While there they saw the Fiat, ran a spot check on the license, and learned that it belonged to Gary Hinman. Grap knew Hinman; he also knew he was a friend of the people at Spahn Ranch, and therefore didn’t feel there was anything suspicious about the station wagon’s being there. At this time, although Hinman was dead, his body had not yet been discovered.
After the discovery of the body on July 31, LASO put out a “want” on Hinman’s vehicles. Grap didn’t learn of it, or Hinman’s death, until much later. If he had known, of course, he could have directed the investigation to Spahn Ranch and the Manson Family months before Kitty Lutesinger implicated Atkins and the others.
24
The exact date of Shea’s death still remains unknown. It is believed to have occurred on either the night of Monday, August 25, or Tuesday, August 26, 1969.
25
As will become all too apparent, in this instance “solved” was a misstatement if ever there was one.
26
Although Aaron was my superior in the office, we had been assigned the case as co-prosecutors, each of us having an equal say in its handling. Though major, nationally prominent criminal cases of even less magnitude and complexity than the Tate-LaBianca murders frequently have three and sometimes four prosecutors working on the case full time, for some reason only Aaron and I were assigned to the case. Though neither Aaron nor I could have foreseen that months later he would be yanked off the case, leaving me to go it alone, I did realize from the start that owing to his other duties as head of the Trials Division, at least his pretrial participation would be limited.
27
In 1971, California Governor Ronald Reagan arranged to have Judge McMurray taken out of retirement to try the Angela Davis case. The defense challenged him for cause.
28
Exact dates, details, quotes from the investigating officers, etc. I would obtain the following day when going over reports of the various law-enforcement agencies.
When booked, almost all the Family members used aliases. In a number of cases their true names were not known until much later. To avoid confusing the reader as much as I was confused at the time, true names and most-used aliases have been inserted in brackets.
29
I had no evidence that Cathy Gillies was a party to this plot.
30
As with almost everything else written about Manson’s early years, even his date of birth is usually given erroneously, although for an understandable reason. Unable to remember her child’s birthday, the mother changed it to November 11, which was Armistice Day and an easier date to remember.
31
His first name remains unknown. Even in official records he is referred to as “Colonel Scott.”
32
I would not obtain the results of these until much later; however, portions are quoted here.
33
In one of his pamphlets, Hubbard defined a “clear” as “one who has straightened up this lifetime.” It is rather hard to see how this might apply to Charles Manson.
34
He in fact requested a transfer to Leavenworth, considered a much tougher institution, because “he claimed he would be allowed to practice his guitar more often.” The request was denied.
35
Virginia Graham would later state that she was unaware that Ronnie Howard had already talked to the police. However, a group of girls was transferred from Sybil Brand to Corona shortly before this, and it’s possible they carried along some jail scuttlebutt.
