Thursday, July 4, 2013

Berkeley Barb Motive Suggestion

Along with the Dr. David Smith interview published by the Berkeley Barb Jan. 16-22, 1970,
http://www.eviliz.com/search/label/Berkeley%20Barb
they also ran the following little story about an anonymous caller with a suggestion for a motive in the TLB murders.  It's a real eye-roller!

I have a good idea of who was living in Berkeley and a Manson sympathizer at that time, bet you do too!  Sounds like the type of lame-brain thing he would do....

Okay, did you read the article?   Assuming that anyone in the Family was naïve enough to have made this purchase mistaking oregano for pot is just silly.  Let's do the math to examine just how asinine this is. 
A kilo is 2.2 pounds so 63 kilos works out to 138.6 pounds of oregano!  I bet the entire state of California couldn't have put together that many pounds of oregano at once at that time in history.
I have vague recollections of pot going for $5 a matchbox or $10 a lid back in the '60's.  Don't recall how much a key went for, probably because I never bought one, but let's say it went for the ridiculously low price of $250 per key.  That would come to $15,750.00.  Holy Cow (braised in a nice burgundy with a little oregano)!  How in the heck would the Manson Family have come up with that kind of dough to have made the purchase in the first place?






30 comments:

Doc Sierra said...

I'm guessing another White Rabbit fairy tale.
I remember buying 3 finger lids for $10 when I first started buying pot in 1975. The guy I bought it from said a pound was $100. The quality was nowhere near today's pot.

Max Frost said...

I wouldn't call it a white rabbit like tale.

White rabbit emerged on the scene decades later claiming to be whatever he claimed to be.

Being that the article was done soon after they got busted, I would give the guy more credit for being authentic.

Maybe he's exaggerating the specifics, or maybe his info is incorrect. Could be the truth morphed into this tale of a lifetime supply of oregano.

The point is that soon after they're arrested this article pops up and is claiming the murders were the result of a drug burn.

Something to think about.

Max Frost said...

And the comment about if Manson was a scapegoat it would be the beginning of a reign of terror against the hippies.

This is being said by someone so soon after they were captured and thrown onto the world stage?

Definitely worth considering...

Doc Sierra said...

Hi Max, I don't recall where I read it but I do recall reading that one of the girls, maybe Sandra Good, acknowledged White Rabbit came to Spahn's and got the cold shoulder from everybody because they thought he was creepy. Does anybody remember reading that and if so where?
Anybody, anybody, Bueller.....

By the way, if you're too creepy to hang out with family you must be off the friggin' hook.....

Max Frost said...

Great find Deb!

Max Frost said...

Hi Doc,

No doubt he probably graced them with his unique presence, but that was probably the extent of it.

Max Frost said...

Doc, what happened to your second comment? It seems to have disappeared.

Was I hallucinating?

I just smoked a shit load of oregano, so...

Maybe there really IS something to this story!

Doc Sierra said...

I'm not sure Max. I went to the dispensary on Monday and things are a little hazy.

Doc Sierra said...

Hi Max, I'll try remember what it said:
I read somewhere, not sure where, that White Rabbit showed up at Spahn's for some reason. One of the girls, I think it was Sandra Good, acknowledged this. Supposedly he got the cold shoulder because the family thought he was too creepy.
If you were too creepy for the family you must've been off the friggin' hook......

Max Frost said...

Ok, thanks.

I guess the oregano isn't as hard core as I thought.

Maybe I should snort some crushed coriander seeds...

beauders said...

rabbit showed up at spahn after the arrests in death valley. sandy and squeaky wanted him to do copycat crimes in the bay area so the police would thinks the killer(s) were still at large and release manson and the others.
also doesn't oregano have a distinctive odor? they should have known it wasn't pot after one good sniff.

Doc Sierra said...

The pot that was the most available in California back then smelled a little like oregano. I saw kids at school get ripped off buying joints that were parsley and oregano. Man, the quality of the real pot was pure crap.

Max Frost said...

Beauders,

Is that what white rabbit said?

If so...need I say more?

Kinda blows the bullshit detector all the way to Cleveland and back.

Max Frost said...

Contrary to popular belief, these people weren't stupid. Doubtful they would entrust mr rabbit with ANYTHING - especially if they were creeped out by him.

Maybe they entertained his fascination and jokingly (meaning joking among themselves) told him "oh yeah dude, if you wanna help us, go to San Fran and do some copycats."

Even that doesn't sound plausible.

I would think they would've told him to do it in LA.

Sounds like he heard about the whole "zodiac/Manson" nonsense and played that up.

IF he's the one who said this.

Doc Sierra said...

I met White Rabbit back in the early 2000s.
Dr. Howard Davis, author of The Zodiac/Manson Connection bases a lot of his "evidence" on what White Rabbit tells him. My impression of White Rabbit is that he LOVES attention and will say whatever a person or group wants to hear as long as he gets attention. I felt bad for Howard that day. It really seemed to me that White Rabbit was using Howard for attention and free meals. I sensed that his involvement with the family was minimal at best. I don't believe a word he says.

AustinAnn74 said...

I was fooled by the nut that calls himself "white rabbit" a while back. I even posted one of his ridiculous letters to Sandra Good. My question is, why would people want to associate themselves with a group of people that were responsible for not one, but several murders? Am I missing something? I guess so.

Doc Sierra said...

Hi Ann.
I think he craves attention. Positive OR negative. Whatever he can get. Kinda like a neglected child.

Patty is Dead said...

AC knows him from back in the day - she refers to him as "Scary Larry". He was in Michigan for a while which is where he is originally from. According to AC, there was a little cell of carved foreheads near Ann Arbor in the mid 70's. Her story is on the blog here somewheres. Now he is in Texas. A horrible liar and pedophile.

Patty is Dead said...

And about people pretending to be someone they are not, check out the awesome Meredith Vieria documentary called "The Woman Who Wasn't There." The story of an extreme case of a lady claiming to have survived 9/11 when her fiancée did not. She infiltrated her way into people's minds and souls and wasn't discovered for five years. Google "Tania Head." Made Patty think long and hard about "Cutter." Indeed...what makes people do this? Vieria has her theories.

Anonymous said...

Don't you remember what German magazines said?

"Apparently, the head of the family had at times also maintained relations with Sharon Tate. With him, they should have also learned not only to rub a salad bowl with garlic, but with hashish. As the friendship broke , he ordered her death."

Der Spiegel, 50/1969

Unknown said...

Yep, reason number 500 I avoid Ann Arbor like root canal.

orwhut said...

Cybot,
Let me reword this to see if I understand correctly. Did Der Spiegel really say that Charlie ordered Sharon's death because she quit having sex with him?

Anonymous said...

orwhut:

Yes, according to the text from the end of '69 (sex or relationship, not clear). But there's no source given.

They also say the family attacked the LaBianca's home because a car with a boat was in their way.

http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-45520373.html

Der Spiegel = The Mirror

orwhut said...

Thanks, Cybot,
I've been hearing about Der Speigel for decades and thought it was a well respected magazine. I've never read any of this before, and now am beginning to wonder how well they checked their information.

Anonymous said...

@orwhut:

I cannot say this. This article is quite old and I don't know the author(s). Der Spiegel/The Mirror is very popular, but they also make mistakes and have to sell stuff.
It's a bit like "TIME".

But 'Evil' Liz has posted this article before - it was about Sandra Good who is named Pugh in this article.

The translation is good because I used babelfish and checked the words by myself.

The whole article is interesting, but if you know eviliz.com, there's not much new stuff.

Anonymous said...

http://www.eviliz.com/2012_07_18_archive.html

I have to go to bed now, it's very late in central Europe.

AustinAnn74 said...

Yes, unfortunately he is living in the exact, same town as I.
Tear....

Jenn said...

Melton is an idiot, a liar, and is brain damaged pedophile. Other than that...

Unknown said...

nutmeg > oregano

fiona1933 said...

erm..is there a translation? As cybot said? I don't find one...