Author Archives: cielodrive.com
Van Houten Jury Hears Manson Tape
LOS ANGELES, Jun. 28 – After more than two months of testimony that has almost always focused on Charles Manson, the jury in the retrial of Leslie Van Houten heard the voice of Manson himself Monday. What the jurors heard […]
California Court of Appeal Upholds Manson’s Convictions in 2 Killings
LOS ANGELES, Jun. 24 – Ruling it found no evidence of “prejudicial error,” the State Court of Appeal yesterday upheld Charles Manson’s 1971 convictions for the murders of Gary Hinman and Donald (Shorty) Shea. The three-judge panel, in an unanimous […]
Doctor Disputes Van Houten Domination
LOS ANGELES, Jun. 22 – A psychiatrist called by the prosecution testified Tuesday that Leslie Van Houten was not a “robot” under the domination of Charles Manson the night she took part in the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. […]
Manson Follower Knifed: Shots Halt DVI Racial Fight
TRACY, Jun. 8 — Security remained tight and tension high at nearby Deuel Vocational Institution last night in the aftermath of a racial battle which required warning shots to stop. Eleven prisoners were injured, one seriously. The seriously injured inmate […]
Files On Manson Are Shut To Lawyer For Van Houten
LOS ANGELES, Jun. 7 – Leslie Van Houten’s lawyer lost a fight Monday for access to the medical and psychiatric records of mass murderer Charles Manson. Attorney Maxwell Keith, defending Miss Van Houten in her Los Angeles retrial for murder […]
Van Houten Could Have Deceived Psychiatrists, a Specialist Testifies
LOS ANGELES, May 24 – Leslie Van Houten could have deceived psychiatrists into taking a favorable defense stance at her murder retrial, one of several specialists who have examined the former Charles Manson cultist testified yesterday. During cross-examination, Dr. Keith […]
LSD Influence on Miss Van Houten Told
LOS ANGELES, May 20 – A psychiatrist who specializes in “medicines of the mind” testified Thursday that Leslie Van Houten’s use of LSD so changed her values that she ended up “not caring for life, even her own.” That is […]
Mrs. Van Houten testifies Leslie ‘Free of Manson’
LOS ANGELES, May 19 – Leslie Van Houten’s mother fought back tears in Los Angeles Wednesday as she told a jury of her daughter’s journey back from Charles Manson’s cult of death. Jane Van Houten, of Monrovia, recalling her personal […]
Prosecutor to End Van Houten Case
LOS ANGELES, May 17 – Prosecutor Stephen Kay plans to wind up his case against Leslie Van Houten today in the retrial of the former Charles Manson follower for the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. On Monday, Kay completed […]
Miss Van Houten Tells Role in Slaying
LOS ANGELES, May 13 – Former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten testified Thursday that she stabbed Rosemary LaBianca only after Mrs. LaBianca apparently was dead. Miss Van Houten said that after both Mrs. LaBianca and her husband, Leno, were […]
Miss Van Houten Tells of Perjury
LOS ANGELES, May 6 – Former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten testified Thursday she took LSD during the Tate-LaBianca murder trial and said she gave false testimony in that trial on Manson’s orders. Taking the stand for the first […]
Roman Polanski and the Hounds of Hell
May 1 – Roman Polanski’s films are macabre, heavy with themes of isolation, rage, guilt and humiliation. “He seems to have been born with fixed and pessimistic conclusions about the human condition,” says a Polanski compatriot and journalist. His life, […]
Linda Kasabian Finishes Slaying Account
LOS ANGELES, Apr. 26 – Linda Kasabian completed her courtroom account Monday about a night in 1969 when she said Charles Manson and a carload of his followers roamed from the mountains to the sea searching for someone to kill. […]
Manson Prosecutor Discounts Parole Idea
COLUMBIA, Mo., Apr. 8 – Vincent Bugliosi, prosecutor in the Charles Manson murder trial, smiled out at the large crowd assembled in the University’s Jesse Auditorium. “This is really a good crowd,” he said. “I think some of you thought […]
‘Manson’ Film Producer Slain
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27 – Producer-director Laurence Merrick, maker of the film “Manson,” was shot to death Wednesday at his Hollywood film school, police said. His unidentified slayer, described as a young man in his 20s, escaped after the noontime […]
Leslie Van Houten Retrial to Stay in L.A., Judge Rules
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 20 – The retrial of former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten will stay in Los Angeles, a judge here ruled today after both defense and prosecution attorneys agreed that the entire state was “saturated” with publicity […]
Woman in Manson Family Arrested
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 18 — A member of the Charles Manson family was arrested Monday at her home in Petaluma on a charge of sending two threatening letters through the mail. Patricia Maureen Gillum, also known as Misty Hay, was […]
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 […]
Manson Now Denies He Ordered Killings
VACAVILLE, Sept. 15 – Charles Manson now denies he has ordered any more killings. At the same time, however, he says “there is no place on earth to hide from the IPCR” — a reference to the “International People’s Court […]
Manson Prosecutor Wants Sirhan Case Re-Opened
HILTON HEAD, S.C., Sept. 2 – Vincent Bugliosi, the Los Angeles lawyer who prosecuted Charles Manson and members of his “Family” for murder, told a press conference on Hilton Head last week that there is enough evidence to justify looking […]