Chaos : Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties (9780316529211)

by O'Neill, Tom; Piepenbring, Dan (CON)

  38 sent him packing: Given the option to “quit or be fired,” Guillory chose to resign (Guillory testimony, California v. Manson (Hinman/Shea), 9570; author interview with Guillory).

  39 discuss his previous employment there: Brussell interview with Guillory.

  40 it would’ve cost Pitchess the next election: Pitchess, a former FBI agent, was sheriff of Los Angeles County for twenty-three years (1953–1982).

  41 “the raid was more or less staged”: Krassner, Confessions, 203.

  42 “kind of an off-the-wall guy”: Author interview with Gleason.

  43 “a gigantic chip on his shoulder”: Author interview with Robert Wachsmuth.

  44 “a motel room in Malibu”: Author interview with Bill McComas.

  45 “Not that I know of”: Author interview with John Graham.

  46 Running to sixteen pages: William C. Gleason, Affidavit in Support of and Petition for Search Warrant, State of California, County of Los Angeles, no. 2029, Aug. 13, 1969.

  47 “automatic pistols, and revolvers”: Ibid., 1.

  48 the only suspect identified by name: Manson is named nineteen times in the document, beginning on the first page.

  49 “from a tree, upside down, dead.”: Richard W. Pearson, Captain/Commander, Malibu Station, to John P. Knox, Chief, Patrol Division West, LASO, “Spahn Ranch Summary,” Aug. 11, 1969, 5.

  50 “a large amount of narcotics”: Gleason, Sergeant, Motorcycle File, to James C. White, Captain, Records and Data Bureau, LASO, “Additional Information Regarding Narcotics Activity at Spahn Movie Ranch in Chatsworth,” Aug. 7, 1969, 1.

  51 one-page arrest report: P. R. George, Supplementary Report, File 469-02614-1071-029, S: Charles Milles Manson, Aug. 16, 1969.

  52 a warrant is good for ten days: Section 1534(a) of the California Penal Code reads: “A search warrant shall be executed and returned within 10 days after date of issuance.”

  53 because of insufficient evidence: Sanders, The Family, 268.

  54 never caught attempting to use the cards: According to Manson’s arrest report (P. R. George, Supplementary Report), the four cards—each for a different gasoline company—belonged to Irvin H. Weiland, M.D., of Encino, whom I located and spoke to. Dr. Weiland told me the cards had been in his wallet, which was stolen from the glove compartment of his car. He didn’t remember whether they had ever been used, but, as several retired LASO officials told me, the possession of stolen goods itself is a crime.

  55 On a bedside table were several joints: Unless otherwise noted, the information about this arrest is from the Manson and Schram arrest reports (R. Wachsmuth, Complaint Report, Charles Milles Manson, Carol Matthews [Schram], File 469-02723-1071-181, Aug. 24, 1969); a transcript of a sheriff’s interview with Schram and her parents (“Statement of Stephanie Schram,” and parents, File 069-02378-1076-036, by Dep. George A. Palmer and Sgt. William Gleason, LASO, Dec. 4, 1969); and an interview with Robert Wachsmuth, the sheriff’s deputy who made the arrests.

  56 no pot in the cigarettes: Sanders, The Family, 269.

  57 on August 26: Charles Milles Manson, Supplementary Report, LASO, File 469-07223-1071-181, by V. W. Jones, Aug. 27, 1969.

  58 No reason was given for the decision: Statement of Stephanie Schram, 29. In the statement, Schram’s mother rebukes Gleason and Palmer, saying that her daughter is now on probation for “possession of marijuana… and it’s on her record, but he [Manson] was just set free!” Mrs. Schram adds, “He was violating federal parole [and] they let him loose!”

  59 found with drugs and a juvenile: Manson, Supplementary Report.

  60 never even bothered going to arrest him: This is my assumption based on the fact that I was unable to find any documentary evidence indicating that it had been done.

  61 he moved to Death Valley: The September 10 date is an estimate based on police interviews of Family members, trial testimonies, and witness reports.

  62 The DA’s order rejecting the pot charges: Manson, Supplementary Report.

  63 The LASO deputies who’d arrested Manson: Author interview with Paul George.

  64 “ample reason for a parole revocation”: Bugliosi and Gentry, Helter Skelter, 546.

  65 Gleason’s duty to have told the parole office: Author interview with Guenther.

  66 Kitty Lutesinger, sixteen, was pregnant: Kathern [sic] Rene Lutesinger, AKA Kitty, LASO “Wanted for Questioning—Murder,” by Guenther and Whiteley, Aug. 17, 1969.

  67 to be with Beausoleil: Lutesinger testimony, California v. Beausoleil (I), 26.

  68 leave the group and raise their child: Bugliosi and Gentry, Helter Skelter, 115.

  69 heaping abuse on anyone: Lutesinger, Arrest Report, LASO, DR-156-774, by Officer Peterson, Sgt. Bell, July 30, 1969, 2.

  70 ran away from the ranch: Ibid.

  71 LASO sheriffs found her on July 30: Ibid., 2–3; “Additional Information Regarding Spahn Movie Ranch, and the Stolen Vehicle Activity at That Location,” LASO Correspondence, Gleason to James C. White, Capt., Aug. 11, 1969, 3–5.

  72 interview her again eleven days later: Ibid., 3.

  73 “I had been programmed to believe”: Sanders, The Family, 259.

  74 On August 15: [Unsigned] Lutesinger, “Sheriff’s interview at San Dimas Station on 10/12/69,” 1–2.

  75 they never checked the Spahn Ranch: Author interview with Guenther.

  76 all-points bulletin: [Unsigned memo], “Hinman, Tate, et. al [sic], LaBianca Murder Cases,” 2. The teletype that went out after the radio broadcast was dated August 17 (Lutesinger “Wanted for Questioning”).

  77 Whiteley’s interview notes in the LASO files: Paul Whiteley, Case 069-02378-1076-06, July 31, 1969.

  78 though they didn’t know where: Whiteley notebook in ibid.

  79 She’d been picked up: Katherine Lynn Drake, LASO Booking and Property Report, File 469-02614-1071-029, Booking 892 975, Aug. 19, 1969.

  80 posted the bulletin for Lutesinger’s arrest: Lutesinger “Wanted for Questioning.”

  81 living at the Spahn Ranch: Whiteley notebook. The “Wanted for Questioning” bulletin lists “Spawn [sic] Ranch, Malibu,” as one of Lutesinger’s “possible addresses.”

  82 They did nothing: Author interview with Guenther.

  83 at the Malibu station: They were released without charges on Monday, August 18, 1969.

  84 a few stray LAPD squad cars: I confirmed this in other reports in the LASO file as well as in interviews with LASO deputies who participated in the raid, but I was never able to identify the LAPD officers.

  85 beside a story about the still unsolved Tate murders: Bugliosi and Gentry, Helter Skelter, 89–90.

  86 “Whitely [sic] & Guenther tell Gleason”: Gleason timeline, Oct. 29, 1969.

  87 Lutesinger herself had told him: “Additional Information Regarding Spahn Movie Ranch,” 4.

  88 true identities of each suspect: Teletype to Malibu Station, SBI and IRC, “Make Following Corrections as to AKA’s”, refer: Gleason, Aug. 18, 1969.

  89 when they all moved to Death Valley: Vincent Bugliosi interview with Kitty Lutesinger, undated, Los Angeles District Attorney files, 1.

  90 “had his finger in a bigger pie”: Author interview with Gil Parra.

  91 “ratting out other people”: Ibid.

  92 Manson’s fear of the Black Panthers: Gleason, Search Warrant, 6.

  93 “carloads” of “negroes”: Pearson to Knox, “Spahn Ranch Summary,” 13.

  94 A fire patrolman reported: Ibid., 2.

  95 “offer the sheriff department’s cooperation”: Author interview with James C. White.

  96 I arrived to find not one but three deputies: Author interview with Captain Raymond Peavy, Lt. Joe Hartshorne, and Det. Paul Delhauer.

  97 “Your actions embarrass”: Matt Stevens, “Ex-Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca Is Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison,” New York Times, May 12, 2017.

  6. Who Was Reeve Whitson?

  1 before the Polanskis’ maid had arrived: Police estimated she arrived at t
he front gate at approximately 8:30 a.m. (LAPD First Homicide Investigation Progress Report, DR 69-059-593, 15).

  2 It appeared four times: Hatami testimony, California v. Charles Manson, Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel, case #22239, 14483, 14508, 14542, 14554.

  3 “Just Reeve Whitson, myself, and Mr. Hatami”: California v. Manson et al., 14554.

  4 The judge decided that Hatami: Judge Older refused to allow Hatami to make a physical identification of Manson in court because of his uncertainty over who he saw that day. He permitted him only to testify that the person resembled the defendant (ibid., 14566–67).

  5 “about eight lives simultaneously”: Author interview with William Whitson (who is unrelated to Reeve Whitson).

  6 The coroner described blood smears: First Homicide Investigation Progress Report (4–5) reads: “There was dried blood smeared over the entire body. It appeared to investigating officers that someone had handled the victim, as in moving her from one location to another and the blood from the wounds had been smeared over the body in the process.”

  7 heard gunshots and arguing: First Homicide Investigation Progress Report, 19–21. Bugliosi described two incidents of sounds heard after the killers were supposed to have left the property in his book but omitted two more reports of shouting and gunfire that occurred hours after the murders—one from a second private security officer on patrol in the vicinity; see Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry, Helter Skelter (New York: Norton, 1994), 20–21.

  8 “see what my children did”: Ed Sanders, The Family, 3rd ed. (New York: Thunder’s Mouth, 2002), 220.

  9 another researcher had raised the possibility: Bill Nelson videotaped interview with Vincent Bugliosi, in author’s possession.

  10 a traveling family act: Author interview with Hope Hirschman.

  11 “His great strength”: Author interview with William Whitson.

  12 According to a few people I spoke with: Author interview with the Edlunds; author interview with Rosenfelt; author interview with Julie Newmar.

  13 how many powerful friends he had: Among other Whitson friends I spoke to were Leon Uris (author of Exodus), John Raitt (actor-singer), and Art Linkletter (the television entertainer, who told me Whitson was “a spook”).

  14 “He always wanted to go”: Author interview with Baron Oswald von Richthofen.

  15 “neither confirm nor deny”: Whitson, CIA FOIA response, no. 2000-01269, June 23, 2000.

  16 unpublished book: Robert Helder and Paul Tate, Five Down on Cielo Drive (unpublished manuscript; Talmy Enterprises, Inc., 1993).

  17 They secured a contract: Author interview with Roger LaJeunesse; author interview with Shel Talmy.

  18 a ghostwriter came on board: Author interview with LaJeunesse; author interview with Stanley Ralph Ross.

  19 “appeared to be running the LAPD”: Author interview with Charles Guenther.

  20 growing a beard and long hair: Helder and Tate, Five Down, 72.

  21 “a somewhat shady character”: Ibid., 22.

  22 “He sure did get around”: Ibid., 27.

  23 especially those in Mama Cass’s circle: Ibid., 28.

  24 “an amateur sleuth on the case”: Ibid., 138.

  25 “Mr. Anonymous”: Ibid., 60.

  26 was eligible for parole: Associated Press, “Doris Tate, Victims’ Rights Activist, 68,” New York Times, July 1, 1992.

  27 something deeper than Helter Skelter: Author interview with Ed Sanders; Sanders, The Family, 512; author interview with Judy Hanson.

  28 Cielo house was under surveillance: Author interview with Sanders; author interview with Hanson.

  29 her daughter wasn’t supposed: Ibid. Hanson, a private investigator and close friend of Doris and Paul Tate, also told me that Doris “confirmed” to her that a call had been made from the Spahn Ranch to Cielo Drive a few hours before the murders. In Helter Skelter, however, Bugliosi maintained that records for the Spahn Ranch pay phone from April to October 1969 didn’t show any calls to the Tate house (the months of April and July were “lost or destroyed,” he added). See Bugliosi and Gentry, Helter Skelter, 333.

  30 Sharon’s red Ferrari: Author interview with Sanders; Sanders, The Family, 512; author interview with Hanson.

  31 book about her theories: Author interview with Debra Tate; author interview with Greg King.

  32 separate parts of their house: Author interviews with sources who requested anonymity.

  33 “knew just about everyone”: Helder and Tate, Five Down, 23.

  34 who surveilled Baron for decades: Peter Dale Scott, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 199.

  35 “could be more dangerous”: I. F. Stone, “LeMay: Cave Man in a Jet Bomber,” in In a Time of Torment, 1961–1967 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1989), 104.

  36 vice president of a missile-parts manufacturer: LeMay was hired by Networks Electronic in 1965. The high-security facility, which had a contract with the Defense Department, was located in Chatsworth, California, less than five miles from the Spahn Ranch. The company’s founder and president, Mihai Patrichi, was a former Romanian army general who was a member of the Iron Guard, a far-right political group in Romania (“General Radescu’s Relations with the Iron Guardists in Argentina,” Nov. 24, 1948, declassified document in National Archives, College Park, Md.; Alan Goldstein, “Patrichi Is the Main Power at Explosives-Maker Networks Electronic,” Los Angeles Times, May 29, 1986).

  37 United Nations listed Otto Skorzeny: Glenn B. Infield, Skorzeny: Hitler’s Commando (New York: St. Martin’s, 1981), 160.

  38 one of Hitler’s most trusted operatives: Charles Higham, American Swastika: The Shocking Story of Nazi Collaborators in Our Midst from 1933 to the Present Day (New York: Doubleday, 1985), 244; Martin A. Lee, The Beast Reawakens (Boston: Little, Brown, 1997), 4–18.

  39 new lives around the world: Infield, Skorzeny, 235.

  40 “the most dangerous man in Europe”: Ibid. See also Lee, The Beast Awakens, 6.

  41 once a member of the Hitler Youth: Skorzeny, Intelligence Report, Museum of Intolerance, Los Angeles, Calif., 1951.

  42 contracts for German engineering companies: Skorzeny, Defense Intelligence Agency Report, Sept. 12, 1962. Ilse was the niece of Hjalmar Schacht, Hitler’s finance minister (he was tried at Nuremberg, and acquitted); see Infield, Skorzeny, 171.

  43 “American system from within”: Author interview with von Richthofen.

  44 “we should kill the drug lords”: Ibid.

  45 “The entire Manson situation”: Author interview with Andreas Gross.

  46 His résumé… racing enthusiast: The projects described in this paragraph come from author interviews with the Edlunds; Neil Cummings; Gross; von Richthofen; McGann; Clyde Whitson; Art Linkletter; William Whitson; Robert Whitson; James Paul; Shelly Wile; Alastair Buchan; Louise Batchelor; Gloria Krachmalnick; Hope Hirschman; Will Layman; Carroll Shelby; Dan Gurney; and Maurice Phillips.

  47 he stowed it in his freezer: Author interview with William Whitson; author interview with Clyde Whitson; author interview with the Edlunds.

  48 “on a cot in his parents’ kitchen”: Author interview with Simone Zorn Hunt.

  49 drove an economical Ford Pinto: Author interview with von Richthofen.

  50 destitute and disgruntled: Author interview with the Edlunds; author interview with Robert Whitson.

  51 “You really are a pawn”: Author interview with Robert Whitson.

  52 “You didn’t even exist to us”: Ibid.

  53 a rat dropped in the tube: Ibid.

  54 half a million dollars: Author interview with Rosenfelt.

  55 may have been foul play: Author interview with Clyde Whitson; author interview with the Edlunds.

  56 “an extraterrestrial”: Author interview with William Whitson.

  57 “no open or officially acknowledged relationship”: Whitson, CIA FOIA 2000-01269, reply, May 21, 2003.

  7. Neutralizing the Left

 
In June 2002, the San Francisco Chronicle published an award-winning series of investigative articles about the rise of the Free Speech movement at Berkeley and the attendant crackdown by Governor Ronald Reagan, the CIA, and the FBI. Using information from files won in three Freedom of Information lawsuits against the FBI, the reporter Seth Rosenfeld’s six-story series exposed the previously unreported lengths that Reagan, the FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and the CIA Director John McCone went to in order to dismantle and smear the leaders of the left-wing movement in California. Much of the information in this chapter is from Rosenfeld’s series, later expanded into a book, The FBI’s War on Student Radicals, and Reagan’s Rise to Power (New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2012). I also relied heavily on the published reports of the Rockefeller Commission and Church Committee (The President’s Commission on CIA Activities Within the United States [Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1975]; hereinafter, the Rockefeller Commission); and The United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities [Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1976]; hereinafter, the Church Committee), as well as the reporting of Seymour Hersh in the New York Times and Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall’s indispensable The COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI’s Secret Wars Against Domestic Dissent (Boston: South End Press, 1990).

  1 three congressional committees: These were the aforementioned Rockefeller Commission and Church Committee, as well as The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (referred to as the Pike Committee, and active in 1975–1976).

  2 “No more appeasement”: Todd Gitlin, The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage (New York: Random House, 1987), 415.

  3 respective operations in San Francisco: Seymour Hersh, “Hunt Tells of Early Work for a C.I.A. Domestic Unit,” New York Times, Dec. 31, 1974, A-1, 4.

  4 “in the heart of every longhair”: Gitlin, The Sixties, 404.

  5 First launched in 1956 to “increase factionalism”: Carl J. Jensen III, David H. McElreath, and Melissa Graves, Introduction to Intelligence Studies (Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, 2012), 34.

  6 “to expose, disrupt, misdirect”: Quoted in Churchill and Vander Wall, COINTELPRO Papers, 92–93.