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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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is case may he the filstorti LSD murders,” the attorney said, "As a.so- ciety, as a-people,:as' a na- tion, we teed to know, we need. to.. study atid eéva~ ‘uate. " "Phese family members marched to the tune of a totally different drum- mer. 0" Fitzgerald argued that the savagery of the crimes themsélves and Patricia}. Krenwinkel's lack of. re- morse and lack of concern for herself are signs of mental itiness.. He said he was not ask- ing. the jurors to free his client but was aghing for lie tine “Keith argued that, Miss SW ierstten is as much a victim of the “evil he was talking about as thé vic- tims in the case. But, he suggéstéd, there. might ‘be: 4 spark left, that with intensive help and in-|} tensive treatthhent ‘what ever is left of Leslie Van Houten might be saved. Keith pleaded for jurors 'ta let.the sick.,"Leslie.of to- diy". die so that the "Les- ie; that was" ean live: :He: “attacked ‘the ‘death, ‘penalty; ; What does: it'do to ws?” Keith asked. "It makes. kil- lers, Cut of us all." | -Phe last of the, fot de- have a. chance. because: of her chronic use of LSD. "By the time Les arrived at) Spahn ranch, her mind, I suggest to you, was a vacuum, — a vacuum for the intrusion of the devil," Keith: said. He described the slim, dark-haired young woman as "malleable, impression- fable connon-fodder" and totally unprepared ‘to cope With what she found there. Keith told attentive jur- ors. that he was not, sug-|f gesting' Miss. Van Houten was an angel" or that.any~| one forced. her at:gunpoint) |, ssociated Press reported that an unidentified bailiff ral that three, months ago Manson had iden- tified those. to be killedas his attor- ney, Irving A. Kanarek, Older and an unspecified number of unnamed children, Tt was rumored, also, that.in an overheard conversation earlier this} month Mansori had threatened to cut off Older's head. - Manson's "mnurder and: bloodshed" threat came shortly before defense attorney Maxwell Keith began. an} emotional fina] argument on behalf of defendant. Leslie Van. Houten, 21. Keith did not mention Manson by. name but he hinted. at a fearful, frightening; evil force that had ‘pro- duegt” the miirders. "T think you. know, ied and. gentlemen,” the attorney told. the|{to'take LSD at age 14 or 15 forse attorneys tooffer fi. Prisonment. jurors, "you have insight. I. think arid then become a chronic inal argument, | Paul Fitz: i ber vou please allow user. . He said that, when ‘she needed help. there was’ no vone tigre ‘to: help/ thér., Tn. Stead ‘she was” caught up} with ‘other: cong users, he said, . atl (asp). “asstroyscyour values. It ‘destroys vour goals, You have no values: Jeft. ‘This. is the terror of the drug,” Keith argited. Not.-onl Wasp. Leslie's mentale | emotional : doe velopment. stor LISD, he said, but her men tal state had been turned baek by the drug to th point that jurors now se before them "a sick child.” "T wonder if she has an emotional age right now of 10 yéars old," he said. Sentencing her to death should be the “last thing" the jury would want ‘to do, them to live," ‘he conclud- ed. "Give. them the gift: of life, We've had enough. killing.” | Fitzgerald did not. refer. to Manson as. K eit-h ‘had done, but Bugliosi - een tered on the cultist in te- buttal argument, ‘ ‘Charles Manson’ is * 36. evil. that Satan“ himself would be jealous," Buglio- si Said. The prosecutor argued - that. Marison's "slaves" were so dominated by ' "their God" — wouldn't. be surprised if you know." After his argument, Keith was asked whether. he was talkitig about. Manson. He replied, “Hell, yes.” Portrayal as Idyllic, ‘The soft-spoken/attorney said life lat. Spahn ranch and at. Manson "family" hangouts in Death Valley. was portrayed .as. “idyllic,” an exist- ence of complete freedom from rules, no order and no: govérnment. But, Keith maintained, that in or- det for the "family" to have existed as a cohesive unit for moré than tivo years there had to be-a leader. "There has: to be," Keith said. "There must be government. There must be organization." Members of the family who took the witness stand during the penalty phase of the trial did not tell the entire story about an environment in which, Keith said: Total evil and hate were dis- guised as love. —Arrogance rhasqueraded as. none! violence. ; —Total immorality was fobbed off as total. freedom. : “When Leslie Van Houten : came into, the Manson subcultuss—tange 19, the attorney said his client didn't, tacking the evedin an -eye philosophy of the death penalty. : He read an. sents: glish senterice ‘that pravid- ed for a, convicted man to ke hanged, take wWiie=scdll alive,” disem- bowled and finally, ‘cut into tour pieces. "To say that something | lis legal, doesn't. make: it right," he argued. “Witzgerald ealled on jur- ots. to look at the wholé person of his 23-year-old client. He said she had lived almost: a. model life for about.200,000 hours but was being judged on what happened in three hours: However, he centered his. argument. on LSD and its <= mm
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