VERN PLUMLEE: Unanswered Questions

Plumlee, 20 in 1969, was a Family associate/sometime member who first shows up at the Ranch about July of '69, when he was hired by Ruby Pearl as a ranch hand. He was AWOL (Absent Without Leave) from the Marines and someone probably told him he could hide out at the ranch.  He describes his first meeting with Charlie:

Long Beach Independent, 10-28-70
"When I first met Charlie, he walked up and said 'Let me run your life down' and he did. It just kinda blew my mind. He said I had been in jail since I was 14; knew I was at McClaren (Juvenile) Hall; knew I was AWOL. I don't know how he knew." 

Was Charlie just plain psychic? Or did Charlie get a peek at Vern's employment application (assuming he filled one out), perhaps via Squeaky, who was always at the side of George Spahn, the owner of the Ranch? But would Vern have told Ruby Pearl that he was a deserter from the Marines or that he had been in juvenile hall? Is this statement by Charlie in fact evidence that someone else (like maybe his handler) was briefing him about Vern's background?

Vern apparently fit right in with the Family: 

http://www.mansonblog.com/search/label/Vern%20Plumlee

Ed Sanders: "Vern Plumlee is famous in Mansonian circles in that, armed with a sawed-off shotgun, he creepy crawled the homes of Jack Jones, the star, and Marvin Miller in July of 1969."

In fact he was close enough to volunteer for the night of terror:

Long Beach Independent, 10-28-70
(Plumlee) said Tuesday he watched as accused mass murderer Charles Manson and seven members of his hippie "family" set out to kill (the second night). In fact, (Plumlee) admits "I offered to go along to help, but Charlie said 'no.' "He said he'd keep it in mind, though, for the future."

Did Vern know what had happened the night before at the Tate residence? If so, then he might have been legally culpable as an accessory after the fact. At the very least it shows he was as fully under the Manson spell as anybody else in the Family.

In Sept/Oct of '69, Plumlee split "because fear enveloped the Ranch." But like so many others after the Family broke up, Plumlee soon got into serious trouble even without Charlie's help.

A year later, on September 26, 1970, Vern and a friend--Robert Eugene Russell, in his early 20s--were caught ransacking the home of some people they had just been drinking with in a bar. A fight ensued and two of the residents were stabbed, one seriously.

Long Beach Independent, 10-22-70
Roberto A. Rivarola, 19... was stabbed in the stomach, chest and left arm by Russell, said police. (Plumlee stabbed the other victim, Jeffrey Hanham, 48)... As the three (victims) were ordered into a bedroom, Plumlee reportedly said "I've killed three times before; one more doesn't matter." Rivarola told police that as he lay on the floor pleading for help, Plumlee leaned over, kissed him on the forehead and said "that's life."

It didn't take long for the law to catch up to Vern and his cohort:

Long Beach Independent, 10-12-70
Two former Manson "family" members sought on attempted murder charges in Long Beach have been arrested by FBI agents in Washington state...  Meanwhile, Long Beach police disclosed they raided a motel room here last week where the pair had been staying and confiscated a number of items, including tape recordings titled, "The Manson Story," a typewritten manuscript called "Where's Charlie?" and a book on "Satanism and Witchcraft."
Vernon Ray Dean Plumlee and Robert Eugene Russell, both Marine deserters, were arrested in a hippie commune outside Spanaway(WA) and are being held in Tacoma City jail under the Dyer Act for investigation of taking a stolen car across state lines, police said...
 ... (Long Beach PD)Officers R.C. Watsen and M.K. Post, responding to the tip, found the books and tape recordings together with a 9mm automatic and 43 rounds of ammunition, envelopes addressed to Charles Watson, a suspect in the Tate-LaBianca murders, a leather sheath and a knife-sharpening stone, several detective books and an Afro style wig.

At this point one might ask "who the hell is Robert Eugene Russell?"  The media claimed he was an associate of the Family, yet he appears on no list of Family members compiled by the police (Lt Deemer's list) or media.

Long Beach Independent, 10-12-70
 .... Russell was described as "an associate member" of the family who visited the ranch periodically.  He had been subpoenaed July 22 (1970) while in the Marine brig at 29 Palms to appear as a prosecution witness at the Manson trial.

Here is the only known pic of Russell, taken at the time of his trial, apparently.  Russell seems to have a strong resemblance to another Family associate called "Allen Lee Delisle," 21, (especially around the eyes) taken from the collection of Family mugshots. Are they the same person?

Allen Delisle left, Robert Russell right

Unfortunately no more is known of this "Allen Delisle" person, or how he was linked to the Family.

From the stuff found in their motel room it appears Plumlee and Russell were still very much tied in to Charlie and Family. And then the question becomes: did the crime have something to do with the Family, or was it done under the influence of the "Helter Skelter" philosophy?

Plumlee and Russell pleaded guilty; Vern was sentenced to prison and ended up doing seven years; after this he went straight and no more was heard from him.

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post script - the Hidden Hills Murder

Shortly after their arrests, detectives felt the need to link Plumlee and Russell to another unsolved murder:

Long Beach Independent, 10-12-70
Officers said last week... the pair also matched the description of two men who killed one person and wounded two others July 21 in Hidden Hills near the Spahn Ranch where Manson family members lived.

This refers to the murder of Norman Weitzman, 39, at the home of his parents in the exclusive Hidden Hills subdivision in the far west part of LA County, just over the hills from Malibu, near Agoura. On July 21, 1970 their home was invaded by three men, apparently intent on robbery. 

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/18/local/me-murder-party18

Norman Weitzman was shot to death July 21, 1970, at his parents' home in the wealthy, gate-guarded enclave of Hidden Hills at the west end of the San Fernando Valley. Three hooded men had broken in looking for cash collected from the company's network of gum ball and peanut dispensing (vending) machines. (The company--Oak Manufacturing Co. -- also manufactured vending machines.)... Norman Weitzman died trying to protect his family. His parents were severely injured by the intruders. His father, Sam, 60, was shot in the neck, rolled up in a carpet and left for dead. Lillian, his 59-year-old mother, was badly pistol-whipped.

But robbery might not have been the prime motive:

LA Times 7-22-70 (the day after the murder)
"Detectives were uncertain about the motive, saying Sam Weitzman's home... had been only lightly ransacked and that several expensive items were left untouched."

LA Times 7-23-70
"...the usual items such as stereos, cameras, and other valuables had not been taken by the killers."

Van Nuys News 11-30-71
"... Money and jewelry were stolen, but there was speculation the invasion was an "underworld" operation."

[Why would police think that a home invasion robbery was an 'underworld' thing?  They wouldn't--unless the victims had links to the 'underworld.'  It should be noted that the vending machine business has a long association with mobsters.]

15 months later, in October or November of 1971, two suspects -- Enrique B. Gil, 20s, and Edward Kessler, 35--were arrested. They did not have any known connection to Charlie or Family.

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/18/local/me-murder-party18

Two trials resulted in hung juries. A third ended with the acquittal of the first suspect to be tried.  After that, charges against the second suspect were not pursued. The third suspect subsequently died while in federal prison for another crime without facing charges in Weitzman's death.

Paul J. Fitzgerald, who defended Patricia Krenwinkel in the TLB trial, was Kessler's attorney.  Marvin Part, who represented Leslie Van Houten for a time after her arrest, also represented one of the suspects. (Though I don't know if these attorneys represented the defendants in all three trials.)

Marvin Part

Paul Fitzgerald

There is no hard evidence connecting the Manson Clan to the Hidden Hills murder/home invasion, and I don't know why the police initially thought they were linked.  But I am reminded of what Tex wrote regarding his drug connection:

http://www.aboundinglove.org/main/images/bookPDFs/Will_You_Die_For_Mesmall.pdf

Tex Watson, Will You Die For Me?
--pg 51of 120  "I'd  arranged  to buy a kilo of grass from the dealer who'd been supplying the Family — he fronted the dope with a vending-machine company and people said he was with the Mafia."

I'm surprised no fans of the "drug burn" theory of TLB have ever tried to tie the Weitzman murder to the case.

Special thanks to DebS for her help compiling this thread!

Ed Sanders.... On Death Row part 2



 

 

Los Angeles Free Press Vol. 7 No. 45 Issue # 329  Nov. 6, 1970 

continued....





Frank Fowles, the District Attorney of Inyo County, testified about some sound tests he conducted recently at Myers Ranch in the Death Valley National Monument.  His testimony was given to add strength to Barbara Hoyt's testimony that she heard Susan Atkins say that Sharon Tate was the last to die because she had to watch the others die first.  The overheard conversation allegedly took place inside the Myers Ranch, which is about a quarter of a mile up the wash from the famous Barker Ranch.

Fowles really wasn't needed at the trial, but probably was brought down by the prosecution as a courtesy measure.  He did not testify about the famous file of nude photos of the Family, including the whispered-over Manson-Little Patty-Clem Brenda circle slurp.  Nor did he testify about the camera equipment confiscated at the Barker Ranch in October of 1969 or the film therein which, according to authorities, when developed turned out to be blank.

The continued search for the head of Shorty O'Shea(sic) continues unabated.  There once was a stuntman ranch hand at the Spahn Ranch who disappeared.  His car, loaded up with all his gear (minus his matched pistols) was discovered in Canoga Park after he disappeared.  According to many sources, he was beheaded after a few weeks of friction with certain people.

Anyway, one Vern Plumlee, a former "member" of the Family who is currently held for some stabbing in Long Beach, led the police recently on a skull search of the burnt Spahn Ranch, which included a search of a large water tank high on the hills north of the ranch.  Vern claimed to the fuzz that Clem told him that Shorty was buried by a campfire down by the creek by the cave, but only chicken bones were discovered.  This is about the fifth time that a massive search for Shorty's body has been undertaken.

We checked with Thomas Noguci, the LA County Coroner, when the rumors about the Sheriff's Office looking anew for Mr. O'Shea(sic) were spreading about.  It is known that Devil's Canyon was held to be sacred long ago when Indians lived nearby.  Well, evidently when they were digging in Devil's Canyon early this year for Shorty, they uncovered some sort of Indian burial ground, a fact that hampered operations in that each skull had to be examined as to its age and likeness to the one sought.  They have not found Shorty.

Vern Plumlee is famous in Mansonian circles in that, armed with a sawed-off shotgun, he creepy crawled the homes of Jack Jones, the star, and Marvin Miller in July of 1969.  From the home of Jack Jones, creepy crawled at 2AM even though the lights were on, the c.-c.-ers took only a cowboy hat.  For verily they creepy crawled only to experience the tidal wave of the Great Fear.

One of the last prosecution witnesses is to be Dianne Lake, who had lived with Charlie Manson for almost two years prior to her arrest in Death Valley in October 1969.  After her arrest and after further arrests regarding the murders, she was placed in an insane asylum through a frightening police state-like collusion of the Los Angeles District Attorney, the Inyo County District Attorney and hospital authorities.

In late December 1969, Dianne Lake (known as Snake to the Family) was extensively interviewed by one Jack Gardiner and one Buck Gibbons (famous in that he confiscated Sandy Good's breast pump during the Barker Ranch raids) about activities of Manson and the Family.  Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Gibbons. who are employees of the Inyo County District Attorney's office, came up with some interesting data.  However, what power on earth could have predicted that the pretty and nubile Miss Lake would turn up a year later with Mr. Gardiner as her foster father!?

Anyway, early this year she was admitted, as a minor, into Paton State mental hospital.  Her legal parents tried to visit her and to claim her but were told to fuck off.  Hospital lackeys diagnosed her as follows: "Diagnosis: 295.0 Schizophrenia, chronic undifferentiated type (with group delinquent reaction). 308.58 Behavior disorder of childhood and adolescence. 304.7 Drug dependence, hallucinogens (prominent).  Prognosis: Extremely guarded for any improvement in this girl."

A Conservator was appointed for her- the Inyo County Coroner.  She remained in the nut hatch until this past August, even though she was reported by her captors to be sane about a week after she was committed.  After her release from Paton Hospital she has lived with her foster father.  In coming to court to testify the other day she bore a startling resemblance to the English cousin in the Patty Duke Show, with her hair combed in a similar manner, her faced scrubbed shiny and a white sailor shirt and blue skirt covering her body, which seems to be tending towards chub-chub.

In honor of her impending testimony the x-browed girls vigiling outside moved inside- the group of snuff sub-alterns moved inside to wait for Snake Lake.  As she walked into court escorted by her "Father" and by one of those smiling deputy DA's who took the place of Aaron Stovitz, Squeaky yelled out, "You ain't plastic and you know it. You can't turn your back on love."  As I write this Snake hasn't actually testified but as of a hearing on her ability to remember events of summer-fall 1969, she has been adjudged competent to testify.  She is expected to testify regarding conversations she heard about the death of Rosemary LaBianca and also about the disposal of certain items pertaining to the LaBianca crimes.

In addition, as of certain interviews we have undertaken over the months, Miss Lake has some interesting data in her mind regarding the Gary Hinman murder, data which would in our opinion cast considerable light on the reality of that grim tragedy.

On Friday, October 30, there was a hearing to declare Tex Watson insane. Everybody knew that Watson was out of it.  The former all-district halfback for Farmersville, Texas High School was down from 190 pounds to 110!  One kept hearing from various officials, "Aw, he's just malingering!"  But there was and is some danger that he will die, and the last thing Sheriff Peter Pitchess wants is for Tex Watson to die of malnutrition in the Los Angeles County Jail.  So the human skeleton of Charles Watson has been shipped to Atascadero State Hospital, where probably they will thorazine him up for a few months and feed him some sort of liquid mounds bar through the nose for a while and then ship him back for trial- that is, if he doesn't die; and the secret gossip in the Hall of Justice is that death is imminent. The report to the court reads that he is "rapidly reverting to a fetal state."  And you can better believe the DA is not going to let Tex Watson into a nut hatch unless he is really in heavy orbit.  Even now, however, officials are very hesitant to say he is really insane, but rather say that "he's doing it to himself."

If he dies, it will be the fault of the District Attorney's office- because Charles Manson in front of witnesses, offered to bring him out of it.  Manson is alleged to have said, "Just give me 20 minutes with him alone and I will bring him back." 

Where was Sharon Tate on August 2, 1969?

Vern Plumlee

Vern was the AWOL Marine who spent time at Spahn from July 1969 to September. He was "recaptured" by Uncle Sam and spent enough time in the brig for prosecutors to identify him as a witness and plan to use him during the trial. He escaped from the brig but was recaptured - again. He brashly bragged about killing 3 people and also said that he witnessed Manson and Grogan killing someone in the desert. He was a master of changing stories, it seems. Plumlee was convicted and sentenced to 5 years to life in an unrelated robbery stabbing.

After parole, he worked as a welder and raised a family.