Author Archives: cielodrive.com

Message In A Shampoo Bottle

A cut above: Jay Sebring, who invented a new way of styling men’s hair, with Paul Newman on the “Harper” set in 1965. Fall 2002 – I have interviewed many celebrity hairstylists in my day, but this would be my […]

Psychiatric Testing Ordered for Ex-Manson Lawyer After Outburst

Nov. 7 – Charles Manson’s one-time defense attorney was ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation Monday after he burst through a security door into a deputy district attorney’s office in Torrance and resisted police officers who tried to remove him, authorities […]

Malibu Judge Leaves Bench After 22 Years

Nov. 15 – John J. Merrick did not have the typical background for a judge, but he was not judging typical people. Merrick was a comedy gag writer before he became the no-nonsense judge of a sleepy community that was […]

Release of Good Delayed

ALDERSON, W.Va., Nov. 22 — Sandra Good, a Charles Manson follower who was to be released here Friday from the federal prison for women, will not be paroled until at least Dec. 2 because the parole board has not completed […]

Inmate Sets Fire to Charles Manson

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 26 — Multiple killer Charles Manson is expected to live after being severely burned Tuesday when a fellow inmate set him on fire at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville. Manson, convicted in the killings of actress Sharon […]

Manson Plot to Escape Thwarted?

VACAVILLE, Nov. 2 — Mass slayer Charles Manson was lodged in a maximum security cell Monday after state prison guards discovered a hacksaw blade and other contraband that may link him to an escape attempt, authorities said. One of the […]

Parole Unit Refuses to Free Manson

VACAVILLE, Calif., Nov. 5 — Mass murderer Charles Manson, saying “I ain’t got no mind” after eight years in “the nut ward,” was refused parole Wednesday by a state parole. The three-man panel from the state Board of Prison Terms […]

Leslie Van Houten: ‘In Touch’ With the Guilt She’ll Always Feel

Dec. 14 – Leslie Van Houten, 31, and looking like a schoolgirl in jeans, plaid shirt, red V-necked sweater, short brown curls and bangs, reached for her pack of cigarettes, lit up and grinned: “I keep telling myself, ‘When this […]

FBI Seeking for Motives in Psychology of Killers

QUANTICO, Va., Nov. 9 — The FBI has entered the world of psycholinguistics and interviews with notorious killers to help solve seemingly senseless crimes. The purpose of the studies by the Behavior Science Unit, which is housed in the basement […]

Manson Follower Discovered Shot in Burning Car

SACRAMENTO, Nov. 16 — James T. Craig, who was convicted of a 1972 Charles Manson family murder, was discovered today shot and stuffed into the trunk of a burning car with a corpse. Fire fighters put out the blaze and […]

Deputy D.A.’s a Bit of TV’s Columbo, With Just a Dash of Perry Mason

Nov. 14 – In stature and appearance (dark, wavy hair) there is a suggestion of television’s insouciant detective Columbo (Peter Falk, if you prefer). It would come as no surprise if he ambled up to the witness stand wearing a […]

Agent Tells How He Captured Fromme

SACRAMENTO, Nov. 8 — Lynette Fromme, banished from her trial for demanding that mass murderer Charles Manson be allowed to testify, was described Friday as yelling in disbelief after an alleged attempt to kill President Ford. Over defense objections, Secret […]

Manson Girl Tells of Quitting ‘Family’

Says She Didn’t Appear for Sentencing Because of Pregnancy LOS ANGELES, Oct. 15 – Ruth Ann Morehouse, still wearing a bandage over plastic surgery she underwent to remove the forehead “X” that had marked her as a member of the […]

Fromme Vilified Ford, Friends Say

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 6 — Lynette Fromme watched President Ford on television the night before her assassination attempt and talked with two friends about Mr. Ford being a “dummy, an empty head,” her roommates said Friday. Sandra Good, 31, a member […]

Manson Girl Tries to Shoot President

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 5 — President Ford narrowly escaped an assassination attempt today by a woman follower of convicted murderer Charles Manson. The woman, identified as Lynette Alice (Squeaky) Fromme, 26, stepped from a crowd of onlookers and pointed a loaded […]

Suit Filed by Manson Girl Against Lawyer Dismissed

May 3 – A $2,000,000 malpractice and fraud suit brought by convicted murderess Susan Atkins against two attorneys who once represented her and against former Dep. Dist. Atty Vincent T. Bugliosi has been dismissed. Superior Court Judge Rodney Potter granted […]

Fourth Of Manson Clan Convicted

LOS ANGELES, Mar. 24 – The fourth member of Charles Manson’s notorious family, convicted in a plot to get money and guns to free their cult leader from jail, was sentenced Friday to a prison term of 20 years to […]

Another Manson Family Member Gets Life Term

LOS ANGELES, Mar. 23 – A Manson family woman was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison Thursday for raiding a surplus store to get guns to free Charles Manson. The judge who imposed sentence called Catherine “Gypsy” Share, […]

Manson ‘Kin’ Sentenced In 2 Robberies

LOS ANGELES, Mar. 22 – Manson family member Kenneth Como yesterday was sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison for the armed robberies of a Covina beer distributing firm and a Hawthorne surplus store. Como was the second […]

Mary Brunner, Manson Follower, Gets Life Term

LOS ANGELES, Mar. 21 – Mary Brunner, one of four Charles Manson followers convicted of committing two August, 1971, armed robberies as part of a plan to free the cult leader from prison, Tuesday received a 20-year to life sentence. […]