinking about other lines.

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Reporter: Were they taking drugs, do you know? Ruby Pearl: We could never prove it, but off and on we heard they were. The only thing that could have cracked their minds. Reporter: Did you witness a change in the attitude or behavior after the events of the Tate estate? Ruby Pearl: No no. A few things about this interview stick out; she says Charles Manson was introduced as their leader, which sort of disproves the Familys theory that there were no leaders. She also states that Manson came later. This was because he was not allowed at Spahn Ranch in the beginning and he was forced out. He went to Death Valley and then had a place on Gresham Street in Canoga Park. With this fact, I find it impossible for him to keep tabs on everyone and rule Spahn Ranch like a Hitler-esque dictator as the prosecution suggested. Spahn Ranch was also not a large space. The area where the buildings were at was smaller than a supermarket parking lot. Contrary to popular belief, Spahn Ranch was also not secluded, but right on Santa Susana Pass which connects with a high-traffic Topanga Canyon Boulevard about 1.5 miles away. Topanga Canyon Boulevard is right off the 5 interstate. The place was on the outskirts of Los Angeles in Chatsworth which is a small area. But the neighboring neighborhoods Reseda, Northridge and Canoga Park are highly populated areas. After getting repeated requests for interviewswhich he took advantage ofhe lashed out at the media in 1980, with the accusation that they are creating a problem by doing these interviews and making him a pseudocelebrity. I feel that it is pitiful. Pitiful that society has created such a situation. First of all, I aint got a family. There never was a family. Thats just a product of the prosecuting attorneys fabrication. Second, its pitiful that the parents arent closer with their children, so their kids wont be looking outside their homes for something to join, or someone to follow. Let me tell you something. I have been in prison all my life. I didnt produce those kids, they are a product of their parents and the society of the 60s.

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I did not recruit them. It was the other way around. In 1967, I came out of prison a child. It was me looking for guidance and a way of living. It was the kids who took me in. Through them I learned how to maneuver and live in the streets without starving At some point I may have become some pivotal person for them, someone to revolve around, a source of entertainment and good times, some place to return to. But from the beginning, my advice was dont do anything that will cause us to end up in jail. Its hard to disagree with him. The media did create the Charles Manson character. Once, in a joking manner, he even said to me, You know in 50 years kids wont even know I was alive. They play-act me on TV so much that Im going to be like Dracula. Kids now dont even know Dracula was a real man. Between 1970, and 1980, there were about a dozen movies that were based on the so-called Manson Murders. Some of the movies just took the idea of a brainwashing hippie and murderous girls, and some told the story completely. All of them took the Manson Myth and exaggerated the crimes. Now when people of this generation are interested in the Manson case, they watch these movies and take them as fact. Life in Death Valley was no easy time for any of the Family. Between the scorching heat, the lack of water, dwindling cache of food, and paranoia, some of the Family wanted out. In fact of all of the people who were at Spahn Ranch, only about a dozen decided to make the move to Death Valley. Again this disproves the prosecutions theory that Charles Manson wouldnt let anyone out of the Family, and that these people were brainwashed. If they were indeed brainwashed, they would have followed their guru, also known as Jesus Christ, to the desert. Most of Mansons actions during the time in Death Valley has stuck with him and has become what he was known for. Even Barbara Hoyt stated that she was not afraid of Manson until he went to the desert, He got meaner when he went to the desert. This was well after the murders, and only lasted as couple months as they were busted in October of 1969. He admits that he became very controlling and wouldnt let anyone walk about in fear that they would be picked up by police and park rangers. But four individuals did leave Barker Ranch (not

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14 cartons of candy bars 8 large rolls of cheese 4 gallons of peanut butter 3 gallons of honey 5 half-gallon jars of jam 2 half-gallon jars of jelly 5 huge boxes of crackers 3 boxes of graham crackers 2 cases of canned milk 40 gallons of wheat germ, corn meal, and flour

counting Paul Crockett, Paul Watkins, Brooks Poston and Juan Flynn making 8 total) and two were picked up by law enforcement. There have been many publications that has stated that he also starved the Family in Death Valley and this wasnt true. It is fact that there was food found at Barker Ranch, as stated in the Bob Murphy book, Desert Shadows. He was one of the men who busted the Family. Here is the list of food found during the Barker Ranch raids October 10 and 12, 1969. This does not include the food found in a car delivering more goods to Barker Ranch, or the food found at Myers Ranch where some of the girls and the kids stayed.

And there was absolutely no way that the people at Spahn Ranch were starved. Not only was the Family fed well, but the food extended to George Spahn, himself as well as all of the ranch hands and the transients who frequented the ranch. In 1970, Sandra Good spoke to the LA Free Press and told them why they felt they were being starved. Simply put: they didnt eat meat. They said we were emaciated and malnourished because we didnt have meat up there, and weve dropped a lot of the load that city people carry around. Anyway the man came in full force and busted us. Three girls were in the bunker on a mattress, and it was another dawn raid, and the cops shot through the roof of the bunker and barely missed a girls head. And according to Paul Watkins in a 1989 CNN interview he said, Money just came. Wed all walk around with several-thousand dollars in our pockets at any given time. We certainly werent living in poverty. Its

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pretty obvious that when he says we, he is not talking about only Charles Manson, but everybody. Any one of these people could have used that money to leave, but they instead stayed. Charles Manson was also known to run people away from the ranches who he felt were bad news. Sandra Good mentioned it in the 1990s, on her now defunct ATWA.be site. This fact is well documented by the statements of even such pro-prosecution people as Paul Watkins. Manson was known to run people off who abused drugs. Tex Watson and Susan Atkins have both stated in their books that their use of speed was hidden from the other people at the ranch. No substantial amount of any kind of drug was ever seized during any of the numerous police raids on Manson and his associates. If he was running a cult, a cult that he ran like a dictator, he would not have done this. No way, no how would he have let anyone leave. Truth is many people left. Many people came and went. Susan Atkins said in her book, Child of Satan, Child of God, that she left many times. Charles Watson stated in his book, Will You Die for Me?, that he too left a few times. Everyone came and went as they pleased and that is documented fact. Charles Manson regularly traveled around and left the ranch. He lived in various places around Los Angeles; places where many Family members also stayed. When he went to Death Valley in 1968, he left most of the Family. This would make it impossible to be the man the prosecution said he was. No debates. If anyone felt threatened, they could have easily left during one of these opportunities. This was not a Jim Jones cult where the members were taken to a different country. According to the Jess Bravin book, The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme, it was written that it was actually Nancy Pitman who gave the group the label Family. It was later applied to their music group, which they called The Family Jams. Dennis Wilson and Gregg Jakobson have also claimed to have given the moniker, The Family. Either way, it was not Charles Manson who gave them that label as so many sources claim. No one referred to the group as The Manson Family until all of the busts happened and the media applied that label.

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Charles Manson told Tom Snyder in 1981, that, All of that stuff they pushed off on me wasnt me. They said I had this great family and there was these followers and leaders. There was no followers and leaders. Paul Watkins also attested to this in his book, My Life with Charles Manson, in a first-hand account of Charles Mansons words. Here, we have no leaders. Im not the leader; how can I be the leader when I have to wipe your asses and get you a blanket? The leader is the slowest one among us; because we always have to wait for him. He sets the pace. Pooh Bear and Zezos are the leaders, dig, cause they got us waiting for them and thats the way it should be, cause they can teach us not to think and to do what we feel and be on point of what love is. Its also well documented that he absolutely hated when people referred to the group as his people, or Charlies girls, and often reminded them that you belong to no one. Some allegations were that Manson held the Family together with Satanism, witchcraft, magic, and other rituals (see chapter: False Witness Paul Watkins, Brooks Poston & Paul Crockett). The Ed Sanders book, The Family, actually made the Family dog-sacrificing, blood-drinking, capewearing Satan worshipers. This is one of the most outrageous claims I have ever heard. First off, Charles Manson forbade the killing of any animal including dogs, snakes, and birds. Second, Ed Sanders got this notion from a comment Susan Atkinsthe proven habitual liar made that she once drank dog blood. This false claim was not the only proven error in that book. Bobby Beausoleil stated on his website, Beausoleil.net, that there was absolutely no devil worship going on. T hat wasnt brought about by any sort of death cult or any sort of Satan worship or any of those things that were alleged. None of those things were happening. There were more guns around, there were more hard people around the bikers and so forth. In Paul Watkins book, My Life with Charles Manson, he went as far as to say that Charles Manson actually used his music to program his followers. He even went into great detail, breaking down songs and explaining what the true meanings were. I will say that I am a big fan of his music from 1967, to 1969, and most of the songs preach peace, love, acceptance, living off the

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land, and living in the desert as well as giving up your ego. If he was using those words to program his followers, that wouldnt be such a bad thing. I think more people need to be programmed with peaceful thoughts. When Charles Manson was accused of brainwashing his followers by Geraldo Rivera in 1988, he snidely replied, How the hell did I brainwash 35 girls in less than a year? Thats impossible. Youre making me out to do the impossible. You dont understand you are making me a legend. Even prosecutions witness and one of Charles Mansons one-time confidants, Harold True, defended him regarding the notion that he was ruling over the Family, All Charlie Manson ever told those people at anytime is: Do what you think is right. In fact, the days leading up to the murders he left the Family, as Lynette Fromme explained, Because he just needed a break from us. The reason he left after the Gary Hinman incident was probably out of paranoia and disgust on how the situation spiraled out of control. Here is the timetable of his absence. August 3: Manson left Los Angeles for Big Sur. August 4: Manson meets new girlfriend Stephanie Schram, buys gas in Lucia, California. August 5: Manson auditions at the Esalen Institure in Big Sur, California. August 6: Manson and Schram return to Spahn Ranch. August 6: Bobby BeauSoleil arrested for the murder of Gary Hinman. August 7: Manson and Stephanie Schram go to San Diego to visit her sister. August 8: Manson and Schram return to Spahn Ranch. Manson learns about Bobby BeauSoleils arrest. Mary Brunner and Sandra good arrested. The girls tell Manson of their plan to get Bobby out of jail. August 9: The Tate Murders happened.

In my opinion, this timeline is troubling for the prosecutions theory because if he was planning to spark Helter Skelter, then why would he have left the Family before the murders were to start? On the same note, why would they have happened the very night of his return? I admit that it is an unfortunate coincidence that the murders happened the night he had returned.

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According to the Jess Bravin book, The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme, this is what happened when he left the Family on August 3, 1969, and returned on August 8, 1969. With all the troubles, the ranch didnt seem like a good place for contemplation. Charlie went up to Big Sur, leaving Lyn to keep things moving at the ranch. When he saw Charlie had gone, Bobby also decided he needed time to reflect. He headed up the coast in Garys [Hinman] Fiat. On August 6, 1969, the Fiat broke down and Bobby fell asleep in the car. An officer found out the car was wanted in a murder investigation and he busted Bobby. Bobby called the Spahn Ranch to explain what had happened. The girls were upset. They would, some of the girls said, do anything for love of brother, and Bobby was a brother and more to them. What would make the cops let Bobby out? If they knew they had the wrong man, theyd have no choice. If people kept getting murdered in the same way Gary did, it would be obvious the killer was still at large. Charlie returned, finally, on August 8, with a new girl. Charlie was told about Bobbys arrest. He got upset. Charlie said to his followers, Im getting my shit together right now, loading it in my truck and getting the fuck out of here. I am not going back to prison because a bunch of kids cant handle their own problems. Lyn went to him, No, you cant go, love is one! she said. We are one! If one goes, we go together. Sadie and all the others seconded Lyn. Up until this time Charles Manson had been arrested a half a dozen times and all arrests violated his parole. If this is so, then why wasnt he sent back to prison for a parole violation to finish his ten-year sentence? Was it a coincidence that a raid happened right after the Tate and LaBianca murders for unrelated crimes? He was arrested twice after the murder spree and both times he was cut loose either on technicalities or by lack of evidence. According to Preston Guilloryas printed on CounterPunch.orga former Malibu policeman, (it was the Malibu force who helped on the Spahn Ranch raid and ironically, Charles Manson had been arrested in Malibu at least twice) stated the reason why, and that he was their target. He said they were under surveillance for a long time, which means the detectives witnessed the Tate and LaBianca murders and did nothing about it.

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We had been briefed for a few weeks prior to the actual raiding of Spahn Ranch. We had a sheaf of memos on Manson, that they had automatic weapons at the ranch, that citizens had complained about hearing machine-guns fired at night, that firemen from the local fire station had been accosted by armed members of Mansons band and told to get out of the area, all sorts of complaints like this. We had been advised to put anything relating to Manson on a memo submitted to the station, because they were supposedly gathering information for the raid we were going to make. Deputies at the station of course started asking, Why arent we going to make the raid sooner? I mean, Mansons a parole violator, machine-guns have been heard, we know theres narcotics and we know theres booze. Hes living at the Spahn Ranch with a bunch of minor girls in complete violation of his parole. Deputies at the station quite frankly became very annoyed that no action was being taken about Manson. My contention is thisthe reason Manson was left on the street was because our department thought that he was going to attack the Black Panthers. We were getting intelligence briefings that Manson was antiblack and he had supposedly killed a Black Panther, the body of which could not be found, and the department thought that he was going to launch an attack on the Black Panthers. I believe this. COINTELPRO admitted during the Geronimo Pratt trial for his release that they were out to stop the Black Panthers in any way possible; and that Pratts framing for murder was just a part of this. The government was also found responsible for the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1999, proving James Earl Ray innocent at least in a civil lawsuit. I believe that the law enforcement would be willing to stand by and allow someone like Charles Manson to attack the Black Panthers. Perhaps this is the reason why he was never arrested for the shooting of Black Panther Bernard Crowe. Bernard Crowe may have gone to the police, and perhaps the police did nothing about it in hopes a full-scale war between the Black Panthers and the Manson gang would ensue. Preston Guillory went on to explain the law enforcements surprise when Mansons gang did not attack the Black Panthers, but indeed attacked the rich white.

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Sheriffs Department suddenly wondering, Jesus Christ, what are we gonna do about this? We cant cover this up. Well, maybe we can. I bet those memos are no longer in existence. The memos about what Manson was doing. Citizens complaints. All those things Im sure have disappeared by now. It shows the police were conscious of the fact that he had these weapons in violation of his parole. Youve got at least involvement here on the part of Mansons parole officer, on the part of the Sheriffs Department, probably the sheriff himself, and whoever gave him his orders. Manson should have been [imprisoned] long before the killings, because he was on parole, period. He was living at the Spahn Ranch with an outlaw motorcycle gang. I feel that, to say the least, the sheriff of Los Angeles County is an accessory to murder. The raid was a week after the Sharon Tate thing, and the intelligence information was coming in for about three weeks prior to the raid. They just didnt want any arrests made. It was obvious they wanted the intelligence information we were gathering for some other reason. Three days after they were arrested, 72 hours later, they were all released lack of evidence after this mammoth raid. It appeared to me that the raid was more or less staged as an afterthought. It was like a scenario that we were going through. There was some kind of a grand plan that we were participating in, but I never had the feeling the raid was necessary or that it required so many personnel. Now, if you were a police official and you were planning a raid on the Spahn Ranch, utilizing 102 deputies and helicopters and all that, one would think that with all the information coming out a month prior to the raid, wouldnt you have them under fairly close surveillance? If you did have them under fairly close surveillance, wouldnt you see them leave the Spahn Ranch to go over and kill seven people and then come back? So the hypothesis I put forward is, either we didnt have them under surveillance for grand-theft-auto because it was a big farce, or else they were under surveillance by somebody much higher than the Sheriffs Department, and they did go through this scenario of killing at the Tate house and then come back, and then we went through the motions to do our raid. Either they were under surveillance at the time, which means somebody must have seen them go to the Tate house and commit the killings, or else they werent under surveillance. You have to remember that Charlie was on federal parole all this time from 67 to 69. Do you realize all the shit he was getting away with while he was

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on parole? Now heres the kicker. Before the Tate killings, he had been arrested at Malibu twice for statutory rape. Never got [imprisoned for parole violation]. During the Tate killings and the Spahn Ranch raid, Mansons parole officer was on vacation, so he had no knowledge of Manson being incarcerated, so naturally Manson was released, but why wasnt a parole hold put on him? Prior to the Spahn Ranch raid, there was a memo it was verbal, I would have loved to Xerox some things but there wasnt anything to Xerox that we werent to arrest Manson or any of his followers prior to the raid. It was intimated to us that we were going to make a raid on the Spahn ranch, but the captain came out briefly and said, No action is to be taken on anybody at the Spahn ranch. I want memos submitted directly to me with a cover sheet so nobody else can read them. Charles Manson has always admitted that he knew that the murders were going to happen, but they were not his business and that all he did was hid the killers after the fact. Of course, this makes him guilty of accessory after the fact and harboring, but this collection of words is more or less to disprove the Helter Skelter theory, not to adjudge him innocent or guilty. He told reporters in 1983, that he knew that people were going to be killed but he didnt know who they were targeting in particular. He even said in a 1994 interview that They were after a lot of people, anyone could have been killed that night. Did I know it was going to happen? Yeah, I knew it was going to happen. To who? No. To when? No. To how? No. But I knew it was going to happen. A few years later in 1986, he also told Charlie Rose this very thing. I was raised up that you dont get involved in other peoples business. If they are doing something thats them. They got to ride that beef. Theres a jailhouse law: ride your own beef, do your own time. And Ive done it all my life. If Tex goes off and he kills eight or ten people and Bobby comes back and says I killed him, I say Man dont tell me about it. I dont want to hear it. Its not my affair. There are obviously laws stating that if you know about a murder that you must act on it and notify authorities. No one said Charles Manson was a model citizen or someone who was law-abiding. He, himself has admitted that he is nothing more than a criminal as he told Vanity Fair in 2009.

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Im mal hombre. Nasty. Im in the bull-ring. I run in the bulls with the heart of the world. I dont play, I shoot people. Im bad, Im a mean guy. Im an outlaw, Im a criminal. Im everything bad. You must know what to do. Thats what Tex told in his book. He said that he didnt tell me what to do, I knew what he wanted me to do and I did what he wanted me to do. Do you understand that? Paul Watkins stated in his book, My Life with Charles Manson, that Charles Manson and the Family was one no leaders. This of course was before the murders and before the exodus to Death Valley when everything changed. Throughout my experience with the Family, we often acted out roles, becoming parents, brothers, sisters, and friends for one another. Some of the scenes were devastating, but we got through them. We all took part in these scenes and a strong kinship resulted. Acid only intensified it, made it more indelible. Charlie directed it, but he could not control it. It was something no one could control. The public has always known Charles Manson as a murderer. They did not meet him, as I did, on that evening on March 1968 in Topanga Canyon. When I met him, there was no violence in the Family, no talk of Helter Skelter; in fact, it was the complete opposite. Charlies love was real. It had some integrity. But the public met Charlie through the media only after the murders; by then, the whole story was already tainted with blood. In the end, most of the negative accounts of Charles Manson come from the Familys time in Death Valley after the murders. This was when the dynamic of the Family had changed, and everything was based on paranoia, fear, and arming themselves to be protected against retaliation. Gone were the days of love, music, kinship, and enjoying life. Instead allowing people into the Family circle like Charles Watson and Danny DeCarlo started a downward dissent into the chaos that Charles Manson and the Family are known for. In the Ed George book, Taming the Beast, he explains his theory on why things went bad. The group was too large. Too large to control. The one thing the girls promised me wouldnt happen, happened. They not only included me, I became this

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fucking all-powerful, godlike ringleader. A guy who could stop watches and spin clocks with a glance. The demonic leader of Charlies Angels, only those girls were no angels. Despite the allegations by the parole board, the media and the prosecution, he has taken some responsibility for his part in the murders. His part may not coincide with what the prosecution has put forth, but he has not denied everything as people believe. In 1985, he told High Society Magazine that he feels responsible. I influenced all kinds of people, doing all kinds of things. My attitudes were like waves that went through their minds, but I never realized how people were looking up to me, because I never had anyone look up to me before. I have been in jail since I was nine years old. I have only been out six months here, three months there, so when I finally did get out for a couple of years, and people gathered around me and said, You do that good, or, We like you, youre a nice guy, Id say, Who me? So I played good guy for them, and as long as they were good to me, Im good back to them. They were good to me all the way, and truthful. In that 1999 article on CounterPunch.org, Paul Krassners description of the so-called Manson Family, seemed pretty accurate. It wasnt a cult or a hippie commune; Spahn Ranch was a hub for a gang of misfits the Manson Family was a gang. Charles Manson was never a hippie. His real family included con artists, pimps, drug dealers, thieves, muggers, rapists and murderers. He had known only power relationships in an army of control junkies. Manson was Americas Frankenstein monster, a logical product of the prison system. In 1970, he told Rolling Stone Magazine what kind of leader he really was. Everyone wanted to call him a leader, so he admitted that he was the leader as someone who took care of things. People said I was a leader. Heres the kind of leader I was. I made sure toilets were clean. I made sure the animals were fed. Any sores on the horses? Id heal them. Anything need fixing? Id fix it. I was always the one to do everything nobody wanted to do. Cats need feeding? Id feed them. When it was cold, I was always the last one to get a blanket. With hundreds of people coming and going, spending months with Charles Manson and the Family and then leaving, its quite obvious that

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he had no hold on anyone and everyone was free to come and go when they pleased. Just take a look at the people who was with him at Spahn Ranch and then the people who he was with at Barker Ranch. It was basically two entirely different groups aside from the obvious people within the circle that followed him out to Death Valley. With the hundreds of people who attached themselves to the group, no one has yet come forward to substantiate the allegations against him except for the people who testified in court and his co-defendants trying to push blame over to him. That says everything. If Charles Manson was this evil Hitlerian ruler, surely one of those people would have substantiated the prosecutions theories. Instead the prosecution had to pay off witnesses to testify or give them some sort of incentive like immunity to crimes they have committed. None of them testified for nothing. They all had something to gain.

They say he beat the girls at the ranch. He never beat them girls. Thats all in the cops heads. - Phil Kaufman

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An aerial shot of Spahns Ranch and the close proximity to a main road (Santa Susana Pass). (Unknown origin of photo)

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Deeper Than the Devils Hole

Anyone who has read Vincent Bugliosis Helter Skelter will be very familiar with the bottomless pit that he mentioned in the book countless times. His theory of Helter Skelter included this bottomless pit and Charles Mansons visions of hiding his family at the bottom of this pit. He wrote that Charles Manson saw this pit as a place that he and his Family could hide and The Devils Hole in the Amargosa Valley, Nevada. (Source: JC) wait out the impending race war for 40 years. The bottomless pit was supposed to be a place of rivers of milk and honey and trees that bear 12 kinds of fruit.

Vincent Bugliosi wrote in Helter Skelter that Charles Mansons vision of Helter Skelter included Charles Manson and his followers escaping Helter Skelter by going to the desert and living in a bottomless pit, a place Manson derived from Revelation 9, a chapter in the last book of the

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New Testament. This was also part of his opening argument at the Tate and LaBianca murder trial. I will give Vincent Bugliosi credit; reading this paints Charles Manson to be quite delusional. I personally believe that Charles Manson did speak of a so-called bottomless pit. This pit was called The Devils Hole, and did exist. It was not a figment of his imagination as Vincent Bugliosi insisted. Charles Manson spoke about this hole during his trial testimony on November 19, 1970. Theres been a lot of talk about a bottomless pit. I found a hole in the desert that goes down to a river that runs North underground, and I call it a bottomless pit, because where could a river be going North underground? You could even put a boat on it. So I covered it up and I hid it and I called it The Devils Hole and we all laugh and we joke about it. You could call it a Family joke about the bottomless pit. How many people could you hide down in this hole? So, we cant deny that there was a bottomless pit that he spoke about and seemed very interested in. Over the years I have read many explanations on this hole and where it exists. I believe that Nikolas Schreck stated in the documentary Charles Manson Superstar that it was a hole somewheres out behind Barker Ranch in Death Valley and that the hole was of Hopi Indian lore. Theres merit to this claim. Not too far from Barker Ranch on Wingate Pass in the small town of Trona, there were many tales of a hole in the ground where an alien-like civilization lived. According to Weirdus.com, these tales mostly came from a Native American named Tom Wilson who said that he had met these people. Wilson said that when he was a boy, his grandfather told him that he had found a tunnel that extended for miles beneath the valley. Walking its length, the man ended up in an underground chamber where a race of fair-skinned people dwelt. Welcomed by these subterranean humanoids, Wilsons grandfather lived with them for a while. The people spoke a strange foreign language, wore clothes made of a leather-like substance, and illuminated their home with a pale greenish-yellow light of unknown origin. At one point Wilson teamed up with a prospector named White, who claimed that he too had found strange underground dwellings in Death Valley. White had been exploring an abandoned mine in Wingate Pass when he fell into a

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hidden tunnel that led to a series of rooms. The rooms were filled with leatherclad human mummies. Gold bars and other fabulous treasures were stacked in piles around them. There was a passageway leading beyond the rooms as well, lit by an eerie greenish-yellow light. But White dared not explore any further, fearful of what might lie beyond. Tom Wilson passed away in 1968, and there may have been a chance that he had met Charles Manson. But even if he had not met him, theres also a better explanation that his tales may have become local legend. I will also point out that when Charles Manson finally made it out to Death Valley he was also leather-clad. Was this intentional? Makes you think. If this tunnel system really exists will be forever unknown as it now resides within the walls of the China Ranch Naval Weapons Center. If the bottomless pit that is now trapped inside the government walls is simply lore and tall tales, then where else could this pit be? These underground caves probably do exist to some extent. The underground river system is just one of the possibilities of what Charles Manson was in search of. On the website Bibliotecapleyades went into great detail about these underground tunnels and military bases, claiming that the in fact exist. The entrance to the Death Valley Tunnel is in the Panamint Mountains down on the lower edge of the range near Wingate Pass, in the bottom of an old abandoned shaft. The bottom of the shaft is collapsed, opening an entrance into a large tunnel system containing much treasure. Local Indian legends speak of a tunnel that runs beneath the desert. (Note: The book Death Valley Men, tells the story of 3 people who are supposed to have found an underground city connected with this tunnel, and who actually took treasures from it.) The entrance to the Death Valley Tunnel is in the Panamint Mountains down on the lower edge of the range near Wingate Pass, in the bottom of an old abandoned shaft. The bottom of the shaft is collapsed, opening an entrance into a large tunnel system containing much treasure. Charles Manson spoke a lot about Native Americans in the Death Valley region and the great impact that they had on him. Most sources of this bottomless pit is said to have originated from Native Americans in the region. He has always called this bottomless pit The Devils Hole, however Vincent Bugliosis book, Helter Skelter, has absolutely no mention of The Devils

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Hole, but instead uses the term the bottomless pit. He used this term for a reason. Keeping the hole known as the bottomless pit removes any validity of it existing and keeps the reader believing that this was simply a delusion of Charles Manson. In 2014, he told me that his main problem with the desert people was that they were too focused on taking the water out of the watering holes and holding it ransom. When I asked him about these underground bases, he laughed and said, Im going to tell you something that I probably told nobody. And he went into a long story about a cave in Needles, California, that an old friend from prison (from the 1950s), Sonny Martello, had all sorts of military weapons stashed. That Sonny Martello, he said. Was guy that I met in prison in the 1950s. He said, Martello opened some speak-easy in Searchlight, Nevada and brought all kinds of military weapons to the desert and hid them. This Sonny Martello that he spoke of turned out to be the brother of the so-called King of Casinos William Martello, who basically put Searchlight, Nevada, on the map. The Martello family was known for their string of bars in the area and of course the legendary El Rey Club, which Charles Manson told me that they torched themselves. He also stated that the Martellos were known for rigging their casino games. But I digress. When Charles Manson got on the subject of caves, he really wouldnt shut up. He told me that in 1968, he sent Bobby Beausoleil to Needles to get some trucks, and this is where the Dodge Powerwagons came from. Whether or not this is true is up for debate, but it certainly makes a lot of sense. I was also told that there was a plane stashed in the cave, in pieces. According to author Ed Sanders, there were parts of an airplane found a Barker Ranch as well as the infamous plane wing of gasoline in Butte Valley. Taking this informtion and going back to the article on Bibliotecapleyades about these underground military cave systems that are linked to one anotherNeedles, California was on the list. Charles Manson even admitted that he moved to the area in 1957, with his mother due to his connection with the Martellos. His mother worked at a cafe in Baker, California, and he worked at a pumping station.

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Going back to The Devils Hole, when author Ed Sanders interviewed Paul Watkins for his book, The Family, he pointed out the exact location of The Devils Hole. Paul Watkins pointed to a small mountain in the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in the Amargosa Valley. This is a couple-hundred miles from Needles, California. He then sneered at the notion that they believed the were supposed to live in this hole saying You cant just jump in a hole and be shat out in a different universe. You dont say, Paul? Maybe you cant be shat out, but perhaps you can travel? Most of the theory that Charles Manson was delusional was based on his belief of this cave system when its existence is something that is very widely believed According to the William R. Halliday book, The Depths of the Earth, this alleged cave system in Needles, California, connects with an underground river system (probably the Amargosa River, but not noted by name). The book was a very popular book in the late 1960s, published in 1966. Camp Irwin. Reports of several tunnels below the Camp Irwin area, one of which is an abandoned mine at the bottom of which is an earth crack which leads to a tunnel that connects with a massive underground river about a quarter of a mile wide, one of at least five subterranean rivers which rise and fall with the tides, suggesting the source of origin being a large underground sea below the dry basins of Utah and Nevada. One of these reportedly runs below Kokoweef and Dorr peaks near the Southwest flank of the Ivanpah Mountains, Northwest of Needles, California. And inside Ash Meadows, which is located in the Death Valley National Monument, there is a protected hole called The Devils Hole. It is indeed a hole in the ground exposing water from the Amargosa River where it flows underground. In 1967, several divers have even attempted to find the bottom of the hole and never surfaced. Stories even mention Charles Manson meditating at this hole for several days. During these days he coined one of his most famous sayings, The desert is just an upside-down ocean. The band America also wrote about this supposed underground river and cave system in their hit-song Horse With No Name. The ocean is a desert with its life underground. I digress.

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Ash Meadows is also a preserve where Native Americans lived for many thousand years. To this day theres artifacts and mortar holes scattered all over the preserve left by Natives. During the 1960s, there was also a fight about pumping water out of the spring, which lead to a near annihilation of an entire species of pupfish. During this era there was also great concern of the roads being carved through the area. Charles Manson took notice of this and his explanation for burning the Michigan Loader tractor was that he did not like the fact that they were killing wildlife by building roads through the desert. Whoever owns the water owns the land, He told me. They pipe the water away and hold it. When the mineral companies come and buy up the land, they need that water. So, the water is paid for. The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge website stated that During the 1960s and early 1970s in particular, irrigated row crops, grazing, and development took a heavy toll on the areas natural resources. Plants, fish, and wildlife declined as pumping and diversion of spring channels, development of roads, large scale earth moving. Charles Manson went on to tell me that he took great pride in burning that tractor. He also said, I tore down hundreds of miles of fences, and busted them pipes. Its quite obvious that his presence in the desert did not go unnoticed. In a 1985 interview with KALX Radio, Charles Manson told Kevin Kennedy about the devilish things that he did while in Death Valley. We were burning up road equipment that was tearing up the land. They were destroying the water and destroying the animals in the deserts. So what I did was I would go around and burn up all these things that were tearing up the earth. And I would sneak around and do devilish little things to slow their progress down. Because when you see two or three hundred thousand animals dying because somebody wants to put a fence up across the desert for no particular reason except making money and selling something to the public for a new road production, and all that madness that they play in. And Id tear the fences down, and tear the water, and put the water back into the land where the animals would have a game to play. Coincidentally, these acts is what eventually lead to Charles Mansons capture and put an end to his freedom. He and his gang would regularly

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drive hundreds of miles through the Death Valley canyons and washes. The burning of the Michigan Loader tractor happened near Hunter Mountain, which was over 3 hours away if you had a car and was driving on designated roads. They were on dune buggies and probably used West Side Road through Galena Valley, which is a pretty rough ride. The Devils Hole in Ash Meadows can easily be accessed by back roads, canyons, and washes and is only a little further than Hunter Mountain and on the same route. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that they visited The Devils Hole and knew about the Native American myths and lore of the hole.

Faster than the wind in the night. Its darker than dark shadows in bright light. Much deeper than the Devils Hole. One quick glance and you know its so. The fires are burning as the hearts of all the men. The world keeps turning, calling come on in. - The Family Jams Loves Death

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The Devils Hole entrance to the underground Amargosa River. (Source: JC) Hunter Mountain Road; the proximity where Manson and the gang burned the Michigan Loader tractor. This is approximately 80 miles from Barker Ranch. (Source: JC)

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Just Follow the Music

In a way, I think Charles Manson is as known for his musical endeavors as much as he is known for the 1969, murder spree involving members of the Manson Gang. Iron- Charles Manson playing music at Spahns Ranch to a small audience. (Source: Bill Nelson) ically, his music has been blamed for programming his so-called followers by people like Paul Watkins and Vincent Bugliosi.

Paul Watkins claim was that his music had hidden and subliminal messages that helped program the Family to kill. As absurd and ridiculous as this sounds, it is a theory that is believed by a lot of people. Charles Mansons mother Kathleen Maddox was interviewed in 1971, and she told the reporters how talented he was musically. She also stated that he was conceited, and thats when she pulled the plug on his early musical lessons. I think this was one of the reasons he was so set on proving himself musically if not to others, surely himself. Charlie was real musical and had a really nice voice, so I gave him singing lessons. But then he got conceited about his music and I made him stop the les-

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sons, but he still sang special solos in church and people always talked about how good he sang. He has been called everything from a brilliant songwriter to a failed musician and everything in between. Most theories for the so-called Manson Murders are that the killings were a retaliation for being shunned and ignored musically. I dont believe this for one second since his music was going to be released. And according to the Beach Boys Mike Love, they had more than one of his songs recorded and set to be released at a future date. Those rumored releases were pulled after the infamous trial for obvious reasons. Producer Terry Melcher was also seen at the Fountain of the World speaking to Charles Manson after the 1969, murders. This to me proves that he was still interested in his music and was long after he has claimed to have cut ties with him. In 1979, infamous mobster from the Ma Barker Gang, Alvin Creepy Karpis, wrote a book called Public Enemy Number One, in which he mentions Charles Manson and his musical abilities. Charles Manson has mentioned him numerous times as the man who taught him a lot on the guitar and someone who he considered a friend. This kid approaches me to request music lessons. He wants to learn guitar and become a music star. Little Charlie is so lazy and shiftless, I doubt if hell put in the time required to learn. The youngster has been in institutions all of his life first orphanages, then reformatories, and finally federal prison. His mother, a prostitute, was never around to look after him. I decide its time someone did something for him, and to my surprise, he learns quickly. He has a pleasant voice and a pleasing personality, although hes unusually meek and mild for a convict. He never has a harsh word to say and is never involved in even an argument. Later in prison he also met soon-to-be legendary band manager Phil Kaufman, who was in Terminal Island Penitentiary for drug-related charges. He took a liking to him and they struck up a relationship that would last after both were paroled from prison. Phil Kaufman once said that when he first heard Charles Manon sing on the prison yard that, I thought he was quite good. Reminded me of a young Frankie Layne. When Charles Manson finally paroled, Phil Kaufman gave him some names of record producers that he knew in Los Angeles and set up his

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recording relationship with Gary Stromberg and Corey Allen and Universal Studios in September 1967. These sessions produced the record All The Way Alive, which has also been released under the names The Psychedelic Soul and Charles Manson Unplugged. Two of the songs also made it to his first official release LIE. During these sessions it was apparent that he was very nervous and took this opportunity as is he was really recording an album, when in reality they were merely audition tapes. Even though Corey Allen was very impressed with him, unfortunately he never pursued his offers with Universal Studios. In 2007, gossip columnist William Dakota corresponded with Charles Manson and spoke to him about his music. In this correspondence, he mentioned his time at Universal Studios and calls himself a dumb ass for not taking advantage of his opportunities with Universal Studios. When I got out (prison.) I went to Universal Studios saw a producer named Stromberg, a phony guy. He wanted me to cut a record with a South African black, Hugh Maskella & big black trumpet & drummer for a movie. He told me Jews control & Id never get any music over, unless I did it his way. He was making a movie, he said, about the second coming of J.C. & he was to be a black & police were to off him and the system would get the blame & they would control the movie minds and take power. I said no. They did it anyway. (George) Jackson was killed in San Quentin & Abby Hoffman and Jerry Rubin got big power controls. I was a dumb ass. History proves to be a very interesting thing sometimes, especially when you think of how Bobby Beausoleil and Charles Manson crossed paths. In the beginning, it was all about music his band The Milky Way. Bobby Beausoleil admitted that he was attracted to him for his music as he stated in a 1990s TV news clip that, My interest in Manson at the time was to get him in a studio I thought he had talent. He did have talent. Later, he expanded further on his website BeauSoleil.net. I had these notices put up advertising myself as a guitar player for hire and I got a call from a band called The Milky Way. It turned out to be a little band that Manson was in. Charlie Manson was the lead singer. The best thing, though, was Charlie and his singing, and his kind of Dylanesque sounding lyrics. At that time I didnt listen to them too closely, but when I did I liked them, I liked the songs. I wanted to work with him and get him into

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the studio. He strummed a guitar and he strummed it well, I will say that. He provided a good rhythmic foundation for his own music. He could have been a really good drummer, had he gone that way. Its quite obvious that early on Charles Mansons focus was getting his music released. I think his Family was a huge push for him; being surrounded by a lot of musical talent. Having a large group of people, including Bobby Beausoleil, telling him how great he was musically, also did not hurt his ego. He has never shied away from admitting that his so-called Family was his main drive musically. The musicians that Charles Manson crossed paths with generally loved his music and had nothing but great things to say about him. According to Neil Young, when he met him in Malibu, he was so taken by him that he offered him his motorcycle and put his name out to Mo Osten of Warner Bothers calling Charles Manson unbelievable. Neil Young went on to say, Charlie remembers me too, huh? Everybody else ripped him off. I gave him a motorcycle. I turn out to be a good guy. We just hung out. He played some songs for me, sittin in Will Rogerss old house, on Sunset Boulevard. In Neil Youngs book, Waging Heavy Peace, he even compared Charles Manson to Bob Dylan in probably one of the most flattering compliments I have heard a big-time musician pay him. After a while, a guy showed up, picked up my guitar, and started playing a lot of songs on it, Young writes. His name was Charlie. Kind of like Dylan, but different because it was hard to glimpse a true message in them, but the songs were fascinating. He was quite good. In the book The Life of Cass Elliott, he again mentioned Charles Manson. A lot of pretty well known musicians around L.A. knew Manson, though theyd probably deny it now. The girls were always around too. Theyd be right there on the couch with me, singing a song. In the Nuel Emmons book, Manson in His Own Words, it was written that Charles Manson spoke very fondly of his musical group, The Family Jams. He was not only super proud of his group, but really felt like they had something when they first started to sing as a group during their 1968 visit to Death Valley.

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The music was often so good it gave me goosebumps. Without microphones or amplifiers there was a pure, earthy element to our instruments and voices. We were a bunch of kids sitting around an open bonfire in one of the most primitive areas in the nation. God, there was so much talent there. One of my strongest regrets is the world didnt get to hear our music. Until these jam sessions, Charles Manson was primarily a solo artist. It took these jams in the middle of Death Valley to really appreciate what they had as a group. When he returned to Los Angeles, he tried feverishly to sell it and this started a long string of broken promises from many different individuals. Before this time interest in Charles Manson and The Family Jams was primarily from musicians that he crossed paths with. Even Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, in a 1968 interview with Record Mirror, mentioned The Family Jams. I live in the woods in California near Death Valley with 17 girls. Theyre space ladies and theyd make a great group. I am thinking of launching them as The Family Jams. Charles Manson met big-time producer Terry Melcher through Dennis Wilson and began to approach him to release his music. Terry Melcher all but denied any interest in his music, but people around him has contradicted that saying that Terry Melcher just felt that Charles Mansons music was simply not marketable under his name, since he was primarily a rock and roll music producer. Terry Melcher went on to refer to his music as Indian music. Even Paul Watkins defended Charles Mansons talent on CNN, in 1989. We were in and out of the best music studios, regardless if the producers and people would like to cop to it now. We were in some of the studios that musicians would give their left arm to be in. And Manson was perceived to be quite talented. According to man sources, Charles Mansons main reason for wanting to sell his music was that after he had returned from Death Valley in 1968, he had visions of buying Barker Ranch and using his newly-found riches from music to build a self-sustained community in the desert. His main problem was that he wanted his music career to take off in an instant, and not working towards fame like most musicians do with years of hard work and sacrifice.

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When all of the later chaos ensued, this pushed him to want to sell his music even quicker. When it was not working at the speed that he had wished, he began to threaten the people who were giving him the opportunities and burning bridges. It did not help when those people, in turn, started breaking their promises. In Robert Hendricksons book, Death to Pigs, prosecutions witnesses Brooks Poston and Paul Watkins also spoke of Terry Melcher and Gregg Jakobsons interest in Charles Mansons music. Brooks Poston: Melcher was at a taping session at the ranch and they were stoned and he (Melcher) got down on his knees in front of Charlie and said, Youre gonna kill me. And Charlie said, No man, you cant program me to do that. Melcher kept saying it and finally Charlie ran him off with a knife. Paul Watkins: Gregg Jakobson (Melchers associate) called up the Gresham Street house when we were all living there making music like crazy, and he called up and says, Terry will be here tonight to hear you play. So we got out, put up all the tapestries and we got candy and rolled all the joints and got all ready for Terry to come. We waited and waited and waited and Terry didnt come when Gregg said he would come and that pissed Charlie off. Brooks Poston: Gregg pulled the same one though, a couple of times. Gregg said hed show up, but he didnt. When Gregg Jakobson realized that Terry Melcher was not so interested in Charles Manson anymore, he jumped right on him. Gregg Jakobson not only dug Charles Mansons music, but wanted to get him on film. According to the Ed Sanders book, The Family, he felt that he was a natural and should be caught on film. When Charlie danced, everyone left the floor. He was like fire, a raw explosion, a mechanical toy that suddenly went crazy. The relationship between Charles Manson and Gregg Jakobson continued for some time and the two struck up a close friendship. When the Bernard Crowe shooting happened in August 1969, a man named Bryan Lukashevsky was present. Bryan Lukashevsky not only knew Charles Manson and Bernard Crowe, but he also knew Terry Melcher, Dennis Wilson and Gregg Jakobson. When he told the trio about the shooting, they all severed ties with Charles Manson and essentially ended any opportunity that he had to record with their faction.

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At this point, he had already become irate with Dennis Wilson over the recording of the song Never Learn Not To Love, in which Dennis Wilson had completely rearranged his song into something that was unrecognizable and even penned his own name as the writer of the song. Any hope of Charles Manson having his name on a major album was all but gone, as was any royalty that he was counting on to help with his move to Death Valley. February, 2014, Beach Boys vocalist Al Jardine spoke to Something Else! and mentioned the torn relationship between Dennis Wilson and Charles Manson over the re-arranging of Cease to Exist. Wilson and Manson also reportedly came to blows over the changes to Cease to Exist, which Dennis performed along with the rest of the Beach Boys on a April 1969 episode of the Mike Douglas show. In 1992, Gregg Jakobson told Esquire Magazine that Charles Manson had once put a gun to his head and asked him what would happen if he pulled the trigger. He replied that he said, Well, I guess Id die. He really liked that, and just put it back in his belt. He went on to speak fondly of his time with Charles Manson and it to me seemed like there absolutely was no bad blood between them. If Charlie had come up twenty years later, with MTV, he would have been a natural. He was a magic man, and in those days magic was allowed. Hanging out with him was an event, though you could only take so much of him, because he was always on, always on the move . Hed bend down, pick up a handful of rocks, and throw them in the air. Theyd all come back to him, and hed look at you and say, Throw it all away, and itll come back to you. See, there wasnt a thing Charlie wouldnt interpret for you. One time, he was telling me about the end of everything, and I was saying, Youre full of shit, but we oughta film you and make some music. He took me for a ride up to that end of the Valley where they were building three hundred new houses. We drove up, new homes,new streets, new lights, not a soul there. And he stopped. Silence. He says, Where are we at? What does this make you think of? It was like a graveyard. He said, Exactly, thats where were heading. This is the future. See, Charlie really believed what he believed in, he never faked it. His reality was bizarre, but so is prison and thats where Charlie came from. He was true to

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his conditioning: Observe from a distance, through a glass wall, above barbed wire, and what comes out is strong ideology. [] And one thing is for sure: Wherever you have a Mother Teresa, youll also have a Charles Manson. I love them both. She brings tears to my eyes, and strange as it sounds, I loved Charlie for pointing that gun at my head. In a way, Charles Manson accomplished more in his two years of freedom musically than a lot of artists accomplish in a lifetime. Still, this was not enough for him. In those two years, he recorded for a a famous rock and roll group, recorded at Universal Studios, recorded at the legendary Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, and had a chance to befriend and play for legendary musicians like Neil Young, The Beach Boys, Terry Melcher and Phil Kaufman. Nevertheless, he is still considered a failed musician. Forty-five years later, his music is still being played and he is still releasing new albums. Several musicians within The Family Jams also went on to have brilliant recording careers. Bobby Beausoleil is still recording and releasing music and Steve Grogan has become one of the most sought after jazz guitarists in the San Francisco bay area. Brooks Poston and Paul Watkins had a very successful group in Shoshone, California called Desert Sun. The band fizzled when Paul Watkins decided to sever ties with Paul Crockett, who was Desert Suns manager. Paul Crockett eventually moved out of the desert to live in Burnington, Washington bringing Desert Suns Brooks Poston and Jane Boltinhouse with him. Desert Sun became Northern Lights ad toured extensively during the 80s.

He had this kind of music that nobody else was doing. I thought he really had something crazy, something great. He was like a living poet. - Neil Young

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Pictures: Part IV

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Death Valley prospector Emmet Harder (right) and his son displaying the Beach Boys gold record given to them by Charles Manson. (AP Press Photo)

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Bernard Lotsapoppa Crowes mansion in the Hollywood Hills on Woodrow Wilson Drive. (Source: JC)

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The Yellow Submarine in Conoga Park, California. Charles Manson lived here for some time in 1969 when George Spahn asked him to leave Spahn Ranch. (Unknown origin of photo)

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28 Clubhouse Drive in Venice Beach, California. The house where John Philip Haught supposedly killed himself. (Source: JC)

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The Powerwagons
The 1941 Dodge Powerwagon in Ballarat, California has been somewhat a mystery as to how it got there, from where, and by who. Some say it was the one Charles Watson drove out of Goler Wash, some say it was Bobby Beausoleils. Truth is: both of the Powerwagons were driven to Barker Ranch by he and his then wife, Gail.

For years we have all believed that this was the The orange Powerwagon that Charles Watson fled Barker Ranch infamous Dodge Powerwagon in which Charles driving and left in the salt flats. (Source: Unknown) Watson made his Barker Ranch exodus; the one that was one supposedly owned by Gail Beausoleil (for years it was rumored that she and Gail Zappa were one in the same) . This is not the same Dodge Powerwagon that he left Goler Wash in, getting stuck in the salt flats. According to Wild Bill Gossett of the Death Valley forum, the Powerwagon that was left in the salt flats was a completely different truckthis coming from some very reliable old timers from the Panamint area. There definitely was a Tex Watson Powerwagon. The person I talked to tonight helped remove it from the very spot where Tex left it after he ran out of
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gas. Tex Watson then walked to the Ballarat Road on the lake bed and was picked up by an old miner named John Paulson who gave him a ride to down by the turn-off to Hinkley, CA. From there Watson made his way back to Texas. Anyway, his Powerwagon is not the one that is in Ballarat now. The Watson Powerwagon was used at Ballarat for several years and then traded off to Leon Griffin, caretaker at Briggs Redlands Camp. Unfortunately, Leon had big dreams of converting this truck to a different cab, etc, and he took it all apart. Not long after he took it apart he got sick and died. I will point out that the Powerwagon in Ballarat, California, is indeed one of the Powerwagons some of the Manson Family used. Bobby Beausoleil mentioned in a 1981 interview with A.L Bardash that there were indeed two Dodge Powerwagons. One time Charlie and I drove two trucks through Death Valley, just for the hell of it. We didnt drag race. We just wanted to ride through that kind of terrain. We took two 4-wheel drive Army surplus Powerwagons. He had his group up in the desert. It took two days. We left the trucks, ate their beans and rice, stayed a couple of days. We wanted to hellraise and it was a blast. Regardless if it is, or isnt the Tex Powerwagon, people of the Ballarat Ghost Town say that it is and display it as the truck in which Charles Watson fled Barker Ranch. This is probably due to either bad history, or the fact that it garners interest and makes for good photo opportunities for passing tourists. The theory of two Powerwagons have been substantiated by Paul Watkins in his book, My Life with Charles Manson. The following week, Bobby Beausoleil showed up with a girlfriend called Sweet Cindy. Each drove arun-down Dodge Powerwagon, donations to the Family. Charles Watson has also substantiated this, so theres no doubt there where were two of them and the one in Ballarat is one of them. Contrary to a lot of stories, the Powerwagon that Paul Crockett drove was the orange one that Charles Watson also had taken from Barker Ranch. He specifies this in the interview with Inyo County Sheriff on October 3, 1969. Now, as I was carrying in this old, orange Powerwagon a bunch of batteries, tires, tubes, and uh, battery acid, and all kinds of equipment that this man

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could use for, what he considered his dune buggies, and his game, all of a sudden it materialized into the fact, that he really was, that he was, being pursued by the law. Because all-of-a-sudden I was confronted by a highway patrolman and a park ranger. And they wanted to know, what it was, that I was doing. And what I had in the truck. And what was going on. This patrolman was Officer James Purcell. He too specified that the Powerwagon that he stopped Paul Crockett and Paul Watkins in was indeed the orange one. Sometime in 2014, I decided to ask Charles Manson if he remembered them and if there were indeed two of them and which one was the Powerwagon that sits in Ballarat. Even though his memory was vague, he remembered them and even told me where they initially came from. Me: I read that one of the Powerwagons wound up in the Briggs Mining camp? Charles Manson: Briggs? Me: Yeah. Charles Manson: Those came from a gangster I met in prison. He had this cave full of all kinds of military weapons, guns, tanks, and a plane. The Plane was apart and packed in oil, but it would work if you put it together. I sent a couple people to this guy in Needles, California, to this guy, to get some Jeeps. 1941 Powerwagons. Me: Bobby Beausoleil? Charles Manson: Yeah, and his old lady. They brought them back to me and we would drive them all around the desert. Me: You sent them to Needles? I know where that is. Charles Manson: Yeah, I told them about this guy who had some Jeeps he told me they were Jeeps. They were two Dodge Powerwagons. Me: Just two of them? Charles Manson: Yeah, and this is something that no one knows, one time I was shooting at a mailbox and I didnt know the Powerwagon was parked behind it. And I shot the radiator out. (laughs) Me: Which was the one that Tex took off driving?

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Charles Manson: Oh, I dont remember. That was two lifetimes ago. I think one was black and one was yellow. [Note: the one in Ballarat is green and gray, painted over black.] If you go back to the chapter: Deeper than the Devils Hole, you will recall that there is a suspected cave system in Needles, California. So, that part is very plausible. The whole Needles, California, connection has really interested me and I was very interested on the validity to this. Charles Manson is known to make things up on the spot to please the person talking to him. I mean how interesting would he seem if every answer was, I dont know? Acording to the Wild Bill Gossett, he knows the origin of the Powerwagons. He claims to have tracked down some old-timers who know it all. I now know who brought the Powerwagon to Ballarat and I do know that it came from the Indian Ranch. I also know who brought it to the Indian Ranch. This person is in Needles. Im going to contact him and see what kind of info I can get. He will not supply any other information on this, which is understandable. He seems to be compiling some sort of project of his own. So, until he decides to release this information a lot is still a mystery.

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The once-black Powerwagon that now sits in Ballarat, California. (Source: JC) Stars painted on the inside of the Ballarat Powerwagonsupposedly put there by one of the Manson Gang. (Source: JC)

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Desert Sun
The legend of Desert Sun is almost as interesting as the entire Manson Family saga. Desert Sun was formed around 1970 by Paul Watkins and Brooks Poston under the guidance of their new guru, Paul Crockett.

The band was thrust into the spotlight when they were asked to do the soundtrack for the Oscarnominated documentary Manson that was released in 1973. Director Robert Hendrickson put the duo (L to R) Paul Watkins and Brooks in a studio and recorded a handful of songs in 1970, Poston during happier times. (Source: Unknown) and this Desert Sun was born. In the Fall of 1969, Paul Watkins made it to Barker Ranch and reunited with Brooks Poston. During the nights in Goler Washafter Paul Crockett had them working all day in the minesthey would take the time to write original music. Brooks Poston would strum his guitar with four strings, and Paul Watkins fashioned a flute out of some bamboo that he had found. The two would sit up all night writing music and playing for the rocks and the trees while Paul Crockett would look on. In Paul Watkins book, My Life With Charles Manson, he stated that Paul Crockett was indeed a huge part of their music even though he did not play.

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Crockett wasnt a musician, but he agreed to help Brooks and me with our music; he said it was important we had a goal and that music was a good one. Crockett told us to project our music to the surroundings. Play to them rocks up there play to the trees project your sounds to what you see around you so they can feel it too. Sounds are just vibrations of feeling, and if you give them spontaneously and consciously, well, then, I dont see why you cant make beautiful music. There aint no formulas for music not set ways. What Crockett said about music was very much like what Charlie taught us to improvise and be loose, to tune with the flow of energy and just use the instrument to project it. The music playing became a thing for them to do, to pass time, and gave the trio something to look forward to. Around October of 1969, they were pushed out of Death Valley by Charles Manson and the rest of the gang. They wound up in the small town of Shoshone, California. This would be where the band would take form. Paul Crockett stepped in as their manager, photographer, and booked their shows. Over the next couple of years the band grew to five members; Paul Watkins, Brooks Poston, Pauls brother John Watkins, Clinton Crable, and Jane Boltinghouse. Desert Sun became a popular band in the Shoshone and Tecopa area, playing all of the local hot spots like the Furnace Creek Resort and Posey Butterfields. They started to gain a lot of local interest and their fanbase grew. A Tecopa local, and former Death Valley High School student named Sue said, The band was really popular, but the whole Manson thing loomed. They started to tell people about the Manson thing, and started to even play some of Charlies songs. This freaked people out and they stopped coming to the shows. Desert Sun managed to write and record dozens of songs, but never released an official album. The music they recorded for Robert Hendrickson was never officially released, and to this day there are no plans of releasing it. According to Amargosa Valley historian and bluegrass musician Danny Ray Thomas, Desert Sun went to Las Vegas to record an official album. he said that they recorded at Reice Hamel Recording.

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The owner of the studio was busy bugging the Watergate Towers for President Nixon, Danny Ray Thomas wrote. The studio was locked down by the FBI and years were spent sorting out the mess. That didnt stop the band, though. They played on, hopeful, that their music would take off. One of the biggest shows that they played, was when they would play the gym of Death Valley High School where they would often make friends with the teenagers. A local teenager Bill said he loved the band and that Paul, man, was one of coolest people. In fact, most of the people I had talked to about Desert Sun had great things to say about Paul Watkins. He seemed to be one of those cool guys that all of the local teenagers looked up to. Looking back, the band had a huge impact on the teenagers of the area. Most of them look back in fondness, despite the macabre ties to the Manson Family. Even though the members of Desert Sun are no longer in the area, a lot of the people who loved there at the time remember them. Michwho now lives in Pahrump, Nevadasaid she remembers the band, and thought they all were awesome people; great 70s attitude. She went on to say, Clintons little sister Susan was in my class when we first moved to the area in 1972. Jane taught me to sing in the breezeway of Tecopa Francis Elementary. She used to say it had great acoustics. It was told by an anonymous and reliable source that the band started to fizzle when manager Paul Crockett became too overbearing. It was said that the Desert Sun song Its Insanity was written about that strained relationship and accuses him of taking them for money and abusing his power over the band. And there were always Crocketts ideas, Paul Watkins once complained. Crockett was always a part of [Desert Sun.] This problem made the relationship between Paul Watkins and Brooks Poston suffered as well, and even Paul Watkins acknowledged this. It was just never really smooth with me and Brooks personally. There was a lot of animosity. So as he began to get more and more rehabilitated, and more and more power, he sort of took it out on me. With the relationship between Paul Watkins and Brooks Poston coming to an end, and Brooks Poston siding with Paul Crockett, the end of Desert Sun was looming.

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In 1988, Paul Watkins recorded a monologue where he attributes a lot of the problems with the band with the friction between he and Brooks Poston. I put Brooks in a position of power, musically. If he wanted to play a song he would play it and if he didnt want to play a song, we didnt play it. And there was always weirdness. There was always weirdness. It may look like, and it does look like, musically we were very harmonious musically but there was a competitiveness as well. When the band would be in the position to record a demo for a record label, it seemed like something always happened that put a stop to it and most of the time it was Brooks Poston. [Brooks] would often times wind up sabotaging record deals that we were into, Paul Watkins said during a 1988 recording. It got to be sadder and sadder. There was something wrong, so I eventually just pulled away. Sometime around 1974, things turned bad and the band split up. Brooks Poston and Jane Boltinghouse started to do their own thing and eventually moved to Burlington, Washington, with their guru and manager, Paul Crockett. I guess I got fired I suppose you could say, Paul Watkins remembered. Brooks just decided one day he didnt need me anymore so he and Jane just took off. Paul Watkins stayed in the Shoshone and Tecopa area, married, started a family and became involved with the local politics of the area. He allegedly dropped music and focused on mining in the area with his pal Gary Mohn. He passed away in 1990 from Lymphoma in Malibu, Californias, Trancas Canyon. Clinton Crable passed away in 2003 and Paul Crockett passed away in 2014.

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Desert Sun (L to R): Paul Watkins; Clinton Crable; Jane Boltinghouse; Brooks Poston; and John Watkins (Source: DiRT)

After the break-up of Desert Sun, Paul Watkins (left) wrote a book and became president of the Chamber of Commerce. Brook Poston (right) went on to pursue music (Source: UPI)

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Final Thoughts

Throughout this entire writing I have interjected my opinions as explanations of certain events. These are obviously my takes on the situations from my vast research on this case. I have read over fifty pieces of literature on this case and continue to do so. What shocks Charles Manson during his pre-trial hearings in late 1969. me the most is how some (Argenta Images) books completely contradict the last. Some books deviate from the truth so much that it becomes a work of fiction. Some books are merely recitals of the Vincent Bugliosi book Helter Skelter.

I came to this case believing everything I have heard and read from various news outlets and books. I was sure that even though the case against Charles Manson wasnt 100% correct, that there was a lot of truth to it. I
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then began to read more obscure books on the case, self-published literature, parole hearings, interviews, psychiatric reports and trial transcripts and my opinion started to slowly change. A recurring element that I found in the case was that one persons account of the crimes would completely contradict the next. Then they would contradict their version of the events each time they were asked about it. I also realized that the people who participated in the killings had a very different explanation than the prosecution and the prosecutions witnesses. Over the years as new transcripts and interviews emerged, more contradictions and more errors in the case came to light. This provoked me to really start researching each person who was involved in the case. Most of those peoples testimonies landed at dead-end streets, but the errors I found came from the testimonies of key witnesses. Another recurring element to the Family, and that is that they were a peace-loving group whose purpose was to live communally and enjoy each others love. This element remained until sometime in late 1968, when Charles Manson returned to Spahn Ranch after a hiatus. What was so different at the ranch? Apparently in his absence, outlaw bikers have infiltrated and settled camp. One of the outlaw bikers was a man named Danny DeCarlo. Not long after, Charles Watson left the scene and moved to Hollywood with his girlfriend Luella and started a drug-dealing scene, this lead to the drug burn and the Bernard Crowe shooting. Within the guilt that Charles Manson had for the shootingas he was preaching to his so-called followers that they dont need guns came the fear that Bernard Crowe was a Black Panther and the they were sure to retaliate for the shooting. Upon Danny DeCarlos own admission, he armed the Family and taught them to shoot including Charles Manson. After this, the Family made lookout posts and Spahn Ranch became a fortress. Charles Watson returned to all of this talk of a war, which was merely a response to the Bernard Crowe shooting that Charles Watson caused, himself. Charles Manson and the Family feverishly searched for ways to get money to move to Death Valley; this included theft and robberies. My opinion was that some of the Family did not want to go back to Death

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Valley and Charles Manson may have used the war Charles Watson may have created with the Black Panthers as leverage to scare them. I have never denied that he spoke about a race war. My opinion is that the killings had absolutely nothing to do with that theory. Charles Manson may have also used the words he learned at the Fountain of the World combined what he had heard from the Black Muslims in prison and created fear not to incite a race war, but to scare them to Death Valley with him. Dennis Wilson refused to pay up for recording Charles Mansons tune, Never Learn Not To Love, and Terry Melcher shunned him when he heard about the shooting, and Charles Manson became desperate. According to an article from December, 1969, about the Fountain of the World, Terry Melcher was seen speaking to Charles Manson. This was after he supposedly severed ties with Charles Manson. What were they talking about? Charles Manson did say in Ed Georges book, Taming the Beast, that the door was never shut between he and Terry Melcher, but he feels the publicity simply scared him away. This need for money may have led to the Gary Hinman murder, as well. Bobby Beausoleil claimed that Gary Hinman supplied him with drugs, in which he sold to those outlaw bikers and Danny DeCarlo. Was this sale an attempt to put some money into the Death Valley Fund? I do believe that Charles Manson went to the Gary Hinman residence because he was in fear of another Bernard Crowe incident. In fact Bobby Beausoleil claims that Charles Manson charged in the home and cut Gary Hinman because he felt that Mary Brunner may have been in trouble. Whatever the reason was, he has stated on many occasions that Charles Manson never gave him the order to kill. Charles Manson was obviously scared off after this and headed up north to Big Sur. In the Jess Bravin book, The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme, it states that he even told his beloved Family that he was done and may never come back. It states that Lynette Fromme then begged him to stay, and that everything will work out. While Charles Manson was away, Bobby Beausoleil was arrested and charged with the Gary Hinman murder. Subsequently, when Charles

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Manson was in Big Sur, he visited the Esalen Institute right around the time that Sharon Tate may have been there. Theres been no true evidence to this, but if it is true then what happened? Did they have a run-in that had a negative turnout? When he decided to return to Spahn Ranch after a brief stint in San Diegowhere he met his then girlfriend Stephanie Schramand heard about Bobby Beausoleils arrest. Virtually every account of this event has Charles Manson freaking out. This bad news obviously upset him. From this time on the stories become plentiful of what actually happened. What is fact, is that Charles Manson sent Sandra Good and Mary Brunner to Sears with some stolen credit cards to buy the Family some things to boost their morale. During their shopping spree, the were also arrested. I would also like to point out that Susan Atkins version includes Charles Manson sending them to Sears to buy rope and things to break Bobby out of jail. When the news of their arrest got back to the ranch, this is when Vincent Bugliosi claims Charles Manson said, Now is the time for Helter Skelter. Did he actually say this? Some accounts say he did, while others never mention it. According to the Jess Bravin book, The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme, it was written that Charles Manson was approached by the girls with a plan to free Bobby Beausoleil, which was simply put, Lets do copycat killings. The Nuel Emmons book, Manson in His Own Words, stated that Charles Manson was so upset over the three arrests and bitter towards how chaotic the Family had become that he said, Okay. It also states that the girls wanted him to do the killing, but he said, No way and appointed Charles Watson because he owed him big; Charles Manson mentions this in the 1988 Geraldo Rivera interview. I said, go pay the brother what you owe me. Is this how it happened? Does this make him guilty? I personally think that Charles Manson knew what was about to happen, but since it was not his plan, he didnt care either way. I do not think that he brainwashed hos so-called followers and ordered the killings in an attempt to spark a race war.

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Charles Manson does admit his influence and has never denied that. Hes never once admitted that he ordered the murders. In his 1992 parole hearing he states this. I influenced a lot of people, unbeknown to my own understanding of it. I didnt understand the fears of the people outside. I didnt understand the insecurities of people outside. I didnt understand people outside. And a lot of things that I said and did affected a lot of people in a lot of different directions. It wasnt intentional and it definitely wasnt with malice or aforethought. In my mind, I think the murders were indeed an attempt to free Bobby Beausoleil, but the victims were chosen because of previous run-ins with Charles Watson and perhaps Linda Kasabian. Both have admitted ties with the home before the murders. I believe that partial reason was an attempt to get money for Sandra Good and Mary Brunners bail, as well for money to add to their Death Valley Fund. At the end of the day, the girls have admitted that Charles Manson has never told them to kill, that it was Charles Watson who laid the plans out. I have never once believed any of the participants were under any sort of mind control. This notion is laughable because it would exonerate the participants from any culpability. If you are not in your right mind, you surely did not commit crimes with malice and forethought. Charles Manson has never ceased to shoot this theory down. An angry Charles Manson lashed out at Hard Copy reporters in 1994, when they did an episode dedicated to his so-called mind control ability. You wanna blame me for what they did, for mind control? Its kinda stupid, actually. They did what they did, its not my responsibility. There certainly is a difference between influence and control, and even then the person who commits the crimes is responsible. Theres no away around this logic. The fact that the media has essentially brainwashed the public into thinking he has this great power to control, is what drives this theory of mind control. Charles Manson also addresses this in the German documentary, Menschensohn, and hes rode this since day one. Anyone who doesnt agree with it are probably disagreeing because they have this already-conceived opinion on him.

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Charles Manson: I wasnt in the job of influencing, I dont care if people are influenced or not, you know. I ride a motorcycle, guy, you know, Im not in business. Interviewer: Maybe you didnt want to but they were still influenced. Charles Manson: Alright, well thats not my fault, what do you want me to do, Im spending the rest of my life in jail because people like me? You know, Im trying my best not to be liked anymore so that maybe, you know, maybe they wont punish me as much. But all of this doesnt explain the LaBianca murders. Why did they happen? Were they really randomly chosen as Vincent Bugliosis theory suggests? All evidence points towards yet another house chosen due to a prior conflict. Linda Kasabian lived next door with Harold True and Charles Watson lived very close to Rosemary LaBiancas daughter like within a stone throw. These are not coincidences. So, why did Charles Manson go along? Was it really because he felt the Tate murders were too messy? How would he know exactly how messy they were? The prosecutions theory was that he tied up the LaBiancas, but we all know Charles Watson did according his confession. On many occasions Charles Manson has stated that he went there to get a black book that controlled the music. What if this was tied into the fact that Terry Melcher was meeting with Charles Manson after the murders at the Fountain of the World? Maybe it was a favor for him? Charles Manson has stated more than once, that the mob controlled the Beach Boys. Nikolas Schrecks book, The Manson File, goes into great depth on the mob ties to the victims, the music, and Charles Manson. So, did he go to the LaBianca home, not to make sure things were done right, but to make sure this black book was obtained? Susan Atkins did forget her knife at the Cielo Drive home. Was this the reason she did not go to the Waverly Drive home? The generic theory of Helter Skelter leaves way too many holes open. Its focus is to use fear to convict. This theory has way too many whys. Sad thing is that so many people accept the Helter Skelter theory, even though it was never proven, nor was it ever substantiated. Susan Atkins has always maintained that the murders were not for Helter Skelter, and Patricia

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Krenwinkel has said, I think and It seems an awful lot with no solid confirmation: Yes, this is why it happened. Vincent Bugliosi has been caught fabricating evidence and a lot of other sketchy tactics to get his way in the courtroom. Theres no doubt in my mind that he did this with the Charles Manson case as well. It would take a blind man to not see it. In 1992, Charles Manson told a very understanding Ronald Reagan Jr. about the things Vincent Bugliosi did to him. Its all been covered up by a district attorney who wanted to make money and make movies and write books. And everything that the public knows is basically a spin-off of the books and the lies that have been used to cover the reality of what you call the Manson Family. You get back what you put out, is that right or wrong? If you dont believe in god, you believe in the balance of karma, the balance of your own will. The balance of what you know to be truth, you know. Whatever you do is on you. You got to be judged by your god. Dont judge me, man, behind what Tex did. I make no excuses for he and his so-called followers were convicted of doing. I do think that Charles Manson was set up to be a media commodity. He was on the front of LIFE Magazine, convicted by the media and public, dubbed a Cult Leader and murderer, six months before his trial even started. This was the same thing the media did to people like the West Memphis Three and Edward Humphreys, the man who was being set up for a frame-job before Danny Rolling confessed to the Gainesville slayings. The only killing that I think Charles Manson should have been convicted for was the one the media generally overlooks: the murder of Donald Shea. I think Donald Shea was killed because his snitching lead to the loss of dune buggies, money, guns, ammo, and the humiliation of Danny DeCarlo. I personally feel that Danny DeCarlo wanted him dead, and Charles Manson wanted Danny DeCarlo in his gang so badly that he made sure his wishes were granted. I also believe that the hatred for Donald Shea started with the scuffle between Charles Manson, William Rex Cole and Donald Shea over the Lee Saunooke beating. There was certainly a lot of bad blood after that happened. The entire Donald Shea case was bungled and the trial was a farce. People involved in the murder were overlooked, the incorrect motive was

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proven at the trial, and the false story that he was beheaded became fact due to a couple false witnesses (Barbara Hoyt and Paul Watkins). When Charles Manson was included in the Donald Shea murder, there was no way that he would not be convicted for it. Charles Manson has never claimed to be a saint and sticks to the fact that he lives by prison law. This law states dont snitch. He justifies the murder, but has never admitted participating in it. According to the parole hearings of Steve Grogan and Bruce Davis, they say Charles Manson was there but they are not sure if he participated. People who were there say they arent sure, but people who were not there said they were sure. Which side do you think has more merit? Charles Manson told his 1992 parole board that he is not a good person. That he never pretended to be one, but he also doesnt lie. I am more inclined to believe him than I am inclined to believe someone with ulterior motives to get out of trouble with the law. Im real with you. I dont pretend. Im not bringing you a bunch of phony garbage. Im not trying to tell you that Im a good guy. Im just myself, whatever that is. When its all said and done, his story of the murders has never changed while the other participants stories change with every parole hearing or interview. What does this say? I was always told if someones lying that their stories will change each time they are asked while someone who is honest will have a similar story. Its easier to remember fact than to try and remember what you said. My reason for compiling this essay was to explain the real Charles Manson by using the words of others. He is a very misunderstood man and a lot of the negativity associated with his name is largely because of his interview antics of the 80s, and 90s. He has never shied away from the cameras and shocking tabloid TV viewers with his actions on screen. But I will say, most of these antics was nothing but acting as he admitted in the 1987 interview with Penny Daniels. This essay was also meant to show how unfair the trial was. The trial was based on fear and trying to make the evidence and motive fit Charles Manson. The trial was meant to make him seem so outrageous and evil, that hed be considered Satan and the public would look at Vincent

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Bugliosi as the Man who put this Satan character away. This would be used as a tool to put Vincent Bugliosi in the Attorney General seat as explained in the chapter: The Bug. The trial was a media circus and would make it impossible for anyone involved to get a fair trial. But that was ignored, and Charles Mansons attempts to get a change of venue were denied by the judge. His face was used by the media for profit and he had no say in it. The courts refused to protect him from it. The prosecutorsVincent Bugliosi and Aaron Stovitz both were caught funneling information to that same media, but why? Was it to ensure the publics opinion on Charles Manson was so negative that there would be no way he wouldnt be convicted? I stand strong on the fact that Charles Manson deserves a retrial. It will never happen because the public wouldnt stand for it. Hypothetically, if he was ever released from prison; hed have to go into hiding. He is more recognized than our Vice President Biden. Even so, he has expressed that he does want a retrial and even asked for the help of Attorney Giovanni Di Stefano in asking for one. It wasnt shocking when this attempt failed, but it shows that even after 43 years, Charles Manson just wants a new trial. He doesnt want out. He doesnt want sympathy. He just wants to be heard, even if he remains in prison as a result. In 1992, he told Michal ben Horin this same thing. Michal ben Horin: Do you really think, Charlie, that if you had a retrial you would have won? Charles Manson: It didnt matter. It wouldnt matter if I win or lose; its that I got my rights. I didnt break the law. I know that and god knows that. I know what happened, nobody else knows what happened In 1988, Charles Manson also told Geraldo Rivera that I dont care about your society. The publics a bunch of assholes. When it comes down to it, theyre for sale. I will end this essay by referring back to a teenager named Edward Humphreys who was not only wrongfully accused of the five Gainesville, Florida slayings, but was in the middle of a frame-up by the district attorney. Edward Humphreys not only made it to the cover of Newsweek with the taglines Psychopath and Murderer, along with his photo, but the local law enforcement gave the media his name and address to facilitate this. Why

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would they do this? So the media would plaster his face and name everywhere, thus convicting him through public opinion. It worked. When the papers ran a story that the hairs of Edward Humphreys was found in at least two murder scenes, it basically made him the killer to about 99% of the people who read that story. I know, I lived in Gainesville at the time of these murders and I too was sure he was behind it. The media sold me. People suspected Edward Humphreys of the murders, not because they had real evidence, but because he was weird, and the law enforcement forced the evidence to fit him. He wound up in jail and served 21 months in solitary confinement before the real killer, Danny Rolling, was found and eventually confessed to the murders. Later evidence found at all of the scenes linked Danny Rolling without any doubt. Edward Humphreys was released from jailafter serving nearly two years in solitary confinementand blamed the media. His words were very similar to what Charles Manson has been saying since 1969. I feel 100 percent sure that the media is the main reason our country is the way it is. I mean, people watch too much TV five, six hours a day. Well, theyre influenced so much by what they watch and they think, Oh yeah, I saw they got the suspect. Glad they caught him. They dont even think about what the word suspect means. They just think, Well, he probably did it because there he is on TV. And then, as far as newspapers go, half the things that [they] deal with are just negative things about people. When I got out of jail and got a job, when I got good grades in school, they werent calling me. What are they going to say when I get off probation? So why did I bring up Edward Humphreys? Well, just as a little side note to prove that if the prosecution wants you in prison, they can easily manipulate the system to make sure you are convicted. Look at what happened with the West Memphis Three. We didnt get a trial; we didnt get our rights. We didnt get anything. We were tried by the news media, we werent tried by the court room. The news media was selling it. It was making money, they was buying and selling it. And when its making money, theyre gonna sell it. They dont care whos got to pay the price for it, but we had to pay the price for it.

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The fact is: if you put killers on the television set and on the covers of every magazine to make money, there will be negative effects. The medias obsession with this case not only made it impossible for the defendants to have fair trials, but it gave other people the idea that they can kill their entire family and blame it on the Manson Family. I am talking about Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald who murdered his entire familyhis five-year-old daughter, two-year-old daughter and his pregnant wifeand scrawled the word pig in his wifes blood on the headboard of the bed on February 17, 1970, while the Manson pre-trial hearings were still going on. The victims suffered at least 80 stab wounds. He went on to blame the murders on a clan of hippies that were laughing, singing, and talking about LSD lead by a woman with a floppy hat. When the home was searched, the 1970 issue of Esquire Magazine was found that featured the Manson Family and the murders. Here is an excerpt from an Associated Press article on the murders. RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) Jeffrey MacDonald, a clean-cut Green Beret and doctor convicted of killing of his pregnant wife and their two daughters, is getting another chance to try proving his innocencemore than four decades after the nation was gripped by his tales of Charles Manson hippies doped up on acid slaughtering his family. The gruesome stabbing and beating deaths came just three months after the Manson Family slayings in California were revealed. The pregnant wife and MacDonalds description of the woman attacker chanting acid is groovy, kill the pigs all fed into fears that Manson killers were on the loose in North Carolina. The word pig was written in blood on a headboardthe same word that was written on the door of pregnant Manson victim Sharon Tates house in Los Angeles. So, there is absolutely no doubt that the media sensationalism gave Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald the guts to murder his family. Without the article, would he still have done this? There is a good chance that he would not have. I believe that he truly thought that he was going to pin this murder on the Family and walk away a free man. It took the judicial system nearly a decade to cinvict him of these murders. I would like to end this chapter with an excerpt from the Michael White book, Crucified: The Railroading of Charles Manson:

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Charles Manson did not kill anyone. Charles Manson did not and does not possess any supernatural powers. Charles Manson was guilty of being the elder statesman of a group [of] societys misfits. His so-called power was merely the wisdom that accompanies life experiences. He had answers to youthful questions. He offered self-worth to rejected, insecure kids. Their weaknesses suggested his strength. The common denominator of this group, or alleged family, was not Charles Manson. Hedonism was the fiber that held this group together. The hippie lifestyle of the sixties. Drugs, sex, rock n roll and no job nor authority impositions were the overwhelming attraction.

Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald (left), Colette MacDonalds blood pig (top right) and the deceased and pregnant Colette MacDonald (bottom right) (from www.TheMacDonaldCase.org)

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Sources

The Family by Ed Sanders, Da Capo Press, ISBN-10: 1560253969 Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi, W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN-10: 0393322238 Manson in his Own Words by Nuel Emmons, Grove Press, ISBN-10: 0802130240 Charles Manson Now by Marlin Marynick, Cogito Media Group, ISBN-10: 2923865065 The Depths of the Earth by William R. Halliday, Harper Collins, ISBN-10: 0060023724 Will You Die For Me? by Tex Watson, Fleming H. Revell Co, ISBN-10: 0800709129 Child of Satan, Child of God by Susan Atkins, Logos International, ISBN-10: 0882702297 Life and Times of Lynette Fromme by Jess Bravin, St. Martins Press, ISBN-10: 0312156634 My Life With Charles Manson by Paul Watkins, Bantam Books, ISBN-10: 0553127888 Death to Pigs by Robert Hendrickson, Tobann International, ISBN-10: 1450779352 Taming the Beast by Edward George, St. Martins Griffin, ISBN-10: 0312209703 The Manson File by Adam Parfrey, Feral House, ISBN-10: 1936239361 Desert Shadows by Bob Murphy, Sagebrush Press, ISBN-10: 0930704290
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The Garbage People by John Gilmore, Amok Books, ISBN-10: 1878923137 The Spiritual Teachings of Krishna Venta by Jon Fisher, CreateSpace, ISBN-10: 1438248261 If Republicans Had Hearts, Theyd Be Democrats by Jon Fisher, CreateSpace, ISBN-10: 1438248180 Last Man Standing by Jack Olsen, Anchor, ISBN-10: 0385493681 Zebra by Clark Howard, Richard Marek Publications, ISBN-10: 0399900500 Manson/Zodiac Connection by Howard Davis, PenPower Publication, ISBN-10: 0962908428 Manson: Behind the Scenes by Bill Nelson, PenPower Publication, ISBN-10: 096290841X Restless Souls by Alisa Statman, It Books, ISBN-10: 0062008048 Long Prison Journey of Van Houten by Karlene Faith, Northeastern, ISBN-10: 1555534813 The Girl in Alfred Hitchcocks Shower by Robert Graysmith, ISBN-10: 110118518 The Man, Myth, Manipulation by Bill Nelson, PenPower Publication, ISBN-10: 0962908401 The Railroading of Charles Manson by Michael White, ISBN-10: B0056AFCCU Mansons Right-Hand Man Speaks by Tex Watson, Abounding Love, ISBN-10: 0967851912 Charles Manson vs. The Mafia by Neil McKay, Scotland on Sunday The Myth of Helter Skelter by Susan Atkins, SusanAtkins.org Dichotomy of Evil: Win McCormack The Manson Girl Who Got Away Huffington Post: Paul Krassner The Mystery Behind the Manson Murders Huffington Post: Paul Krassner My Acid Trip with Squeaky Fromme The Vincent Bugliosi Story by Attorney George V. Denney, III Then It Came Down Truman Capote interviews Bobby Beausoleil, 1973 OUI Magazine interviews Bobby Beausoleil, 1981

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High Society Magazine interviews Charles Manson, 1985 Life Magazine The Manson Murders, 1970, 1987 Charles Watson interview, Headquarters Detective, 1978 Tom Snyder Interviews Charles Manson, 1981 Charlie Rose Interviews Charles Manson, 1986 Nuel Emmons Interviews Charles Manson, 1985 KALX Interviews Charles Manson, 1985 Geraldo Rivera Interviews Charles Manson, 1988 Penny Daniels Interviews Charles Manson, 1987 Michal ben Horin Interviews Charles Manson, 1991 Ronald Reagan, Jr. Interviews Charles Manson, 1992 Bill Murphy interviews Charles Manson, 1994 Leslie Van Houten interview, 1977 Lynette Fromme interview, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1987, 1994, 2004 Sandra Good interview, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1985, 199? Barbara Hoyt Various Interviews/Parole Hearings, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Paul Watkins interview 1969, 1975, 1978, 1989 StarCity Radio Interviews Paul Crockett, 2012 StarCity Radio Interviews Stephanie Schram, 2012 E! Interviews William Garretson, 1994 Hard Copy Interviews Charles Manson, 1994 Trial/Hearing/Grand Jury Transcripts, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 Susan Atkins interview, 1978 Steve Grogan Parole Hearing, 1981 Bruce Davis Parole Hearing, 1978, 1994 Charles Manson Parole Hearings, 1978, 1981, 1986, 1992, 1997 Inside the Manson Gang, Tobann International, 2007 Manson, Tobann International, 1973 Charles Manson Superstar, Video Werewolf, 1989 Six Degrees of Helter Skelter, Echo Bridge, 2009 Paul Watkins taped monologue, 1988 The Gainesville Sun MSNBC Manson 40 Years Later

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MansonDirect.com AllTheWayAlive.com Eviliz.com/MansonBlog.com LSB3.om AndyCarvin.com Beausoleil.net Krishna-Venta.com BackPorch Tapes FromSpahnRanch.Wordpress.com MySearchForKrishnaVenta.Wordpress.com MansonATWAR.Tumblr.com TheRealManson.Tumblr.com AllManson.Tumblr.com TruthOnTateLaBianca.com Bibliotecapleyades.com CharliesArt.com TheMacdonaldCase.org TateLaBianca.BlogSpot.com SqueakyFromme.org ExclusiveFilms.com SomethingElseReviews.com SusanAtkins.org AboundingLove.org MansonFamilyMurders.com MansonFamilyToday.info ZodiacMansonConnection.com CharlieManson.com LosAngelesFreePress.com CrimeMagazine.com ATWA.be ATWA.com ICSAHome.com CounterPunch.org ATWAATWAR.com Tate LaBianca Radio on StarRadio.com

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Conversations with Charles Manson 2010-2013 Conversations with Bruce Davis 2009-2011 Correspondence with Charles Watson 2008-2012 Michael Channels DiRT The Colonel Evil Liz Deb Panamint Patty Greywolf John from Tecopa Ed Sanders The Walksontop kids Doc from Death Valley Junction Star Q Lenny Scabboy Lost Key A.C. Fisher Aldag George W. Cabocki Laurel Canyon Rider Topanga Ted The residents of Topanga Canyon, Chatsworth, Ballarat, Olancha, Bishop, Shoshone, Tecopa, Box Canyon, Sespe Hot Springs, and Death Valley for allowing me into their towns to take photographs.

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