Monday, December 21, 2020

"The Book of the Dead"

The San Francisco Chronicle revealed, a week or so after Lynette Fromme was arrested for the assassination attempt, that the San Francisco Police Department had confiscated the Manson Family's "Book of the Dead" in 1972. 



 

Manson Clan's Book of the Dead

San Francisco Chronicle September 18, 1975

Excerpts from "The Book of the Dead" believed to have been the guiding "law" of the Charles Manson "family" in the southern California desert, were released to The Chronicle yesterday by the San Francisco Police Department.

 

The photos of the hand printed loose-leaf booklet reveal the leader of the murderous cult to be a male chauvinist. 

 

"Man is god and woman is his.  Woman will be slave to man to serve and bear child.  Woman is the key to paradise when she does what she is told and gives her King, Father, Lord and Master... no talk only her love... woman being directed only by man... and man taking as many as he wants as he ages." it was written in the book.

 

San Francisco Police obtained "The Book of the Dead" and other Manson family memorabilia as evidence in 1972 when Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme was arrested as a murder suspect.  The charges against her were later dropped.

 

Miss Fromme now stands accused of trying to assassinate President Gerald Ford in Sacramento earlier this month.  In the 1972 arrest police seized the evidence which included "The Book of the Dead."  There were also a list of names of some of Manson's followers written in blood, a multi-color vest worn by Manson and a number of designs that appear to have some deep meaning, but remain unexplained.

 

Officers photographed the evidence before turning it over to the young suspects defense lawyer.  Since 1972, the material has been part of the police department's intelligence file on the Manson family.

 

In another rather cryptic portion of the book, under the heading "LAW" is written:

"Man is the law... his word is final.  Outside your mark, do what you want to anyone, but inside this mark is only peace, wisdom and understanding with no lie for your brother- he is your life.

"If you are a leader of a pack and sign this book, then you are held for the action of all that follow you.

"Sign this book with your soul!  Giving life to your Lord and Slave Master.  To stand in one thought, think as one head, move as fingers on one hand.  Kill or be killed for one.  Leave your past, come to the thought of dying... Now!  Stay with now in your eyes, willing to die and happy to face death."

 

In another part of the book, under the heading "LAST RUN," there is a list of suggestions or orders on clothing, weapons and vehicles to be used for some apparently paramilitary operation.

 

For the clothing the book recommends dark green, brown or black garments, "clothes for hiding in the night and clothes that will last."

 

Two wheeled and three wheeled motorcycles are recommended- with extra gasoline apparently for cross-country trips.

 

Sandra Good, a Manson disciple and Miss Fromme's roommate, was contacted in Sacramento last night and asked to talk about the book.

 

She declined except to say that it was written for another time, "1969 when we were going into the desert."

 

The Lompoc Record, September 18, 1975, newspaper has some more details about what was in the book. Here are some outtakes from the article. Most of the article is the same as above.

“Knives are advised: “One for eating, one for killing.” 

“Grenades are gold” it says and 18-inch sawed off pump action shotguns are recommended.”




I do not recognize many of the names in the newspaper photo.  The resolution is bad among other things.  However, I do see "Gypsy Wagon" which is likely Catherine Share's signature and it looks like "Sunshine Pierce" under Gypsy's name. That might be "Fatherman", Dennis Rice, under Pierce's name. You can see "Blue" on the right.

The Chronicle article states that the book was confiscated when Lynette was arrested as a murder suspect in 1972.  That would have been the murders of James and Lauren Willett.  It also says that the book was eventually turned over to "the young suspects" defense attorney.  It's unclear to me which of the young suspects attorney the book was given to although the San Francisco police did photograph the book before turning it over.  Presumably they still have the photos in their files.

Robert J. Leahy was the attorney for Billy Goucher.  Unfortunately, Leahy as well as his two law partners have died.  I do not know who Lynette Fromme, Nancy Pitman  and Priscilla Cooper's attorneys were so I was not able to look them up.  Since the article says "young suspects" I doubt that the book was given to either Michael Monfort or James Craig's attorneys as they were older.

I suppose it's possible that which ever attorney received the book gave it back to their client but since it has never surfaced, it seems doubtful.

Back in November 2013 Eviliz wrote a post about "Squeaky's Book".  There seems to be some confusion in the comments about Squeaky's book and the "Book of the Dead."  Robert Hendrickson states in the comments that he has a picture of the cover of the "Book of the Dead" in his book "Death to Pigs" and he does.  But it's unclear if the book that Eviliz possesses is the "Book of the Dead" because she never posted any pages of it.  


From Robert Hendrickson's "Death to Pigs"


26 comments:


  1. Very interesting!

    Deb said:
    "....the San Francisco Police Department had confiscated the Manson Family's "Book of the Dead" in 1972.

    "Excerpts from "The Book of the Dead".... were released to The Chronicle yesterday by the San Francisco Police Department.

    "San Francisco Police obtained "The Book of the Dead" ... as evidence in 1972 when Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme was arrested...

    "Since 1972, the material has been part of the police department's intelligence file on the Manson family.

    "...the San Francisco police did photograph the book before turning it over."


    If Squeaky's arrests were in Stockton and Sacramento, why would the SFPD have this material? When did they open their 'intelligence file' on the Mansonoids? In 1972? Or 1967? I don't recall a single run-in between Family and the SFPD in all their time in the Haight, or anytime afterwards.

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  2. After the TLB murders Sandy and Lynette moved up to the San Francisco Bay Area for a time. It was a natural progression, Charlie was initially housed at San Quentin. If you recall during Lynette's trial for the assassination attempt there were witnesses that testified to taking Lynette to a shooting range near San Francisco. No doubt that law enforcement was keeping tabs on Family members, especially the members closest to Charlie and anyone they associated with. Once the arrests were made for the Willett's murders San Francisco was likely asked to interview known associates of Lynette and the book was taken into custody at that time.

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  3. It took looking at DEAD with all the letters, in the bottom photo to make me see the mostly gone initial D in the one at the top. I feel much better having solved the spelling problem.

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  4. DebS - I blew up the picture and figured out that it is not Sunshine Pierce's signature. He was ancient history by 1972. What it reads is "Dennis Rice" and right underneath it is "(fatherman)" in parentheses.

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  5. Gorodish, thanks! According to Sandy, in the newspaper story, the book was put together in 1969 so I thought there was a chance it was Sunshine Pierce. Do you recognize any of the other names?

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  6. "Fromme now stands accused of trying to assassinate President Gerald Ford in Sacramento earlier this month. In the 1972 arrest police seized the evidence which included "The Book of the Dead." "

    Sounds to me like the Sacramento PD or the Secret Service seized the book from her and Sandy's apt in Sacramento, not SF.

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  7. Why would the newspaper and SF PD lie about where the book was seized? If San Francisco had the book, they were the ones to seize it.

    Read Sandy's bio at Cielo Drive. Sandy and Lyn did not move to Sacramento until 1973.

    http://www.cielodrive.com/sandra-good.php

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  8. DebS thanks for the clarification. I got my dates confused....

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  9. Whatta ya know....Helter Skelter came with a handbook!

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  10. David. Dust off your FOIA forms.

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  11. DebS typed :

    Do you recognize any of the other names?

    Looking at the second signature from the bottom, the last name seems to have a "G" and "ll", which would most likely be Cathy Gillies. Some of the others are somewhat legible, but I don't recognize any of the names. Regardless of when this book was compiled, the signatures may not be from 1969, since I don't think Dennis Rice hooked up with the Family till 1970.

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  12. I find this amazing.

    Women signed their own slavery contract!? Of course, we all know women weren't high in the pecking order family style but to put their signatures to it???!!!

    Weren't Squeaky and Sandra well trained to be autonomous, for example?

    Also, given the purported amount of sexual activity going on, the women must surely have been taking the pill on the quiet. Very few babies. Of course, there was a bad diet and drugs... did they just have a lot of early miscarriages?

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  13. It is amazing, Milly, especially since women's lib was hitting its stride about that time.

    I doubt that any of the women were using contraception. It would have been difficult for the women to see a doctor or go to a clinic to get the prescription because they were rarely alone. And then there was the cost, how would they have paid for the pills monthly?

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  14. Blogger Peter said...
    David. Dust off your FOIA forms.
    -----------

    I've made an FOIA request, Peter, but who knows if and when it will be honored? San Francisco is on lockdown right now with only essential personnel going in for work. And this is not something that can be done by someone working from home. The records are likely in cold storage off-site since they are so old.

    I've had my money returned from Los Angeles for a death certificate request and that's a fairly simple request. California is suffering a stay at home order at this time. Once things open back up there's going to be a backlog of requests to be dealt with!

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  15. Re Deb's reply: Thank you. Sorry, I was clearly being anachronistic. In the UK contraception is free. I didn't think they'd have to pay for pills because of all those purported free clinics anyway. What a strange angle to explore!

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  16. My guess is due to the poor diet and bulimia to stay thin and please Charlie, the girls probably had irregular or no menstrual cycle. This happens to extremely thin athletes. Plus the filthy environment and drugs didn’t help.

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  17. I better post this before I forget...

    Happy Covidmas everyone! May your bubbles be merry, masked, annnnd memorable...and, may Isolation Covid Claus bring you all a fabulous bounty of custom designed masks and, other wonderful delights to you for curbside pickup!

    ������

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  18. On the other hand, John was right when he said that the world is run by the insane.
    It's even worse now, brother John.
    ...and so, "A Very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year
    let's hope it's a good one without any fear"-
    John Lennon's song-So This Is Christmas
    and I say, "let's hope it's a good one
    without any tears."
    Merry Christmas John and George, we miss you
    Merry Christmas Paul and Ringo
    Merry Christmas Leslie
    and to Everyone reading this
    There are no perfect ones
    whether they're old or young
    let's all hope it's gonna be better in the New Year
    and I hope that you all find some kindness and cheer

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  19. Happy Christmas Folks.

    Christmas Day here.

    Now, where are my presents?... the cat must have delivered something

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  20. Another mention here of the 'multicolor vest'. I'm wondering, is it the same vest featured in the Manson film or maybe another like it? Its been difficult to get more info. on the significance of the handmade vest. Interesting that it was maybe kept in close proximity to the book, like a ceremonial or significant object. While trying to learn more about the vest, I came across the fact that the play "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" was created right around the same time, inspired by the 'coat of many colors' story in the bible. A coincidence, I'm sure, but themes of family, leadership and betrayal permeate both Joseph and Charlie's stories.

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  21. DebS typed:

    The Chronicle article states that the book was confiscated when Lynette was arrested as a murder suspect in 1972. That would have been the murders of James and Lauren Willett. It also says that the book was eventually turned over to "the young suspects" defense attorney. It's unclear to me which of the young suspects attorney the book was given to although the San Francisco police did photograph the book before turning it over. Presumably they still have the photos in their files.

    Robert J. Leahy was the attorney for Billy Goucher. Unfortunately, Leahy as well as his two law partners have died. I do not know who Lynette Fromme, Nancy Pitman and Priscilla Cooper's attorneys were so I was not able to look them up. Since the article says "young suspects" I doubt that the book was given to either Michael Monfort or James Craig's attorneys as they were older."


    My guess would be, considering newspapers propensity in those days for typos, that "the young suspects lawyer" actually meant "the young suspect's lawyer", which would be Fromme. If that was the case, the lawyer that got her off on the Willett thing was Doug Vaughn. (source: Jess Bravin book). He most likely got the book, and probably gave it back to her.

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  22. If the picture was taken in 1969 that is not Priscilla Cooper as she did not come into the Family orbit until the Aryan Brotherhood came into the picture. I believe that is RuthAnn Moorehouse. Up until she pointed the gun at Ford I believe Fromme's and probably Good's attorney as well, was Paul Fitzgerald.

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  23. It's neither Priscilla Cooper nor Ruth Ann Moorehouse. It's Maria Alonzo. Squeaky's attorney for the Willet murders was Doug Vaughn. When Krenwinkel and Van Houten started pulling away from the Manson orbit around 1973-74, Fitzgerald started pulling away from Squeaky and Sandy, in order to facilitate Pat and Leslie's chances for parole.

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  24. When did Maria Alonzo join the Family? That makes sense about Fitzgerald, but didn't Fromme call Fitzgerald after she pointed the gun at Ford?

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  25. At the 31:16 timestamp in the video, you can catch a glimpse of some pages from the book. Check it out here: https://archive.org/details/KCRASP002FordAssassinationAttempt1975WMSmallX264

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