• Manson, 3 Cohorts Will Appear at Trial

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Manson, 3 Cohorts Will Appear at Trial

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 11 – Charles Manson and the three female “family” members convicted with him for the Sharon Tate-Leno LaBianca murders are due back in Los Angeles Superior Court this week for the trial of four other followers.

Manson headed a list of 12 witnesses subpoenaed by the defense in the so-called “Hawthorne Four” trial, reportedly in connection with a diminished mental capacity defense.

Defendants in the robbery trial are Mary Brunner, 27, Catherine (Gypsy) Share, 28, Lawrence Bailey, 22, and Kenneth Como, 31.

Miss Brunner reportedly is the mother of a young son by Manson. The quartet was captured following an August, 1971, shootout with police after rifles were stolen from a Hawthorne surplus store. In a separate robbery count, they are charged with a $2,600 holdup at a Covina brewery.

According to Dep. Dist. Atty. Harland Braun’s contention, the defendants were seeking to amass money and arms in order to help Manson escape from prison.

Superior Judge Arthur Alarcon Friday granted the motion allowing for the appearance of Manson and the others in court, probably starting Tuesday.

Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, now serving life terms on the Tate-LaBianca murder convictions, are scheduled to precede Manson as witnesses.

Others subpoenaed include Robert Beausoleil, Bruce Davis and Steve Grogan.

Beausoleil and Davis have been convicted of murdering Malibu musician Gary Hinman. Davis and Grogan were successfully prosecuted for the slaying of Donald (Shorty) Shea, a worker at the Spahn movie ranch, which was once the Manson group’s headquarters.

Brenda McCaan, currently awaiting trial in connection with the slaying of a marine and his wife in Stockton, is still another family member scheduled to testify in the Hawthorne Four trial.

Four other convicts not connected with the family have been subpoenaed, including Bobby Augusta Davis, killer of four California Highway Patrol officers three years ago in Newhall.

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