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Charles Manson — Part 4

551 pages · May 09, 2026 · Document date: Aug 13, 1969 · Broad topic: Cults & Extremism · Topic: Charles Manson · 551 pages OCR'd
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"Shartv<—we called drimwe.,Superior Judge William Shorty because he was so _ B. Keene's sweeping ordet big—was a likable kinda cuss, always laughing and cutting up," Spahn said. "He worked in pictures, driving teams and han- dling saddle horses, but he leaned more to beer joints. He was a bouncer, "He married a Negro woman. Charlie (Manson) hated colored people. Shorty was walking along, minding his own business, and Charlie said to him, ‘Nigger lover.' They got into a tiny argument. It didn't last a minute." Later, the ranch owner added, Shorty disap- peared. But, he said, he wasn't reported as missing because he had a way of coming and going. Spahn - said Manson and his group had been staying at the ranch over his protests, claiming their traveling bus was broken down, until, in August, "they all of a sudden cleared out." Calls Spahn Manson was brought to Los Angeles from Inde- pendence, Calif., Tuesday to await arraignment. Po- lice allowed him to use the phone. He called Spahn. "Sounded cheerful and friendly," Spahn said la- ter. "He said, 'Merry Christmas,' but someone cut him off in the middle of 'Christmas.'" Police began to clamp down on release of infor- mation about the Tate-La Bianca cases Wednesday after a Superior Court judge imposed a strict no- publicity rule on all offici- als.and witnesses in the case. —— \gaurdaxing Sen, was similar to that or- dered last year in the case of Sirhan B. Sirhan. Judge Keene issued his order after arraigning the young women on a total of 16 counts of murder. The defendants—identi- fied as members of the Manson band of hippies— stood impassively during the brief proceedings. They are Susan Denise Atkins, 21, Linda Kasabi- an, 20, and Leslie Louise Van Houten, 19, who had previously given her name as Leslie Sankston. The judge said he was ordering public officials, attarneys and witnesses im the Tate and La Bianca cases to retrain from mak- ing public comments on the case to preserve what he called the rights of the defendants to a fair trial. Said Judge Keene: "It is apparent that this case has received exten- sive news media coverage that is not limited to Los Angeles and California but to the nation as well. "This court is of the conviction that the impos- sible task of choosing be- tween freedom of the press and a fair trial need not be made." His order restricted at-_ torneys, public officials, law enforcement officers, members of the grand jury which indicted the defen- dants, witnesses before that jury, prospective wit- nesses and others connect- ed with the case from making “extra-judicial statements ... related to — this case." Younger opposed the gag rule in the Sirhan case. He took the Sirhan ruling to the Supreme Court, which declined to give his action a hearing. The no-publici- ty rule remained in effect throughout the celebrated trial of Sirhan, who was sumeednenilly convicted of — Ordered Transcript er Judge Keen? EHS br- dered the transcript of the grand jury inquiry with- held from publication un- til 10 days after the last of the defendants it indicted is arraigned. Because of delays in returning those resisting extradition, this could mean weeks. Judge Keene ordered all three young women re- turned to court later for plea. Dep. Dist. Attys. Aaron H. Stovitz and Vin- cent T. Bugliosi represent- ed the prosecution at Wed- nesday's arraignment. Mrs. Kasabian, who is five months pregnant, was ordered to return to court Dec, 22. She was repre- sented by attorney Gary B. Fleischman. She is charged with conspiracy and seven counts of mur- der. Miss Atkins, represented by Richard Caballero, is to appear next Tuesday on similar charges. Miss Van Houten, repre- sented by attorney Donald | Barnett, is to enter a plea | Dee, 22= She is charged with conspiracy ara Wrur _ wo counts of murder, in the La Bianca case only. Manson or members of his group have been ac- cused of slaying the five Tate victims, the La Bian- cas and Gary Hinman, a musician with whom the band once lived in Topan- ga Canyon. In addition to O'Shea, authorities are investigat- ing the group's possible complicity in the deaths of two members of the Church of Scientology, a dope peddler, a motorcy- clist killed in Bishop and a member of the group shot to death in Venice after Manson was in custody. In the Bishop and Ve- nice cases, the deaths were a listed cae. cides. Bey
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