Charles Allen Beard

 

There are a few Manson Family members or associates that little or next to nothing is known about. Charles Beard is one of those people. In this post we will tell you all about Charles and what happened to him.

Lynette Fromme wrote in her book Reflexion a little about Charles Beard in the name she used for him, Chuck Grey with an asterisk. She writes at the beginning of her book, "The persons and events described in this book are real and true. In some instances, pseudonyms have been used to protect the privacy of individuals. In such cases the altered names are indicated by an asterisk (*) the first time they appear."

Lyn writes on pages 278 and 279. "Chuck Grey* wasn't a bad kid- at over six feet tall, hardly a kid at all- but in the eyes of the law he was underage. He had lived with the law all his life. Both his parents were police officers. He didn't say so until he realized we wouldn't hold it against him. Charlie told him the cops had been running us all over the county, and he wondered if his dad could help to keep them off our back. Chuck rolled his eyes.

"He's been on my back for seventeen years," he said. 

"A bully?"

"You could say that. We hardly know each other. All he knows how to do is give orders. They're never at home much anyway, and when they're not at work, they're sleeping."

"Are they looking for you?"

"Not really, they don't care, but they put on a show 'cause they don't want people to think they're bad parents."

Chuck was man-some, with green eyes that looked hungry for acceptance. He shaded that look beneath a low brow and a "fuck it" attitude, spending most of his time at the farmhouse."

Lyn continues on page 318. "One sunny day I heard a commotion outside, and Pearl came into George's house looking traumatized. From the doorway I saw two sheriff's squad cars in the yard, and seventeen-year-old Chuck Grey in the back of one of them. A scatter of people who had stopped in their tracks of their daily routines looked stunned. Finally, someone explained to me that Chuck, the son of two police officers, had just been arrested for rape. A woman in the first squad car had identified him as the man who hijacked her at knifepoint on Santa Susana Pass not a mile from The Ranch, and raped her on the backseat of her car. As shocking as the charge, the woman was almost sixty years old.

Murmurs of disbelief and denial failed to pick up momentum. The complacency on Chuck's face announced that he had done the deed. Those of us wondered why, based upon his good looks and access to girls, didn't understand rape. Chuck went away and didn't come back."

 I offer Lyn's recollections because it's about as close we are going to get to any background on Chuck other than what is on Deemer's List.

 

Chuck was born in Sacramento with the name and DOB as is on Deemer's list. His mother remarried a man with the last name of Green in 1962 when Chuck was 10-years-old. Chuck used his step-father's last name as his own.

Chuck was arrested for kidnapping and rape on July 21 1969. The rape occurred on July 17 1969 at 2:30 am, it was reported to law enforcement at 9:50 am that same day. The location of the kidnapping and rape according to the report was the N/E area of the Chatsworth hills.

The victim, Marilyn Marshall, passed away in 2004. She was 32 years old at the time of the kidnap/rape, not 60 as Lyn thought.

In the early morning hours of July 17 1969 Marilyn and a companion, Ronald Black went up in the Chatsworth hills for a little alone time in his vehicle, a white van.

The suspect, Chuck, was said to be driving a '57 Ford, White, two-door, license plate HET 365.

What follows is the narrative on the police report. It is difficult to read because it is handwritten and not a great copy. I've transcribed it as well as I can, there are a few words I could not make out or deduce from what had been written. It's full of abbreviations which I explain the first time they appear in the report.

The vict [victim] stated that on the abv [above] date and time she was in the Chatsworth hills with wit 1 [Witness 1] Black, Ronald (arrest GTA RPT booking [there's a number here but I can't make the whole thing out] Vict and wit 1 were outside of wit 1 veh [vehicle]

Susp [suspect] came from behind vict and stated "Don't move". Vict felt a poss [possible] 22 rifle next to her back and shoulder and stated "You've got to be kidding"

Susp stated "No I'm not, get in the car I'll tell you where to drive" Vict complied and wit 1 drove in front of the vict in a white van ???

Vict lost sight of wit 1 at which time the susp stated "turn here" (indicating RT) vict complied and after completing turn slowed down and jumped out of the veh. Vict began to run and suspect followed

Susp caught vict and held a 10" hunting knife up to vict and stated "I won't hurt you" and threw knife to side, susp then removed vict clothes and his own and forced vict to lie down ??? west at which time susp had sexual intercourse with vict, penetrating vaginal orfice.

After completing sexual intercourse with vict susp stated "My name is Iverson. What's your name?" vict gave name and susp stated "If you tell the cops I'll kill you and your kids"

Susp then left in an unk [unknown] direction. Vict ran to a paved public highway and called for assistance.

Injury: MT at Northridge receiving by Dr. Collins who stated, laceration, contusion, abrasion ?? ???? shoulder

Pelvic exam- some dirt (earth) and pieces of leaves in and about the vaginal area Vaginal and cervical smears taken slides to LAPD Sutured ?? laceration on back of head.

The report written after Chuck's arrest says that he was booked under the name Charles Alan Manson with a birth date 12-31-46. Once in court for the arraignment he told the court he was 17 years old. His mother provided a birth certificate and his true name to the court. Chuck then had his case transferred to juvenile court.

The evidence against him was slides that contained sperm and a finger print that was Chuck's found on the victim's vehicle.

Since the case was bound over to juvenile court there are no more documents relating to this case. Juvenile records are sealed and I'm kind of surprised that these two documents still exist. I can only assume Chuck was convicted and served some time.

Documents relating to this case.

Chuck's story doesn't end there and what follows is a mind bender.

December 13 1972 Charles Alan Green, 21, of Sacramento was arrested along with two other men, Edwin Lee Earle, 21, and Patrick Leo Mlenek, 19, for the murders of two Mexican nationals who were found in a shallow grave near the town of Folsom. Earle was armed with the revolver thought to be used in the killing. Subsequent articles say a total of five people were picked up and questioned but released without charges. Earle was the sole person tried and convicted of the murders. This gives you an idea who Chuck was running with after being released from juvenile hall.

 

 Many thanks to Starviego who started a thread on Chuck Green at MoA'69 and Taborfresca who posted a link to an appeal which sealed the deal in identifying Charles Green in the appeal as the same Chuck Green who was with the Family.

August 24 1977 a 25-year-old Chuck Green married 16-year-old Karen Fredrickson in Carson City Nevada. They had a rocky relationship. By October 1977 the two were on the verge of splitting up. On October 11 1977, along with a friend of Chuck's, he and Karen went for a drive to a neighboring county. Ultimately Chuck shot Karen in the face with a shot gun and killed her. He was quickly apprehended and charged with murder, robbery and kidnapping, The cruel and callous manner of her death is described in the appeal.

Taborfresca noticed a footnote in the appeal (FN 31) that read "On several occasions the report indicated that defendant was marginally involved with the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang and had used the alias "Charles Manson." "

Chuck received the death penalty for murdering his young wife. He was the first person to receive the death penalty after it was reinstated in California. 

The appeal was beneficial to Chuck. The appeals court threw out the kidnapping and robbery charges. Following the 1977 Furman-Gregg death penalty cases the California legislature, like many states, decided that there should be one of six special circumstances to be met for the death penalty to be imposed by the jury. The DA trying the case used the special circumstance of the murder having been committed during the act of a felony crime. He named two, in fact, robbery and kidnapping. The appeals court threw out robbery because it occurred after the murder. The murder did not occur during the commission of the robbery.

The kidnapping special circumstance was thrown out as well because the DA, at trial, argued three separate kidnapping events, 1. Picking Karen up 2. Driving her to the river and 3. Walking her to the killing spot (90 feet). The appeals court didn’t consider #1 because she went willingly as a result of a lie for kidnapping to be actionable the victim must act in response to force or a threat of force. It didn’t consider #3 because the distance she was forced to travel was too short. That left #2 which they agreed was permissible but because the appeals court didn’t know which of the three the jurors based their decision on (or perhaps all three) the kidnapping special circumstance was thrown out. Chuck’s sentence was converted to life in prison with the possibility of parole. (Thank you, David, for explaining to me what the appeal meant)

Chuck is still in prison, under the name Charles Alan Green. He is at Mule Creek Prison where Tex Watson was housed for many years until his transfer to a San Diego prison. I have no idea if the two had a reunion or if they were there at the same time. Chuck has had more than 10 parole hearings and has been denied or he has stipulated unsuitability on the parole hearing date. On February 5 2020 Chuck was granted parole, on May 29 2020 the governor reversed the parole board’s decision. Since I haven’t read the transcripts, I don’t know if the Manson taint had anything to do with the reversal.

Karen’s parents went to Chuck’s parole hearings to give victim’s impact statements any time he has come up for parole. Her father died in 2015.

It was Doris Tate, Sharon Tate’s mom, who was instrumental in getting Proposition 8, the Victim’s Rights Bill passed in 1982 so that Karen’s parents had a right to have a say in what happened to their daughter’s killer.

Los Angeles Times

Thanks to Buntline who wouldn't let go of Charles Allen Beard until he knew the whole story.

UPDATE! This just in from Cielodrive who was able to get a copy of Green's parole reversal. All I can say is WOW, this guy was bad news.

Cielodrive was also able to get some mug shots of Green.

Mid-century Modern Gladiators?

Somebody was having fun with a "source" for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and I bet it wasn't a seasoned source from one of the alphabet agencies.

courtesy of realmofhistory.com 

July 31, 1969

Office Correspondence

From: Sergeant William Gleason

Motorcycle File

To: Captain James C. White

Records and Data Bureau

Subject: Weapons and Explosives in Possession of Outlaw Motorcycle Club, Malibu Station Patrol Area

Earlier this date, this writer received the following information from Los Angeles Police Department Devonshire Division Officers Marshall and Patten.

The officers advised that they had received information from a confidential source the members of the Satans Slaves, Hells Angels, and Galloping Gooses were presently living at Spahn Movie Ranch, Santa Susana Road, Chatsworth. These persons are reportedly in possession of a .50 caliber machine gun, along with a number of cases of dynamite. The source also stated that the dynamite is wired to a large amount of marijuana that is buried on the Ranch property. The exact location of the machine gun, dynamite, and marijuana is unknown. The Spahn Movie Ranch encompasses several hundred acres of land.

The source told the officers that the various clubs are gathering at the Spahn Ranch in preparation for a gang war. It is unknown what other clubs the above-mentioned clubs are planning to fight with, or where this gang war is to take place. Apparently, the above-mentioned clubs are going to fight smaller outlaw clubs in the Southern California area. The source stated that when the above-mentioned clubs feel like they are up to full strength, they will have a party for approximately one week and that after this party, they will fight the other clubs.

The Los Angeles Police Department Division verified that there were several members of the various clubs living at Spahn Ranch, also that two clips of .30 caliber ammunition have been found in the Spahn Movie Ranch area.

This writer has had reports of members of various clubs staying at the ranch, also Malibu Station has made some arrests at the ranch including an Assault With Deadly Weapon arrest reported under file 469-00721-1071-055.

The Devonshire Division officers will forward any further information, as it is received.

Sergeant Stern, Intelligence Bureau, was contacted and notified of the above. Sergeant Stern has previously received the same information from another source.

For Your Information.

(signed) William C. Gleason

Robert Rinehard

 

It probably wouldn't surprise you to learn that Robert Rinehard wasn't really Robert Rinehard. Other than the picture of him standing with a sad Charles Manson as both were arrested in the Spahn Ranch Raid of August 16 1969 next to nothing is known about him.

Rinehard was the Straight Satan that was sent to the ranch to fetch Danny DeCarlo and take him back to the Satan's clubhouse.

The blog has been able to obtain Rinehard's rap sheet and it reveals his true name as well as another alias he used. I think the reason Rinehard looked he looked like he did in that picture with Manson is because he knew his goose was cooked.

Rinehard was Robert Stanley Wotisky and an escapee from California's Chino State Prison. He had escaped on February 3 1969. He was there on a second-degree burglary charge out of Los Angeles County and given a sentence of 6 months to 15 years. 

Robert Wotisky was born in Illinois July 21 1939 but grew up in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. He had two older sisters and two older brothers according to the 1940 and 1950 censuses. His parents' names were George and Caroline Wotisky.

Robert's criminal history began in Pennsylvania back in 1956 with an auto theft charge. He had a number of arrests and convictions under the name of Wotisky. A lot of those charges were for burglary. In 1965 he was sentenced 6 months to 23 1/2 months in a Pennsylvania prison. After his release he came to California and started using the name Robert Dovell.

Wotisky aka Dovell came to the attention of California authorities in 1967. He was shot and wounded by a Monrovia police officer while making a hasty retreat from the scene of a robbery. Since his rap sheet shows that this was simply an inquiry and not an arrest. It's possible that law enforcement did not want the burden of his medical bills and let him off any charges.

He was arrested once in 1968 under the Dovell name for drugs and once in his Wotisky name for burglary, the charge that landed him in Chino.

Wotisky was married and had two children at the time of the raid. His wife was pregnant with their third child. I'm not sure what happened to him immediately after the Raid but since he had escaped from prison his fingerprints were no doubt in the system. He was likely sent back to prison to serve out the rest of his sentence. His wife had their third child in January 1970 back in Pennsylvania. She had returned to California by 1974.

In 1974 Wotisky was at home with his family, in the early hours of June 24th when an explosion rocked his neighborhood. His next-door-neighbor's home had a natural gas leak and the house exploded. Wotisky and his wife went to the window to see what had happened when a second explosion went off. That explosion injured both of them and Wotisky lost sight in one eye.

Apparently Wotisky could not live with losing his sight and other injuries. A little more than six months after the explosion he committed suicide January 17 1975 in Ventura County by an overdose of barbiturates, according to his death certificate. He was 35 years old. He is buried in Ivy Lawn Cemetery in Ventura California.

His wife, on behalf of the children, filed a wrongful death lawsuit asking for $4 million.

There's a new contender for Manson's estate!

 Just when you and Jason Freeman thought this estate stuff was going to be wrapped up, along came a new contender. GW filled me in about this story last weekend but he's not available to write it up. So, here goes...

courtesy of meaww.com

The new contender is Daniel Arguelles a real estate agent who deals in high end properties in the Los Angeles area.  

The Daily Mail announced a few of days ago that Daniel Arguelles' attorneys had crafted a document that lays out a convincing case for Charles Manson to have been Daniel's father. 

The documents claim Daniel's mother had had a one-night stand with Manson around January 25 1959. On November 1 1959 Daniel was born.

A post on Manson's activities during the time in question.

But that's not all. Daniel took an Ancestry DNA test, that came back showing he had a close relationship to Michael Brunner. Michael contacted Daniel through the Ancestry messaging option and they agreed to take a further DNA test. That test showed that there was a 99.9998% probability that they had the same father. Okay, now we are getting somewhere! The judge put a pin in the August 12th hearing and set a date of October 20th to hear the details of the new claim.

Follow the Daily Mail link above to read the six-page document. There is quite a bit more detail. 

This is Daniel's profile from his Zillow page-

Daniel Arguelles

About me

Luxury Home Sales Agent (16 years experience)

Specialties- Buyer's agent   Listing agent   Foreclosure   Short-Sale

Dan Arguelles' unique qualities are what make him stand out in the real estate business. His extensive knowledge of communities and the people living in them are a major asset when it comes to selling big-time houses or small condos. Dan was a former 12-year Malibu resident, but in the 80s, he appeared in print ads, catalogs, Sunset Boulevard billboards, coffee table books, (Avedon Fashion, Men without Ties), as well as numerous television commercials and feature films, even making his own feature film. Working with renowned figures such as photographers Richard Avedon and Herb Ritz, designers Armani and Versace, filmmakers/ directors Ridley Scott, Michael Bay, and models like Christie Brinkley, Gia, Jerry Hall, and Beverly Johnson gave him the best experience needed in real estate: communication, people skills, and negotiation.

Dan has lived in many cities all over the world including Paris, London, Milan, Tokyo, Durbin, South Africa and New York City. Because of his travels and exposure to different living situations, he knows houses inside and out. Using this knowledge of the world's real estate, in 2006, Dan decided to answer an ad to work at Shorewood Realtors in Manhattan Beach as an agent. A year after joining Shorewood Realtors, Dan was recognized with the Rising Star Award in 2007 and he never looked back. While selling Manhattan Beach real estate Dan has represented a host of celebrities in many different fields of entertainment, sport, and business. Some include corporate relocation, Northrop Grumman, and Space X. Dan has been featured in the press by The Los Angeles Times, Dig's Magazine, The Beach Reporter, and was lucky to make a brief appearance on the show, "Million Dollar Listing." In Manhattan Beach, Dan specialized in beachfront properties. Dan looks forward to helping you fulfill your dreams here in Malibu.

Wow! That's quite a resume. Naturally, I had to scour the social media sites to see all about the modeling gigs. No disappointment there, here are a few of the photos I found.

Danny with Kelly LeBrock and Jason Salvas

Danny had an inkling that his father was someone famous

We will definitely be keeping an eye on this latest development.  Stay tuned!

The Gleason Report August 11 1969

William Gleason

The same day that Chief John Knox filed his report on the Manson Family Sergeant William Gleason filed his own report. While there is much the same information in the Gleason report as the Knox report there are also some little nuggets that bear discussion.

Taking both reports into consideration I have a hard time believing that there were one or more government placed informants.  It seems to me that there were enough young female runaways who were more than willing to speak to the police after their stay at Spahn Ranch. These girls stayed just a few days or sometimes a few weeks but were savvy enough to get the hell out of there and back to their parents. I'm sure their moms and dads never looked so good after getting a taste of communal living.

The girls apparently told their parents all about Spahn Ranch and Charlie Manson and in turn the parents went to the authorities to report the situation. Contrary to Manson's edict that the kids at the ranch were throw-aways whose parents didn't care about them, these parents had filed missing persons reports and actively looked for their kids. One mother went so far, in the Knox report, to personally confront Charles Manson at Spahn.

If you consider the information given by the girls, and confirmed by police after their own investigations, and the number of times that law enforcement was called to Spahn in the spring and summer of 1969 it's no wonder that they were well aware of the activities taking place. You can tell by the dialogue in the report that the teenaged girls were considered informants. There was no reason to embed an informant at Spahn Ranch.

During the spring and summer of 1969 authorities had arrested 16 people from the Family in the Bread Truck Bust, arrested Manson for the assault on Danny DeCarlo's wife, arrested Manson for the rape of a 17-year-old girl, arrested Steve Grogan for the indecent exposure charge, questioned the ranch residents about the murder of Mark Walts and periodically looked for runaways at the ranch. 

That's not counting the investigation of the car theft ring that had information coming into them from numerous businesses in the area. The neighbors around Spahn Ranch also contributed to the intel gathered by law enforcement.

There is more than enough documentation about all of these events that casts doubt that there were any covert operations by the CIA or any other government agency. The Family members, by their actions and deeds, essentially informed on themselves. 

Also, in this report you will read about the large sums of cash that Manson used to buy dune buggies and parts. A report that Sadie was cashing $3,000.00 checks at a local bank. If true, this was likely checks that Juanita Wildebush would have received from back east. As a point of reference, $3,000.00 in 1969 translates to $24,218.75 in today's dollars. Great! The Family members were eating out of dumpsters and dressing from a communal pile of clothes but, by golly, Manson had the cash to buy dune buggies.

This report again mentions a Venice Riot where a Negro had his ear bitten by a Caucasian male. Funny that when I went to look this up, the newspapers referred to the riot as a Love-In. There is really no indication that any Family members or Black Panthers attended this Love-In/Riot but since there were 7,000 in attendance it can't be ruled out. Lots of arrests though.

Before I forget, a small thing. If you look on page four of the report, third paragraph from the bottom, Gleason writes, "The subject was told by Manson that once she joined the "Family" at the ranch she couldn't leave the ranch." Huh? I thought Manson insisted that they never referred to themselves as the Family, that was a label laid on them by the press or something.

Hinman Progress Report 12-4-69

This is a progress report compiled by Deputy's William Gleason and George Palmer of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. There are summations of interviews done with Nancy Pitman and Stephanie Schram. Also, the recounting of an interview of Susan Rogers, an inmate at the county jail housed with Susan Atkins. The interview with Rogers did not yield any information except to convey that Susan was blabbing about her exploits to anyone who would listen. Apparently, Ronnie Howard and Virginia Graham were not the only inmates Susan spoke with about her crimes.

The interview of Nancy Pitman has a little more information than Nancy has parted with in other interviews or court testimony. She's quite chatty.  Whether or not it is all true is anyone's guess. Nancy does say that it was Juanita Wildebush that gave George Spahn the $5000.00 not Manson. I suppose that's splitting hairs a bit because I'm sure that Manson would point out that if it wasn't for him Juanita would have never known about Spahn Ranch to give George the money.

Then there's the recap of Stephanie Schram interview with Gleason and Palmer. Cielodrive has the Q and A version of this interview posted at his site. 

It is interesting to compare the two. It's akin to a "this is what I said and this is what you heard exercise." One noticeable difference that I saw is that the summation claims that Manson threatened to cut off the women's breast if they dared to disobey him. Stephanie never said that in the interview.

In both the summation and the actual interview Stephanie says that she and Manson visited Dennis Wilson at his home on Sunset. I thought that Dennis let the lease run out at the end of August 1968.    

This is supposed to be a progress report on the Hinman murder but there is very little in the document related to his murder.

Deb Silva Uncovers the First Spahn Raid

"Don't try to play The Man...Because the next time you try it, you'll find yourself hanging from a tree upside down, dead." 

If you're Charlie, you say that to firemen. And then the firemen inform the police. The police, natch, send the threat up the ladder to this guy who (to me at least) does not look like he fears hippies, slippies, or any other dang dirty commie. 

Stick me up in a tree. I double dog dare ya!

That's John P. Knox, Chief at LASO Patrol Division West in 1969. Manson Blog researcher and author Deb Silva recently unearthed reports Knox received regarding the scene at Spahn's Movie Ranch, known in the following reports as Spahn Ranch, during the Summer of 1969. The first three pages are missing, but you can read from the fourth page forward by following this link: pdf.

I'll leave the reading to you, it's worth your time, and instead touch on a couple of things that jumped out at me. I'd love to hear what you think below. 

- We wondered about this previously but the reason Mr. X, Jack Gordon, Ruth Gordon, and Carol Loveless have mugshot photos included with others arrested in the more famous August 16th raid might be because they were swooped up in the caves near Spahn's prior to the main raid.  

You will see in the pdf that the LAPD contacts the LASO the second week of July and is all, "Dudes we're looking for juvie arsonists and robbers. Might they be out there somewhere laying low?" 

And the LASO said, "Maybe. They're never super smart about where they hide. I'll get back to you." 

TWO HOURS LATER....The LASO people find the bad children. Seriously, how bad do you suck as a criminal if the cops find you in two freakin hours? Get a new career before it's too late oh you juveniles of 1969! 

The police at some point also possibly stumble upon Jack, Ruth, Carol, and X while out spelunking. I'd always heard the runaways hid in the caves but maybe an entire alternative society was up there who knows. I've also always believed successful drug dealers live in caves. I bet life was awesome. 

In what many would call snitching, Jack spills the beans on some Ranch facts. And also admits to knowing one of the bikers. Those games are dangerous, my dear Jackie Boy. 

Moving on: 

- Several neighbors admit to being terrorized

- Other neighbors offer to help law enforcement remove the group at Spahn's 

- Spahn's son says George Spahn is afraid to leave the Ranch over fear of retaliation

- Law enforcement appears to be playing it straight and by the book in their efforts

- Laura Ann Sheppard returns to the blog today. Her mother, pictured below with Laura, went to the Ranch searching for her daughter and watched her scamper away. Panicked, she talked to Charlie and got nowhere. 

I've seen Laura Ann Sheppard shamed in the comments section of this blog in the past. If any of you rotten assholes are still alive, post up a photo of yourself from back in the day and let's compare. I will wait. 

Not all of these kids were throwaways. Some of them met the wrong people at the wrong time. 

- The police are told Charlie makes juvenile girls bathe grown men in a big wooden tub. I've never heard that before. Have you? 

- The police think Charlie's group is growing booby-trapped weed.

- A group of men at the Ranch are observed having knife throwing practice August 8th, 1969. 

- Mrs. Greene & her father confirm groups of "negroes" are in the area.

- A Straight Satans biker bites the nose off a black man in a Venice Beach riot and retribution is feared.

- Dumb Danny uses his wife's maiden surname as an alias. Super Derrrrrr. 

-Someone tells the cops Charlie is coming back from SF August 8th with a load of narcotics. The police leave the news at rumor status. Seven people will read what I just wrote, verify it in the report, and decide once and for all the motive is drugs. Who can blame them? The possible becomes the probable in a flash here in Mansonland and it'll always be that way. 

Charlie and the Family were likely done before Cielo and Waverley happened. Law enforcement was closing in and the community was sick of their shenanigans. I hate to think it, but Sharon Tate and the others probably would've lived if another week was allowed to pass. It's such a shame. The cops were so close. 

Don't do anything illegal. Beware of the Eagle. 

(You Are My) Sunshine Pearce

Howdy. I hope everything is groovy with you. At the time of this missive, we await the dropping of potentially big news in Mansonland. When you find out, you're gonna be like no freakin way but I'll just nod and smile like a sage. I might even shoot you a quick wink if no one is watching. 

We're also waiting to hear back from other people on other funny and not so funny things. But you know how that one goes. Everybody and their brother has secrets waiting on the other side of Gmail until they disappear back into the ether that spawned them. 

Never once do you receive the photos you craved when you first received this bag of curses btw. Ever.

Anyway, several posts are half done and I was struggling for a post over the weekend. In desperation, I turned to Didion.

Thankfully, Sir Buntline Heskey of Airportshire swooped in and saved everyone from a Greenwhite lecture about old people in prison with young people. Please thank him below. 

This post can also be considered part of the Trafficking series brought to you by a shadowy group known as The Scholars. If you're (like me) a fan of seeing the background puzzle pieces filled in, this quick workup is for you. 

Without further ado...

-------------

(via Buntline. My comments will be in parenthesis when necessary.) 

Sorry but Sanders has led me down another rabbit hole. This time with Charles "Sunshine" Pierce.

"In the middle of April of 1969, a young Texan named Charles Pierce, aka Sunshine, was hanging out on the Sunset Strip when he met Ella Sinder, aka Yeller, and Sadie. Charles Pierce was a young man from Midland, Texas who had come to California in order to surf and hang out in the sun and just enjoy himself. Sadie and Ella persuaded Charles "Sunshine" Pierce to visit the Spahn Ranch, where Sunshine gave up everything — his money, his I.D. and his silver 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner, which Manson gladly received and used for a while, and then gave it away to Randy Starr."

Here is every time Sunshine is mentioned in Ed Sanders' The Family. (You can also read the book free of charge there if you wish.)

Long story short, Sunshine Pierce scampered back to Texas on June 4th, 1969, after Manson asked him to kill someone, most likely Terry Melcher.

Considering I have heard of Sunshine quite a bit, and have him on my list of family members, little about him exists online. And he often called Edward "Sunshine" Pierce. Thankfully, our pal Earl mentions a friend of Ella Jo Bailey...

I believe Sunshine is Charles Grant Pearce, born May 27, 1949, in Clarksville, Texas.

Here's Sunshine at Lee High School in Midland, Texas.

(Pearce was an Army Ranger in Vietnam. He died too early at fifty-three.) 

From Pearce's obit:

Grant was a talented musician and loved to sing and play the guitar, playing in several bands. He loved to fish and spend time with his family and friends. His outgoing, fun-loving personality made him a favorite of many. He will be greatly missed by all those who loved him.

-------------

Three cheers for Sir Buntline. He's unrivaled in this thing right now. Looking ahead, Manson Blog has something from Starviego in the works, and I will be sure to hop in with any breaking, awesome news if anything jumps off. Until then, high five me.