Charles Manson Now (34 page)
Manson and Wilson became fast friends and the Manson Family stayed at the Wilson home for the rest of the summer. Through his relationship with Wilson, Manson met record producer Terry Melcher and manager Gregg Jakobson, the men who would arrange Manson’s first recording session. Because of his developing relationship with Melcher, Manson and the rest of his Family often visited the producer’s home at Bel Air’s 10050 Cielo Drive. When Wilson moved out of his home in August, the Family was forced to find a new place to live. They eventually stumbled upon Spahn Movie Ranch, 500 acres of open space previously used in the filming of classic Hollywood westerns.
Spahn Ranch and Murders
After meeting the elderly owner of Spahn Ranch, George Spahn, Manson convinced him to allow the Family to crash at
the ranch for a few days. Those few days turned into the better part of a year. The Family worked around the ranch to earn its keep, tending to the horses and keeping up the grounds. The Manson family girls also slept with Spahn to sweeten the deal. Not long after the family moved to Spahn, a drifting, drugging Texan named Charles “Tex” Watson join the group.
In the fall of 1968, some of Manson’s family members, including Manson himself, ventured out on a field trip and discovered the Myers and Barker Ranches contained within California’s Death Valley. Each ranch was owned by an elderly woman, easily persuaded to assist Manson in producing his music by providing him and his group a place to stay. During the winter months of early 1969, the Family occupied a home rented on Gresham Street in Canoga Park, California. After spending only two months in the Gresham Street house, the Family moved back to Spahn Ranch.
On March 23, 1969, Manson made a visit to 10050 Cielo Drive. He was looking for Terry Melcher who, allegedly unbeknownst to Manson, was no longer the tenant of the property’s owner, Rudi Altobelli. Manson was met at the door by one of Sharon Tate’s friends, who advised Manson that the home had become the Polanski-Tate residence and directed him away from the property. Manson examined the property and then left to spend the rest of spring and early summer back at Spahn Ranch.
On August 9, 1969, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian drove to 10050 Cielo Drive. When Tex and the girls arrived at the house, they found it occupied by Sharon Tate, who was eight and half months pregnant, and her
friends, Abigail Folger, Voytek Frykowski, and Jay Sebring. The family members proceeded to stab every person in the house to death and shoot Steven Parent in his car, parked in the driveway.
The following day, August 10, Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, Kasabian, Manson, Steve Grogan, and Leslie Van Houten drove to the residence of Leno LaBianca, a supermarket executive, and his wife Rosemary, a dress shop owner. The house was located in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles and situated next to a home at which the Manson family had attended a party the year before. Manson allegedly entered the house first in order to restrain the couple; he then left the property, taking Atkins, Kasabian, and Grogan with him. The three remaining family members entered the residence and stabbed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca to death.
The Aftermath
Authorities raided Spahn Ranch on August 16, 1969, seven days after the Tate/LaBianca murders. Manson and his Family were taken into custody, but were released shortly after, due to a misdated search warrant. After the Spahn raid, most of the Family fled to the Barker Ranch in Death Valley. On October 10, 1969 the Barker Ranch was searched; authorities became alert to the location after several members of the Family burned up a heavy equipment loader down in the valley. Soon enough, the Manson family members, minus Tex Watson who had returned to Texas, Patricia Krenwinkel who’d fled to Alabama, and Linda Kasabian who’d traveled to New Hampshire, were arrested and put back
behind bars. The three would eventually be extradited back to California, where they were indicted for their crimes.
On June 15th, 1970 the jury was selected for the Manson Family murder trial. Until the murder trial of OJ Simpson in 1995, the Manson trial was the longest and costliest trial in California’s history. The trial proceeded in the manner of a circus. Manson family members protested the proceeding outside the courthouse. Manson and his girls were responsible for many outlandish courtroom outbursts, disruptions, and distractions. Manson and his girls would show up to court with Xs carved into their foreheads.
The trial focused on exposing and dissecting the motive behind such seemingly random acts of violence. The prosecution pinpointed Manson’s belief in an impending, cataclysmic race war, “Helter Skelter,” as the group’s main motivation. The murder investigation uncovered Manson’s alleged obsession with The Beatles’ White Album and his belief that the music contained coded messages directed at the Manson family. The Beatles, Manson believed, espoused Manson’s exact vision of a future “ black uprising” during which the black race would overcome the white race, with the latter “self-annihilating” as a result of its division between racist and non-racist sects. Evidence from the crime scenes-references both to the White Album and to war written on the walls in blood and carved into the victims’ flesh-was used to support the theory that Helter Skelter sparked the Manson Family killing spree. Linda Kasabian would even testify that Manson had wanted to plant some of the victims’ personal effects in black neighborhoods to make it look as though Helter Skelter had begun.
On November 16, 1970, the prosecution rested its case. Three days later, on November 19, the defense rested its case. On January 25, 1971, Manson and the girls were convicted in the Tate/LaBianca murders. On March 29, 1971, the jury handed down the death sentence for those convicted in the Tate/LaBianca case. On April 19, 1971, Judge Charles Older officially assigned the death sentence to Charles Manson.
Manson and the girls spent ten months on death row. In 1972, the Supreme Court of California abolished the death penalty, ruling it unconstitutional. The death sentences were reduced to life sentences with the possibility of parole. Since then, Manson has spent time at various state prisons throughout California, including San Quentin, Folsom, California Medical Center, Vacaville, Pelican Bay, and Corcoran. The bizarre nature of his crimes continued to draw extensive media coverage throughout the 1980s and early 1990s and there still exists a barrage of anything and everything Manson: TV and magazine interviews, books, movies, music, T-shirts, and other merchandise. His case has been cited as one of the most infamous in American history.
Other Violent Manson Family Crimes
Bernard Crowe Shooting:
In 1969, Tex Watson ripped off an African-American drug dealer named Bernard “Lotsapoppa” Crowe. Crowe proceeded to hold Watson’s girlfriend, Luella, hostage until Watson either returned Crowe’s money or delivered his drugs. On July 1, 1969, Manson went to the home of Crowe with his friend T.J. Walleman, who brought a gun. An altercation
ensued, during which Manson fired the gun and shot Crowe. Manson allegedly worried he had killed Crowe, a fear that seemed to be confirmed when he read reports of a dead Black Panther soon after the shooting. Although Crowe was not a member of the Black Panthers and had not died from the gunshot wound, the event significantly increased the air of paranoia at the Manson ranch.
Gary Hinman Murder:
On July 25, 1969, family members Bobby Beausoleil, Mary Brunner, and Susan Atkins went to the house of Family acquaintance Gary Hinman to retrieve money they felt Hinman owed the family. It is not clear why they sought the money. Some accounts report that Hinman had recently acquired an inheritance, part of which Manson felt was his. Other accounts suggest Hinman had sold Beausoleil some bad mescaline and that Bobby had returned either to get some good mescaline or retrieve his money. Beausoleil, Brunner, and Atkins kept Hinman hostage for two days, a time during which Hinman went to great lengths to prove he had no money. At one point, Bobby hit Hinman twice with his gun, before placing Hinman under the girls’ surveillance and proceeding to search the entirety of Hinman’s house. After struggling with Hinman for the gun, Bobby was able to reach what seemed like a settlement with Hinman, who would give Beausoleil the title of his two cars, a VW bus and a Fiat. At this point, Manson and friend Bruce Davis arrived at the house, Davis with a gun and Manson with a sword. Unaware of the agreement between Hinman and Beausoleil, Manson sliced Hinman’s ear off and left. Shortly thereafter, Bobby finished Hinman off, stabbing him to death.
Donald Shea Murder:
Donald Shea was a stuntman and horse wrangler on Spahn Ranch. Manson blamed the Spahn Ranch raid on Shea, believing that Shea had turned the Family in to the police. Manson may or may not have placed the blame on Shea due to the fact that Shea had committed what Manson considered “sin” when he married an African-American woman. On August 25, 1969, about one week after the raid, family members Bruce Davis, Steve Grogan, and Charles Watson took Shea for a ride on the outskirts of the Spahn Ranch. Grogan hit Shea on the back of the head with a lead pipe and Watson stabbed Shea to death. Shea’s body was buried in a shallow grave, which wasn’t discovered until 1977, after a confession made by Steve Grogan.
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