It is with great sadness that we are reporting our newest blogger and good friend George Stimson and his partner Sandy Good have lost their home to California's latest wildfire. The Valley Fire in Lake County has been fast moving and ferocious, they are by no means alone in their loss but when it's someone you know it somehow makes it more personal.
The Valley Fire started early Saturday afternoon while George and Sandy were out of town. It began about two miles from their home, as the crow flies. In less than 24 hours the fire grew to 40,000 acres. It is now at 61,000 acres and counting. California's drought conditions coupled with last week's 100+ degree temperatures in the area no doubt contributed to the aggressiveness of the fire. Over 10,000 people have been displaced and more than 400 homes lost. Entire small communities were wiped out.
George and Sandy do have some place to stay. They are not in a shelter or living in their car and for that they are grateful. They may be in a state of shock now but they will bounce back. We wish them good things for the future.
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George,
We've been emailing back and forth for the last few days trying to keep each other informed and follow what's going on. You're safe and in the end that's what matters. Glad you were able to save the rabbits. Take care friend, and let us know if you need anything.
I came across these videos in researching something and it reminded me that, no matter what people want to think, Bugliosi was in fact a truly brilliant prosecutor. You look at the OJ Simpson trial, and as Bugliosi comments, those prosecutors did an F- job, and they did. Everyone likes to blame the jury for the verdict, but it really was the prosecution.
Bugliosi didn't make up the HS motive, it was handed to him by a variety of police witnesses prior to Bugliosi being assigned the case. He took it and ran. Watch the first few minutes and you immediately see that while he may be talking about the Simpson case, he could just as easily be talking about Manson et al.
People may hate him for hiding the "truth", but did he willfully mislead people? Think about what he had as a prosecutor: Three young women - only one with physical evidence, Krenwinkel's fingerprint, one fingerprint on Watson, who will not even be at trial because he's fighting extradition, and a gun found on the hillside, a witness for the grand jury who later recants, and Linda Kasabian. That's it. If Marcia Clark was the prosecutor of Manson, they'd all gone on to live in free society without serving a day in prison. Bugliosi got convictions on the actual killers and Manson. Without Watson in the game, he needed Manson as the fall guy to these women. Pretty amazing when you think about it. Did he hide facts? Probably. But I'm guessing he weighed his options and as so much was falling through the cracks, he grabbed what he could in the name of justice.
One hour and ten minutes in kinda says it all when he says, something like, "That's what a prosecutor does in a criminal trial, present incriminating evidence." And, no matter what conspiracy theory you wanna present, Helter Skelter was undoubtedly incriminating evidence. Whether it was actually a motive for these crimes or not, it was incriminating evidence from multiple sources interviewed before Bugliosi was given the case. We can't even say those witness were coached by Bugliosi because so many made their statements before even meeting Bugliosi.
Would we all have been happier if he'd ignored this evidence and no one was brought to justice for these murders? Absolutely not. This leaves you with one thing and one thing only, Bugliosi did his job. End of story. Did someone get away with murder? Maybe so. Did he successfully prosecute those that he did have evidence on? Yes.
We all play Monday morning quarterback with things that we think are evidence, things that we think were discovered years and years later that may or may not have had anything to do with this case. But all this "thinking" isn't prosecutable because it's all speculation and our criminal system (thank God) doesn't run on speculation. It runs on "Beyond a reasonable doubt". There has yet to be an ounce of viable proof that could properly be presented in a court of law. Yet we expect Bugliosi to have presented evidence of another motive.
In the history of the criminal justice system, I'll bet there are thousands upon thousands of criminals that got away with murder because the evidence just wasn't there. Look at Robert Durst. There's probably 90% consensus vote in the public that he's guilty of murdering not only the old man who he was found not guilty of killing for reason of self-defense, but of his wife, and Susan Berman yet he's (to date) never been brought to justice for those murder cases. Is there a conspiracy to keep some truth from the public on Durst? No. The evidence just hasn't been there to get a successful prosecution. And, due to double jeopardy, once we blow a case, we blow it. So, the DA's office waits and they wait until they do have a case guilt beyond a reasonable doubt
When there's no evidence, the justice system and the prosecutors, including Bugliosi are blameless. Was or has there ever been evidence, beyond hearsay that Joel Rostau was involved? The Mafia? Drug overlords? Anything? Anything at all that could legally be presented in a court of law? No. So why does anyone blame Bugliosi or anyone else of "hiding" information?
Jay Sebring made a pretty good reputation for himself in the arena of men's hair styling. He really did have hair cutting down to a science and was quite emphatic about how hair should be treated.
Some of the stars that Jay was credited with cutting and styling hair for were Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, George Peppard, Robert Vaughn, James Garner , Cliff Robertson, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Henry Fonda and Kirk Douglas. Jay was credited as the hair stylist for Chuck Connors in 48 episodes of The Rifleman from 1958 to 1963.
Jay himself was also in a handful of movies and television shows usually playing a barber. Here is one episode with Jay in the opening scene of the western TV series The Virginian. This TV series, in part, was filmed at the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, very near Spahn Ranch.
"The people you helped and gave to will keep you to use you. The people you let help you you keep and used them and it's all a circle. There is no one. There never was. I knew that when I let you walk behind me. My me was gone before you were born. I did 22 years before you were reborn. Off the ranch they are not for you and never will be."
Patricia Krenwinkel --
"My mom ran from home at 14, had me at 15, went to the prison at 17 and I visited her in 1937. Divorce court in 1938. Spent a lot of time inside, got out in 1967, started a rebirth movement and I knew there was no one. Yous will wake up. The people who use you will keep you to use you up."
Leslie Van Houten --
"You reached to change the world and let it change you. You let them use you. You went for they wanted to help you count some money. Apart [crossed-out "we"] you all die in prison. Together we make change."
The Munchbox was built in 1956 and stands at 21532 Devonshire in Chatsworth. It looked very much back then as it does today judging from these fun now and then photos.
Back in 1969 it is said that Charlie could get a root beer float or a hot dog while waiting for Sadie to finish her shift as a topless dancer across the street at the Candy Cat. The Candy Cat by the way is still in operation today because, as its yelp reviewers reveal, everybody likes boobs and beer.
Also just across the street is a supermarket (formerly Gateway Market) where the girls would dumpster dive.
Thanks to Stoner Van Houten and Valley Relics Museum for the pic. Mansonblog visited the Munchbox back in 2013, you can see that post here.
We here at mansonblog have a pretty good collection of Family high school yearbook photos (see here). We had even more, but then came the great crash of 2012. Kudos to you, dear reader, if you have been with us that long. Oh, the stories we could tell!
Anywhoo, you have probably already seen these but come on, won't you take one for the team, help us to rebuild our once more extensive collection? Patty's good friend Thomas G., who suggested this post, would appreciate it, and so would Patty.
Inmate Conjugal visitations or family visitation.... What do y'all think?
Do the majority of our readers side with the inmates on this issue, meaning, is it acceptable for killers, rapists, child molesters, etc. to have overnight visits, including "snuggle time" to their spouses/families while incarcerated?
What about Susan Atkins? Was it okay for her to be able to provocatively pose in the "family units" trailer before being pounded by her mulleted husband?
What about Leslie Van Houten? She seems to be everyone's darling. When she briefly married (and got access to a penis sandwich) was it okay? What about her family outing, so to speak with her parents?
What about mustachioed Tex? He fathered four unfortunate children in the last 35 years. He also got to have camp outs with his parents & siblings. They all did.
Manson, of course, is a different story. They basically locked him up & threw away the key. All & all, I find it deeply disturbing and you can probably guess that I respectfully disagree that they should ever bring it back.
I can completely understand why Mrs. Doris Tate had such a problem with it. Her daughter's killers were able to enjoy small moments of normalcy, and experience earthly pleasures while Sharon and the other victims' lives were over long ago. I couldn't imagine how painful it was to know that. So, should these kinds of inmates have this privilege given back to them, or should they leave it alone? Do you think it was okay for these visits to take place at all?
For this discussion, I am particularly interested in what our readers think about Tex, Leslie, Pat, Bobby and Bruce to have conjugal visits again, if, of course, they married? I know Pat has never had a so-called "conjugal" visit, but she did have access to the family living units with her own family.
By the way, I respect most everyone's opinion on these matters, so I hope you respect mine. I know I annoy a hell of a lot of people on the blog, because I sound like such a hard-ass when it comes to the Manson Family, but that's just how I am. That's how I was raised. I'm Austin Ann, the blogger everyone loves to hate!
This just in..... Bruce has again been granted parole according to The LA Times
Bruce Davis, an associate of Charles Manson who was convicted in two of the nine killings tied to the cult, was found Thursday to be eligible for parole, corrections officials said.
The finding is now subject to a 120-day review and could still be blocked by Gov. Jerry Brown, according to a statement released by the state corrections department.
Sitting governors have stopped three previous attempts to grant parole to Davis, 72. In 2013, Brown said Davis is "still dodging responsibility" for his role in the Manson family's gruesome actions in 1969.
Though he wasn't involved in the Tate-LaBianca killings, Davis was convicted in 1972 for the murders of Gary Hinman, an aspiring musician, and Donald "Shorty" Shea, a stuntman and employee at the Chatsworth ranch where Manson and his followers lived.
Davis claims he did not participate in the killings of actress Sharon Tate, who was married to director Roman Polanski and pregnant at the time, or Los Feliz residents Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.
In the 40 years he has spent in prison, Davis has married, fathered a child and earned a doctoral degree in religion.
Manson remains incarcerated at Corcoran State Prison, where he is serving a life sentence. His next parole hearing is scheduled for 2027.
Folks, you have most likely seen this documentary, since it came out in 2011, but it really is interesting to hear Roman Polanski discuss his childhood and all the horrors of what he experienced before, during & after the war, his wife's brutal murder and so on...
For those of you who have never seen it, Roman is interviewed by his old friend & business partner Andrew Braunsberg, who was actually there and answered the phone when Roman got the terrible news of his wife's murder. Anyway, it is a good documentary, in my opinion. I enjoyed seeing photos that I had never seen before of Roman in his youth. There are some tearjerker moments in it too, so if you tend to weep easily, you might want some Kleenex handy...
