Tuesday Supplement - Fla$h and Honey Bear

Donald Lee Laisure and Susan Atkins by artist Kelly Hutchison. 

Someone please commission me a piece. My vision is Brenda McCann surfing in a bikini except the surf board is a dune buggy and the desert is the ocean. I'm also nothing but collaborative at my core if the same goes for you. No Willetts' baby, por favor.  

Brenda can say she loves me unless you think that's weird or too much. 

How's your week going? We're discussing Sadie Mae Glutz a lot recently and I wanted to sneak Donald Lee Laisure onto the blog for his second appearance before we move on. Click through to the page of origin and tell me if you think Susan's dress cost $6000 in 1981 money. I think Flash sewed it himself. 

Last Sunday, Laisure's claim he was married thirty-four times popped into my brain uninvited. You'll see the number of his marriages bump up to forty-five on the Maury tv show if you watch my homie Myra Elvira's 2021 update on his life and times. Thanks for aggregating that footage, Myra. 

A year before me, Myra also went looking for verification on the number of Laisure's marriages. I think we each found nine. Just like criminals, no bullshitter ever expected the Internet. Laisure was both. 

Character actors play an important role in successful productions. Donald Lee Flash Lai$ure was one of the best to cross our stage. He brilliantly promoted himself from the rank of Private to a 4 Star General in the US Marine Corps, and earned a Silver Star, Navy Cross, and Air Medal along the way. Laisure's phony career lasted from Vietnam through the Persian Gulf. 

Fifty-five people have reached the rank of 4 Star General in the US Marine Corps while alive. The number was in the low twenties when Laisure promoted himself to full general. When I searched for an official reaction, I found the Corps more amused than angry. Like everyone else, they thought Flash Laisure was a clown.  

Time is Irrelevant to Me - December 1969

Susan Atkins served a life sentence. I see how she arrived there but believe she died in the right place at sixty-one years old. She went too far too many times. 

But what about once the killers are locked away? Are they allowed to retain their humanity after taking part in despicable deeds? Is redemption ever possible? Does empathy remain forbidden after they're dead? We're arguing all of that lately on this blog.

Issues pop up before a debate can begin. How do we qualify "despicable?" I'm squeamish and won't touch certain cases on my dark travels. My despicable might arrive sooner than another reader's. Etc.

For a starting point today, let's assume we all consider using a knife to murder a terrified pregnant woman after she watches her friends die and pleads for her unborn child's life a despicable act. 

Calling out for her mother as she passes. Shame on you. 

When I read blog comments during the weeks we talk about the inmates, I notice two groups. First, people advocating across the board transparency and fairness in parole processes. Something that shows a human life is not the possession of some political overlord or overlords. I completely agree with this camp. Every California inmate should live under the same sentences and rules for release. 

The opposition here is like are you nuts? Look what they did. F-them. 

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a foot on either side of that line. 

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Our reference materials for this discussion are provided by cielodrive.com. Thank you, kindly.  

1 Dec 1969 Susan Atkins Paul Caruso Richard Caballero Interview.

5 Dec 1969 Susan Atkins Grand Jury Testimony.

Tex Watson is arrested November 30th in Texas. Police catch up with Patricia Krenwinkel in Mobile the following day. Back in Los Angeles, Paul Caruso and Richard Caballero are interviewing their new client, Susan Denise Atkins, when the net drops on Krenwinkel two thousand miles away. 

The last part is possibly not accurate but I see it that way when I'm at my storyboard. Starsky and Hutch music plays in the background. "Police! Freeze!" 

 - Here is a link to my blog colleague David's excellent write up on Paul Caruso with a comment from Caruso's son below the post. 

Other writers believe Caruso was a mafia lawyer sent to cement a narrative into place. I'm interested in every side of that argument. What are your thoughts? 

Honkeys like me from Honkeyville possibly needed several decades to realize Caballero isn't an Italian name, and that's okay. There's no judgement when you ride with me. We can be hillbillies together forever. 

Circling back to my original question, let's look at Susan Atkins. She was at Hinman, Cielo, and Waverley (kinda). No one but Charlie visited more murder scenes. 

Reading Sadie's comments and testimony about her time with Sharon before Sharon died made me emotional. The photo of Atkins as a young girl standing in front of her father's car also remains burned into my brain. Maybe that's what keeps me coming back here. So many whys. 

Several statements in the above transcripts are heartbreaking. Other times, I laughed. Stop Talking was an alternative title I considered for this piece. 

"Helter Skelter" is not discussed during the interview with the lawyers, but joins the story four days later in front of the GJ (Grand Jury). 

Susan is speaking the language of her peers at Spahn's while addressing the GJ. She even rhymes her words at one point. Head and dead. Not a lot of smart in that gal at times. Watch Hendrickson on Youtube or any of the courthouse footage for verification on the group speak.  

Let's pause on the creepy crawls for a second. What are your thoughts on their genesis? Who was the first person saying hey let's go creepy crawling? 

Me if fam members asked me to go creepy crawling with them late at night: Omg I just got back from the A&P dumpsters. I wanna watch Clem's fire ritual. 

That's December 5, 1969. Friday. Four days earlier prior to a dinner plus ice cream, Atkins said this:

 

Two somewhat different scenarios. Sustenance and fear games. I spent an afternoon making a list of contradictions I found in the documents but stopped when my friend said: 

"Could be discrepancies or coaching. You would have to have a think about why the latter makes Tex/Manson look more culpable or if that was just her being ditzy." 

Inarguable. Dude should write blog posts.

Let's hop in on some omg and wtf moments from the first week of December 1969. A third title for this episode could be How to Doom Yourself to the Fullest. 

 *Judges scribble deductions on their scorecards 

"The air talked. I was programmed by Charlie but then like I also wasn't programmed by him."

Ah, the Infinite. Please go on. 

I followed up with my secret sources inside the CIA. Within minutes, they verified Sadie missed Climbing Residential Fences (CRF) day at CIA Assassins School. By the time she returned from a nasty bout of stomach flu, the class had jumped forward to Residential Kitchen Infiltration (RKI). 

Not sure why anyone would come clean about the following impulse but she says it in both documents. 

Sadie's second death rattle in three weeks. 

More disembodied voices.

LaBianca instructions overheard from the seatless back seat of Johnny Swartz's car. 

A possible moment of Bugliosi speaking through Sadie's mouth or the infinite or whatever. 

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Bonus:

The famous Clem oopsie. 

Life at Spahn's as told to the GJ.

Richard Caballero courthouse interview. 

She should've stayed with Caruso and Caballero. Either way, Susan Atkins is gone. Have you forgiven her since she served her sentence, or is forgiveness something that will never happen? 

Bill Nelson Part Two - Sexy Sadie What Have You Done?

Susan Atkins with her parents and brothers mid-1950's

We will never see another Manson researcher like Bill Nelson. His run was the greatest of all and his destruction was magnificent. Scraps of Nelson's work remains online today via the Wayback Machine. Grab what you like before it's gone. Nelson is fading from Manson history. 

 

Now is the only time that's real.

If you are new or newish and think you'll find the key to fame and fortune hidden within the fetid mountains of malarkey hundreds of curious people have already dug through, wear gloves that reach the elbows, believe only what you can verify, and view Mr. Nelson as a cautionary tale. 

Horny, self-righteous, and connected to EVERYONE at one time or another, Nelson died in 2005. In the late 90's, Bill might've thought Sadie would hang on the line for a few years while he giggled and snickered his way through sex rumors of the past. 

No, sir. Sadie's husband stepped in and said, "I challenge you to a duel at dawn. Pistols." 

More like hey leave my wife alone. But a duel would be sweet. 

I wonder how Nelson's wife felt about the nightgown Bill sent Sadie? Was she "thrilled?" Mrs. Nelson did not know her husband craved iron bars and black and white photos of teenage slippies until it was too late. And plus she aged. Nelson liked chicken nuggets way more than hens.   

Sadie ghosted him and he published his breakup letter online. I'm back in good graces with my wife now and enriched from selling my rantings and lies to Aes-Nihil and the Colonel yakety yack. 

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Dear Susan Atkins,

I have left the case behind me, no longer interested in the Manson saga of murder, deceptions, deceit, and demonology. My web site was taken down on January 23, 2000. I sold off my vast library. After 11 years, I have reclaimed my life and my wife is thrilled. Sandra Good with her live-in loony St. George (named after the street that intersects at the LaBianca house?) pulled out all the stops to destroy me, defame me, and ruin my reputation.

You and I spent some nine plus hours together. We shared, laughed, and you cried. We called one another "Brother" and "Sister" in a bond of love and respect. I sent you several letters after your husband James decided that we should not see each other. They went unanswered. I understand.

I have sold several copies of your 12-28-00-parole hearing. It was such a disgrace! There were so many lies told by James regarding you. I was saddened to hear him even quote the deceased Patti Tate that you have progressed very well inside prison – but he neglected to add: "And right here is where she should spend the rest of her life!" He said none of the murders were done in an execution style. That is a lie. You should have heard the response of Dianne Lake (a really mature Christian in adult life) upon hearing that one. He bragged that you were never an alcoholic, but your records tell a different story. So did your book. He cited the "family" you had been living with as a proof of stability at the time of the crimes. Did you see the reaction of Stephen Kay at that one? Bragging that you had a stable family relationship i.e. the Manson Family? How insulting indeed. You killed because you were under such stress? Really now. Barbara Hoyt, who knew you well, says you were an evangelist for Manson in the same way that you are now for Jesus. It would take hours to cover all of the deception. You never missed much time from work assignments but then you were on medical disability for many months before the hearing. And…the most egregious action was your turning your back on Janet Parent when she identified herself. To think that James and you worked hard to keep her from voicing her opinion because you did not "actually kill Steven Parent" was quite unchristian. I could go on and on about that dreadful performance at your hearing by a tag team that would make the World Wide Wrestling Federation take lessons.

Remember your telling me the "new rendition" of the crimes? How Tex kicked you out of the Tate house in an argument and you were outside of the house when HE stabbed Sharon to death? Where was that rendition during your last hearing? It was not told because it simply was not true.

I am offended at your use of God while you continue to lie. How refreshing it would be to hear just one of you killers actually tell the truth. Not Bruce Davis, Charles Watson, Leslie, Pat, or you have ever told the full truth. You get three meals a day, medical treatment, dental, psyche, exercise, marriage, and you have done quite well by all of that. When you miss those warm and cuddly conjugal visits with James, think of Doris Tate and me. November 1, 1996 was the change in policy by the CDC. Thank God! It should never have been allowed for people who kill.

Your hearing was so uninteresting that Court TV did not even broadcast it. All of the money they invested, and they chose to take a pass. You see Susan, James was simply a boring, miserable failure. You want to know a little secret? That over weight Commissioner was the same person who voted to give Bruce M. Davis a release last year. That is right. Bruce got a yes vote, and the other two commissioners said that this year, they might agree. Manny left the BPT to become a police chief once again, so he will not be able to spring Bruce free. But! Bruce will walk very soon and he MAY start the killing again. He was involved in the Zodiac murders and I will take that evidence, my findings, and 11 years of research to my grave. When you admitted that you helped to cover up any blood evidence where Shorty was murdered, you gave us something that no one had put together before. You were personally involved with EVERY MURDER prosecuted. Gary Hinman, Tate/LaBianca and Shorty. Wow Susan! That is a really heavy thought. When you took Bugliosi to the back of the ranch by the stream, it was because that is where Shorty was killed. You know what Clem, Bruce, and Manson say? "We were driving down Santa Susanna Pass in the middle of the day when Shorty was hit over the head and they drug him from the car…" Barbara Hoyt submitted a letter refuting that alteration of the court record but the BPT buried her letter in the confidential section of the C-File for Davis. They did not even allow it read into evidence. So much for Perjury prosecutions in the Manson family, because the BPT does not care about TRUTH. These over paid, no nothing bureaucrats do not have a clue and none of you will tell them the truth, not even in the Name of Jesus.

Good bye my friend. I enjoyed our meetings. I never betrayed you following our visits, despite the lying tongue of Linda Mann and that other crazy lady who comes out to tape the hearings. I wish you Christian conviction – the conviction to finally speak up and tell the truth. And Susan, what was that about you being the only one to make restitution to any of the victim’s families financially? Please provide the proof for that one, because it just is not so. You gave nothing financially to Doris, I would be surprised if you gave any to Patti since she would have called it blood money and after all she turned down $50,000 from Guns and Roses. I know you gave nothing to the LaBianca family. It is for certain that you gave nothing to Janet Parent. Shorty has no relatives, and Gary Hinman’s mom and dad have passed away.

As I go - - - - Gypsy let me know in 1993 that she and you had been swimming at the Tate house before the murders, driving up there in the sports car of Dennis Wilson. Bugliosi asked Terry Melcher to confirm it or deny it….Terry told Mr. B. that it was true. I guess you forgot that interesting tidbit when we met for 9 plus hours and in subsequent letters.

Please do not continue to name Jesus as your redeemer when you refuse to tell the truth. You may be Born Again, it is not for me to judge, but you defame the name of Jesus by your misrepresentations. And no, I have no interest in hearing from little James. You traded in Manson for another control freak. The people who have seen the parole hearing tape have observed that. A little, condescending man like Charlie, hurtful, crude and so uninformed.

Sincerely,

Bill Nelson

04-24-01

be but my sworn love 

and I'll no longer be a Capulet Manson investigator.

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Imagine being a convicted sex offender, the charges involved minors, and making it your mission to remove conjugal visits for prisoners. Bill Nelson's mind was a dark place. +ggw