It was so quiet, one of the killers would later say, you could almost hear the sound of ice rattling in cocktail shakers in the homes way down in the It was so quiet, one of the killers would later say, you could almost hear the sound of ice rattling in cocktail shakers in the homes way down in the canyon. The canyons above Hollywood and Beverly Hills play tricks with sounds. A noise clearly audible a mile away may be indistinguishable at a few hundred feet. It was hot that night.
Before the sun rose on August 9, 1969 in Bel Air at 10050 Cielo Drive five people lay horrifically and brutally slain. Some would say that since one of the victims was in the final stages of pregnancy that the actual count was six. What was not in doubt was that 10050 Cielo Drive looked like a human slaughterhouse. On the front door, written in the blood of one of the victims ( later determined to be that of Sharon Tate) was the word “Pig”. The Los Angeles Police Department found no evidence of sexual molestation or mutilation. There were no indications of ransacking or robbery. No apparent motive could be found.
The following night of August 10,1969 two more victims were found at 3301 Waverly Drive, both brutally slaughtered. Writing in blood appeared in three places; on the living room wall were the words “Death to Pigs”, to the left of the front door was the single word “Rise” and on the refrigerator were the two words “Healter Skelter”, the first of which was clearly misspelled. No obvious motive presented itself to detectives.
There had been a previous single victim of a similar vicious attack on July 31, 1969 on 964 Old Topanga Road in Malibu. One Gary Hinman, a thirty-four year old music teacher had been found stabbed to death. On the wall in the living room, not far from Hinman’s body, were the words “Political Piggy” printed in the victim’s blood. In this case, officers from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Office, had a suspect in custody. One Bobby Beausoleil, a young hippie musician, had been caught driving a car belonging to Hinman with blood on his shirt and trousers. Since this arrest had occurred on August 6,1969 he was in custody during the perpetration of the other two crimes, however it was possible that he had not acted alone. He had been living at an old movie ranch with a bunch of other hippies. Their leader, a guy named Charlie had apparently convinced them all that he was Jesus Christ.
Despite the obvious similarities in these crimes it would be months before the LAPD acknowledged there was a connection.
On November 18, 1969 Vincent Bugliosi, age thirty-five was handed the job of prosecuting the perpetrators of the slayings at Cielo and Waverly Drive.
During the course of his investigation and preparation for the trial Vincent Bugliosi came to believe that Charles Manson was as responsible for the killings as the people who had actually done the slaying. In fact Bugliosi was convinced that the only reason the killings had happened at all was because Manson had commanded it. Now he had to prove it.
Among the many barriers that Bugliosi had to overcome in order for justice to be served were:
Very little tangible evidence had been recovered from the crime scenes.
Statements made by “family” members who were involved in the slaying had to be handled with tender gloves due to Aranda, which basically says that the prosecution may not admit into evidence any statement made by a defendant that would indict a co-defendant. Therefore any intelligence garnered through these means had to be independently corroborated in some other way before it could be introduced into evidence.
The bumblings, mishandling, lack of follow up and general apathy of the LAPD.
Absence of an obvious, believable motive. Bugliosi was certain he knew what it was but who was going to believe that Manson thought the Beatles were talking specifically to him through the lyrics of their White Album or that Helter Skelter was in essence the time when the the black people would rise up in rage against the whites and that he, Manson was the catalyst of that event.
Lack of sleep and exhaustion. There was simply not enough time to achieve everything that had to be done.
A widespread pervasive atmosphere of fear that enveloped everyone even remotely connected to this case. Not as it turned out entirely unfounded.
Witnesses, people of interest and even released suspects who fled L.A. and could either not be located or proved difficult to have returned.
Even though Charles Manson did not get his own hands dirty Bugliosi still needed to prove that the actual killers had acted on his command.
The outrageous courtroom antics of Manson, his “family” . and his attorney, all aimed at disrupting proceedings and ultimately causing a mistrial.
Lest we forget, the victims: Sharon Tate Her unborn, yet fully formed baby Jay Sebring Voytek Frykowski Abigail Folger Steve Parent Leno LaBianca Rosemary LaBianca Gary Hinman
The bulk of this book is all about the investigation and preparation for the trials of Charles Manson and his "family" as well as the trials themselves. As such it is full of detail and as repetitious as the circumstances dictate.
Even though I thought that I possessed a good understanding of this crime prior to reading this, I was wrong. My mind is still swimming with all the things that I either misunderstood or had no knowledge of at all. I am glad therefore that the record has been set straight.
I have avoided going into the grizzly details of these horrific crimes but be forewarned that the book makes no such claim. The brutality visited upon every victim is laid out before you in graphic detail.
Sadly the world lost Vincent Bugliosi in June of last year. May he forever rest in peace.
4 horror and contrarily respect filled stars...more
That’s the way it was on South Mountain You took your medicine You kept your families dark secrets You gagged You wept You coiled You survived.
One day, in 1That’s the way it was on South Mountain You took your medicine You kept your families dark secrets You gagged You wept You coiled You survived.
One day, in 1984, in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, 13 year old, Sandra Goler burst into tears in her classroom. When questioned by her teacher Sandra’s response was that her father had been using her as a wife.
What emerges then are the dark secrets of The Goler Clan of Nova Scotia. They are not easy to bear witness to. Sandra is not the only victim. All of the children of the Goler Clan have been brutally and repeatedly used for sexual pleasure, by the adult men and women of South Mountain. It has been going on for generations. For generations, no one from the closest village in the valley, No one among those in contact with the children; no doctors or teachers or anyone, brought forward any concern for these children.
Once the oppressed Now the oppressor
I apologize for the crudeness of my words. But the hard core testimony I heard from these children, should not be cloaked in luscious prose. (even if I was capable of writing it)
I have been gutted. I feel drained.
Just a puddle
So I walked around the block my nose full of perfume and the smell of her skin, my head swirling with what I had seen and heard in the house, so much like ours, and yet not at all. And I realised as I walked through the neighbourhood how each house could contain a completely different reality. In a single block, there could be fifty separate worlds. Nobody ever really knew what was going on just next door.
Arah-Lynda
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