Selects: The Manson Family Murders Part 1 | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

hi everybody Chuck here on Saturday with. the selects with a very gruesome pick. trigger warnings it's a true crime. episode perhaps one of the most infamous. crimes in American history and it's a. two-parter so you get part one this week. you get part two in two weeks it's. called the Manson family murders part. one from January 25th 2018 beware.

welcome to stuff you should know a. production of iHeart. [Music]. Radio hey and welcome to the podcast I'm. Josh Clark and there's Charles W chuckb. and there's Jerry over there and we make. up the stuff you should know. family the peace loving acid Loven non. murdering nice family.

did I say acid loving in there you did. oh weird this me peace loving non-. murdering family yeah and you know what. uh hopefully there are no kids listening. to this one anyway so we can let. everyone else know that we take lstd. before every episode sure I mean the. slogan of our show is woe zoi yeah so. COA for those of you who did not see the. title uh if you're listening to your. kids about the Manson family murders. without a COA then you need a parenting.

COA yeah for real but uh there are lots. of grizzly details in this so obviously. you may want to skip this one with the. on a on a family picnic pick AIC yeah it. might kind of bring it down a couple of. degrees it might be a drag you know. probably so uh speaking of drags Chuck. I'll tell you who is a drag Charles. Manson he was he was so like there's. this there's this reputed legend that. Charles Manson tried out for the monkeys.

and was rejected and that was ultimately. why he um ordered these these Grizzly. murders um of what that we'll definitely. get into but it turns out that's. absolutely false yeah that that I've. heard that and it always sounded to me. like an urban legend well so the thing. is it's got like all sorts of. interesting facets to it though right. it's demonstrably false he was in prison. at the time the monkey tryouts were held. but it kind of coincides with this.

larger part of Charles Manson's life. that not everybody's fully aware of. which is that he wanted to be a star he. wanted to be a musical recording star. and he actually had he made some inroads. into that career and I have read. theories that it is possible that these. murders were ordered as a means of. venting Manson's frustration that his. music career wasn't going as well as as.

he thought it should and sending a. message to some people in the music. industry that he made contacts with to. basically say hey I can't kill you cuz I. need you but I can kill other people to. get you going and and get my music. career off the ground what's the hold up. huh which is just like the Manson family. murders on their face as they're largely. understood is nuts but if that's the. real thing behind all of this that's. just the depths of depravity of human.

depravity that people are capable of I. bet that's not like the sole. reason but but you know like if you. really strip reasons down like what are. motivations for things like is it really. you know to bring on Helter Skelter is. it because he was a frustrated musician. you know like you can say the same thing. about Hitler like was there a kernel of. Hitler's rejection from the art world. and from people at large that drove him. to to order the the horrible things that.

he ordered the Nazis to do like it it. makes you wonder like what is the. motivation behind world changing events. when you break him down to a personal. level yeah I mean well Manson uh to be. fair was had mental illness in a. lifetime of rejection so right this. could all factor in for sure yeah but so. I mean you you you asked for this. article to be written didn't you was. this your jam yeah we yeah Ed the. grabster we can uh sort of petition him.

to write articles at times and this was. definitely one of them yeah so did you. know a lot about the Manson family. murders and the family themselves and. all that stuff already yeah yeah so you. this was this is probably still part of. like the cultural Zeitgeist when you. were becoming like aware of the world as. a kid huh yeah like I I definitely. remember the book Helter Skelter being a. huge huge thing um and I remember a time. before like me was so robust when the.

idea of Charles Manson was just so. terrifying to me I do too uh and then I. got older and saw interviews and I was. like oh he's just a little tiny. redneck yeah like it all vanished I was. like oh my God he's just he's just a. little redneck yeah I think that's what. there were two things that kids of the. 80s went through as far as Awakenings. were concerned that the um Soviet people. out to murder all of us yeah and that.

Charles Manson was not actually scary he. was just a dumb redneck Behind Bars yeah. I mean he what he did was horrific to be. sure so I'm not like minimizing that but. as far as the person he was this Larger. than Life scary as crap dude to me until. you know interviews started coming out. and sit Downs with like Diane Sawyer I. was like this guy's a joke but for a. little while there he was legitimately. America's worst nightmare because at the. time like a lot of people say when the.

Manson family committed these murders. and it it came out you know a couple. months later that some depraved acid. head hippies had actually committed. these gruesome crimes that had captured. the nation's attention it it it suddenly. gave the establishment who had been. looking for anything to lay on to. hippies to say see see we told you you. can't be trusted your whole Peace Love. um free stuff like that doesn't work you. can't do that because this is the.

outcome of it Manson was that. personified and for a lot of for that. reason a lot of people say this guy. these murders ended the the um Summer of. Love and the the era of hippies and. ushered in the 70s yeah for sure I mean. timing wise uh it just seems very. natural and and Ed even points out like. even during the trial that narrative was. being laid down it wasn't like years. later people looked back and said this. um and he also I thought it was really. interesting I never really put it into. context like Ed did but um the moon.

landing the very first moon landing that. is happened 2 weeks uh before the Manson. family murders and then a week after the. murders was Woodstock so that was a that. was a Nutty month it really was you know. in America and then again these murders. when they took place they were just no. one had any idea who the Manson family. was except for a handful of people out. in LA and some cops that had run-ins. with them but they were not famous and.

no one realized that the Manson family. had been responsible for these murders. they were just these gruesome unsolved. murders in between the moonlanding and. Woodstock yeah so a lot of people let's. start at the what a lot of people. consider the beginning which is the. night of August 9th um in a house at. 100050 cello Drive which is in Beverly. Hills up in the hills right yeah. um I I kind of I looked up like three.

different places how to pronounce that. and they all said cello except for Dian. Sawyer said. cello and I'm like man is Dian soer. wrong no about anything no whatever she. says is absolutely right she can make. turtlenecks right I used to love. turtlenecks sure they had they had a a. real Heyday for sure you don't see them. anymore I used to wear them on don't be. dumb but it was kind of a gag I think I. could still pull one off man especially.

with the beard yeah the beard would. definitely help you know cuz you could. you could turn a certain way and be like. regular shirt turtleneck regular shirt. turtleneck just by just by moving your. head and your beard out of the way yeah. and of course in the 80s I would rock uh. the mock turtleneck regularly did you I. never really did did you wear them with. Z cavari no no no no it wasn't uh you. didn't dress like AC Slater no it was. sort of um believe it or not there was. like a post preppy thing where the mock. tur tur neck was acceptable and not.

cheesy really in a preppy sense I got. you cuz I was sort of a prep before I. became a human monster I could see that. did you uh did you wear the lacost. alligator and stuff no we couldn't. afford that stuff so or the knockoffs I. gotta or if I had the lacos the. alligator was like accidentally sewn. onto the collar or something oh yeah. yeah yeah we've had this conversation. yeah all that all that good stuff. Factory seconds yep that's meory.

remnants nice so on this night on August. 9th are we going with cello or Diane. Sawyers cello I don't know let's just. say the the house that Satan built right. it's not there anymore by the. way no uh they they tore it down but not. before Trent Risner went in and recorded. a 9in Nails album there because why not. why not um so at this at this house at. 150 clo drive that's not there any. longer there was a knock at the door on.

the night of August 9th around midnight. so I don't know if that makes it August. 9th or 10th I couldn't get a definitive. answer but the door was answered by a. guy named voch fikowski who was known as. a Polish Playboy he was Friends of the. director Roman. palansky uh and he was there because. inside that house was Roman pansy's wife. Sharon Tate who was eight months. pregnant with their uh I believe their. first child. um I don't think they had any other.

children Sharon Tate was pretty young at. the time but um also inside was Abigail. fuler who is the AIS to the folder. coffee. fortune and um I think oh one other guy. J Sebring who is a a stylist who was. known as the guy who. introduced hair styling to men so he was. pretty well off and pretty well known as. far as La went and they're just kind of. this hip industry party crowd inside. this this residence and there was a.

knock at the door and this guy was there. at on the other side of the door and he. had a a mustache and he was tall kind of. a natural athlete type type from Texas. and he said I'm the devil and I'm here. to do the devil's business and that was. Tex Watson and he entered the house and. this massacre of everybody inside began. yeah so uh what it happened previous to. that knock was uh Tex Watson climbed up. a telephone pole uh cut the phone line.

and then climbed the fence with a couple. of other people uh one Susan Atkins and. one Patricia krenwinkel uh all Manson. family members and we we'll get into the. whole family thing in a minute uh and so. they climbed over the fence uh went in. there was a a kid a teenager named Steve. parent who was leaving in his car. already and he did not make it out um he. was shot five times he was slashed and. shot five times by Tex Watson uh before. before he could get down the driveway so.

one murder had already been committed on. that property by the time they even got. to the house yeah and if any of these. people which you can definitely make the. case all of them were were in the wrong. place at the wrong time Steven parent. was just doubly so he was visiting the. caretaker of the house so he had nothing. to do with the the um the Hollywood Jet. Set people inside or the Manson family. he was just friends with somebody who. was like a worker at the house and he. was leaving at the time too yeah he.

would have been friends with. uh what was the guy's name from the OJ. uh oh uh uh oh man he he would have been. friends with K kin there you go which is. yeah that would have been a bad bad. thing to be I think talk about a mock. turtleneck yeah I think he has one. permanently tattooed on his on his neck. I think so too uh there was also a third. Manson family member uh Linda caban who. was not in the house but she waited.

essentially was the getaway driver right. and she just come into the family like a. month before and apparently the reason. she was out with them was because she. was the only one with the valid driver's. license out of that group so Len. cassavan sitting outside Tex Watson. Patricia kenle and um Susan Atkins all. enter the house and they just start. killing everybody um apparently Tex was. the only one with a gun but all three of. them had knives Patricia kren Winkle. found Abigail fuler reading in bed and.

started to kill her um uh I believe. Sharon Tate and JC bring were in the. living room together and they were both. um killed they in the living room um. voch frsky made it out of the house but. he was killed in the front lawn Abigail. fuler I think made it out the back and. she died on the back lawn and one of the. things about this is like the reason the. word Massacre is like such a an app Des. deson like these were these were just.

basically like I don't know how old Tex. was he was a little bit older but these. were basically like 178 19yearold girls. um who had never done anything like this. before and were really not very good at. it while they were doing it this first. time um and it was just bad for. everybody apparently it's very brutal. there was a lot of fear and Terror and a. lot of pain and torment among everybody. who was um being killed in this house it. wasn't Easy Clean you wouldn't.

characterize it as like a hit it was a. it was a massacre yeah Abigail fuler uh. herself was stabbed 28. times uh and then Sebring and fikowski. in addition to being stabbed were also. shot and obviously uh Sharon Tate's. unborn uh child was you know killed in. this process as well yeah uh and. supposedly and this is a a direct quote. apparently I guess from The Trial um the. directive from Charles Manson and if you. don't know this I guess we should go. ahead and say Charles Manson um even.

though later on other people said that. Tex Watson was more acting on his own MH. and misunderstood Manson's directive but. Charles Manson ordered these killings um. which we'll get into but he uh told. Watson supposedly totally destroy. everyone in that house as gruesome as. you can so uh in addition to the to the. mutilation of the bodies um and like. postmortem stab wounds there was uh. stuff written on the walls in their.

blood like Pig and uh well I think Pig. was the only thing written on the wall. at this one right on the front door. which is a uh obviously was a reference. to cops at the time right and they wrote. it in Sharon Tate's blood right so pig. is on the door in blood um the the the. perpetrators Got Away the Manson family. got away they made it back to I think. this the spawn Ranch which is one of the. places they were staying so then two. nights later Manson ordered the family. to go do it again he he actually said.

that they according to Tex and and the. rest of them he actually said that they. they' done it wrong they had created. panic and fear in these people and they. needed to do it right this time but to. go go out and butcher another family and. he took him to a house and it was a. house next door to this house that the. Manson family used to party at um it was. a a friend of one of Manson's uh record. producer friends and next door was just. this normal unassuming C couple who had.

from what I understand no interaction. with the Mansons at any point in time um. it was this couple named Leno and. rosemary Lanka and they were just about. as middle class upper middle class. America establishment as you could get. yeah he was uh actually lived less than. two miles from this house it was in uh. the Los FIS neighborhood mhm and uh just. the night before they had had a party at.

this dude's house Who and the reason he. didn't want to go back to that house is. cuz he thought maybe it could be tied. back to him in some way cuz he was there. the night before MH so they just. randomly picked the neighbor uh and. there was six of the followers there the. original four from the uh Tate. house plus Leslie van hton and Clen. Grogan I think was his name mhm uh and. yeah it was it was talk about wrong. place wrong time they were just in there. enjoying their evening and um. Manson did break he was actually like.

you said there for this one uh whereas. he wasn't even there for the Tate one. and he he took part in the tying up uh. but then he left which U very cowardly. left and this whole thing just reeks of. cowardice like go do my dirty work for. me exactly kind of in most of these. cases right so they tie up the Lanas um. they murdered them brutally again um. they car war in Mr Lanka's stomach um.

with a knife they left a the knife. sticking out of his neck they left a. fork sticking out of his stomach uh it. was just another really gruesome scene. and then again in blood they um wrote. they wrote things around the house like. um they wrote political no they wrote um. pigs again yeah they wrote Death to pigs. they wrote they misspelled it they wrote. Helter Skelter uh which we'll get into. that was a beetle song. uh which factors in pretty heavily uh.

and then they wrote rise and the whole. notion here and we'll cover this in. detail more later too was that Manson. was trying to uh or at least he says he. was trying to ignite a race war and have. it um appear that black people and and. maybe even black panthers had killed. these white people which would and then. turn spark a race war they would all. kill each other and the Manson and the. reason I'm laughing is cuz it's just so. ridiculously imp impla. and then the Manson family would be the.

only people left and they could rule the. world yeah that was supposedly the whole. thing behind Helter. Skelter so the cops in La uh the the. sheriff's department and the LA cops. have um two different murder scenes that. are obviously related but early on they. didn't they didn't connect them yet it. took it took a minute uh but once they. did these two murders came to be known. as the Tate Lanka murders before anyone. knew who the Manson family was and it.

was a big deal um but you have to go. back even further to understand what's. going on and to understand the eventual. prosecution of the Manson family uh to. another murder and we will dive into. that one after this. [Music].

okay Chuck so everybody knows about the. the Tate labianca murders so much so. that they're frequently called the. Manson family murders but it turns out. that the Manson family was already. involved in another previous murder um a. couple weeks before the the Tate and. Bianca murders happen I think in like.

Late July of 1969 right yeah I mean. there was one other murder an an. attempted murder and then. an not quite attempted murder also right. uh so the the one you're talking about I. think is probably Gary Henman MH who uh. he was. uh well why don't you go and explain how. he fit into this whole thing okay so. Gary Henman was a a music teacher um who.

is a friend of the Manson family I don't. think he ever was considered like a. Manson family member but he was a buddy. of them um and he either had a trust. fund coming or there was a rumor that he. he had access to a trust fund of like. $20,000 and so the Manson family uh went. over to Rob him I think Bobby BOS was. the leader of that um they went over to. Rob him or he had supplied the Manson.

family with a bunch of mescalin that. they in turn sold to a motorcycle gang. that was not happy that when it turned. out the mcine was bad who wanted their. money back so the Manson family had gone. to go get their money back from this guy. and apparently he had said like I don't. have any money but here I'll sign over. the title of my cars to you here are the. keys um and at this point they had them. tied up and I'm not entirely certain why. but Charles Manson and this is widely. agreed upon I think even by Manson. himself that Manson came over to the.

house to basically assist in in like. getting this guy to cough up his money. maybe that's what it was and he took a. sword and chopped off part of the guy's. ear yeah and depending on who you. believe uh some say Manson actually. ended up killing him other people say. that uh Bobby bosil ended up stabbing. him to death uh Manson was on the scene. for this one though which was different. than the other murders. and uh I guess it just depends on who.

you believe it was buso was eventually. arrested while driving that car of. henman's so um him instead B's in jail. and uh you have to actually go back even. further to find the first at least. attempted murder by the Manson family um. earlier in July on July 1st this is just. a bad Jam if you really start thinking. about it like all these dates are so. compressed and you think about the Mansa. family just being in this crazy like. murderous kill spree and it really only.

went for like a month basically you know. four or five weeks um but they did a lot. of damage in that time but the whole. thing started and you can make the case. and a lot of people do that the whole. thing everything else that followed. actually started on July 1st when. Charles Manson went to the apartment of. a um a Syndicate drug dealer like a. big-time drug dealer named um Bernard. Lup papa crow. right yes and uh the Manson thought that.

he might have been a black panther I. don't think that was ever confirmed I. read a lot of Articles kind of going. back and forth but um regardless Manson. thought he was a black panther uh there. was a double crossing deal that went on. and they went over and Manson actually. shot Crow and thought he had killed him. but he did not die and he did not go to. the cops because he you know what do you. do go to the cops and say. hey I double crossed these weirdo.

rednecks hippies no they double crossed. they double crossed him oh see I read. that he double crossed them that's why. uh no Tex Watson well either way he. would not go to the cops right uh in his. condition and so that's why it was never. reported but he was interviewed uh the. transcript is pretty interesting to. listen to yeah um yeah and he wouldn't. go to the cops because he would just. handle it himself and that's basically. what he vowed to do so there's this guy. who Manson shot in the gut and left for.

dead who now wants to kill Manson and. the whole family and that Manson's. convinced as a black panther which. suddenly makes sense as to why you would. have found something like political. Piggies and a paw print in blood at Gary. himon's murder scene right yeah because. this is about the time that this whole. Helter Skelter thing is happening. starting out and. um the whole idea that that there is a. race war coming and that the Manson. family might be able to nudge it along.

by Framing um the black community or. black panthers for these murders of. white people uh is is the basis of this. idea of what was behind the mans and. family murders as far as the prosecution. is concerned yeah so I mentioned an. almost um attempted murder uh jumping. back forward again the very night of the. uh the idea of the night of the Lanka. murders was to to have two separate. murders on the same night and uh ordered. a few I think three different followers.

including Linda caban to murder this um. kind of little known Lebanese actor Nam. saladine Nadar and uh caban basically. got there didn't want to do this and so. intentionally knocked on the wrong door. of the apartment um basically giving her. an excuse to get out of there so um. weirdly saladine nadir was never uh was. a near victim of the Manson family so. that's. uh talk about a talk about a close call.

yeah for real you know yeah uh and I. looked him up he he basically was a. famous actor by that time and then just. didn't do much after that so I wonder if. that had if that like just broke his. brain or something you know I don't know. I think it would have done that to me. all right so I think it's about time for. another ad break let's do it all right. we'll be right back after this. [Music].

all right Chuck we're back should we. talk about Charles Manson a little bit. yeah let so like well let's recap real. quick okay Manson has shot um lots of. Papa crow in his stomach L papa crow has.

vowed to kill the whole mans and family. Bobby bosay killed Gary Hinman tried to. frame the Black Panthers by writing. political Piggies and blood on the wall. Bobby BOS is arrested um the Manson. family supposedly trying to make it look. like somebody besides Bobby bosay might. have killed Gary Henman um kill the. people at the Tate residence kill the. people at the lanca residence write. things like political Piggies and rise. and pig in Blood on the walls there and.

and that's where we've left off so far. the Manson family hasn't been caught yet. let's talk about Charles Manson all. right so Manson. um it's sort of mixed up on what you. want to believe because a lot of the. information about his life came from him. and anyone who knows anything about. Charles Manson knows that he had a a. tendency to overstate things and uh. certainly lie about things uh but what. we do know is that he was. uh born in 1934 to a to a Teen Mom and.

Dad and the dad basically um would not. assume any paternity or responsibility. sort of split his name was Colonel his. actual name was Colonel and he convinced. people that he was an army colonel even. though he was not so he was just never. on the scene at all and um he ended up. taking the name Manson from his. stepfather who you know his his mom. married she was an alcoholic. may have been a prostitute she was in.

and out of uh jail for most of her life. and uh or most of his young life and it. was just you know a truly Bad scene for. a young Charles Manson right so he he. actually um went and lived with. relatives while she was in jail for a. 5year stretch she got out they reunited. he said he apparently said that reiting. with her was one of the few truly joyful. moments in his life but in short order. she basically was like I can't take care.

of you I don't really want this. responsibility and handed him over to. the state which begun which began a um. just basically a string of. institutionalization that would that. would keep going for Bas basically his. whole life yeah I mean by the time he. was eventually sent to federal. prison uh I think he was 32 years old. when he was released in ' 67 MH and they. calculated that he had spent half of his. life uh in and out of institutions. whether it would be uh orphanages or um.

juvie or Real Deal prison and jail right. and that was just the first part of his. life so he was out for two years before. they got him again after these murders. by the time he died in prison at age 83. uh this past November. 2017 he had spent from my calculations. only 13 years of his life as a free man. yeah 13 out of 83 years outside of. Institutions so he had uh a lot of uh. the deck stacked against him but you can.

also go back to I think March 1967 when. he was released on parole um from. federal prison where he was given a. choice like hey man here you go you're. out you can decide what to do with your. life do you want to go straight do you. want to go have a nice family do you. want to just be a productive member of. society or you going to go the exact. opposite direction and as we know in. hindsight Charlie Manson chose the exact. opposite direction yeah it's I don't.

know if he was ever officially diagnosed. um but I did see that that doctors over. the years and mental health uh. professionals say that he was probably. schizophrenic uh suffered from. schizophrenia and had a paranoid. delusional disorder at the very least I. hadn't heard the schizophrenia thing. paranoid delusional disorder totally bye. yeah so he was he was a troubled dude um. of course not excusing anything but. it it was clearly a case of um mental.

illness combined with rejection and. institutionalization um really led to. like the the man that he would. eventually become right so he gets out. of prison right and he um is basically. released into San Francisco. 1967 so it's like hippie the kingdom of. hippie where he he shows up and there's. you know at the time everybody's looking. for like something new something.

different something that's an. alternative. to establishment or the mainstream or. anything different and so Charles Manson. says like oh I can I can totally exploit. a lot of these people um and that he. starts out by meeting a girl a librarian. named Mary Bruner and he moves into her. apartment and she apparently was very. fascinated with him because she had led. a fairly straight laac life she went to. college again she was a librarian and. all of a sudden there's this wild like. excon who is preaching this kind of.

gospel of love and no materials um and. apparently before November 1968 which. will explain what happened then before. that time um Charles Manson supposedly. did pretty closely resemble an actual. hippie like he he he he felt like he. could take anything of yours that he. wanted but you could also take anything. of is and he apparently walked the the.

walk when it came to stuff like that and. there are plenty of stories of him just. giving up whatever um material. possessions saying they didn't matter um. before things really took a dark turn so. there's if you really kind of dive in it. becomes clear how he could have amassed. some of these early followers and the. first one was was Mary Bruner yeah I get. the feeling that. um this probably would not have happened. in any other era other than this.

generation when um you know we' talked. about it in our brainwashing and our. Cults episodes where this time it was. just just a weird time in America and. people were really um I don't know about. prone but at least ripe for the picking. when it comes to falling into uh. situations like this and believing these. what look like crackpots to us now but. at the time everyone was it was very. anti- established people were taking. tons of drugs and uh reject rejecting uh.

mainstream society and embracing the. counterculture and they were just really. open to all kinds of weird stuff right. so he again he just kind of figured out. that he could he could work this to his. own means so there's a couple of things. that there's there's two basic things. that you needed to know about Charles. Manson from from everything I've seen. one was that his main goal was to become. a recording artist a very successful.

star of a recording artist and two that. he could he had a good ability to. manipulate people into giving them what. he wanted um and mostly that that. amounted to sex and drugs um and he used. that ability to get other people to do. what he wanted so for example when he. started do a mass like a a substantial. amount of girl girls in the Manson. family um it was it was just a free love.

commune the whole time so the guys who. came in all of a sudden had access to. these the women and in a in return um. for Charlie granting them access to them. they would basically do his bidding or. offer him physical protection because he. wasn't a big guy he's kind of a shrimpy. dude um but there everything from from. if you look at it from an outside. perspective every relationship he had. was one of extraction he he was taking.

something from everyone around him it. wasn't just a a a normal friendship or a. normal relationship it was it was what. can you do for me and what can I use. from you to to get something out of. other people yeah and if if you've never. seen an interview with him I encourage. you to check some of them out he does. have a very um stream of Consciousness. circular sort of talks Non-Stop and. doesn't make a lot of sense but um one.

thing that's often said about him is. that he can be. mesmerizing um with the way he does that. and I imagine in the late 60s if you got. a head full of acid and there's this guy. that has the ability to like almost. rebreathe like a trumpet player and talk. for minutes and minutes and hours on end. they could be kind of you know they. would fall under this weird spell right. so I I definitely don't get it cuz now. when I watch them I'm again tiny weird. redneck um but when you you know when.

you see him doing a thinging even with. like Diane Sawyer who doesn't fall for. it by the way she she clearly is just. like very it's a great interview she's. Pro and she stays very on point. basically kind of like you're not going. to get me to like fall for your charms. right uh but but it's pretty interesting. um so he's got Mary Bruner as this first. girlfriend then he said hey what do you. think about a Triad or rather what do. you think about a. Triad that's how he sounded yeah and um.

Mary Bruner from what I I understand. wasn't super into it but she was under. his spell so she said sure uh so squeaky. from Lynette squeaky fromo came into the. picture and um they you know they lived. as a as a threeson that traveled. together up and down the coast uh out. there and he just sort of started. accumulating uh mostly women along the. way to this sort of traveling party is.

probably how he framed it MH and people. were hip to it uh there were men though. um besides Tex Watson and Bobby busel. those guy named Danny De Carlo who were. kind of early men who joined up and by. all accounts most of those men who. joined up were there because Manson was. said you know you can have these women. you got plenty of drugs and so before. you know it the Manson family was born. yeah and they were just kind of this. weirdo hippie group that. um used to commit burglaries Manson.

there has long been um it's long been. said that he uh beat a lot of the women. in the group and would prostitute them. to for cash to pay for things for the. family like rent um they they ate a lot. of their food from like going through. dumpsters behind grocery stores and. stuff like that and they just basically. hung out and did drugs and had sex all. day that was basically their aim and. their goal and then at night they would. have bonfires out in the desert and um.

they'd all just take a bunch of acid and. listen to Charles Manson do his. mesmerizing thing um and again at first. it was it was weird there was a lot of. like ideas that Manson was this. Reincarnation of Jesus Christ or that he. was not even the reincarnated Jesus. Christ he was the same Jesus Christ. who'd been alive for you know almost. 2,000 years um and just like all the. stuff you would find in the desert among. hippies in the late 60s on acid at night.

around a bonfire right but when when um. by this time like by the time they're. out in the desert man Manon had had this. really amazing chance encounter that you. just would never have and the fact that. it did happen is just totally. mind-blowing but become a recording. artist to help ensure his success of. becoming a recording artist he moved the. family from San Francisco down to Los. Angeles to be closer to the center of. the recording industry and it just so. happened that one night in.

1968 um a couple of Manson family girls. were hitchhiking on Sunset Boulevard and. were picked up by none other than Dennis. will Wilson one of the co-founders of. the Beach Boys that's right it was 69. but same same deal all those years just. ran together back then right uh and. Dennis Wilson was um he was a party. party dude and uh liked his ladies cuz. it sounds very weird to say that he. picked up a couple of hitchhikers and.

basically brought them home but um it. was a different time and uh he like I. said he was a party dude so they ended. up being El Joe Bailey and the. aforementioned Patricia krenwinkel MH so. they move in basically and he goes to. the studio comes home and the Manson. family had moved in which again it. sounds really strange but at the time he. I mean Ed says he was frightened I get. the feeling he was more like you know.

what trip are you on not like oh my God. I need to call the. cops yeah he um I think because they Liv. there for a while like he let them live. there yeah I think the part it was. partially out of fear I saw an or I read. an interview with Charles Manson where. he was talking about Dennis Wilson and. he was like you know I'd say whatever he. just lay his weirdo trip on Dennis. Wilson and Dennis's response would be. like yeah man that's cool look I got to. go I really got to go do this thing. just always trying to get away from. Charles Manson so maybe he was afraid.

that he was they were going to kill him. maybe he liked having access to like all. this free love from all the the Manson. family women um or maybe just felt like. he couldn't get out of it but he uh he. did let them live there for a few months. it wasn't like they crashed there for a. weekend they moved in they wrecked his. Ferrari um they they met a bunch of his. friends it was it was a big it was a big. deal that that Dennis Wilson came into. Charles Manson's life because it really.

bolstered this idea that yes he is going. to become a recording artist because not. only did he hang out with Dennis Wilson. he hung out with a guy named Terry. Melcher who is a record producer hung. out with another guy named Phil Kaufman. who is a record producer and he met all. these people in the industry who were in. a position to get Charles Manson's. career off of the ground and when when. there's you're dealing with this this. crazy little ticking Time Bomb like. Charles Manson who wants you to do. something like get his music career off.

the ground but you don't think his music. is good enough to actually launch um you. got a problem on your hands and Dennis. Wilson and his buddies all knew this yes. and uh two quick things here uh one big. shout out to Dennis Wilson's only solo. album Pacific Ocean Blue is it good I. think it's great I got to check that out. I love the beach boys I mean he Dennis. Wilson was was clearly not the uh uh the. brains or voice behind the Beach Boys. mhm as the drummer but uh and he was. always sort of um I think kind of picked.

on a little bit for not being the most. talented dude and he was just in the. band cuz he was handsome and related but. um I think Pacific Ocean Blue is like. one of the the Great Lost Classics I'll. check it out it's very good he was. supposedly also the only true surfer in. the band yeah exactly uh and the other. thing was that Terry Melcher that. producer that you mentioned the reason. he actors in so heavily is because he. actually lived at the the Tate house in.

Beverly Hills before Tate and them moved. in yeah so that was sort of the. connection there um I guess Manson was. going to kill him right no no so here is. what a lot of people think they think. that again he was sending a message to. Terry Melcher saying I can't kill you. but I can get close to you and I know. you're going to hear about this because. this happened at the house you were. living in a month or so before. I'm just going to go in and have my. people indiscriminately Slaughter.

whoever's there but this is this is you. this is what's going on he he supposedly. was well aware that Terry melter didn't. live there any longer because he'd. spoken to the guy who actually owned the. house and was asking him where Terry. mure went and all the guy would tell him. was Malibu so he knew it wasn't mure in. that house anymore gotta all right so. they eventually leave Dennis Wilson's. house Dennis Wilson's like you guys are. great and all the ladies are nice the. asset is decent but it's time for you to.

go so they live uh they leave uh in 1968. still and um he. uh they they go to spawn Ranch which you. mentioned earlier Spahn and this was a. it was kind of weird that they ended up. living here but it was it was out in. kind of the outskirts of La there are. lots of uh ranches like the Disney Ranch. the universal Ranch where they shoot a. lot of stuff and they have old sets that. are still there whether it's uh Mash or. Planet of the Apes or um just an old.

west set and spawn Ranch was one of. these that had closed down and it was an. old west set and they actually um it's a. state park now but they did have. permission to live there they didn't. just uh squat there they uh sort of had. a little agreement to do a little. maintenance work uh and they were. allowed to stay so some of them were. there some of them are at places like at. a camp in Death Valley and then just. scattered all over La as far as Manson. family members and just random houses. and apartments right but the main uh.

place that that Manson and the the Inner. Circle was at spawn Ranch and they would. they go on what they called creepy. crawls which were these little crime. sprees would like you said they would go. out and burgle cars or or Rob people and. um just to kind of keep the money and. the drugs flowing right um and so spawn. Ranch was almost like a little more. legit they were in much closer contact. with other people out in Death Valley at. the Barker Ranch that was far more.

secluded way out in the desert way more. disconnected from society and that was. the place where they expected to wait. out Helter Skelter while the the um. everybody else in the country killed one. other that's right so um you've got this. whole this whole weirdo family they're. they're criminals they're engaged in. prostitution there's violence you know. there's physical violence But ultimately. they're they kind of resemble hippie. here or there super counterculture um.

but things turned dark and they turned. dark after this seminal thing that. happened to the rest of the world but. really really spoke to Charles Manson in. particular and that was the November. 22nd 1968 release of the Beatles White. Album all right you know what this is. going to be a two-parter it's pretty. clear uh so let's go ahead and end this. one on a cliff hanger featuring The. Beatles right does that sound good yeah.

it does um pick back on part two with. the wi album let's do it all right all. right well in the meantime while you. guys are chewing over what Chuck just. said uh you can send us an email to. stuff podcast howstuffworks.com and as. always join us at our home on the web. stuff should know.com. stuff you should know is a production of. iHeart radio for more podcasts ihart. radio visit the iHeart Radio app Apple. podcasts or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows.

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