The first of five children (2 sisters & 2 brothers), Bobby Beausoleil was born in Santa Barbara, California in 1947. Bobby displayed an interest in music at a very young age, and eventually taught himself how to play the guitar. When Beausoleil was 16, he had an affair with a cousin's wife; angered by the affair, his cousin left. Young Bobby was forced to play the role of husband, working for a trailer company to support his cousin's wife and child. After the death of a grandmother Bobby moved to Los Angeles. There, he briefly played in a band with Arthur Lee, called Grass Roots. Grass Roots would later achieve fame under the name Love. Lee apparently named the group Love as a reference to Beausoleil's nickname "Cupid". Bobby also became friends with Frank Zappa, and can be heard as a backup singer on Zappa's first record, Freak Out. However, the city of Angels proved to be too superficial for Bobby, so he traveled north and fell in love with the Bay Area.

In San Francisco, Beausoleil began playing with a band called The Outfit, but eventually dropped out and started his own band called Orkustra. The group played gigs in the Bay area from 1966 to '67, and as the group was in the process of breaking up, Bobby met filmmaker Kenneth Anger. Anger and Beausoleil worked together on the film Lucifer Rising, in which, Bobby played the part of Lucifer, and helped compose the score. At that time Beausoleil was playing in a band called Magick Powerhouse of Oz, and living at Anger's "Russian Embassy" house. In the fall of '67, Beausoleil and Anger had a falling out, so Bobby decided to move back to Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles, Beausoleil once again found acting work and was featured in soft porn titled Ramrodder. The movie was filmed near Spahn's Movie Ranch and also starred family member Catherine Share. Bobby was living in the basement of Gary Hinman's Topanga Canyon home when he first ran into Manson and the Family at a house called the "Spiral Staircase". Bobby's musical talent impressed Charlie and the girls, and Bobby started hanging around with them. In the summer of 1969, Beausoleil sold $1000 worth of LSD to a group of bikers that were hanging around Spahn's Ranch. Gary Hinman had made the LSD, but according to the bikers it wasn't good and they wanted their money back. So Beausoleil, with Family members Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins, went to Hinman to get a refund. Hinman on the other hand felt that the LSD was good and refused to give up any money. After a phone call to Spahn's Ranch, Charles Manson and Bruce Davis came to the house. Immediately after entering, Manson sliced off Hinman's left ear with a sword. Charlie and Bruce left immediately. After two more days, Hinman was still refusing to give Beausoleil any money. Bobby stabbed Gary twice in the chest as Susan Atkins and Mary Brunner smothered Hinman's face with a pillow.

Beausoleil was arrested for the murder of Gary Hinman on Thursday, August 7, 1969. He had two trials, and was eventually convicted and sentenced to death. His death sentence was commuted to Life when California briefly outlawed the death penalty in 1972. In 1982, he married his current wife Barbara. Today he is serving his sentence in Oregon State Penitentiary and still continues to make music.

BOBBY'S WEBSITE:
WWW.BEAUSOLEIL.NET

SUSAN DENISE ATKINS SUSAN PHYLLIS BARTELL ROBERT KENNETH BEAUSOLEIL MARY THERESA BRUNNER BRUCE McGREGOR DAVIS DANIEL THOMAS DeCARLO LYNETTE ALICE FROMME CATHERINE IRENE GILLIES SANDRA COLLINS GOOD STEVEN DENNIS GROGAN JOHN PHILLIP HAUGHT BARBARA HOYT LINDA DROUIN KASABIAN PATRICIA DIANNE KRENWINKEL DIANNE ELIZABETH LAKE KATHRYN LUTESINGER CHARLES MILLES MANSON RUTH ANN MOREHOUSE NANCY LAURA PITMAN BROOKS RAMSEY POSTON CATHERINE LOUISE SHARE LESLIE VAN HOUTEN PAUL ALAN WATKINS CHARLES DENTON WATSON