Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson Hardcover (71 page)

Chapter Fifteen: Death Valley

Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten provided me with firsthand descriptions of life on Barker Ranch. Leslie often enjoyed it: “I liked living out in nature without a lot of things.” To Pat, Family life in the desert was equivalent to modern-day survivalist cults whose main objective is to defy any encroachment by the government, violently if necessary. Both agree that the men in the Family had it much better in Death Valley than the women.

Charlie didn’t allow them to readjust:
Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel interviews; Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, p. 27; Atkins unpublished memoir, p. 33.

Leslie in particular wanted:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

Many, worn down by physical labor:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

Ruth Ann confided to Danny DeCarlo:
Bugliosi, p. 110.

Juan Flynn accompanied the Family out into the desert:
Oney, “Manson,”
Los Angeles Magazine.

Barbara Hoyt overheard Susan Atkins gossiping:
Ibid.

Besides, everyone knew that Charlie could find you anywhere:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

Steven Weiss saw a gun:
Bugliosi, p. 66; Sanders, p. 273.

It irked Charlie that Paul Crockett:
Bugliosi, pp. 233–38, 248.

The investigators weren’t being lazy:
Records and Identification Department, LAPD; David Dotson interview.

The Barker Ranch larder was reduced:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

Barbara Hoyt and Simi Sherri decided to risk it:
Oney, “Manson,”
Los Angeles Magazine
;
What Happened After
, History Channel, 2009.

A massive earth mover machine blocked a back road:
Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, pp. 27–28.

park ranger Dick Powell was on patrol:
Oney, “Manson,”
Los Angeles Magazine.

Mary Brunner was finally released:
Sanders, p. 284.

The trial of David Dellinger:
Tom Hayden and Mark Rudd interviews; Hayden, p. 229.

Though they didn’t know:
Bishop, pp. 24–26; Oney, “Manson,”
Los Angeles Magazine
; Bugliosi, pp. 125–26.

As soon as the officers’ truck:
Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, p. 28.

Charlie gave Tex a shotgun:
Ibid., p. 29.

September had been such a frustrating month:
Bugliosi, p. 69.

Tex got tired of waiting:
Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, pp. 29–30.

Crockett and Poston met in Independence:
Bugliosi, pp. 231–34.

The Weathermen launched:
Tom Hayden and Mark Rudd interviews; Mark Rudd,
Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen
(William Morrow, 2009), pp. 170–83; Hayden, p. 229.

There were elements of mistrust:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

Kitty Lutesinger was especially horrified:
Sanders, p. 291; Bugliosi, pp. 75–76.

They had a hard time:
Oney, “Manson,”
Los Angeles Magazine
; Bishop, pp. 26–29, 33; Bugliosi, pp. 126–27; Sanders, pp. 292–94; Atkins, pp. 140–41; Faith, p. 42.

Lutesinger’s mother told her:
Sanders, p. 294.

Pursell, Powell, and another officer:
Oney, “Manson,”
Los Angeles Magazine
; Bugliosi, pp. 127–30.

Following their arrests, most of the Family:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

the overflow was so pronounced:
Bravin, p. 103.

Lutesinger met with L.A. County investigators:
Bugliosi, p. 76; Bravin, p. 105; Sanders, pp. 294–98.

The L.A. County lawmen bluntly told Susan:
Atkins, pp. 142–43; Sanders, p. 299.

Charlie had warned his followers:
Leslie Van Houten interview.

marchers jammed America’s streets:
Hayden, p. 229; Reeves, pp. 128, 137–38; Ambrose,
Nixon
, p. 304.

Charlie remained in custody:
Sanders, p. 302.

Still, it was something new to run down:
Bugliosi, pp. 75–77.

and added a new name:
Ibid., p. 71.

Now Whiteley and Guenther tried again:
Ibid., p. 77.

Tex Watson decided that the outside world:
Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, pp. 153–55.

Charlie began giving them messages:
Sanders, p. 304.

it was hard to find Susan Atkins:
Atkins, pp. 144–46; Atkins unpublished memoir, p. 33; Bravin, p. 140; Bugliosi, p. 78.

Chapter Sixteen: Unraveling

Interviews with David Dotson, Gerald L. Chaleff, Vincent Bugliosi, and Stephen Kay were extraordinarily helpful in my research for this chapter. Since its dates and descriptions of the investigation are firsthand, I also relied heavily on
Helter Skelter
by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry.

Virginia Graham and Susan Atkins sat:
Atkins, 145–48; Bugliosi, pp. 79–80.

Venice police responded to a call:
Sanders, p. 307; Bugliosi, pp. 80–81.

They noticed that Charlie’s deerskin pants:
Bugliosi, pp. 81–82.

Susan kept elaborating to Virginia:
Oney, “Manson,”
Los Angeles Magazine
; Sanders, pp. 308–10; Bugliosi, pp. 82–87.

they did have another Straight Satan in custody:
Bugliosi, pp. 88–94; Sanders, pp. 310–11.

Ronnie Howard was deeply disturbed:
Bugliosi, pp. 96–97, 99.

Danny DeCarlo came to Parker Center:
Ibid., pp. 97, 99–100, 106–9.

The next afternoon, Aaron Stovitz:
Vincent Bugliosi and Stephen Kay interviews; Bugliosi, pp. 117–19.

Bugliosi began by accompanying:
Bugliosi, pp. 120–23.

Next, Bugliosi and five members:
Ibid., pp. 123–35.

Charlie knew what was going on:
Patricia Krenwinkel interview.

Bugliosi issued a “want” for Charles Montgomery:
Bugliosi, pp. 147–48.

Sandy Good had been overheard:
Ibid., pp. 148–49.

Bobby Beausoleil’s trial for the murder of Gary Hinman:
Ibid., p. 149.

LAPD investigators interrogated:
Vincent Bugliosi interview; Sanders, p. 318; Bugliosi, pp. 152–54.

The LAPD contacted Mr. Krenwinkel:
Sanders, p. 318.

He told about his interest in Charlie’s music:
Gregg Jakobson interview.

Tex had hooked up with an old girlfriend:
Gerry Griffin interview; Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, pp. 156–58; Bugliosi, p. 156.

Dennis rightly feared the wrath:
Gregg Jakobson interview.

Columbia wouldn’t be pleased:
Ibid.; Hotchner, pp. 292–94; Bugliosi, p. 157.

Richard Caballero met with Bugliosi:
Vincent Bugliosi interview; Bugliosi, p. 157; Atkins unpublished memoir, p. 34; Atkins, pp. 148–49.

Though many of his staff begged him not to:
Gerald L. Chaleff interview; Bugliosi, pp. 158–60; Watson,
Will You Die for Me?
, pp. 158–60.

Phil Kaufman, who had shared:
Phil Kaufman interview.

But Charlie’s cousin Jo Ann recalls:
Jo Ann interview.

their investigation benefited:
Bugliosi, pp. 161–63.

Richard Caballero brought the Susan Atkins tape:
Ibid., pp. 167–68.

Another defense attorney had the same goal:
Ibid., p. 168.

Susan Atkins got her deal:
Atkins, p. 149; Atkins unpublished memoir, pp. 34–36; Bugliosi, pp. 168–70, 218.

Aaron Stovitz swore in Susan Atkins:
Bugliosi, pp. 173–85; Atkins unpublished memoir, p. 35.

The information provided by Mary Brunner:
Bugliosi, p. 188.

they turned to Charlie’s old prison friend:
Phil Kaufman interview.

Richard Caballero believed that Susan:
Atkins unpublished memoir, pp. 35–36; Bugliosi, p. 190.

Susan began receiving her first visitors:
Atkins unpublished memoir, p. 36.

When Charlie arrived at the Hall of Justice:
Gerald L. Chaleff interview.

Chapter Seventeen: Charlie Is Famous

Much of this chapter is based on interviews with Vincent Bugliosi, Stephen Kay, Gregg Jakobson, Phil Kaufman, Bob Schieffer, Mark Rudd, Tom Hayden, Leslie Van Houten, and Patricia Krenwinkel. For those who want to know more about the radical movement in spring 1970, I strongly recommend Mark Rudd’s
Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen
.

Charlie’s arrival in chains:
Gerald L. Chaleff, A. J. Langguth, Bob Schieffer, Lorraine Chamberlain, and Tom Hayden interviews.

Joan Didion reflected on the murders:
Didion,
The White Album
, p. 47.

L.A. was in the midst of a newspaper war:
A. J. Langguth interview.

The director of the county’s public housing there:
George Sidiropolis interview.

The most radical activists took it a step further:
Mark Rudd and Tom Hayden interviews; Rudd, pp. 187–90.

Charlie had Squeaky, Ruth Ann, and some of his other:
Bravin, pp. 108–9.

but now there were new recruits:
Vincent Bugliosi interview; Bugliosi, p. 200. Some of this passage is also based on information from the former Family member who later tried to take back his interview with me.

prosecutors caught a major break:
Stephen Kay interview; Bugliosi, p. 191.

Charlie was arraigned:
Bugliosi, p. 191.

During the next six weeks:
Ibid., p. 192.

Judge Keene also imposed a gag order:
Vincent Bugliosi and Stephen Kay interviews; Bugliosi, p. 190.

turned the tapes Caballero had made with Susan:
Sanders, p. 327; Livsey, p. 45; Felton and Dalton, “Year of the Fork, Night of the Hunter,”
Rolling Stone.

Even as Angelenos ingested:
Bugliosi, pp. 194–95.

Bugliosi continued accumulating evidence:
Ibid., p. 196.

a local TV crew set out:
Ibid., pp. 197–98.

Bernard Weiss decided to bug:
Sanders, p. 327; Bugliosi, pp. 198–200.

Charlie used his jail time:
Patricia Krenwinkel, Vincent Bugliosi, and Stephen Kay interviews.

Leslie changed her lawyer:
Leslie Van Houten interview; Sanders, p. 327; Bugliosi, pp. 201–2.

Rudolf Weber told Bugliosi:
Bugliosi, pp. 203–4.

Dianne Lake hadn’t had much to say:
Sanders, p. 328; Bugliosi, pp. 205–7.

Charlie enjoyed his newfound fame:
Phil Kaufman and Leslie Van Houten interviews; Gaines, pp. 218–19; Wilson, p. 184; Sanders, p. 333.

The LaBianca detectives located Harold True:
Bugliosi, pp. 207–8.

Stovitz and Bugliosi worried:
Vincent Bugliosi interview.

There was the cover of
Life:
Rick Perlstein,
Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
(Scribner, 2008), pp. 243–44.

They immediately disagreed:
Stephen Kay and Vincent Bugliosi interviews; Bugliosi, pp. 217–18.

Inyo County dropped the arson charges:
Bugliosi, p. 220.

he granted an extended interview:
Gregg Jakobson interview; Felton and Dalton, “Year of the Fork, Night of the Hunter,”
Rolling Stone.

Bugliosi decided to reinterview Gregg Jakobson:
Bugliosi, pp. 223–26.

Melcher was now petrified of Charlie:
Ben Fong-Torres,
Hickory Wind: The Life and Times of Gram Parsons
(Atria, 1991), pp. 148–51.

The complexity of the case:
Gerald L. Chaleff interview.

Altobelli corroborated:
Bugliosi, pp. 227–29.

Shahrokh Hatami remembered:
Ibid., pp. 229–31.

Inyo County sent Bugliosi:
Ibid., pp. 231–47.

They contacted Linda Kasabian’s lawyers:
Ibid., pp. 251–54.

she had to choose:
Atkins unpublished memoir, p. 37.

reports of a terrible explosion:
Rudd, pp. 193–98, 213; Hayden, p. 232; David Browne,
Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story of 1970
(DaCapo, 2011), pp. 120–22; Reeves, p. 175.

Kaufman realized that, but Charlie didn’t:
Phil Kaufman interview.

Kaufman was left with a garageful:
Currently, various Internet sites ask as much as $1,700 for pristine copies of the original
LIE
vinyl album.

Susan Atkins would recant:
Atkins unpublished memoir, p. 37; Sanders, p. 335.