We have explored a few of the unsolved murders that are said
to have been discussed on the elusive Tex Tapes. It has been reported that there were up to 12
murders that could be on the tapes and attributed to members of the Manson
Family. The Los Angeles District
Attorney’s office has not said specifically which 12 murders they are but, we
know of quite a few that have been suggested as “Manson Murders” from various
sources.
Tex Watson was in Texas at the time of the Gaul/Sharp
murders so I’m not sure why anyone would think that he spoke of these murders
to his attorney, Bill Boyd.
As far as we
know Tex did not communicate with anyone in the Family after he left California
and I’m not sure how he would have known where to contact them after the Barker
Ranch raids.
However, the Gaul/Sharp
murders have consistently cropped up as having been committed by the Family,
more specifically by Bruce Davis, and they have been mentioned in articles about the
Tex Tapes.
Doreen Gaul and James Sharp’s bodies were found November 21
1969 at around 11:00 PM in an alley behind the residence at 1138 South Magnolia,
Los Angeles. They had been placed there
after death. Doreen was nude except for
a necklace that newspaper articles described as “Indian beads”. James was fully clothed except for shoes. James had an ID bracelet on his wrist with
his name, saying he was a member of the Church of Scientology which is why they
were identified so quickly.
Both had been stabbed numerous times with a knife blade that
measured ½” to 1” in width and 4” in length.
There were also patterned marks on their bodies, they were thought to
have been whipped by a chain. Semen was
found on and in Doreen’s body. Each of
their right eyes had been slashed. These
were very gruesome murders.
Doreen Gaul, 19 years-old, was from Albany NY.
She had been in California for about six
months prior to her death.
She was the
oldest of four children.
Before learning
about Scientology, she had gone to parochial school in Albany, graduating in
1968 and was said to be a devout Roman Catholic.
Doreen’s father said she had been planning on
coming home as she had become disenchanted with Scientology.
James Sharp, 15 years-old, came from an upper-class family
who lived in the suburb of Crestwood outside of St. Louis MO. His father, a prosperous salesman, said that
James was very, very intelligent and he had given James permission in June 1969
to travel to California to study Scientology.
Early on the murders were branded the Scientology Murders
much to the church’s dismay.
Newspaper
articles made a loose connection between the Church of Scientology and The
Process Church of the Final Judgement saying that the Process was an offshoot
of Scientology. That was probably true
in a sense as Robert DeGrimston, founder of The Process, was a former
Scientologist but there was no legitimate connection between the two, neither
church supported the other’s ideology.
A December 10 1969 Los Angeles Times article made a
connection between Charles Manson and the Church of Scientology saying Manson
was known to have dabbled in Scientology.
If I remember correctly, a Scientology E-meter was found during the
Spahn Ranch raid August 16 1969. That is
likely how law enforcement knew Manson had knowledge of Scientology so early
after his being charged with the Tate LaBianca murders.
The Scientologists really got into a dither about the rumors
swirling around and to that end they made a public statement. They believed that authorities and others
were trying to tie their organization to the Tate LaBianca murders. Due to these rumors, they offered $30,000. in
rewards which were not for the arrest and conviction of those who murdered
Doreen and James but rather the rewards were for cleaning up their reputation.
“The $30,000 reward- $10,000 for each of three categories-
was posted for information leading to prosecution and conviction of persons
responsible for these alleged acts:
1 * Impeding investigation into the murders of
Doreen Gaul, 19, and James Sharp, 15, found slain Nov. 5* in an alley. Both were members of the church. * The church
got the date wrong, the two were killed Nov. 21st.
2 *“Knowingly causing to be denied” to police
information about “this vile and murderous act.”
3 * Causing circulation of falsehoods including
allegations that the church membership “includes notorious individuals… never
members of the Church of Scientology… but held by police in connection with
other charges.”
From the San Bernardino County Sun December 13, 1969 Page 5
A November 26, 1969 Los Angeles Times article quoted Lt. Deemer saying that there might be a connection between the murder of Jane Doe 59, more
recently identified as Reet Jurvetson from Canada, and the Gaul Sharp
murders. The similarities cited that all
three victims were stabbed repeatedly by an apparent “fanatic”. Jane Doe wore hippie clothing much like Doreen
was known to wear and was favored by many young female Scientologist. To that end an investigation was being made
to find out whether or not Jane Doe might have been a member of Scientology.
The third similarity was that both Doreen and Jane Doe had arrived to the Los
Angeles area recently which was determined by the absence of smog in the lungs.
In the interest of presenting the facts of the case we are providing a 22 page pdf of the police report.
When reading the police reports you will find a Property
Report on page 5 of the pdf. Lines 2, 6,
and 10 say “threat” when referring to something found on James person. I believe this is a typo and should read
“thread”.
Page 5 also says that a hair was found in James right
hand. On page 19 of the pdf the report states
the hair is identified as having the texture of Mexican or Indian hair. I assume they are referring to Native
Americans when they say Indian. I can’t
think of anyone associated with the Family would fit those descriptions except
maybe Juan Flynn or Lee Saunooke aka Windy Bucklee and I don’t seriously believe either of them
were personally involved in any murders.
Also, on page 19 of the pdf, right above the info on the
hair found in James Sharp’s hand, it says that various other jurisdictions have
been notified. It is standard
procedure for police to contact other law enforcement agencies who have had similar murders.
Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office had the still
unsolved murder of a Jane Doe found near a quarry August 3 1969 in Lompoc
CA. This location is near where Bobby
Beausoleil was arrested for the murder of Gary Hinman on August 4. Jane Doe was stabbed repeatedly and her
throat was slit.
San Jose had the August 3, 1969 murders of Deborah Furlong,
14, and Kathy Snoozy,15, who were both stabbed numerous times. These murders and the later murder, April 11,
1971, of Kathy Bilek in Saratoga CA were solved. They were all committed by Karl Warner who had
been a classmate and neighbor of Furlong and Snoozy. He was arrested two weeks after the Bilek
murder and plead guilty September 1971.
Napa County had the Zodiac killing of Cecelia Sheppard and
wounding of Bryan Hartnell by stabbing at Lake Berryessa. This bizarre attack by a hooded attacker has
never been solved. I’m not exactly
certain why San Francisco was read into the Gaul Sharp murders but by November
1969 San Francisco was the lead agency in charge of the Zodiac murders.
Page 20 of the pdf gets closer to investigating the
Family. 12-30-1969 at 2000 hours says
that two journalists believe there is a connection between Gaul Sharp and Tate
LaBianca. To that end they have gone to
Bishop CA and interviewed “several nomads” some of who claim to be
Scientologists.
Further down that page detectives actually interview Family
members at a residence located on Cerro Gordo Drive in Los Angeles. The home was searched and no evidence of
murder was found. This is not a
residence that I am familiar with being associated with the Family and no
Family members are named. It’s anyone’s
guess whether or not they truly interviewed someone associated with the Family.
On the face of it nothing stands out as implicating the
Family in these murders. The police
report doesn’t offer any solid evidence in that direction and, in fact, tends
to rule them out solely based on the hair found in James Sharp’s hand. Bruce
Davis got the attention of Bill Nelson because Bruce spent a few months in
London England studying Scientology.
Let’s hope that the evidence that could be tested for DNA,
the hair and the semen, was stored properly all these years and the families of
these two people can have some sort of resolution.
HERE are some very graphic crime scene photos that are from Bill Nelson's "Manson Behind the Scenes". Do not open if you are the least bit queasy or object to these type of photos.
