Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson Hardcover (69 page)

I believe that the historian should provide context as well as recounting what happened when—the
why
as well as the
what.
But in the convoluted case of what Charlie Manson really believed, the reader’s educated guess is as valid as mine. During the nearly two years that it took me to research and write this book, I wrote regularly to Manson requesting an interview so I could ask him these critical questions. He responded by turning my letters over to a friend, with whom I exchanged a series of letters and e-mails that culminated in his advising me to keep writing to Charlie—maybe he’d eventually agree to see me. He didn’t.

Based on my research, and interviews with Phil Kaufman, Gregg Jakobson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten, and cousin Jo Ann—all people who knew him well—my opinion is that Manson was a skilled con artist who could convince others because he first convinced himself. Pat Krenwinkel suggested in one of our conversations that “he probably made himself believe that at least some of it was true.” It should also be noted that in 1968–69 many people believed that the Beatles were in some sense social prophets, and in America there was widespread fear that some form of extended racial conflict was imminent. It was a time when any terrible
thing seemed possible. As Bob Schieffer observed to me, “The country was falling apart.”

He demanded that they pay special attention:
Leslie Van Houten interview; Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, p. 83; Bugliosi, p. 241.

they needed “a damn good whacking”:
Charlie might have believed the Beatles were speaking to him, but in his memoir George Harrison said that he didn’t write this line in “Piggies.” His mother, Louise, suggested it.

he gravely asked everyone for comments:
Stephen Kay interview.

not just because the Beatles said so:
Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten interviews. Pat says that as much as Charlie talked about the Beatles, he emphasized his interpretations of the Bible even more.

John, the narrator, has been banished:
Harold Lindsell (editor),
The Harper Study Bible
(HarperCollins, 1964), pp. 1861–63.

For imaginations fueled:
Mary F. Corey interview.

Just as the Bible foretold:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

they’d begin to feel budding wings:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

any deserters who weren’t killed:
Ibid.

There was an unexpected defector:
Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, pp. 85–89.

Charlie had no inkling of this:
Gregg Jakobson interview.

But there was a personal dilemma:
A. E. Hotchner,
Doris Day: Her Own Story
(Bantam, 1976), pp. 272–74.

youthful rebellion was a worldwide phenomenon:
Ambrose,
Nixon
, pp. 262–64.

Protesters were out in force:
Bob Schieffer interview.

He began by insisting:
Ambrose,
Nixon
, pp. 263–64.

In January, Black Panther leaders:
Mary F. Corey interview; Hayden, p. 225.

When he replaced Tom Reddin:
Domanick,
To Protect and to Serve
, pp. 221–22.

Charlie used the news to support:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

Altobelli let Gregg Jakobson talk him into:
Gregg Jakobson interview.

They had trouble finding the right place to live:
Bugliosi, p. 28; Sanders, p. 57.

Polanski and Tate were interested:
Bugliosi, p. 28; Sanders, p. 117; Gaines, p. 215.

Squeaky was sent to sweet-talk George Spahn:
Bravin, p. 95.

Charlie sent several Family members:
Bugliosi, p. 247.

Now he conducted lengthy desert survival courses:
Karlene Faith,
The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten: Life Beyond the Cult
(Northeastern University Press, 2001), p. 37.

And now there were guns, too:
Felton and Dalton,
Rolling Stone.

Charlie never suggested that the Family members would ever attack anyone:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

Charlie ordered the women to experiment:
Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel interviews.

He managed to get the dune buggy through the doors:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

Just as work on the dune buggy started:
Watson, pp. 91–93.

Gypsy grabbed the chain:
Leslie Van Houten interview. I would like to have asked Catherine Share (Gypsy) about this, but beyond one general off-the-record phone conversation she refused to be interviewed unless she was paid. I never pay for interviews.

He explored the possibility of signing them up:
Bugliosi, p. 247.

Charlie next considered sending some of the women:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

Then the Family tried turning:
Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, pp. 91–99; Marynick, p. 308; Sanders, p. 125.

the Straight Satans would join the Family as middlemen:
Gregg Jakobson interview.

It helped that the two women:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

particularly club treasurer Danny DeCarlo:
Bugliosi, p. 101; Gilmore and Kenner, p. 90.

Shorty Shea sometimes volunteered:
Bravin, p. 97.

Charlie gathered his followers and explained:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

they liked slipping pills to members:
David E. Smith and A. J. Langguth interviews; Faith, p. 114.

he reported after a trip to Barker Ranch:
Sanders, pp. 103–4; Livsey, pp. 76–77.

he took out his frustration on Watkins:
Vincent Bugliosi interview.

Gregg Jakobson might have agreed:
Gregg Jakobson interview.

Charlie assembled small squads of followers:
Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, p. 75; Michelle Phillips, pp. 172–73.

In mid-March, Charlie received word:
Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, p. 99.

Charlie had informed the women that he wanted:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

The new tenants threw a memorable housewarming party:
John Phillips, with Jim Jerome,
Papa John: An Autobiography
(Doubleday, 1986), pp. 290–91.

according to subsequent police reports:
Bugliosi, p. 32.

On March 23, Shahrokh Hatami looked out:
Sanders, p. 120; Bugliosi, p. 226; Gaines, p. 215. Several individuals I contacted for interviews wanted money to talk to me, but Shahrokh Hatami’s demand for $12,000 was the most excessive. His proposed deal included not only an interview but rights to reproduce four of his photographs of Sharon Tate. I declined.

One of Little Paul Watkins’s ongoing responsibilities:
Bugliosi, p. 289.

Rudi Altobelli kept his promise:
Sanders, p. 120.

Sometime in April, Voytek Frykowski and Abigail Folger:
Ibid., p. 123.

deputies of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office raided Spahn:
Bravin, p. 96.

then the cops would think they were nuts:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

he would act like “Crazy Charlie”:
Ibid.

Tex Watson was arrested in Van Nuys:
Bugliosi, p. 156; Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, p. 120.

some of the Family thought the belladonna:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

so irritated by his pushy new attitude:
Phil Kaufman interview.

Some of the women in the Family felt afraid:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

He had his own hopes:
Gregg Jakobson interview.

Chapter Twelve: Thwarted Dreams

During an interview with
Oui
magazine published in 1981, Bobby Beausoleil stated that Manson never came to Gary Hinman’s house on the night of July 25, 1969. He claimed that prosecutors invented Charlie’s participation in the murder “because they wanted to get Manson into the act.” But Susan Atkins, who was also there, was adamant in her grand jury testimony, in her book
Child of Satan, Child of God
and in her unpublished memoir that Manson arrived at Hinman’s house, slashed Hinman’s ear with his sword, and eventually told Beausoleil to kill Hinman after Hinman continued to insist he had no money to give to Beausoleil and the Family.

Then and later, Beausoleil was adamant that he never joined the Family, another way of making it clear that he never served or took orders from Charlie Manson. My sense is that such claims suit Beausoleil’s swaggering personality so he can take sole responsibility for the Hinman murder. Beausoleil said that Susan Atkins and Mary Brunner went along because they knew Hinman, liked him, and thought it would be a social visit. Susan wrote that Charlie sent her and Mary along to assist in Hinman’s murder, and that they were chosen because they left a child at Charlie’s mercy back at Spahn.

I had hoped to interview Beausoleil, but learned that he had agreed with filmmaker
Steven Martin to decline all interviews while they cooperated on a documentary about his life.

America was seething:
Tom Hayden, Bob Schieffer, and Mark Rudd interviews; Reeves, p. 61; Hayden, pp. 69–70.

the sharpest-eyed among his followers realized:
Catherine Share,
Manson
, History Channel (2009).

Melcher arrived at the ranch:
Hotchner, pp. 289–90; Gaines, pp. 215–16.

He recalled later that Charlie’s songs:
Hotchner, pp. 290–91.

Charlie went to a surplus store in Santa Monica:
Sanders, p. 138.

Everyone was kept working at a feverish pace:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

as they guided him toward their car:
Bugliosi, p. 185; Gaines, p. 216; Hotchner, pp. 291–92; Felton and Dalton, “A Special Report,”
Rolling Stone.

it was the classic producer’s tactful turndown:
Gregg Jakobson interview.

The constant danger for gurus:
David E. Smith interview.

Terry Melcher had
betrayed
Charlie:
Catherine Share,
Manson
, History Channel.

“stopped pretending that he wasn’t angry”:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

Charlie made a few last-ditch efforts:
Hoskyns,
Waiting for the Sun
, p. 184.

On Charlie’s command they began stealing:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

Charlie learned where Terry Melcher lived:
Hotchner, pp. 296–97.

Charlie began suggesting that the creepy-crawls:
Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, pp. 121–25.

Pat Krenwinkel left with a biker:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

Charlie put her in his dune buggy:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

Word reached him that Brooks Poston had left Barker Ranch:
Sanders, p. 103.

He told Watkins that any delay:
Vincent Bugliosi interview; Bugliosi, p. 247.

he joined Paul Crockett:
Livsey, p. 151.

The Family suffered an additional loss:
Bugliosi, p. 133.

Charlie decided to work another contact:
Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, pp. 127–30; Bravin, pp. 98–99; Marynick, pp. 373–74; Bugliosi, pp. 280, 417; Stephen Kay, Phil Kaufman, Vincent Bugliosi, and Mary F. Corey interviews.

He used the Lotsapoppa incident as proof:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

“it wasn’t peace and love and hippies anymore”:
Catherine Share,
Manson
, History Channel.

Bob and Linda Kasabian were living:
Bugliosi, p. 257.

A vivacious woman named Gypsy:
Linda Kasabian,
Manson
, History Channel; Gregg Jakobson interview.

the moon walk was viewed with skepticism:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

Bobby Beausoleil provided the perfect excuse:
Bardach, “Jailhouse Interview,”
Oui.

On Friday, July 25, longtime Family member Bruce Davis:
Ibid.; Gregg Jakobson interview; Atkins, pp. 111–19; Atkins unpublished memoir, pp. 22–23; Bravin, pp. 98–99; Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, pp. 131–34; Sanders, pp. 180–85; Udo, pp. 127–30; Livsey, pp. 41–42.

Susan also couldn’t resist bragging:
Stephen Kay and Leslie Van Houten interviews.

Yeller was sickened by Susan’s comments:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

some of Gary Hinman’s friends dropped by:
Sanders, pp. 187–88.

they were picked up by Saladin Nader:
Ibid., p. 189.

Charlie announced that he would drive north:
Bugliosi, pp. 274–75.

At Cielo Drive things were hectic:
Sanders, p. 195.

Beausoleil didn’t take Kitty Lutesinger:
Bardach, “Jailhouse Interview,”
Oui
; Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, p. 134; Sanders, pp. 192–93.