Leno LaBianca's Safe

 
This is hungry work.

Apologies to Hozier. A Super Bowl feast is cooking behind me while I type and I want all of it now. Thanks for letting me hang out with you today and also for my continuing education. 

- Let's also take a second to recognize the Col apologizing to Grim last week and Grim being all okay thanks we're cool. Tears flooded my eyes and I don't mean fake Sadie Mae Glutz ones. This bitter Manson world needs more of that. 

*Begins trashing others. 

Not really. I bring just a single question, a handful of photos, and several screen caps into the Colosseum today. Before we get started, let's give a quick shoutout to the almighty cielodrive.com for providing us with with both LaBianca Homicide Investigative Reports for our discussion.

#1

#2

Last week, I gleefully dove into a new rabbit hole hoping to land on a police document verifying the claim that an office safe at a Gateway Market store was wide open the morning after the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Neil Sanders adds the safe at Rosemary's dress shop to the list of opened safes. 

My gut feeling is all roads lead to Bill Nelson and the safes are nothing more than an often repeated opinion, but I'm wrong a lot and want to ask you blog readers. Do any of you have a police report that details open safes at LaBianca businesses the morning after their deaths? I failed in my quest to find one.

Being a rube scoot, I also learned Leno ran a second family company during the same search. This is from the 2nd report linked above. I broke the word salad into readable segments and fixed a couple of typos. 

Peter DeSantis, Leno's other brother-in-law, was interviewed and polygraphed at Parker Center. The polygraph exam indicated he had no guilty knowledge of the crime. 

DeSantis has been a lifelong friend of Leno and described him as "family." They worked together at the market for Leno's father in the '40's. Leno later ran the operation of State Wholesale Grocers, a second company owned by Leno's father. Smaldino, another brother-in-law, ran the Gateway Market chain. When Leno's father died the two companies were then managed by Leno, although they remained separate. 

DeSantis believed Smaldino resented Leno's being the boss as he, Smaldino, knew more about the business. Smaldino kept a constant check on Leno's activities in the business and Leno resented Smaldino's 'supervision.' 

Leno once commented to Norwood, when discussing how he was taking money from the company by writing checks, that he couldn't have done it when Smaldino was around because Smaldino checked him too closely. Leno's mother was the first to tell DeSantis about Leno taking money from the company. DeSantis claimed he was shocked, as the two had discussed ways to cut expenses to help the company. 

Leno told DeSantis in June 1969 that he was going to leave the company. DeSantis discussed Leno's future plans with him. Leno told DeSantis ha had no definite plans for employment. He mentioned going into an investment situation with three other men. Each man was to put up $25,000. The only man in the group that Leno mentioned was Bill O'Brien. 

After Leno's death, DeSantis learned he was planning to buy a ranch for $127,000 in Vista, California. DeSantis couldn't understand where Leno was to get the money to purchase the property, pay back the money he had borrowed from the company and go into the investment business. 

DeSantis is the regional head of a fraternal organization, The Sons of Italy. The region extends from Colorado to Hawaii. DeSantis refused the idea that the Mafia could have been responsible for the crime. He commented that if they had, he would probably have heard about it.

"Are you trying to get me killed?" - DeSantis

My brain wheezed into action. DeSantis is high up in the company. Is he the number two guy behind Leno? Why didn't DeSantis say anything about empty safes to investigators? If not him, who found the safe open and at which store? Which executive handled the matter with the police? 

And where is the police report? 

Off I went. The First Homicide Investigation Report misidentifies Rosemary's dress as a peignoir. 

That's a cropped photo of Rosemary. She's on her stomach and her dress and nightgown are pulled up over her head. Leslie destroyed her. The photo alone seems like it's enough to doom you forever if someone repeatedly shoves it into parole board folders prior to hearings. 

That's Manson in Emmons. Same source for the following. 

          Two quick takes from the above. Charlie hands Rosemary her dress for the sake of modesty, and Charlie declines Leno's offer of a trip to his store for more money. "All you want."

Common arguments against Emmons include Charlie split with the author when Emmons revealed too much, or when Emmons was outright lying. If what Charlie told Emmons is correct, he never considered removing Rosemary from the home. 

Three decades later, Author Neil Sanders -- in a book many call a ripoff of Schreck -- concludes Rosemary left with her hit squad because of the dress and where the boat was found. 

[Note: When Schreck's book arrives, I'll be back to compare the two. But for now, all I have in my library is Neil Sanders.]

Anyone with a link or recording of Charlie saying they took the LaBiancas to their stores that night, please send it along. More from Neil Sanders:

 

Let's check the source on that. From Bugliosi: 

Rosemary LaBianca was lying face down on the bedroom floor, parallel to the bed and dresser, in a large pool of blood. She was wearing a short pink nightgown and, over it, an expensive dress, blue with white horizontal stripes, which Suzanne would later identify as one of her mother’s favorites. Both nightgown and dress were bunched up over her head, so her back, buttocks, and legs were bare. Cline didn’t even try to count the stab wounds, there were so many. Her hands were not tied but, like Leno, she had a pillowcase over her head and a lamp cord was wrapped around her neck. The cord was attached to one of a pair of bedroom lamps, both of which had overturned. The tautness of the cord, plus a second pool of blood about two feet from the body, indicated that perhaps she had tried to crawl, pulling the lamps over while doing so.

Okay, cool. Bugs is about to mention the ride to Gateway and the dress shop, right? Let's keep reading. 

A second pink DOA slip was filled out, for Mrs. Rosemary LaBianca. Joe Dorgan had to tell Suzanne and Frank.

There was writing, in what appeared to be blood, in three places in the residence. High up on the north wall in the living room, above several paintings, were printed the words DEATH TO PIGS. On the south wall, to the left of the front door, even higher up, was the single word RISE. There were two words on the refrigerator door in the kitchen, the first of which was misspelled. They read HEALTER SKELTER.

Nope. 

The guy with the biggest book in the study never mentions a trip to Gateway. Why would Sanders include that info in his argument? Bugs never mentions it. 

I'm not a Bugliosi fan in any way. In fact, I'm the opposite. But it's worth mentioning the safes were not a part of the main discussion back in the 70's like they are today. 

Without a police report, what other empirical evidence exists that Rosemary wearing a dress, and a boat in the street, equals the Manson gang took Rosemary to her and Leno's businesses and left the safes open? And how is the evidence verified? 

The safes are enduringly fascinating. Proving it either way might mean a change on the mountaintop if someone is hungry enough. In the background, the argument has raged for more than a decade across Internet sites and in true crime books. Here's our Matt arguing with Starship on LSB so long ago. 

Matt said...

Starship, it wasn't just an article, and I don't believe that it's "bullshit."

Leno, at the time he met Rosemary was relatively wealthy and stood to inherit a great deal when his mother passed away.

While married to Leno, Rosemary is still sleeping with Frank Struthers and Reba Gage. After the murders, Frank Sr. tells police that Frank Jr will be coming into a large inheritance from his mother. Later, Frank Sr. accuses Suzan LaBerge of ripping off Frank Jr in his inheritance.

It is alleged that at the time Suzan had emptied out the house and, before the police could get to it, a safe at Gateway Markets and then threatened any of Leno's family members that got in her way. Some members of her family believe that Suzan had a hand in the murders.

While married to Leno, Rosemary seems to try a lot of get rich quick routes. She gets her real estate license, her insurance license, opens a dress shop, and eventually begins getting into real estate, stocks, and securities.

People assume that Leno's financial troubles were due to gambling. Others believe that Rosemary bled him dry by spending lavishly, buying a house that was beyond their means (Working Way) and eventually having him invest in real estate, stocks, and securities and forming dummy corps to hide their funds and avoid taxes.

While Leno's getting poorer, Rosemary may be getting richer and hiding the money from Leno in secret accounts.

To avoid financial ruin, Leno sells the house on Working Way at a large profit and buys the family home on Waverly. With that money he continues to make bad real estate investments - Myca Corp and a Riverside Parcel investment scam. And begins skimming off money from Gateway.

Leno misappropriated $200,000 from Gateway. They had a combined debt of $30,000 "their properties were extensively mortgaged."

In the meantime, Rosemary is moving out of her truck boutique and into a real store front - and possibly opened at least 2 others and co-owned (good friend) Lucy Larsen's Pet Shop.

These are not suppositions, Sunset. They are all in the police reports (the second one in particular).

Suzan LaBerge enters the narrative at some point as a safe robber if you're unaware. Not sure how she'd have the safe codes at Gateway but whatever. Outside of that, I don't have a ton for you. The safes have been talked to death. 

But I'm stubborn, and I'm trying to put a single fact into place here in the place where no sense makes sense. 

Might anyone have a police report? 

-------------

Bonus. When John and Leslie first locked eyes. 

California Supreme Court Refuses Van Houten's Appeal

"Technicalities, smecknicalities. Go back to your room."

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. 

-------------

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.

-------------

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

A Joyful Process - America Eats Its Young - PFunk

Blog friend and Vancouver legend, Dusty Doug, sent us that flyer this week. I was unaware there was a Parliament Funkadelic link to the Manson saga. Bernie Worrell is the connection if I had to guess but a guess is all I have to offer. Could be George, too. Definitely willing to learn. 

Ohio is iced-in today. Soup and music are my plans. Here's the studio track of A Joyful Process from the 1972 Funkadelic album, America Eats Its Young. 

Process Church of the Final Judgement Wikipedia. 

de Grimston and Maclean. Catch you on the flip. +ggw

------------ 

*Jokes about his nasty toes and Photoshopped cartoon penises. Everyone has my apologies. 

Bobby Beausoleil Was Denied Parole Last Friday

 Bobby is seventy-four years old. He was granted parole in 2019 but Governor Newsome denied the recommendation. His goose is likely cooked. 

The Goodbye Helter Skelter Podcast Episode #7

George Stimson posted a new video last week, The Murder of Donald "Shorty" Shea. Above is Donald Jerome Shea on the 1940 census with his family. First grade. Probably still smiled in school photos. The world hadn't had a ton of time to chew him up and spit him out yet. 

Good, bad, whatever. Every direction you turn in this milieu is filled with heartbreak. The bad guys are bad. The good guys are bad. Everyone is bad. 

Bruce Davis claims in a clip from a parole hearing that Tex Watson asked/told him to join in the killing of Shea. According to Davis, Bill Vance was present when Tex said this but decided not to take part in the murder. Instead, he stepped over to the canteen for the ice cream Charlie always talked about. 

You know the story. Shorty is driving. "Hey, pull over." Clem hits him with a wrench. BOOM! Tex and Clem drag dazed Shorty from the car. Charlie arrives in another car with a machete. 

Bruce "touched Shea's neck with the machete" but "couldn't do what he (Charlie) wanted me to do." Always willing to compromise, Bruce sliced Shea from his armpit to his collar bone. 

Charlie's version of events is Shorty was a big dude, a bully, and he was pushing Clem and someone else around. In a clip Stimson included from Manson's 1992 parole hearing, Stephen Kay (from his mother) has the board ask Charlie about his role in Shea's murder. Consistent in his refusal to to acknowledge California's conspiracy and aiding and abetting laws, in my opinion because of his mental illness, Charlie places himself at the scene and admits to rendering Shea immobile. 

"I'm gonna show you kids how to do this one time. And then don't invoke me to no violence anymore." 

"And uh I moved on Shorty and I put him in a situation where he couldn't move. And then I said, now can you understand what I'm saying to you? And he said yeah. And I stepped up on the highway and hitchhiked a ride and about three, four minutes later somebody stabbed him, and he was stabbed to death and he was killed." 

Inaudible from board. 

Charlie again. "Now, wait a minute. Anybody that knows anything about combat knows that when you go into a combat situation and you're on the line with something, that line can mean your life or your death. If you're on the line of life and death and you're gone and you're up on another line that other reality is a completely different reality -- it hasn't got anything to do with the other side of that line. I was on that side of the line and it was a violent situation and I did deal with it and I put it into where it was -- let me say this, there's only one way I can explain it...The Duke in the joint is a guy that can fight with his fists. The Cou..."

Board begins to interrupt. 

Manson stops them. "Wait a minute. Let me explain this. This will explain it. The Count is somebody who don't fight with his fists. He fights with his mind. He sets up on top of the count when the count is clear, he runs the radio. And the Duke does all the physical things like the first cop does his level, then the sergeant..."

"Mr. Manson..."

"I can't explain it to you, man. It don't have a yes or no."

"The question was did you kill Shorty Shea?"

"No no no. I didn't have anything..."

"You didn't personally kill Shorty Shea?"

"Not personally, no."

"Did you order him to be killed?" 

"No. It was a fight, man. It was uh..."

"Did you order him to be killed?"

"No."

-------------

I've been reviewing Charlie's medical reports the last several days. Did you know certain doctors were against moving Manson to a hospital facility for decades because they claimed Charlie was faking or exaggerating his schizophrenia? 

This was supposed to be Manson at his best and he acts bonkers. There's clearly a problem. His freedom was on the line but not really. Charlie, Kay, and the Board all knew this was a simple parading of a crazy man before a laughing public. 

Sometimes, I struggle to see how we've advanced as race beyond Hammurabi. At least we've stopped feeding delusional people to lions, tigers, and bears for sport. Our dark amusements come from mocking the insane via YouTube these days. 

Oh well. The gang did what they did and life comes with consequences even when you think you live in a different reality. Word to the wise. Don't kill someone when you're mentally ill. We'll poke sharpened sticks through the bars of your cell and delight in watching you yelp until the day you die. 

*Steps down from soapbox. 

Anyway. What'd ya think of the new Stimson? +ggw

Katie Is Eligible For Parole In 2022 - A Look Back

Patricia Krenwinkel has been down since before I was born. 

The third member of the Manson Family even if she thought she was the first for a few days, Pat met Charlie in Manhattan Beach in 1967 at the apartment of a friend Charlie shared with Pat's older half-sister. Lynette Fromme mentions the same former TI inmate amigo of Charlie early in her book. Fromme says Bill had surfboard feet and unwelcoming eyes or something similar. I'd like to know more about Bill if you've researched him already.

A quick summary of Pat's story is life was sad from the time she hit double digits. She was lonely, met Charlie, decided to take off with him, and it was a terrible decision. Pat turns seventy-five this year and has never been in trouble in prison since her incarceration more than half a century ago. She is the longest serving female inmate in the California penal system. In certain Internet circles, Krenwinkel is the personification of evil. 

Inmate Krenwinkel is not a threat to any of us yet we are taxed to keep ourselves safe from her. There's no way can we allow her to live out her years in a nursing home or assisted living facility on her own dime? Must the point be made until their hearts stop beating? 

LVH was a legal adult for less than a year when she committed her crime. A baby. She remains in prison in early 2022.  

But that's for another time. This is Pat's post. June 2017 was the last time she sat in front of political appointees who rotate through the story every three years in extended guest star roles. The appointees do this thing where certain aging inmates are granted freedom in a season's penultimate episode only to have the governor swoop in during the finale and nix the release. 

Pat's 2017 parole hearing was a continuation of the December 2016 hearing that paused when the Board adjourned and spent half a year researching whether she was a victim of Charles Manson. A highlight from this split-season occurs when Deb Tate takes a moment to make the hearing(s) about herself and announces Paul Tate hit her. Deb escaped Col Paul. Pat should've escaped Chuck Summers. 

Krenwinkel's fifteenth parole hearing takes place this year.

Thanks as always to almighty cielodrive.com for providing today's discussion materials. In addition to 2016 and 2017, Krenwinkel's 1978, 2004, and 2011 parole hearings are available there for download. I also included screen caps from a Word doc of Pat's 1988 hearing below.   

What a pickle. Krenwinkel was sixty-nine in late June 2017 when the parole board said go kick rocks for another half decade. First, Charles Manson dies in prison that November. Then, Barbara Hoyt passes in December on Katie's seventieth birthday. That must've hit like a Mack truck behind Katie's locked steel door. 

LVH was prettier. Sadie stole the show. They all sang in the hallway. The Times chronicled Manson's self-destructive courtroom behavior the day Charlie claimed Judge Older was biased. A fiction writer could not have created a better surname for a judge in this trial. 

The New York Times 

October 7, 1970 

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 7— Charles M. Manson led his three women co-defendants in another revolt in their murder trial today.

Brought into court for the first time since he tried to attack the judge on Monday, Manson stood defiantly at the defense table, his long hair swaying as he talked, and angrily accused Judge Charles H. Older of being “emotionally involved” in trying to see him convicted.

Manson, accused of planning a series of murders for his hippie “family” to carry out, was asked by Judge Older if he was willing to behave “in a proper manner” if allowed back in the courtroom.

“Proper?” asked Manson, folding his arms across his chest. He began to accuse the judge of not giving him a fair trial. The judge interrupted Manson. “Just answer the question,” the judge said. “Yes or no.”

“You want to hear my answer?” asked Manson. “If you'd be as detached as you're supposed to be, not be emotionally involved, and do your job as you're supposed to... I can't accept anything you've done. I can't accept the past for the future.”

“Remove Mr. Manson from the courtroom,” said the judge.

As Manson was being taken away by a deputy sheriff, the judge questioned the three women defendants—Susan Denise Atkins, 21 years old, Patricia Krenwinkel, 21, and Leslie Van Houten, 20.

Miss Atkins said in reply to the judge:

“You are not my judge. You are not my God. You may be these people's God. You're not mine.”

As Miss Atkins was led away, Miss Krenwinkel rose and told the judge:

“I'll judge myself. You don't speak my words. You are taking yourself to destruction. I do not accept this courtroom.”

Miss Van Houten silently shook her head when Judge Older asked her if she was willing to abide by the court's rulings.

“You are no longer my father,” she said.

-------------

Oh, Lulu. Did you know Judge Older and his wife raised three girls? Any parents reading this ever had multiple teenage daughters living at home with them at the same time? Anybody watch their sisters fight with their parents growing up? Dare I ask if any of us ever told a parent we wish we had other parents? 

Take a gander at Older's military record. Think he played games? Add four fools and a pencil to Older's eighteen kills.  

"Clang bang clang," snarled the handsome SoCal judge. "You put on quite a show. I sentence each of you to fry like bacon. Get your g-damned smart-mouthed pigtails outta my courtroom." 

Those might not be actual quotes.

Yunnanyi, China. Chuck Older is awarded the Fifth Class Order of the Cloud and Banner, and the Star-Wing Metal. Behind him is a P-40 Tomahawk. The photo is dated June 6, 1942. 

Older's Wikipedia page.  

Ronald Reagan appointed Older to the bench in 1967. The former US President is on the right in this photo from the Reagan Library. 

Reagan as George Gipp teaching the boys in South Bend how to go long.  

Power hates a vacuum. Clowning Reagan's ghost and what he represented is pain-free today. Not so much back then. Reagan and company had made their bones and were enjoying their rewards. The only place anyone was going was over to Buck Compton's annual steak fry. Revolution smevolution, losers.  

Early on, before monetizing them completely, Bugliosi might've believed the Family would someday get out of prison. I noticed a similar statement attributed to Stephen Kay but didn't pick up on any of that sentiment when reading these transcripts. 

1978: 

A longtime television aficionado, I often group everything into seasons in my mind. Casts included. Weird, but effective. Back in college, I discovered I could remember almost everything from lectures if I pretended the class was a tv show. Everyone has their memory tricks I suppose. 

This season kicks off with a bang. With his career in shambles after using a jailhouse confession to free an inmate who then went out and did horrible things, exiled Stephen Kay arrives from his Backwater punishment posting somewhat (but not really) unannounced in Episode One. Lemme tell ya, Kay ain't tryin to help Pat breathe fresh ocean air down at the Santa Monica pier. 

Krenwinkel's attorney S. Dana Gilbert is the first of Krenwinkel's lawyers on this journey who will point out that something is wrong or certain rules aren't being followed etc. The Board never cares. 

They're like dude, c'mon. She bent a knife on someone's collarbone. Let's keep it moving so we can avoid some of rush hour on our way home. 

Down the road, they stop apologizing. Reporters, cameras, lights. Sit there and shut your trap. Baby, you're a star. 

Stephen Kay is the only representative of the People at this hearing. He claims Pat carved "WAR" into Leno's stomach. She replies she did not. He says she admitted she did back in the penalty phase of her trial. 

Overall, without a prior hearing for comparison, this one is pretty tame. The Board gets their backstory and Pat's life post-sentencing. How can they be sure she won't join another apocalyptic cult if they let her go? Similar questions. Pat's crimes are eight years old. Outside of Kay's passion, the events of August 1969 seem like they took place decades earlier.  

1988:

Stephen Kay is back representing the People. Wendy Park is now Krenwinkel's attorney. The media has arrived. Attorney Park says, "Under rule number something point whatever, you're not allowed to have the media here and broadcast and turn on the lights and..." other exhausting things to type when you know the ending. 

Confused, the Board members glance at one another. The senior member mumbles, "What happened to the last guy? Do we have to break in a new attorney every time?" 

Park also tries to have Kay tossed out, like attorney Gilbert a decade earlier, because she wasn't given thirty days advance notice of Kay's participation in the hearing. If only documents had existed where potential surprises might've been identified ahead of time. 

No dice. Kay remains. The score moves to 2-0 in his favor. 

Attorney Park fights the good fight but her best efforts fail. The Board deliberates for all of forty-five minutes before sending Krenwinkel back to her room. This excellent post from 2015 goes much deeper into detail on the backstories of Pat and her co-defendants if you'd like to learn more or refresh.

AP News story covering Pat's 1988 hearing. 

2004:

July 7 

Now we're cookin with gas. Stephen Kay is back again. Deb Tate and representatives from the victims' families are there forevermore or until Krenwinkel's death. Donald Bartell is Pat's attorney. Krenwinkel is five years older than Tate and looks one hundred percent healthier. 

Physical fitness is not enough. Pat is torpedo'd before she leaves port. Presiding Commissioner Al Angele cites a recent psychological evaluation in the decision to deny parole. 

"'Psychological evaluation dated 3/30/04 by Peter Hu, H-U, was not supportive of release. The Doctor states an excessive dangerousness." 

Inmate is a 56-year-old Caucasian female who indicated that she had been brainwashed by Charles Manson and who in essence had ultimate control of her actions. She stated that despite her moral (sic) fear that she'd be killed by Mr. Manson, she was still unable to accomplish instructions he gave her regarding killing the victims. Although she has not done (indiscernible) dangerous within the past interval, I have some concerns with respect to utility for parole. She has yet to demonstrate an insight regarding her actions, she has yet to demonstrate remorse or regret for her actions and has not been able to recognize the loss of the victims' families suffered over the years. It is my opinion that she has maintained an habitual pattern of (indiscernible) and severity of the crime by acknowledging in a subtle manner that it was Mr. Manson who was ultimately responsible for the commission of these crimes. There is no current evidence of cult behavior or predatory type of like relationships that she had in the past and believe that her violence potential outside a controlled setting is less than the persons (indiscernible) innocent offense. I do believe her willingness to adhere to the rules and regulations of society and her years of maturity have caused the risk factor to decrease.

Stephen Kay Piles on: 

Deb Tate and the Next-of-Kin's do their jobs and it's see ya in 2011. 

2011:

This year, the show runners opened up the checkbook and brought in an all-star cast. Stephen Kay is back. Deb Tate reprises her role. Linda Deutsch. Reed Saxon. Patrick freakin Sequeira. 

Keith Wattley is Pat's attorney. The hearing opens in a familiar way. You're exploiting my client... 

Don't ever kill anyone. They'll turn you into a zoo animal for the rest of your life if you do something witchy enough. Mixups happened back at Parole HQ. Someone forgot to mention the hearing to the LaBianca family members. Deb Tate almost didn't get past the gate. 

I AM THE ONLY TATE. 

Deb Tate has a letter she says is from the LaBianca family. The Board is like is it okay with you if we read it? Wattley goes wtf I object. They say lol. 

Even if you skim this hearing, you should read Deb Tate's soliloquy at the end. Pure magic. Here's a big reveal in case you're unaware. 

 

Thank God she was smart enough to avoid the evil trap so many others fell into headfirst. Tate also has clinical hot takes on 12 Step Programs and other fields. I think she's probably some type of doctor. Two doctors maybe. In no way is she squeezing nickels from an old woman's dusty atrocities. 

We're left with a seven year cliffhanger. Krenwinkel is denied parole this time for not caring enough or not showing enough emotion when she groveled at the feet of superior minds. Something like that. The story kinda falls apart when Tate steals the show.  

2016/2017: 

Donna Lebowitz replaces Stephen Kay. Nga Lam is now Deputy Commissioner. Pat and Wattley are not ready for Judge Lam. No one is. Lam makes Sequeria look like a Manson apologist. 

New storyline this season. The 1980's had their Satanic Panic back when people were primitive rubes. We won't get fooled again. Now it's all about the kids. We gotta save the children. 

By 2016, America is fired up about child trafficking. Roman Polanski dated fifteen year old Nastassja Kinski in 1976 and no one said a word. Two years later, Katie was denied parole because the Board wasn't convinced she would not join a new cult. The young loves weren't given a thought. 

Today, Polanski has problems flying certain places because of his proclivities. 

Times change. 

Child trafficking is now also Patricia Krenwinkel's problem. She should've stopped Charlie or smuggled the little runaways across the Alps to escape the Germans. Anything. But her cruel heart is just too black. 

That was from a victim's family member. Again, this is the first we're hearing of sex with twelve year olds. 

Pat Krenwinkel is now a pervert. Lam tears at her flesh with his double row of razor teeth. Deb Tate tries to ensure no one forgets she's onstage but it's too late. We're already on IG, Twitter, and Facebook demanding more lines and scenes for Judge Lam. It's time to cycle Tate out. 

She's kaput.

Somebody call Bree Ford. 

"Psychologically speaking." I bet Bree Ford is never lazy with her adverbs. 

Anyway, they adjourn and say we'll be back in half a year. 

When they reconvene in June, Pat is shelved until 2022. Deb Tate closes it out with personal anecdotes. For example, Dr. Drew (her close personal friend) wanted to attend the hearing but could not. Other secrets are revealed in the word salad below.  

Everyone in that house were personal, very close friends, long-time friends of mine. I have in my hand a letter from Barbara Hoyt, just in case you folks only got a summary of the interview that she gave to the department of parole boards investigator, and, uh, then after that, there's some other things I would like to address. For me, personally, prior to me reading this letter, I would like to state that in doing tons of research and plus having a lot of personal friends, one being Dr. Drew Pinsky, who was very active in getting this law passed in the first place, it's clearly a division the way it has been interpreted today for this case between the medical definition and the way that it has been basically, excuse my French, bastardized for the purpose of this hearing. Drew was willing to come with me, but, um, we'll address that another day. Okay, here goes the letter: To whom it may concern, my name is Barbara Hoyt. I lived with the Manson family for f -- six months during spring through fall of 1969. I didn't interact with Katie, who's -- that was Ms. Krenwinkel -- very much, but during the time I was there, I never saw Charlie hit or beat her. I did see him hit Diane Lake often and Bo Rosenberg once. Diane Lake seemed to be his out -- outlet person. Charlie and his followers were certainly abusive to their victims. I have never seen Sadie, Katie or Leslie hit even once. Charlie never hit, and Charlie never hit her. We were all free to come and go at will. Charlie would try to talk the girls out of it by making love to them, and she provides an example, as in with Gypsy, or try to talk them out of leaving. He was very charming. The girls could be sexually partnered with each other or with any of the men. I heard that Katie would not have sex with anybody but Charlie because she thought she was ugly, which you are not ugly. If you think these killers are rehabilitated, think again. Katie went out to the LaBianca home, and without any hesitation, went to the kitchen drawer, took out the biggest knife and took Ms. LaBianca into the bedroom to kill her. She then repeatedly stabbed Mr. LaBianca s -- uh, several times in the stomach with a carving fork and then wrote messages in blood on the walls and refrigerator for the victims' family to find later. Katie cried, saying to the prosecutor and victims' next of kin, I know you want me dead. Not one of us have ever wished death on any of these killers. However, the killers did wish death on our family members, and I'm sure, in my case, since I get repeated death threats, they most certainly want to see me gone. 

-------------

Bonus:

LSD seemed harmless. 

And a blanket made from hair. 

Tidbits from my Chuck Older research. See you next week. +ggw 

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN!

 P-P Poisoned with a heart attack? Why does the second line end in an exclamation mark? 

"Doris Day etc will get etc?" What is "etc?" Did anybody warn Doris?  

Sorry. Deb sent me that photo and I have the day off. 

Bill Nelson Part One

Bill Nelson might be the most interesting of the Manson researchers who went crazy on the quest. He is tagged fifteen times in posts along the right column of this blog. While researching Tex Watson last week, I fell into Nelson's twenty-nine page pdf manuscript. A madcap binge of all things Nelson followed. I hoped to create a sort of Cliff's Notes for noobs and maybe a quick reference guide for everyone else. 

There's too much tomfoolery for a single post. 

A one-dimensional slash across Nelson's one-dimensional face - nasty as he became - isn't fair. Bill Nelson was a complicated man. I went searching for a starting point, failed, and asked secret agent Deb for help. Within an hour, I was falling down the rabbit hole. 

Nelson's cumulative stats senior year of high school. No GPA. I'm unsure how someone plays on the football team and marches with the Color Guard but maybe that's why the numbers are included. Just one year of track. No hurdles records. 

I hope the Nelson's weren't related. Thanksgiving Dinner might be rough. "Didya hear NASA made Joe a supervisor?" 

"Pish-posh. Bill sent Sadie Mae Glutz a nightie."

Nelson entered the Navy after high school and served during Vietnam. 

He married a pretty gal in a beautiful dress.

Nelson doxxed. I won't return serve but he's gotta pay something. You can't follow little kids around and expect compassion.

A friend sent me a Manson saga version of the Stages of Grief. Stage One is Jailbait Orgy Obsession. Did Nelson never move beyond Stage One? 

Hindsight is 20/20 but this interview with Snake Lake is heavy on the cringe regardless. Slime oozes from his words. Nelson asks about her sex nickname at age fifteen. You will find a baby GreenWhite comment below the post from back when I thought I could solve things. Shudder. 

You think you know people? 

Nelson knew people. He was in with the prosecution, the victims' families, the incarcerated, and the Family. He worked with Court TV filming parole hearing. And sold Manson stuff on his website. We will never see his like again. 

Going after Sandy was a mistake. Nelson grew comfortable terrorizing inmates and moved into the private sector. Before long, a little bird whispered into Stimson's ear and Nelson was finished. Sex charges involving minors. Oh, Bill. 

Do we separate the art from the artist? His research for the 25th anniversary update of Helter Skelter was solid. Nelson brought a lot to the study but will time remember him? Will his name come up when they're arguing race war in seventy-five years? 

Tracking back through Internet history, I struggled to find Nelson supporters. 

Nelson never attempted to cozy up with Family men. The ladies were his special concern. Jumping from new friend to new friend on his climb to the top, the researcher chewed them up and spit them out. When someone from the Family answered one of his syrupy letters, Nelson sold copies of the reply.  

He stole the show at LVH's parole hearing. Lulu ran back to her room while Nelson yucked it up in his goofy Hawaiian shirt. That video remains on Bret's YouTube page if you remember Bret. Last year, a decade after his death, Bret's page began sharing scammy, unrelated content. They get no links. 

Without question, Nelson craved dune buggy time machine sex with the Spahn's girls. How a square like him ever imagined he stood a chance is baffling. Listen to that convo with Lake. Yikes!

But Nelson's biggest boner was reserved for Mr. Watson. Maybe to play Bugs to Tex's Manson and rake in that cold cash. Brothers-in-arms selling paperbacks until the end of time. Except no Gentry on Team Nelson. Another mistake. Nelson wrote like a middle schooler.  

Or maybe he thought Tex was the star of the production? 

Jealousy over finding himself excluded from prison parking lot sex with Watson's wife in a wood-paneled trailer also crossed my mind. But maybe a few years before Kristin Joan Svege became Mrs. Tex Watson. Nellie liked them green. 

Kristin and her parents steamed into New York from Norway the last day of August 1961. She was two years old or almost two. Kristin and her mother are US citizens. 

The future Mrs. Tex attended Asbury Park High School. Below is her yearbook photo from 1974. The Boss was ten years older and attended Catholics schools. Miami Steve was born in Massachusetts but grew up in Middletown, New Jersey. Bruce came to see him play in '65 and the rest is history. 

Tex and Kristin's wedding announcement in the Sacramento Bee. The Secret Service agent behind Nixon looks like Watson. Baseball player Rod Carew poses with the former US President.

After a week spent reading, watching online, and bothering people about Bill Nelson's obsession with Tex Watson, I walked away shaking my head. Dude lost his mind trying to be chief Manson expert and former young love confidant. A sigh of relief went up from every Manson circle when Nelson exited this mortal coil in 2005.

If we don't discuss Nelson's Tex book in the comments, I'll write about it next week. 

-------------

Bonus Material:

What happened in your brain, Bill? 

I'm interested in learning more about Mr. Nelson if you're willing to share. +ggw

Gail Bugliosi Calls Hef Her Good Friend

A&E is kicking off a ten part documentary series, Secrets of Playboy, Monday at 9 pm EST. One of the big reveals is Hef was fascinated by Charles Manson. Someone claims Hef had Manson home videos and studied them. He also studied Helter Skelter. 

I hope Gentry got a night in the Grotto, gratis. Hook a writer up every once in awhile. 

Another person pretends they're shocked because Hef was great friends with Sharon Tate and blah blah blah Charlie. Anyway, I thought you might want to check it out. 

Oh, Mrs. Bugs says Hef, "Couldn't have been a better friend to all of the people he invited to his home."

If you say so, Mrs. Bugs.