They call Charlie all kinds of names, but four and a half decades after naming him the most Dangerous Man alive, they revisit Charlie in an in depth article.
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A federal judge has ruled that the Los Angeles Police Department can have 40-year-old taped conversations between one of Charles Manson's most fervent followers and his late attorney to see if they can help solve more murders.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Schell ruled Sunday that Charles
"Tex" Watson waived his right to attorney-client privilege when he
allowed the lawyer to sell the tapes to an author who wrote a book about
Watson, who was convicted of several murders.
LAPD robbery-homicide detectives are seeking the tapes because they
believe that during the several hours of conversations, Watson "may have
discussed additional unsolved murders committed by followers of Charles
Manson."
Investigators believe the
so-called Manson family may have been responsible for more than the nine
murders they were convicted of four decades ago. Over the years,
everyone from Manson himself to his prosecutors have said his followers
were connected to more killings.
The judge's ruling affirms a bankruptcy judge's decision last year
that the LAPD can have the tapes of Watson and attorney Bill Boyd, who
died in 2009. The tapes were found when Boyd's old law firm filed for
bankruptcy. Watson, however, appealed that ruling, claiming they were
privileged.
Schell, however, said Watson's decision to sell the tapes to Chaplain
Ray, Watson's coauthor of the 1978 book "Will You Die for Me? The Man
Who Killed for Charles Manson Tells His Own Story" waived his
attorney-client privilege. The judge also noted that Watson was by his
own motion willing to allow police to hear the tapes but not take them.
LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the LAPD will send detectives to Texas
to pick up the tapes once Watson's 30 days to appeal the decision
expire.
"We are looking forward to getting these tapes and thoroughly
analyzing their content," he said. "We owe it to the victims and their
families to ensure every facet of the case is thoroughly and completely
investigated."
Watson has denied the tapes will reveal any additional killings. He is serving a life sentence for killing actress Sharon Tate and four others.
Manson prosecutor Stephen Kay said Manson bragged about additional
murders. Over the years, questions have persisted about a man's apparent
suicide in England, the drowning of an attorney in Ventura County and
whether bodies are buried at the California ranches the cult called
home.
The murders for which the Manson family were convicted all occurred
in the summer of 1969. In late July, Gary Hinman, 34, a musician, was
stabbed to death. About a week later in early August, four Manson
followers — Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Linda Kasabian
— made their way to the Benedict Canyon estate rented by Tate and her
husband, director Roman Polanski. There they killed Tate, 26; Steven Parent, 18; Jay Sebring, 35; Voytek Frykowski, 32; and coffee heiress Abigail Folger, 25.
Later, Manson himself entered the Los Feliz home of Leno LaBianca,
44, owner of a small supermarket chain, and his 38-year-old wife,
Rosemary, and tied them up. He left them to die at the hands of Watson,
Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, who wielded knives and forks from the
LaBianca kitchen. Spahn Ranch hand Donald "Shorty" Shea was killed later
and his body concealed on the ranch for years.
Schell's ruling came as a follower of Manson, Craig Carlisle Hammond,
was arrested Sunday on suspicion of trying to smuggle a cellphone into
Corcoran State Prison for the 78-year-old Manson, who has been caught
twice before with a cellphone. Hammond was arrested on three charges and
faces a court date next month.