Monday, June 10, 2024

Odds and Ends




 There's some more scratch in the linked file. There's a precursor to Deemer's list with a couple of names I don't recall being on the final list. And there are a couple of memos written by Millie McCormack, DA Frank Fowles secretary, about Susan Atkins and her child. I think we all knew that Susan kidnapped her son from the Sylmar Welfare Center but it's nice to see it in writing.

Scratch 3 File




14 comments:

starviego said...

Thanks, Deb. On the second to last page we have this:

"3. He also said that Sadie is wanted by the L.A.P.D. on questioning on a murder booking according to an article in the 10-14-69 Examiner."


What murder booking? Had she been identified as a suspect in the Hinman killing by then? Can anybody access the Oct 14, '69 issue of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner to see what they are talking about?

CieloDrive.com said...

Nice work Deb!

Star, likely related to
this

starviego said...

Thanks Cielo. I wonder how Atkins' name made it to the Herald Examiner the day after her conversation with Whitely and Guenther. Two possibilities:

--Someone in the investigation was tipping someone off at the newspaper. But why?

--Reporters for the newspaper were already up in Lone Pine at the time, and had heard of Atkins' confession. But why would they have been up there?

CieloDrive.com said...

Star, I believe the LA Public library has the Herald Examiner archives. I think you have to be at the branch to see it though. But if you're local you can find that edition

Torque said...

Great stuff as always, Deb. Thanks for this.

starviego said...


"Sadie is wanted by the L.A.P.D. on questioning on a murder"


'Cept the LAPD wasn't investigating the Hinman case. And the LASO could not have been looking for Atkins, as they knew she was in custody, and has just interviewed her.

To me this is just more evidence that they already had their prime suspects in sight, long before Sadie's blab to her cellmates.

Gorodish said...

DebS scribed:

There's a precursor to Deemer's list with a couple of names I don't recall being on the final list.

I noticed two names on this list that didn't make Deemer's. One was Rick "Droopy" Nelson, the legendary Satan Slaves biker with the even more legendary purple 1947 Harley knucklehead. Droopy was known to hang out at Spahn, and he allegedly had a long rambling letter from Manson in his possession when he passed away in 2007.

The other was Wayne "Blackjack" Peterson, who I believe was another biker. DebS did a post about him about a year and a half ago. Little is known about him, other than the fact he was from Eau Claire, WI (Mary Brunner country). Most likely he was another fringe character in the Spahn Ranch saga.

Gorodish said...

Correction- Droopy passed away in 2014, not 2007. He still had the purple '47 knucklehead and the Manson letter.

CieloDrive.com said...

Wasn't Droopy the Satan who had a thing for Gypsy?

orwhut said...

O.T.

This report immediately reminded me of, The Hawaiian Hamburger Caper.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/2-arrested-after-deputies-say-they-found-cocaine-inside-a-cheeseburger/ar-BB1ofbyu?OCID=ansmsnnews11

PlasticVision said...

Interesting noting the capture of the family bus - In my recent Paul Watkins book I have created, I was super lucky enough to have been given some shots of the Manson Bus at Barkers Ranch post-Tate-Labianca. An image from outside, and one capturing the inside of the bus. As well as shots of the ranch from the early 70s and near Butte Valley.

TabOrFresca said...

PlasticVision said:

“In my recent Paul Watkins book I have created,”

Is this book described somewhere?

How does one obtain the book?

PlasticVision said...

It’s called ‘The last Desert Sun’ 🌞

TabOrFresca said...

What occurred on 10-14-69 is unclear to me. Possibly human error and coincidence make this more of a mystery than it is.

Did the source of the newspaper article say LAPD instead of LASO? Did the newspaper reporter write LAPD instead of LASO? Did the reader of the newspaper article believe it said LAPD when it in fact said LASO?

A much later UPI “Timetable” newspaper article mentions:

“October 15 - Police became aware of similarities between Tate-LaBianca murders and the slaying of musician Gary Hinman, 34, last July.”
(See BOX-12a page 162)

The Second LaBianca Progress Report was supposed to have been completed on October 15. It mentions Manson as a possible suspect.

Gleason, Whiteley, and Guenther appear in a photo taken at Barker Ranch around 10-14-69. Was this trip a boondoggle for Whiteley and Guenther, who were working on Hinman? Unless they thought they may find “Mary” there, they don’t belong there.

Gleason is a different story, for he was highly involved in the Spahn Raid and knew a lot about Manson and the Family.

Gleason’s interaction and non-interaction with Whiteley and Guenther is either puzzling or just part of fate and coincidence.

Gleason interviews Lutesinger before the Spahn Raid but doesn’t know she was arrested during the raid. In either case he fails to pass information to Whiteley and Guenther.

Guenther says he arrested Atkins on 10-13-69. He also says he learned of Brunner, not from Schram, Atkins or Krenwinkel, but from Gleason the first part of November.
(See BOX-59b pages 1086-1089)

Did Gleason find out that Mary was Mary Brunner after Barker or fail to pass this info to Whiteley until a later date?

Brunner (who was arrested on 8-8; released on 9-23; flew to Wisconsin on 9-24) was at Spahn Ranch on 10-14 because of court related stuff such as child custody and the forgery charge. On this date an investigator from the public defenders office interviewed Brunner concerning Hinman. Did the investigator, presumably for Beausoleil, just get hired and go to Spahn to see if anyone knew about Hinman or was he seeking out Mary? In any case, Mary was the only one around.
(See BOX-59b page 975)

A lot happened between October 12 and 15. Sometimes things happen that are hard to believe.