The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers (61 page)

“flower power,” heeding Timothy Leary’s advice to in nearby Huntington, around the same time.

“tune in, turn on, drop out.” The streets and crash pads On July 17, 1969, 16-year-old Mark Walts disap-overflowed with teenage runaways and drifters, seeking peared while hitchhiking from Chatsworth, California, insight on the world and on themselves. Behind the to the pier at Santa Monica to do some fishing. His bat-scenes, a minor army of manipulators—gurus, outlaw tered body, shot three times and possibly run over by a
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MANSON Family

memberment of movie stunt man Donald (“Shorty”) Shea, a hanger-on who “knew too much” and was suspected of discussing family business with police.

Ironically, Manson’s downfall came about through a relatively petty crime. On the night of September 18–19, 1969, members of the family burned a piece of road-grading equipment that was “obstructing” one of their desert dune buggy routes. Arson investigators traced the evidence to Manson, and he was arrested again on October 12. A day later, Susan Atkins was picked up in Ontario, California, and she soon confided details of the Tate-LaBianca murders to cellmates in Los Angeles.

Sweeping indictments followed, but even Manson’s removal from circulation could not halt the violence.

On November 5, 1969, family member John

Haught—aka “Zero”—was shot and killed while

“playing Russian roulette” in Venice, California. Eleven Left to right: Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie days later, another “Jane Doe”—tentatively identified Van Houten en route to the Sharon Tate murder trial. (Wide as family associate Sherry Cooper—was found near the World API)

site where Marina Habe’s body had been discovered in 1968. On November 21, Scientologists James Sharp, car, was found next morning in Topanga Canyon. Walts 15, and Doreen Gault, 19, were found dead in a Los was a frequent visitor to Manson’s commune at the Angeles alley, stabbed more than 50 times each with a Spahn movie ranch, and the dead boy’s brother publicly long-bladed knife. Investigators learned that Gaul had accused Manson of the murder, though no charges were been a girlfriend of Bruce Davis, a family member sub-filed.

sequently convicted of first-degree murder in L.A.

Around the time of Walts’s death, a “Jane Doe”

And Manson’s arm was long. Joel Pugh, husband of corpse was discovered near Castaic, northeast of the Mansonite Sandra Good, flew to London in late 1968, Spahn ranch, tentatively identified from articles of accompanied by Bruce Davis. Their mission included clothing as Susan Scott, a “family” member once the sale of some rare coins and the establishment of arrested with a group of Manson girls in Mendocino.

connections with satanic orders in Britain. Davis Scott was living at the ranch when she dropped out of returned to the United States in April 1969, but Pugh sight, and while the Castaic corpse remains technically lingered on, and his body was found in a London hotel unidentified, Susan has not been seen again.

room on December 1, his throat slit with razor blades, In the month between July 27 and August 26, 1969, his blood used to inscribe “backwards writing” and Manson’s tribe slaughtered at least nine persons in

“comic books drawings” on a nearby mirror. (Despite southern California. Musician Gary Hinman was the the impossible scribbling, his death was ruled a suicide.) first to die, hacked to death in retaliation for a drug Charged with the seven Tate-LaBianca murders,

deal gone sour, “political” graffiti scrawled at the scene Manson and three of his female disciples—Susan in his blood, as Manson tried to blame the crime on Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten—

“blackie.” On August 9, a Manson hit team raided the went to trial in June 1970. The defense rested its case home of movie director Roman Polanski, slaughtering on November 19, and attorney Ronald Hughes disap-Polanski’s wife—pregnant actress Sharon Tate—and peared eight days later, after he was driven to Sespe Hot four of her guests: Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, Voytek Springs by two family associates called “James” and Frykowski, and Steven Parent. The following night,

“Lauren.” The lawyer’s decomposing corpse was found Manson’s “creepy crawlers” killed and mutilated in Sespe Creek five months later, around the time Man-another couple, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, in their son’s death sentence was announced, and positive iden-Los Angeles home.

tification was confirmed through dental X rays.

An atmosphere of general panic gripped affluent Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi believes that he has traced L.A., the grisly crimes demonstrating that no one was the fate of “James” and “Lauren,” suspected of guilty safe. On August 16, sheriff’s deputies raided the Spahn knowledge in Hughes’s death. On November 8, 1972, ranch, arresting Manson and company on various drug-hikers found the body of 26-year-old James Willett, shot-related charges, but Charles was back on the street by gunned and decapitated, in a shallow grave near August 26. That night, he directed the murder and dis-Guerneville, California. Three days later, Willett’s station
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“MASK of Sanity”

wagon was spotted outside a house in Stockton, and While eligible for parole since 1972, no convicted police arrested two members of the Aryan Brotherhood

“family” killer has yet been released. Susan Atkins and inside, along with three Manson women. Lauren Willett, Tex Watson claim to have “found God” in prison, Wat-wife of James, was buried in the basement, and an initial son founding his own ministry with a small but loyal tale of “Russian roulette” was dropped in April 1973

cadre of disciples in the free world. Krenwinkel and Van when four suspects pled guilty to murder charges.

Houten insist they have changed, matured, but no public Meanwhile, the Manson trials continued in Los

official mindful of his future in elective office is prepared Angeles. Triggerman Charles “Tex” Watson was con-to take them at their word. As for Manson himself, his victed and sentenced to die for the Tate-LaBianca mur-yearly parole hearings—those he deigns to attend—have ders in 1971. During August of that year, six family been converted into a theater of the grotesque, with members—including original disciple Mary Brunner—

Manson rambling incoherently, sometimes for hours on tried to steal 140 weapons from a Hawthorne gun end, on topics ranging from the Brazilian rain forest to shop, planning to break Manson out of jail, but they his “frame-up” by an unjust society. Sometimes he does-were captured in a shootout with police. All were sub-n’t show at all: in 1979, for example, he passed on the sequently convicted, and Brunner was also sentenced hearing and sent the parole board a “Get Out of Jail for participation in the Hinman murder. Robert Beau-Free” card from his Monopoly set.

soleil and Susan Atkins picked up additional death sen-And there is always more trouble waiting for Manson, tences for that slaying, while Manson, Bruce Davis, and wherever he goes. In August 1997, he was sentenced to Steve Grogan were convicted in both the Hinman and serve seven months at California’s “super-max” Pelican Shea murders. Various death sentences were overturned Bay State Prison, after he was convicted of selling drugs by the US Supreme Court’s 1972 ruling against CAPITAL

to other inmates. He completed that sentence in June PUNISHMENT, and all of the family hackers are now 1998 and was transferred to yet another lockup. March technically eligible for parole. In Manson’s absence, 1999 brought a surprise announcement that Manson Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme held the family reins, cor-would assist Professor Robert Beattie of Newman Uni-responding with Charlie in prison and spreading his versity in teaching a class on the U.S. legal system. Sandi gospel on the streets, forging new alliances with sundry Gibbons, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles district cults and racist groups. In September 1975, she tried to attorney’s office, noted that it was not Manson’s first assassinate President Gerald Ford, but her pistol mis-foray into academia. “He likes to interact with young fired and Squeaky was sentenced to life imprisonment.

people,” she said. “He thinks he can pass along some-As for the family patriarch, commutation of his thing to them.” As Manson told Professor Beattie in a death sentence launched Manson on a seemingly end-tape-recorded conversation, “I have 50 years of experi-less tour of the California prison system—from San ence in incarceration. I pretty much have a leg up on the Quentin to Vacaville, on to Folsom, back to San law from an underworld perspective.”

Quentin, and so on. Wherever he went, the pattern was At press time for this volume, all parole bids from identical: conflicts with authority and other inmates, Manson and his homicidal followers have been rejected various beatings and murder attempts (to date, he has by California authorities.

been poisoned, set on fire, and badly beaten several See also ARTWORK AND MEMORABILIA; GROUPIES

times), half-hearted hunger strikes, and raving television interviews. In March 1974, Manson was diagnosed as an “acute psychotic”; two months later he

“MASK of Sanity”:
Psychological defense mechanism assaulted a guard; two months after that, he was caught Most serial killers—indeed, most psychopaths (or passing notes about a planned escape attempt. The sociopaths)—are consummate chameleons, able through Aryan Brotherhood, once Manson’s de facto prison years of practice to conceal their brooding rage behind a bodyguard, soon turned against him, one member sexu-civilized, even charming, facade. Psychiatrist Hervey ally assaulting him at San Quentin, others beating him Cleckly dubbed this disguise the “mask of sanity” in his up at Folsom, another team slipping rat poison into his book of the same title (1982) and went on to explain: favorite soft drink. Still, there were rumors of Charlie orchestrating payback: one of his AB tormentors was It must be remembered that even the most severely and stabbed to death at Folsom, while another was shot-obviously disabled psychopath presents a technical gunned by the proverbial persons unknown, shortly appearance of sanity, often one of high intellectual capac-after his parole. Both crimes were probably related to ities, and not infrequently succeeds in business or profes-the Brotherhood’s traffic in drugs or continual feuding sional activities for short periods, some for considerable with blacks, but Manson was pleased to take credit for periods. . . . Although they occasionally appear on casual the murders with a wink and a grin.

inspection as successful members of the community, as
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“MASS Murder”

able lawyers, executives, or physicians, they do not, it Crime Classification Manual further divides mass murder seems, succeed in the sense of finding satisfaction or ful-into “classic” and “family” subsets: the classic case fillment in their own accomplishments. Nor do they,

“involves one person operating in one location at one when the full story is known, appear to find this in any period of time”; the family scenario involves murder of other ordinary activity.

four or more relatives and may be dubbed a “mass murder/suicide” if the perpetrator also kills himself.

The annals of modern serial murder are replete with Unfortunately, there are several problems with the examples of killers who passed unnoticed as the boy Bureau’s definition, first and foremost of which or girl next door. THEODORE BUNDY was a Boy Scout appears to be the exclusion of any multiple murder in his youth, later a well-liked political activist who committed by two or more killers. Taken at face value, presented the image of a successful law student despite the FBI definition seemingly fails to include such slumping grades. Repeat killers Arthur Bishop, events as the St. Valentine’s Day massacre of 1929

Richard Angelo, and JOHN JOUBERT were all Eagle (with seven dead) and Seattle’s Chinatown massacre of Scouts in their teens. JOHN GACY was famous for his February 1983 (13 dead) on grounds that multiple holiday theme parties, performing as a clown at chil-gunmen were involved. Conversely, FBI Agents

dren’s hospitals when he was not immersed in local ROBERT RESSLER and JOHN DOUGLAS in their book Sex-politics. DEAN CORLL was another charmer, luring ual Homicide (1988) refer to a case of “mass murder”

young victims and accomplices alike with gifts of in which only three victims were killed. Further prob-homemade candy. Rape-slayer ALBERT DESALVO frelems arise with the introduction of SPREE MURDER , quently posed as a talent scout, persuading dozens of which—depending on the circumstances of the case—

women to open their doors and submit to intimate may be indistinguishable from either “mass” or “ser-fondling while he recorded their measurements for ial” murder. Published references to “serial mass nonexistent modeling assignments. Despite a life style murder” also needlessly confuse an already compli-of CANNIBALISM