Sunday, April 26, 2015

Manson Tour 2015: Olancha - Karl Stubbs' Neighbor and Hannum Ranch

You may remember a post written from our phone interview a couple of years ago with "Kathleen Costello," the next door neighbor of Karl Stubbs. A review of that post will give a little background.

The murder of Mr. Stubbs happened in November of 1968. It is a killing that seemed to fit the Tex Watson pattern, but was never proven. We dropped in on Mrs. Costello. She recapped her memories from that time and we learned a little more.





This is the view of the Stubbs house from the Costello house. It's very close.
Note the small center structure. It is a pump house.


The right side of the Stubbs house. At center is the pump house. 
The white sedan driven by the young killers parked directly in front of it.


The driveway of the Costello residence looking towards the dirt road. Karl Stubbs, battered so badly that he couldn't walk and could not see because his eyes were swollen, shut crawled from his house and out to the road in front. He crawled to the horseshoe shaped Costello driveway and all the way into the residence. In trying to find the telephone he bloodied the file cabinet but was unable to find the phone. He crawled out again and out onto the dirt road, but he mistakenly took the right part of the horseshoe shaped drive. He then crawled left toward the next neighbor's property. He turned into what he thought was the next neighbor's drive but it was just the other side of the Costello's horseshoe shaped drive! At this point he didn't have the energy to go any further.

Later, Mr. Costello passed his property while hauling ore from the mine where he was employed to the mill where it would be processed. He spotted Karl and stopped to lend assistance.

Karl Stubbs passed away three days later. His murder has not been solved.

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Hannum Ranch Ruins

About a mile from the Stubbs house is Hannum Ranch. The Family, with the permission of David Hannum used the property as a storage area for supplies. It is also the ranch where Tex Watson holed-up with Dianne Lake after the TLB murders.










After: Jake's Saloon. Lone Pine, CA



The Next Morning - Mt Whitney 14,455 Ft. The highest peak in the lower 48.
The east end of the Sierras. Visible from Lone Pine, CA: