Aug. 3 – Prior to the 1977 retrial of Leslie Van Houten, Dr. Joel Fort, the so-called “hippie Doctor of Haight Ashbury,” interviewed Charlie Manson at the California Medical Facility, in an effort to get Manson’s own take on his influence over Van Houten prior to the LaBianca murders.
In June of the same year, Fort testified, that based on Van Houten’s own testimony, “she did harbor malice and did manifest an intent to kill another human being,” when Leslie helped murder Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Testifying for the state, Fort’s assessment contradicted the testimony of five defense psychiatrists who had earlier testified that Van Houten was not mentally able to premeditate the LaBianca murders because of the influence Charles Manson had on her.
For four days of testimony, jurors listened to Fort’s version of Manson’s replies, however, Van Houten’s lawyer, Maxwell Keith, wanted them to hear Manson himself. On Monday, June 27, 1977, upon Keith’s request, jurors got the opportunity to listen to the Fort-Manson interview, recorded in Vacaville, in March of that same year.
My God, this man can talk. I’m surprised he doesn’t suffer from laryngitis from so much talking. A lot of Manson said has some truth to it, but he is completely skilled at “blowing smoke” up these psychiatrists asses. He is extremely smart and knows exactly what to tell these people, so it can seem like he was just an innocent in all of it. He just wanted to be left alone at the ranch, yada, yada, yada. The “man” definitely would of left him alone if he would of left prison, found a low ky job somewhere and disappeared into society, but Manson never had a chance to lead a normal life. He was, as he stated in this recording, raised up in the penitentiary. He doesn’t think like a normal person, because he has the brain of a convict. He was most definitely guilty though. See, what a lot of young people don’t get about Manson is, he did commit a lot of crimes back then at Spahn ranch. What about screwing underage girls AND beating the shit out of others? What about all the use of stolen credit cards? There was a lot of bullshit going on and his so-called family never made a move without his approval. Make no mistake, Manson is guilty. Remember too, he was the first one that broke into the LaBianca’s home and tied them up. Manson is interesting to listen too, but, if you have half a brain, you can see right through all his bullshit. He’s a con, and a good one!
Wonder why Robert Evans was wearing a shirt similar to Manson’s arrest walk in the following link video interview? Mob? Crazy? Reminder? Does not sit well.
Roman Polanski on “Rosemary’s Baby” – Conversations Inside The Criterion Collection