Barker Ranch 10-10-69 Arrests

 

We know most of the details about the Barker Ranch Raids but there haven’t been any documents on the specifics of the raids. The recently acquired documents will tell you who was taken into custody in which raid and what name they were arrested under. They also say what evidence was found on that day. It took weeks and even months to gather all of the evidence.

There were two raids on Barker Ranch in October 1969. The first one was October 10th. There were 13 people arrested at Barker. Another person, Kitty Lutesinger, was also arrested that day though not at Barker.

Kitty Lutesinger and Stephanie Schram left Barker Ranch, walking out, to get away from all the craziness that was taking place. The two made as far as Butte Valley before they finally happened upon two CHP officers who were on patrol. Lutesinger and Schram asked the officers for a ride. They were taken to Lone Pine where checks were run on them, they were both found to be runaways.

In addition to being a runaway Lutesinger was wanted for questioning in a 187 PC, the murder of Gary Hinman. The next day Lutesinger was released to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Office.

Schram was released to her parents and suffered no charges. Documents

The raid that took place October 10th at Barker Ranch included five CHP arresting officers, four CHP witnesses, one Department of Fish and Game witness, the Inyo District Attorney's Office sent an investigator and a deputy district attorney as witnesses and not to be left out the Death Valley National Monument Park Service also sent two witnesses.

Yes, you added that up correctly, nine witnesses and five arresting officers. The Inyo County Sheriff's Office did not participate in the raid.

Some of the evidence included the Ruger .22revolver that had been stolen the previous week. It was found in a US Mail bag in the possession of Sandy Good, Ruth Ann Morehouse and Dianne VonAhn. The VW belonging to Corinne Broskett with a VIN number of 2912188 was recovered that day. In Broskett’s VW was a Bausch and Lomb spotting scope, a pricey item in those days.

A list of those arrested

Williamson is Lynette Fromme

Tufts was Steve Grogan

Schwarm was Dianne VonAhn

Reeves was Patricia Krenwinkel

Perell was Nancy Pitman

Powell was Susan Atkins

Pugh was Sandy Good

Lutesinger

Lane was Scott Davis

Baldwin usually used the alias Madeline Cottage

Mourglea was Hugh Rocky Todd

Minette was Catherine Share

Morse was Ruth Ann Morehouse

Alexandria was Leslie Van Houten

All pictures are from Inyo County files and taken at or near the time of the raid.

Governor Newsom Reverses Krenwinkel Parole

 

Don Thompson

Published Oct. 14, 2022 6:15 p.m. PDT

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - California's governor blocked the parole of Charles Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel on Friday, more than five decades after she scrawled "Helter Skelter" on a wall using the blood of one of their victims.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Krenwinkel, now 74, is still too much of a public safety risk to be freed.

"Ms. Krenwinkel fully accepted Mr. Manson's racist, apocalyptical ideologies," Newsom said. "Ms. Krenwinkel was not only a victim of Mr. Manson's abuse. She was also a significant contributor to the violence and tragedy that became the Manson Family's legacy."

A two-member parole panel for the first time in May recommended that Krenwinkel be released, after she previously had been denied parole 14 times. Newsom has previously rejected parole recommendations for other followers of Manson, who died in prison in 2017.

Krenwinkel became the state's longest-serving female inmate when fellow Manson follower Susan Atkins died of cancer in prison in 2009. Her attorney, Keith Wattley, said he understands Krenwinkel is the longest-serving woman in the United States.

She and other followers of the cult leader terrorized the state in the late 1960s, committing crimes that Newsom said "were among the most fear-inducing in California's history."

She was convicted in the slayings of pregnant actor Sharon Tate and four other people in 1969. She helped kill grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary the next night in what prosecutors say was an attempt by Manson to start a race war.

Newsom agreed that she has been well-behaved in prison, has completed many rehabilitation and education programs and has "demonstrated effusive remorse." But he concluded that "her efforts have not sufficiently reduced her risk for future dangerousness."

She still doesn't have sufficient insight into what caused her to commit the crimes or her "triggers for antisocial thinking and conduct" during bad relationships, Newsom said.

"Beyond the brutal murders she committed, she played a leadership role in the cult, and an enforcer of Mr. Manson's tyranny. She forced the other women in the cult to obey Mr. Manson, and prevented them from escaping when they tried to leave," he said.

Wattley did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages seeking comment on Newsom's decision.

But Anthony DiMaria, nephew of Jay Sebring, one of Krenwinkel's victims, had urged Newsom to block her release "due to the rare, severe, egregious nature of her crimes." He said her actions incited "the entire Helter Skelter legacy that has caused permanent historical scars" and inspired at least two ritualized killings years later.

New laws since Krenwinkel was last denied parole in 2017 required the parole panel to consider that she committed the murders at a young age and is now elderly.

Also, for the first time, Los Angeles County prosecutors weren't at the parole hearing to object, under District Attorney George Gascon's policy that prosecutors should not be involved in deciding whether prisoners are ready for release.

She and other participants were initially sentenced to death. But they were resentenced to life with the possibility of parole after the death penalty in California was briefly ruled unconstitutional in 1972.

Krenwinkel was 19 and living with her older sister when she met Manson, then age 33, at a party during a time when she said she was feeling lost and alone.

"He seemed a bit bigger than life," she testified in May, and she started feeling "that somehow his take on the world was the right, was the right one."

She said she left with him for what she thought would be a relationship with "the new man in my life" who unlike others told her he loved her and that she was beautiful.

Manson "had answers that I wanted to hear ... that I might be loved, that I might have the kind of affection that I was looking forward to in my life," she said.

Instead, she said Manson abused her and others physically and emotionally while requiring that they trust him without question, testimony that led the parole panel to conclude that Krenwinkel was a victim of intimate partner battery at the time.

It took about two years of traveling and drug use until he began emerging as "the Christ-like figure who was leading the cult" who began talking about sparking a race war and asking his followers, "would you kill for me? And I said yes."

Krenwinkel talked about during her 2016 parole hearing how she repeatedly stabbed Abigail Folger, 26, heiress to a coffee fortune, at Tate's home on Aug. 9, 1969.

The next night, she said Manson and his right-hand man, Charles "Tex" Watson, told her to "do something witchy," so she stabbed La Bianca in the stomach with a fork, then took a rag and wrote "Helter Skelter," "Rise" and "Death to Pigs" on the walls with his blood.

The bone-handled fork "was part of a set that we used at holidays ... to carve our turkeys," the couple's nephew Louis Smaldino, told parole officials, calling Krenwinkel "a vicious and uncaring killer."

Sharon Tate's sister, Debra Tate, the last surviving member of her immediate family, was among victims who dismissed Krenwinkel's explanation that she was led to Manson by alcohol use and a non-supportive family while growing up.

"We all come from homes with problems and didn't decide to go out and brutally kill seven strangers," Tate told parole officials.

Original story

UP DATE:

Cielodrive has just shared Governor Newsom's six page reversal decision with us. Thanks Cielodrive.

Decision

Corinne Broskett and Her VW

 

Corinne Broskett is listed on Deemer's list as living on Franklin St. in Los Angeles. She was a neighbor of Rosina Kroner. In addition to the usual information on Deemer's list, it shows that she had an LAPD booking number. There was a mystery as to what she had been charged with, not a huge mystery but a mystery nonetheless. The booking number is high enough to have been relatively recent, to the time of fall 1969.

Broskett was another Hollywood wannabe, she achieved a smattering of success, as least enough to pay her bills for a time. Broskett studied with Lee Strasberg for seven years. She was in the cast of the play "Hair" that toured Mexico. 

Broskett is mentioned in an online article about a haunted home at 1508 N. Beverly Glen as living there in the 70's. The home was supposedly haunted by the murdered lover of the wife of a wealthy landowner.

"In the early 1970s, Corinne Broskett, an actress and the current executive director of the Venue Actors Studio in Pinellas Park, Florida, believed the spirit of the murdered lover lived with her at her apartment in the former Old Roadhouse. He was a comforting presence, even stroking her hair when she was in emotional pain.

Corinne stated that she was never afraid of the spirit. She felt warm and comforted by its presence. She was convinced it was the lover because “it would act like the lover in every way.” Sometimes, the spirit would hide her keys when she was preparing to go out. Once, it actually followed her into her car. She persuaded it to return to the inn by telling it that the city had changed considerably and it might get lost or confused. Once, she heard the entity sobbing in agony on the front porch outside her window.

A friend of Corinne’s, Jill Place, stayed with Corinne in her apartment for several months. She also felt the presence of the lover in yellow. She said he would climb into bed with her and curl up and cuddle close."

Okay...

Broskett's place in the Manson saga seems to be that one of the dune buggies confiscated by law enforcement during the Barker Ranch Raid was registered to her. When the VIN number on the car was run by the CHP it came back as being registered to Broskett but the license plates were from another vehicle. The police went to question her about her car, they noticed she was driving another similar VW and the license plates on it were the plates that should have been on the VW up at Barker Ranch. The VIN number of the VW that was in her possession was run through the system and it came back as a stolen car from Venice.

Manson was questioned about the car, now converted to a dune buggy, he said that it was Tex who "bought" the car and he didn't know where it came from.

Ah, it does sound like Tex and one of his little schemes to get in Charlie's good graces. I can't imagine that Broskett did not know she wasn't driving her own car but why not take the car stolen from Venice and chop it into a dune buggy? Apparently Broskett never reported her car as being stolen.

William Ray Cole and Dennis Willson Suspects

 

Goler Wash Road totalescape.com

On October 6, 1969 a report was made to the Redondo Beach Police Department that a gun was stolen from the vehicle of the reporting party while he and two friends were rock hunting in the Goler Wash area. The victim in the case, Ivan Bryant, told authorities while rock hunting he and his friends noticed some hippies walking near the area and assumed they were simply hiking. When he returned to his vehicle the gun that he had left on the front seat was missing. The car was not locked.

The three men immediately thought of the group of hippies that had passed by and took off after them. Once they caught up to the group the men questioned the hippies about the gun. The hippies feigned ignorance about the gun. The men however were able to get the names of the two adults in the group. They were William Ray Cole and Dennis Willson.

The men did not pursue the matter further with the hippies. Once Bryant returned home to Redondo Beach, he reported the stolen gun. Redondo Beach Police in turn handed the information over to Inyo County where the theft occurred.

In the report Cole is named as suspect #1, a physical description is given as well as a Canoga Park address. Suspect #2 is named Dennis Willson with a physical description: age 23, 5' 9", 170 pounds, black hair. The address given for Willson was 1400 Sunset Blvd. Pacific Palisades.

The age of Willson is about right but the real Dennis Wilson was six feet tall and had light brown hair. The address is a bit off and should have been given as 14400 Sunset Blvd. Also, Wilson is misspelled.

I think it was someone else, in the Family, that used Dennis's name, but who?

Here are the documents.

In addition to the documents there are also some of the detective's "scratch", informal notes they make when conducting an investigation. On the first one Cole and Willson are written down and there's a little note next to Willson that says "Doris Day's Son".  I'm not sure if the detective thought Dennis Wilson was Doris's son or if whoever he got the information from was trying to tell the detective that Terry Melcher was a friend of Wilson's.

The next bit of scratch says that Bill Vance robbed Jack Jones along with Zero and Vern

Bill Vance was arrested under the name David Lee Hamic during the Barker Ranch Raids. He was charged with 10851 which is a stolen vehicle charge, 496 PC receiving stolen property and 272 PC contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was not charged with stealing a firearm or burning the Michigan loader.

Arlene Barker

 Arlene Barker

We all know that Arlene Barker was the owner of Barker Ranch, the location of Manson's last stand. Arlene was born Ima Arlene Kirklen September 27, 1921 in Oklahoma. She was the last of seven children. Arlene married James Henry Barker September 9, 1941 in Custer Oklahoma. The couple soon moved to Los Angeles California where Jim was employed by Lockheed as an engineer. They had a son and two daughters.

Jim Barker began his own business, Artcraft Plating and Finishing, in 1951 in answer to Lockheed's inability to find a company to plate a special part. According to census records Arlene worked at the company with her husband. When Jim died in 1967 their son took over the operation of the business. The company is still in business today and operated by Arlene's grandson.

The company has expanded and is thriving. Here's a quote from their website-

We’ve sent crucial parts into space that called for ultimate precision. We’ve figured out a way to plate Daft Punk’s helmets so they could still see out of them. And we’ve worked on objects that have become part of pop-culture history, like The Terminator’s endoskull.

Pretty cool, huh?

Jim and Arlene Barker bought the Death Valley ranch from Bluch and Helen Thomason in 1955. They mined gold and uranium until Jim died in 1967.

Arlene passed May 12, 1989.

This is a report on the interview conducted October 14, 1969 with Arlene Barker.

The Manson Family in Fiction: Some Short Takes, Part One

   When it comes to all things Manson related, the truth is often stranger than fiction. While there have been quite a few attempts at film dramas, there aren't a lot of novels and stories that deal with Manson and company. Kind of surprising considering the people and events involved. 

  There are two types of fictional treatments to look at: stories directly about the people and events, albeit in a fictional context, and stories based on the people and events. The latter will feature characters that may be easily recognizable as being based on Charlie, Squeaky, Sadie, etc., but the stories do not directly mention the crimes or the people involved directly by name, and the events will often be similar to what actually transpired. 

    The books that are directly about the Manson Family will obviously be held to a different standard than ones that are loosely based on the events. Readability will also be factored in. No point in taking the time to read it, if it isn't ultimately entertaining. Oddly, a majority of these books are directed towards the young adult (YA) market, and they often have a feminist slant. For the first post, I thought I would tackle two that deal directly with the Manson Family.

    First up is the short story 'Charlie's Girls' by Laura Elizabeth Woollett, which appears in the short story collection The Love of a Bad Man (2016). The book itself is a collection of short stories from the point of view of the wives, lovers, etc of various bad men throughout history. 

  'Charlie's Girls' starts right smack in the middle of the murders on Cielo. We are not sure who is actually narrating the story, other than one of the 'girls.' At first it seems like it could be Katie or Sadie, until they are in the car (being driven by 'Darling') leaving the residence, and the narrator mentions what Tex, Sadie, Katie, and 'Darling' are doing. The addition of an unnamed fifth person at Cielo totally destroys the credibility. This one is not worth it, particularly since it is only 10 pages. Check it out at the library if you are really interested.   

   Next up is the novel American Girls (2016) by Alison Umminger, which goes by the much better title My Favorite Manson Girl in the UK. this one is marketed toward the YA market, and it definitely does have a feminist slant. The story revolves around a young woman, Anna, who is in high school and moves to Hollywood to spend time with her older half-sister. The older half-sister is an actress and is working in B Movies. Her director puts Anna to work researching the Manson Girls for a project. The book is mostly about Anna interacting with the various people in her life, but a decent amount of it is her musings on the Manson Girls. These observations make the book worth reading. Some key passages:

- when discussing Mary and Katie: 'it's not like either of those girls had crazy written all over them- more like ugly with a big fat side of alone.' 

- referencing Sadie: 'Atkins was like a lot of the other Manson girls- their lives were kind of screwed up, but definitely not screwed up enough to go out and start killing people.'

Sharon Tate- 'I kept going back to that part of the murder- a bunch of okay looking girls killing the really beautiful one. Not because it was creepy, but because it wasn't so terribly hard to imagine after all.' When someone says a friend of hers reminds her of a Manson girl, she muses that she 'was more like Sharon Tate. Pretty, but pretty boring.'

Barbara Hoyt- 'looked every bit as crazy as the crazy girls.'

One of the best lines is when she refers to the Family as 'Manson's battalion of zombie bimbos.' That would make a great title for a B-Movie. 

  Anna's overall take on the Manson girls is that they should never have been the Manson girls. She doesn't excuse their behavior, but she does feel that they weren't monsters, and that the right turn of events could have turned even her into a Manson girl. They were the children of America at the time.

 There are only a couple of errors as far as the history of the events- the author has six people killing the LaBiancas, forks in both of their stomachs, and the killers wearing the LaBiancas clothes

American Girls is worth a read, mostly for Anna's commentary on the girls and their place in society. Her observations are sharp and funny and thought provoking. The point of view of a teenage girl works well, since she is very close in age to the Manson girls, and can relate to them on some of the same levels. 

    Next up: The Girls and Cold: a novelized biography of Susan Atkins. 

     

Charles Manson's Leggett Arrest

 

The only things we know about Manson's first arrest after being released from Terminal Island Federal Prison in March of 1967 are one newspaper article and many years later what Lynette Fromme wrote in her book "Reflexion." The section on Lyn and Mary meeting Dean Moorehouse, his daughter Ruth, and the arrest incident are on pages 107 to 113.

The newspaper article is brief, the headline is suggestive.  It reads as if Charlie and the 15-year-old girl were shacked up by themselves somewhere in Mendocino County. Fromme, in her book, dispels the misconception that Charlie and Ruth Ann were alone in the woods.

The police report goes even further to explain the situation. When the crime was originally written up it the crime on the first page in the upper left of the report was 148 PC (resisting arrest). Written on the second page is 272 PC (contributing to the delinquency of a minor) and 92 PC (threat of violence).  Those two crimes were scratched out and 148 PC (resisting arrest) was written above them.  So, the ultimate charge that Manson received was resisting arrest. There is no hint of contributing to the delinquency to a minor nor any charges of improper activities with a minor in the narrative of the report as the newspaper headline might have you believe.

Present at the incident per the report were Mary Brunner and Lynette Fromme. A young man named Christopher Walsh was also present. He had turned 18-years-old a week prior and his occupation is listed as musician. 

The information on Manson's rap sheet, as to the charges, is at odds with what the Mendocino County Sheriff's report states.

Here is the two-page report.

The day after Manson's arrest Dean Moorehouse wrote a statement for the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office absolving Manson of any wrong doing.

Investigation Report

Date 1-28-67                                                         Date 1-29-67

Victim People of State of Calif.                    Court

Suspect Charles W. Manson                           County Mendocino

Statement of Mr. Dean A. Moorehouse, age 47, living at Adanac, Leggett and residence 4999 Paso Olivos, San Jose, Calif.

My wife Audrey, my daughter Ruth,15, & I moved into this cabin in Leggett one week ago.

My wife got angry with me Wednesday night, July 26th & on July 27th she left and went to San Jose, Calif.

On Friday July 27th about 9 AM I left my daughter with adults, Charlie, Chris, Mary and Lynn at my home. I left for San Jose on business & intended to return Fri. night or Sat. AM. I got back home this AM about 11:00 AM and found that my daughter had been taken to Juvenile Hall & my friend Charlie, was arrested.

The above people are friends of mine & I left my daughter in their care, temporarily. In my opinion, the order from the San Jose Police Dept., was invalid as no proceedings for divorce or separation, have been filed by either party.

(signed) Dean A. Moorehouse

A Tsunami at Devil's Hole in Death Valley!

 

Mexican Earthquake Triggers 4-Foot Waves in Death Valley National Park

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake rattled Mexico's Pacific coast on Monday and left at least two people dead in its wake. Repercussions of the tremor extended as far as 1,500 miles north, where four-foot-tall waves began churning inside a Death Valley cave called Devils Hole, in what the National Park Service called a "surprising quirk of geology."

Video footage of the phenomenon — which is technically known as a seiche, when sudden changes are observed in a lake or partially enclosed body of water — shows a birds-eye view of the cave as its initially still water erupts into a series of waves that roil and crash intermittently over the course of several minutes.

Devils Hole is a geothermal pool within a limestone cave, located in a section of Death Valley near the border of Nevada and California. The cave itself is hundreds of feet deep, as the park service noted in a news release explaining the "desert tsunami" recorded late Monday morning, but its relatively shallow water level is crucial for the endangered marine species, called pupfish, that live there.

The fish, whose naturally-occurring population totaled just 175 earlier this year, feed on algae "that grows on a shallow, sunlit shelf" in Devils Hole, according to the park service. 

Because Monday's seiche removed algae that had been growing in the cave, it will reduce the pupfish's food supply in the short term. But Kevin Wilson, an aquatic ecologist with the federal agency, suggested that the creatures may be resilient enough to withstand the temporary shift in their environment.

"The pupfish have survived several of these events in recent years," Wilson said in a statement. "We didn't find any dead fish after the waves stopped." An annual count to tally the pupfish inside Devils Hole is set to take place this upcoming weekend, the park service said.

Monday's earthquake was the first of two powerful tremors that shook Mexico this week. A second happened further inland near the country's capital, Mexico City, early on Thursday. It was given a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, and killed at least one person while causing buildings to sway.

Link to footage of the action in Devil's Hole from the National Park Service.

Thanks to Panamint Patty for sending this!

Original Article

Bread Truck Arrest Report April 19 1969

Courtesy of LAPL Photo Collection

We have all heard about the Bread Truck Bust but have you ever read the arrest report? It is not a major event in the Mansonsphere except possibly for the sheer number of people involved. Fourteen adults and two 13-year-old juveniles were taken into custody.

As was typical of the Family, only half of them used their true names.  Some of those arrested as adults were actually juveniles.  Law enforcement suspected it but were stymied as to how to figure who was really who until much later.

For those who don’t have a cheat sheet to know who was using what alias here is a list suspects including those who used alternative names, numbered according to how they are listed in the reports:

1. Heuvelhurst is Ruthann Moorehouse

2. Cottage is Patricia Baldwin

3. Bluestein is Dianne Lake

4. McCann is Nancy Pitman

5. Sankston is Leslie Van Houten

6. Bo Rosenberg

7. Barbara Jean Lipsett is Barbara Hoyt

8. Lynette Fromme

9. Wright is Catharine Share

10. Stephanie Rowe

11. Sandy Good

12. Paul Watkins

13. William Feeney

14. David Lipsett (Karate Dave) was David Ralph Baker, confirmed by his rap sheet

The two 13-year-olds are named in the report but I won’t name them here. One of the 13-year-olds was a first cousin of Herbert Townsend. You might remember a post discussing The Fountain of the World where it was revealed in the comments that Herbert Townsend’s brother, Danny Wayne Townsend a resident at the Fountain, along with accomplices, murdered two teenaged girls. Those Townsend boys were a tough lot and seemed to be drawn to communal settings.

The Bread Truck arrestees were pulled over by the CHP in Lancaster CA at 8:00 AM because the truck didn’t have a current registration sticker. You drive through Lancaster on your way to Death Valley. David Lipsett was driving. The charges were Grand Theft Auto and Contributing the Delinquency of a Minor, all but Lipsett were eventually released without any charges sticking. The Bread Truck wasn’t exactly stolen because the CHP couldn’t figure out who it belonged to as it was not in the system. The license plates belonged to another vehicle entirely.

Thanks to my behind-the-scenes posse who helped fill in some of the blanks!

Steve Grogan Probation Report

This is a transcription of a probation report for Steve Grogan dated June 30, 1970. It was ordered by the court after Grogan pleaded guilty to Section 10551 of the vehicle code (driving without the owner's consent) involving a truck he had rented from Doug's U-Rent in Woodland Hills CA. Grogan had not been charged in the murder of Shorty Shea as of the date of the report.

The report has a lot of background information on Grogan, there are details about him that I bet you never knew. It also explains the indecent exposure charge that led to him being committed to Camarillo State Hospital for observation. Grogan was charged with child molestation as well but the report does not address the molestation charge. The bottom line is that Grogan was not tried, much less convicted of either of the charges. The incident happened at his parents' home with adults present on June 11 1969. Ventura County terminated the case February 17 1970.

I've typed this report because it is not a great copy and is difficult to read but I'm also supplying a link to the actual report so that you can see I've faithfully transcribed it.

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES

PROBATION OFFICER'S REPORT

(As supplied by the defendant and substantiated in part by his father)

Defendant was born in Van Nuys, where he lived with his family until his early teenage years. Defendant last attended school at Simi High School, which he left after the 10th grade, at age 15. Defendant ran off with a young woman and lived with her for the next year. Upon his release from custody the defendant wants to try to get into college. He hopes to study communications or music. 

Defendant's father works for Holiday Hardware, Santa Susana. His mother is a registered nurse who is in college and studying social work. Defendant's 22-year-old brother and 15-year-old sister live with their parents. He also has a brother who is in the Highway Patrol Academy in Sacramento.

Defendant has never been married nor has he fathered any children. He has not served in the Armed Forces and has not registered with the draft board.

Until his arrest the defendant had worked as a ranch hand at the Spahn Ranch in Chatsworth. He received only board and room for his work. The defendant worked there since he was 16-years-old. It was there that he met and became associated with the "Manson Clan." Defendant has also worked as a service station attendant (for two months); a painter (periodically for six months); and a packer. At present the defendant has neither debts nor assets nor income. 

NARCOTICS AND INTOXICANTS

Defendant says he has used marijuana frequently in the past. He does not use alcoholic beverages.

ARREST RECORD:

SOURCE OF INFORMATION:

CII.

JUVENILE HISTORY:

6-5-67 LAPD- 602 WIC. 11530 H&S (possession of marijuana)- counseled and released.

8-12-67 LAPD- 484 PC (shoplifting)- 9-29-67, bail forfeiture.

4-5-69 SO Los Angeles- Grand theft money and prowling- 4-8-69 released insufficient evidence.

5-20-69 LAPD- 487.3 (Grand theft auto)- D.A. Reject.

6-11-69 SO Ventura- 647A/314 PC (child molesting and indecent exposure)- Referred to Ventura County Probation Dept.

(Ventura County Probation Department referred the defendant to Camarillo State Hospital for observation. The defendant escaped from the hospital after being there for only a few days. The probation case was terminated on February 17, 1970. Defendant said that his offense occurred while he was visiting his parents' home. He was wearing rat-eaten trousers with a large hole in them. He said his genitals accidentally became partially exposed while he was playing with the children. The mother of one of the children observed this, and after talking to her neighbors called the police. The defendant categorically denies that he deliberately exposed himself.)

8-16-69 SO Los Angeles- Grand theft auto- D.A. reject.

10-10-69 SO Independence- 272 PC, 496 PC, 12020 PC, 10851 VC, Escape from state mental hospital- 12-5-69, Dismissed in the interest of justice, released to Los Angeles County on their homicide warrant.

12-5-69 LAPD Warrant 487.3 PC; 10851 VC - present offense. 

PRESENT OFFENSE:

On June 3, 1970 defendant appeared in Department-D of the Los Angeles Superior Court and entered a plea of guilty to the charge of violating section 10851 of the vehicle code (driving without owners consent), deemed a misdemeanor, matter has been continued to instant case for probation and sentence hearing.

The deputy probation officer assigned to this case has not been able to obtain a transcript of the preliminary hearing. From the district attorney's file, the following appears to have occurred:

On October 4, 1969 the defendant rented a 1966 one-ton truck from Doug's U-Rent, 20956 Ventura Boulevard, Woodland Hills. Rental period was for one day. Defendant did not return the truck. The truck was recovered by the highway patrol in Death Valley on October 14, 1969. The truck has been returned to the owners. Defendant rented the truck under an assumed name, Tufts.

DEFENDANT'S STATEMENT:

Defendant's written statement is attached to this court report. He writes that he rented the truck knowing that he could not possibly return it within 24 hours. Defendant writes, in part, "Now I know this was wrong, but at the time I was not thinking, and this is the price I have to pay. If I was granted one more chance, this mistake will never happen again. I plan to go back, and live with my parents and go to school and try to work my way through college."

Defendant told the probation officer that he rented the truck to deliver food and camping equipment to Charles Manson and others who had gone to the desert. They gave him money and asked him to buy various items and bring them to Death Valley. On the way there the truck got stuck in sand and rocks. The defendant said he was unable to get it out. He said he neglected to summon help immediately or to inform the owners of the truck's condition. Several days later the defendant was arrested.

Regarding the future, the defendant said he will try to get into college. He wants to return to the home of his parents and stay there. The defendant realizes that his present troubles have been caused, for the most part, by his association with less than desirable companions. Defendant categorically denies involvement in any further criminal activities. He also said that he was not a member of any "Family." He was living at Spahn Ranch before Charles Manson moved there. Defendant denies that he was a follower of Charles Manson in any fashion.

INTERESTED PARTIES:

Doug's U-Rent informed the probation officer that the defendant made full restitution for the damage to the truck and the expense incurred in its transportation. This restitution amounted to something over $700.

Defendant's father said he would like to have his son return home. He said the door has always been open for his son. The defendant has been away from his home since he was 15-years-old. Regarding the defendant's emotional condition, his father believes he is emotionally balanced. He said his son has always been a very idealistic boy. The probation office asked the defendant's father concerning the charge of child molesting and indecent exposure in Ventura County on June 11, 1969. The father believes that the exposure was unintentional. He said his son always liked children and has never shown any signs that he would do harm to them.

Attached to this report is a letter from the investigating police detective.

EVALUATION:

The defendant left home at age 15. For a year he lived with a woman six years his senior. When he was 16 years old he went to live at the Spahn Ranch, where he was given board and room for the work he did. Defendant has lived without adequate supervision for the past three years.

Defendant appeared to be quite cooperative during probation investigation. Probation officer could discover no signs of emotional imbalance. Regarding the present offense, the defendant is fully admitting that he could have obtained help to free the truck so that it could be returned to the owners. Defendant has made full restitution for the financial damage to Doug's U-Rent.

The defendant's offense has been deemed a misdemeanor. At the time of his sentencing, the defendant will have spent approximately eight months in custody.

The best plan for the defendant would be to place him under supervision. He should be required by the court to remain in the home of his parents until allowed by the probation officer to move to a different residence. Hopefully, this will have the effect of removing the defendant from associating with less than desirable companions. Certainly such association is a major factor in the defendant's involvement in the present offense. Furthermore the defendant should be required to seek and maintain full-time employment or school.

RECOMMENDATION:

It is therefore recommended that probation be granted under the following terms and conditions:

1. Spend a suitable time in county jail.

6. Not use or possess any narcotics or narcotic paraphernalia and stay away from places where addicts congregate.

7. Not associate with known narcotic users or sellers.

15. Seek and maintain employment as approved by probation officer.

19. Obey all laws, orders, rules and regulations of the probation department and of the court.

Maintain residence in the home of his parents until allowed to change that residence by the probation officer.

Respectfully Submitted,

Kenneth E. Kirkpatrick

Probation Officer

By H.L.D.

Harry L. Dawson, Deputy

East San Fernando Valley Office

(Dictated 6-30-70)

HLD:EJ (6)

I have read and considered the foregoing report of the probation officer.

Judge of the Superior Court.