Mary Brunner
Encyclopedia
Mary Theresa Brunner is a former member of the Manson Family who was present during the 1969 murder of Gary Allen Hinman, a California
musician and UCLA
Ph.D.
candidate in sociology
. Brunner was subsequently arrested for numerous offenses, including credit card
theft
and armed robbery, and served a prison
sentence at the California Institute for Women.
to John and Evelyn Brunner, she moved to California
upon graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
in 1965 after receiving a job offer as a library assistant at UC Berkeley
. There, she met 33-year-old career criminal Charles Manson
, who had been released from Terminal Island
prison for a parole
violation several weeks prior to their meeting. She let Manson stay at her apartment and, after a period of weeks, the two began sleeping together. Not long after the relationship began, Manson traded a newly acquired friend's piano for a cheap Volkswagen
van, Brunner quit her job, and the two began to drift around California meeting other young women.
In 1967, Brunner became pregnant by Manson and on April 15, 1968 gave birth to a son she named Valentine Michael (nicknamed "Pooh Bear") in a condemned house in Topanga Canyon
and was assisted during the birth by several of the young women from the Family. Brunner (like most members of the group) acquired a number of aliases and nicknames, including: "Marioche", "Och", "Mother Mary", "Mary Manson", "Linda Dee Manson" and "Christine Marie Euchts".
After arriving in Venice, California
, Brunner and Manson met 18-year-old Lynette Fromme
and the three began living together in a rented house at 636 Cole Street in San Francisco
. Over the course of the following two years, the Family enlarged to include between 20 and 30 individuals living communally
; some, like Brunner and Fromme, became ardent followers of Manson, while others drifted in and out of the group.
After traveling along the California coast and excursions to Washington, Oregon
and Nevada
, the ever-growing number of young women and men eventually settled down at Spahn Ranch
, an occasional film set operated by an elderly man named George Spahn
, near the Los Angeles suburb
of Chatsworth
.
Unemployed, the group of mostly older teenagers and young adults had much spare time on their hands at Spahn Ranch and they passed it by taking drugs and engaging in sexual orgies. The group supported itself financially by selling drugs and auto theft.
, Bruce Vann Hall, Marcus John Arneson, Stephanie Rowe and several others were arrested by sherriff's deputies in Little Sycamore Canyon, Santa Clara, California
after they were found sprawled nude around a campfire beside a 1952 bus that had been reported stolen in San Francisco on April 12. Manson was remanded into custody under the suspicion of grand theft auto
. Rowe, Atkins and Hall were charged with possessing fictitious and fraudulent driver's licenses. Pitman, Arneson and Bailey were jailed on charges of disorderly conduct
and not possessing proper identification. Five other Family members were released without being charged. Brunner was booked on suspicion of endangering the life and health of a child, after her one week-old son, Valentine was found by deputies improperly dressed and shivering. The baby was placed in the care of the Ventura County General Hospital. Charges against Brunner were later reduced to contributing to the delinquency of a minor and she was given two years probation and a 15-day suspended jail sentence. Brunner subsequently told authorities she planned to return to her parents' home in Wisconsin and Valentine was returned to her.
left Spahn Ranch, accompanied by Brunner and another group member named Susan Atkins to pay a visit to an associate named Gary Allen Hinman at his home in Topanga Canyon
, just northeast of Malibu. Hinman had been friendly with the Family and had often allowed members to stay at his home. Both Beausoleil and Brunner had previously lived with Hinman for short periods of time and, according to a 1981 interview with Beausoleil, Brunner was close friends with Hinman. Beausoleil had in his possession a knife and a 9 mm Radom pistol that he had borrowed from Family member Bruce Davis.
On July 31, 1969, Hinman was found murdered in his home. His face had been deeply slashed on the left side and he had two stab wounds to the chest. Hinman's house had been ransacked and the words "Political Piggy" written and a paw print (intended to be symbolic of the Black Panther Party
) drawn on the wall in his blood. Both of Hinman's vehicles were missing: a Volkswagen
van and a Fiat
station wagon. On August 5, 1969, Beausoleil was found by the California Highway Patrol
asleep in the back of Hinman's Fiat near San Luis Obispo, California
. Beausoleil had a sheath knife attached to his belt. Robert Kenneth "Bobby" Beausoleil was arrested and charged with the murder of Gary Allen Hinman.
On August 8, 1969, Brunner and another Family member, Sandra Good
, were arrested in San Fernando, California
at a Sears
store for purchasing items with a stolen credit card. Brunner had signed for her purchases with the alias "Mary Vitasek" and the two women fled the store when a cashier became suspicious. After being followed by the store manager, the police caught up with the two and found them in possession of numerous stolen credit cards and fake identification cards. They were charged with violating Section 459 and 484e of the California Penal Code
and booked into the Sybil Brand Institute
Reception Center later that evening.
That same evening, Family members Charles "Tex" Watson, Susan Atkins
, Linda Kasabian
and Patricia Krenwinkel
visited 10050 Cielo Drive
and murdered film actress Sharon Tate
and her guests Wojciech Frykowski
, Jay Sebring
and Abigail Folger
, as well as 18-year-old Steven Parent
, who was visiting Tate's groundskeeper William Garretson.
prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi
in his 1974 book Helter Skelter
, Manson instructed Beausoleil, Brunner and Atkins to go to Hinman's house and demand that he hand over a large sum of money that he believed Hinman had inherited and the titles to Hinman's vehicles. Bugliosi also claimed that at one point during Hinman's two-day detention in his home, Manson himself came to Hinman's house and slashed Hinman's face with a knife when Hinman wouldn't cooperate with his captors and give them the money. This account was later corroborated by various Family members.
According to a 1981 interview with Oui
magazine, Beausoleil denied Manson's direct involvement and disputed that either Brunner or Atkins had any direct knowledge of why he was visiting Hinman. Beausoleil contended that he went to Hinman's home in order to confront Hinman and collect $1,000 from him. Beausoleil claimed that he had purchased from Hinman tabs of mescaline
that he then sold to a biker gang called the Straight Satans and that several hours after the gang purchased the mescaline from Beausoleil they showed up at Spahn Ranch, claiming the mescaline was poisoned with strychnine
, demanded their money back and threatened to kill Beausoleil. Beausoleil contended that both Brunner and Atkins merely went along with him to Hinman's because they "liked" Hinman and wanted to visit. In the interview, he states that neither he nor Brunner nor Atkins were instructed by Manson to go to Hinman's and that he initially had no intention to kill him. This contradicted Beausoleil's own testimony at his first trial in 1969, when he claimed that Manson did in fact instruct him to kill Hinman.
Beausoleil claims that the trio were at Hinman's home less than 24 hours and that "Mary Brunner was just scared to death. She just faded into the woodwork" during the murder, but that Atkins went back into the house after Beausoleil stabbed Hinman and placed a pillow over Hinman's face. He also contended that it was Atkins who wrote the words "Political Piggy" on Hinman's wall (at Beausoleil's instructions).
In October 1969, the police raided the Family's new residence at Barker Ranch
near Death Valley, California, holding most of the group in custody on charges of automobile theft. Among those arrested were Atkins, who, while being questioned by police sergeants Whitley and Guenther on October 13, 1969, implicated herself in the murder of Hinman and told the officers that Manson had sent her and Beausoleil to Hinman's residence to force Hinman to hand over money that Manson believed Hinman had inherited. Atkins also told the police that Beausoleil alone acted in the murder of Hinman, stabbing him twice in the heart after being detained in his home for over two days. Atkins also maintained that it was Beausoleil who slashed Hinman's face, not Manson. However, Atkins gave several differing accounts of the murder of Hinman; at times claiming that she killed Hinman, Manson killed Hinman or that Beausoleil killed Hinman.
Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins were subsequently charged along with Bobby Beausoleil with the murder of Gary Hinman. Brunner later received immunity from prosecution to testify against both Beausoleil and Atkins. Even so, Brunner did so very grudgingly. Beausoleil's first trial, which began in November 1969 ended in a hung jury
, with Beausoleil claiming that Manson alone had murdered Hinman.
However, during Beausoleil's March 1970 trial, Brunner repudiated her testimony that Beausoleil murdered Hinman and Beausoleil produced an affidavit
signed by Brunner stating that he did not stab Hinman. Called to the stand to testify, Brunner eventually repudiated her previous testimony and insisted that she had said Beausoleil stabbed Hinman to death in her attempt to absolve Charles Manson of any participation in the crime. Various former Family members such as Ella Jo Bailey contradicted this testimony and testified that Manson confessed to them that he in fact was present at the Hinman house and that he fully participated in the murder.
Beausoleil was sentenced to death, later commuted to life (See California v. Anderson
); Atkins pled guilty for her participation in Hinman's death and was sentenced to life imprisonment
. Bruce Davis was charged in the murder after it was learned Beausoleil had called Davis at Spahn Ranch and asked him to come over and pick up Hinman's Volkswagen van. Separate trials were held for the murders of Gary Hinman and Spahn Ranch worker Donald "Shorty" Shea
, for Family members Davis, Charles Manson, and Steve "Clem" Grogan
.
Brunner subsequently returned to the remaining members of the Family and rallied support for those incarcerated for the Tate
/LaBianca murders. Her son Valentine was sent to live with her parents.
Western Surplus Store. Once inside the store, the group brandished guns and ordered the store patrons and clerks to lie on the ground. They then took 143 rifles from the premises, loading them into their van, while a store clerk tripped the silent alarm. According to police officers, the group then debated whether to kill all of those in the store.
The group's plan was to hijack a Boeing 747
and threaten to kill one passenger every hour until Manson and fellow Family members were released from prison. When a police squad car arrived, Share opened fire on the vehicle, shattering the windshield. As more squad cars arrived, they blocked the van from fleeing the scene, spraying it with over 50 bullets; the Family members fired nearly 20 rounds at the officers. When police finally gained control of the scene and apprehended the group, Mary Brunner, Catherine Share, and Larry Bailey were injured.
Brunner and Share were convicted of the crime and incarcerated at the California Institution for Women
, where Leslie Van Houten
, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel were serving their sentences for their participation in the Tate/LaBianca murders. Brunner served just over six years for her participation in the Hawthorne shootout and was released in 1977.
.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
musician and UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
candidate in sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
. Brunner was subsequently arrested for numerous offenses, including credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
theft
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
and armed robbery, and served a prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
sentence at the California Institute for Women.
Meeting Charles Manson
Born and raised in Eau Claire, WisconsinEau Claire, Wisconsin
Eau Claire is a city located in the west-central part of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 65,883 as of the 2010 census, making it the largest municipality in the northwestern portion of the state, and the 9th largest in the state overall. It is the county seat of Eau Claire County,...
to John and Evelyn Brunner, she moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
upon graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
in 1965 after receiving a job offer as a library assistant at UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. There, she met 33-year-old career criminal Charles Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
, who had been released from Terminal Island
Terminal Island
Terminal Island is an island located in Los Angeles County, California between Los Angeles Harbor and Long Beach Harbor. Originally a mudflat known to the Spanish as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, and later called Rattlesnake Island, it has officially been Terminal Island since 1918...
prison for a parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
violation several weeks prior to their meeting. She let Manson stay at her apartment and, after a period of weeks, the two began sleeping together. Not long after the relationship began, Manson traded a newly acquired friend's piano for a cheap Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
van, Brunner quit her job, and the two began to drift around California meeting other young women.
In 1967, Brunner became pregnant by Manson and on April 15, 1968 gave birth to a son she named Valentine Michael (nicknamed "Pooh Bear") in a condemned house in Topanga Canyon
Topanga, California
Topanga is a census-designated place in western Los Angeles County, California, USA. It is located in the Santa Monica Mountains. Occupying Topanga Canyon, it is often referred to by that name. Topanga is bounded on three sides by State Park or conservancy lands, and on the south by the Pacific...
and was assisted during the birth by several of the young women from the Family. Brunner (like most members of the group) acquired a number of aliases and nicknames, including: "Marioche", "Och", "Mother Mary", "Mary Manson", "Linda Dee Manson" and "Christine Marie Euchts".
After arriving in Venice, California
Venice, Los Angeles, California
Venice is a beachfront district on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is known for its canals, beaches and circus-like Ocean Front Walk, a two-and-a-half mile pedestrian-only promenade that features performers, fortune-tellers, artists, and vendors...
, Brunner and Manson met 18-year-old Lynette Fromme
Lynette Fromme
Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme is an American member of the Manson Family. She was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempting to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford in 1975...
and the three began living together in a rented house at 636 Cole Street in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Over the course of the following two years, the Family enlarged to include between 20 and 30 individuals living communally
Commune (intentional community)
A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
; some, like Brunner and Fromme, became ardent followers of Manson, while others drifted in and out of the group.
After traveling along the California coast and excursions to Washington, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, the ever-growing number of young women and men eventually settled down at Spahn Ranch
Spahn Ranch
Spahn Ranch, also known as the Spahn Movie Ranch, was a movie ranch used for filming generally Western-themed movies and television programs. With mountainous terrain, boulder-strewn scenery, and an 'old Western town' set, Spahn Ranch was a versatile filming site for many scripts...
, an occasional film set operated by an elderly man named George Spahn
George Spahn
George Spahn was a rancher who once owned the Spahn Ranch near Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA. Spahn rented the ranch to the movie industry to film Westerns. At the ranch, he housed Charles Manson and his followers...
, near the Los Angeles suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Chatsworth
Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California
Chatsworth is a district of Los Angeles, California, United States; in the northwestern San Fernando Valley. The district is bordered by the Santa Susana Mountains and unincorporated Los Angeles County lands to the north, Porter Ranch to the northeast, Northridge to the east, West Hills, Canoga...
.
Unemployed, the group of mostly older teenagers and young adults had much spare time on their hands at Spahn Ranch and they passed it by taking drugs and engaging in sexual orgies. The group supported itself financially by selling drugs and auto theft.
Early arrest
On April 21, 1968 Brunner and eight other Family members, including: Manson, Ella Jo Bailey, Dianne Lake, Nancy Pitman, Susan AtkinsSusan Atkins
Susan Denise Atkins was a convicted American murderer who was a member of the "Manson family", led by Charles Manson. Manson and his followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations in California, over a period of five weeks in the summer of 1969...
, Bruce Vann Hall, Marcus John Arneson, Stephanie Rowe and several others were arrested by sherriff's deputies in Little Sycamore Canyon, Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
after they were found sprawled nude around a campfire beside a 1952 bus that had been reported stolen in San Francisco on April 12. Manson was remanded into custody under the suspicion of grand theft auto
Motor vehicle theft
Motor vehicle theft is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle...
. Rowe, Atkins and Hall were charged with possessing fictitious and fraudulent driver's licenses. Pitman, Arneson and Bailey were jailed on charges of disorderly conduct
Disorderly conduct
Disorderly conduct is a criminal charge in most jurisdictions in the United States. Typically, disorderly conduct makes it a crime to be drunk in public, to "disturb the peace", or to loiter in certain areas. Many types of unruly conduct may fit the definition of disorderly conduct, as such...
and not possessing proper identification. Five other Family members were released without being charged. Brunner was booked on suspicion of endangering the life and health of a child, after her one week-old son, Valentine was found by deputies improperly dressed and shivering. The baby was placed in the care of the Ventura County General Hospital. Charges against Brunner were later reduced to contributing to the delinquency of a minor and she was given two years probation and a 15-day suspended jail sentence. Brunner subsequently told authorities she planned to return to her parents' home in Wisconsin and Valentine was returned to her.
The Hinman murder
On July 25, 1969, 21-year-old Family member, musician and aspiring actor Bobby BeausoleilBobby Beausoleil
Robert Kenneth "Bobby" Beausoleil is a convicted American murderer and associate of the Charles Manson "Family" who is serving a life sentence. He killed music teacher and fellow associate Gary Hinman on July 27, 1969, and has been imprisoned since his arrest for that crime...
left Spahn Ranch, accompanied by Brunner and another group member named Susan Atkins to pay a visit to an associate named Gary Allen Hinman at his home in Topanga Canyon
Topanga, California
Topanga is a census-designated place in western Los Angeles County, California, USA. It is located in the Santa Monica Mountains. Occupying Topanga Canyon, it is often referred to by that name. Topanga is bounded on three sides by State Park or conservancy lands, and on the south by the Pacific...
, just northeast of Malibu. Hinman had been friendly with the Family and had often allowed members to stay at his home. Both Beausoleil and Brunner had previously lived with Hinman for short periods of time and, according to a 1981 interview with Beausoleil, Brunner was close friends with Hinman. Beausoleil had in his possession a knife and a 9 mm Radom pistol that he had borrowed from Family member Bruce Davis.
On July 31, 1969, Hinman was found murdered in his home. His face had been deeply slashed on the left side and he had two stab wounds to the chest. Hinman's house had been ransacked and the words "Political Piggy" written and a paw print (intended to be symbolic of the Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
) drawn on the wall in his blood. Both of Hinman's vehicles were missing: a Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
van and a Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
station wagon. On August 5, 1969, Beausoleil was found by the California Highway Patrol
California Highway Patrol
The California Highway Patrol is a law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and also acts as the state police....
asleep in the back of Hinman's Fiat near San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...
. Beausoleil had a sheath knife attached to his belt. Robert Kenneth "Bobby" Beausoleil was arrested and charged with the murder of Gary Allen Hinman.
On August 8, 1969, Brunner and another Family member, Sandra Good
Sandra Good
Sandra Collins Good a long-time member of the Manson Family and a close friend of Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme. Good's Manson Family nickname is "Blue," given to her by Charles Manson because of her blue eyes....
, were arrested in San Fernando, California
San Fernando, California
San Fernando is a city located in the San Fernando Valley, in northwestern region of Los Angeles, California, United States. The population was 23,645 at the 2010 census, up from 23,564 at the 2000 census.-History:...
at a Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
store for purchasing items with a stolen credit card. Brunner had signed for her purchases with the alias "Mary Vitasek" and the two women fled the store when a cashier became suspicious. After being followed by the store manager, the police caught up with the two and found them in possession of numerous stolen credit cards and fake identification cards. They were charged with violating Section 459 and 484e of the California Penal Code
California Penal Code
The Penal Code of California forms the basis for the application of criminal law in the American state of California. It was originally enacted in 1872 as one of the original four California Codes, and has been substantially amended and revised since then....
and booked into the Sybil Brand Institute
Sybil Brand Institute
The Sybil Brand Institute was a noted county jail in Los Angeles County, California. The facility was named for Sybil Brand , a noted local philanthropist and civic leader....
Reception Center later that evening.
That same evening, Family members Charles "Tex" Watson, Susan Atkins
Susan Atkins
Susan Denise Atkins was a convicted American murderer who was a member of the "Manson family", led by Charles Manson. Manson and his followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations in California, over a period of five weeks in the summer of 1969...
, Linda Kasabian
Linda Kasabian
Linda Kasabian is a former member of Charles Manson's "family". She was the key witness in District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi's prosecution of Manson and his followers for the Tate-LaBianca murders, one of the highest-profile murder trials in American history.-Early life:Born as Linda Darlene...
and Patricia Krenwinkel
Patricia Krenwinkel
Patricia Dianne Krenwinkel is an American convicted killer and a former member of Charles Manson's murderous commune, known as "the Family". During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as "Big Patty", "Yellow", and "Mary Ann Scott", but to The Family she was most...
visited 10050 Cielo Drive
10050 Cielo Drive
The original home located at 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, California, has been occupied by many famous Hollywood figures, and was the scene of one of the Manson "family" murders. The house was designed by Robert Byrd in 1942 for French actress Michèle Morgan...
and murdered film actress Sharon Tate
Sharon Tate
Sharon Marie Tate was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for...
and her guests Wojciech Frykowski
Wojciech Frykowski
Wojciech Frykowski was a Polish actor and writer who was murdered in the home of Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski by members of Charles Manson's "Family".-Early life:...
, Jay Sebring
Jay Sebring
Jay Sebring was an American hair stylist for celebrities, and the founder of the hairstyling corporation Sebring International. He is also known as one of the murder victims of the Manson Family.-Early life:...
and Abigail Folger
Abigail Folger
Abigail Anne "Gibbie" Folger was an American coffee heiress, debutante, socialite, volunteer social worker, civil rights devotee and member of the prominent United States Folger family. She was the great-granddaughter of J. A. Folger, the founder of Folgers Coffee...
, as well as 18-year-old Steven Parent
Steven Parent
Steven Earl Parent was a victim of the Charles Manson murders.-Early life:Steven Earl Parent was born in California to Wilfred Elmer Parent, a construction superintendent and his wife, Juanita, a homemaker...
, who was visiting Tate's groundskeeper William Garretson.
Conflicting stories
According to former Deputy District AttorneyDistrict attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi is an American attorney and author, best known for prosecuting Charles Manson and other defendants accused of the Tate-LaBianca murders. His most recent books are Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy , The Prosecution of George W...
in his 1974 book Helter Skelter
Helter Skelter (book)
Helter Skelter is a true crime book by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry. The subject of the book is the 1969 Manson Family murders and Bugliosi's own prosecution of Charles Manson and his followers....
, Manson instructed Beausoleil, Brunner and Atkins to go to Hinman's house and demand that he hand over a large sum of money that he believed Hinman had inherited and the titles to Hinman's vehicles. Bugliosi also claimed that at one point during Hinman's two-day detention in his home, Manson himself came to Hinman's house and slashed Hinman's face with a knife when Hinman wouldn't cooperate with his captors and give them the money. This account was later corroborated by various Family members.
According to a 1981 interview with Oui
Oui (magazine)
Oui is a men's adult pornographic magazine published in the USA and featuring explicit nude photographs of models, with full page pin-ups, centerfolds, interviews and other articles, and cartoons.- Playboy years :...
magazine, Beausoleil denied Manson's direct involvement and disputed that either Brunner or Atkins had any direct knowledge of why he was visiting Hinman. Beausoleil contended that he went to Hinman's home in order to confront Hinman and collect $1,000 from him. Beausoleil claimed that he had purchased from Hinman tabs of mescaline
Mescaline
Mescaline or 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic alkaloid of the phenethylamine class used mainly as an entheogen....
that he then sold to a biker gang called the Straight Satans and that several hours after the gang purchased the mescaline from Beausoleil they showed up at Spahn Ranch, claiming the mescaline was poisoned with strychnine
Strychnine
Strychnine is a highly toxic , colorless crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine causes muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia or sheer exhaustion...
, demanded their money back and threatened to kill Beausoleil. Beausoleil contended that both Brunner and Atkins merely went along with him to Hinman's because they "liked" Hinman and wanted to visit. In the interview, he states that neither he nor Brunner nor Atkins were instructed by Manson to go to Hinman's and that he initially had no intention to kill him. This contradicted Beausoleil's own testimony at his first trial in 1969, when he claimed that Manson did in fact instruct him to kill Hinman.
Beausoleil claims that the trio were at Hinman's home less than 24 hours and that "Mary Brunner was just scared to death. She just faded into the woodwork" during the murder, but that Atkins went back into the house after Beausoleil stabbed Hinman and placed a pillow over Hinman's face. He also contended that it was Atkins who wrote the words "Political Piggy" on Hinman's wall (at Beausoleil's instructions).
In October 1969, the police raided the Family's new residence at Barker Ranch
Barker Ranch
Barker Ranch is infamous as the last hideout of Charles Manson and his "family" after the gruesome Los Angeles murder spree. It is located inside Death Valley National Park in eastern California....
near Death Valley, California, holding most of the group in custody on charges of automobile theft. Among those arrested were Atkins, who, while being questioned by police sergeants Whitley and Guenther on October 13, 1969, implicated herself in the murder of Hinman and told the officers that Manson had sent her and Beausoleil to Hinman's residence to force Hinman to hand over money that Manson believed Hinman had inherited. Atkins also told the police that Beausoleil alone acted in the murder of Hinman, stabbing him twice in the heart after being detained in his home for over two days. Atkins also maintained that it was Beausoleil who slashed Hinman's face, not Manson. However, Atkins gave several differing accounts of the murder of Hinman; at times claiming that she killed Hinman, Manson killed Hinman or that Beausoleil killed Hinman.
Trial
Hung jury
A hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...
, with Beausoleil claiming that Manson alone had murdered Hinman.
However, during Beausoleil's March 1970 trial, Brunner repudiated her testimony that Beausoleil murdered Hinman and Beausoleil produced an affidavit
Affidavit
An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...
signed by Brunner stating that he did not stab Hinman. Called to the stand to testify, Brunner eventually repudiated her previous testimony and insisted that she had said Beausoleil stabbed Hinman to death in her attempt to absolve Charles Manson of any participation in the crime. Various former Family members such as Ella Jo Bailey contradicted this testimony and testified that Manson confessed to them that he in fact was present at the Hinman house and that he fully participated in the murder.
Beausoleil was sentenced to death, later commuted to life (See California v. Anderson
California v. Anderson
The People of the State of California v. Robert Page Anderson, 493 P.2d 880, 6 Cal. 3d 628 , was a landmark case in the state of California that outlawed the use of capital punishment...
); Atkins pled guilty for her participation in Hinman's death and was sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. Bruce Davis was charged in the murder after it was learned Beausoleil had called Davis at Spahn Ranch and asked him to come over and pick up Hinman's Volkswagen van. Separate trials were held for the murders of Gary Hinman and Spahn Ranch worker Donald "Shorty" Shea
Donald "Shorty" Shea
Donald "Shorty" Shea was a Hollywood stuntman, actor and victim of the Charles Manson murders. The location of his body was not discovered until 1977, nearly a decade after his death...
, for Family members Davis, Charles Manson, and Steve "Clem" Grogan
Steve "Clem" Grogan
Steve Dennis "Clem" Grogan , is an American murderer, former member of The Manson Family.Grogan, a musician, dropped out of high school and was involved in minor crimes before joining the Manson family at the Spahn Ranch. Like Charles Manson, he was friends with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys...
.
Brunner subsequently returned to the remaining members of the Family and rallied support for those incarcerated for the Tate
Sharon Tate
Sharon Marie Tate was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for...
/LaBianca murders. Her son Valentine was sent to live with her parents.
Hawthorne shootout
On August 21, 1971, Mary Brunner, accompanied by Family member Catherine "Gypsy" Share and several male Family associates — Dennis Rice, Charles Lovett, Larry Bailey, and Kenneth Como — drove a white van to a Hawthorne, CaliforniaHawthorne, California
Hawthorne is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. The city at the 2010 census had a population of 84,293, up from 84,112 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
Western Surplus Store. Once inside the store, the group brandished guns and ordered the store patrons and clerks to lie on the ground. They then took 143 rifles from the premises, loading them into their van, while a store clerk tripped the silent alarm. According to police officers, the group then debated whether to kill all of those in the store.
The group's plan was to hijack a Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
and threaten to kill one passenger every hour until Manson and fellow Family members were released from prison. When a police squad car arrived, Share opened fire on the vehicle, shattering the windshield. As more squad cars arrived, they blocked the van from fleeing the scene, spraying it with over 50 bullets; the Family members fired nearly 20 rounds at the officers. When police finally gained control of the scene and apprehended the group, Mary Brunner, Catherine Share, and Larry Bailey were injured.
Brunner and Share were convicted of the crime and incarcerated at the California Institution for Women
California Institution for Women
California Institution for Women is a female-only state prison located in the city of Chino, San Bernardino County, California.-Facilities:...
, where Leslie Van Houten
Leslie Van Houten
Leslie Louise Van Houten is a former member of Charles Manson's "Family" who was convicted of the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.-Life with Manson:...
, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel were serving their sentences for their participation in the Tate/LaBianca murders. Brunner served just over six years for her participation in the Hawthorne shootout and was released in 1977.
Later life
After her release from prison in 1977, Brunner disassociated herself from the Manson Family and regained custody of her son. She subsequently changed her name and currently lives somewhere in the Midwestern United StatesMidwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
.
Further reading
- Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders, by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt GentryCurt GentryCurt Gentry is an American writer. He is best known for co-writing the book Helter Skelter with Vincent Bugliosi , which detailed the Charles Manson murders...
. New York, 1974, W.W. Norton and Co. ISBN 0-553-57435-3. - The Family by Ed Sanders (Thunder's Mouth Press rev update edition), 2002, ISBN 1-56025-396-7