Posted By Liz
Ella Jo Bailey (2010)
Ella Jo Bailey age 27 (1971 during the Hinman/Shea trial)I did some research on Ella Jo since I really don't know much about her. She showed up on the scene with Sadie. Ella Jo herself said she felt it was her own fault Gary was killed. It was her that suggested Gary might have money when Charlie was looking for cash to buy some dune buggies needed for Helter Skelter. Charlie invited Ella along to help persuade Gary. She declined. After hearing that Gary was murdered the day before, she fled the ranch with Bill Vance never to return again. She became a very important witness for the state. She is presently married with two daughters and a son.
Good site with all the newspaper articles on Ella testifying:
http://www.mansoncasefile.co.cc/bailey.html
Loose lips sink ships.
ReplyDeleteHere is another example of a Family member making erroneous statements. This is quite common among Family members. Ella Jo passed along a rumor that Hinman had inherited $20,000. Beausoleil tried to rob a guy with no money.
In Manson's book he claims that on his trip to Big Sur where he met Stephanie Schram that he had acquired enough drugs to satisfy the Straight Satans beef over Hinman's bad mescaline. I think that is doubtful.
The Hinman robbery was over money needed to escape to the desert after Charlie mistakenly thought he had murdered Lotsapoppa. Bills were mounting. There was no money coming in. The usual sources had dried up.
At 26, Ella Jo was too old to be living at the Ranch with kids. If her silly claim of Hinman having money had come through, her status in the Family would have been elevated by enabling Charlie to get his hands on desperately needed cash.
Mr. P- you are very well versed in mansonology. you should write up something for us to post. join the list of contributors. i swear you told me that you have written a few things for other M blogs??
ReplyDelete"loose lips sink ships. so come aboard for a pleasure trip. it's high tide, so let's ride. the moon is risin and so am i"
sorry but the loose lips made me think of the song "lets get it up"
by AC/DC. so i had to type in a verse from that song. im wackier than usual today.
Go back to bed, Liz.
ReplyDeleteyou're the tops Liz. I have had a Ella Jo fetish for as long as I have read about the case since she appeared to be relatively balanced.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible at all the Ella Jo's comment about Gary inheriting money was somewhat "innocent" - along the lines of 'hey, did you hear our friend Gary just won a scratch ticket'?? In her testimony did she say how she came upon this info?
I am embarrassed to say I don't have a copy of HS or The Family. I did but I've moved to much. Is Ella Jo known for anything but that comment and running off with Vance?
She looks like she's at Clearlake, or maybe Havasu (?)
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU LIZ!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking Havasu Patty.
ReplyDeleteshe looks happy. good for her.
Way cool! Ella Jo, we hardly knew ye. If the coke can were a budweiser, I'd probably like you better.
ReplyDeleteHer where abouts would suggest Lake Mead.
ReplyDeleteAh! that works, too.
ReplyDeleteIf Charlie Sheen, with all his mental breakdown bullshit, can sell out ballrooms across the country, than, I think a Manson Girls Reunion could fill up some rooms as well. Americans. They aren't the brightest people in the world. But they have money, or their parents have money. And they'll spend it, if you give them a chance.
ReplyDeleteIf there was no Ella Jo there might not have been any murders as it was Ella Jo and Katie who were picked up hitch hiking by Dennis Wilson. Then Dennis later brought Tex to the family when he picked him up. I don't think she was as innocent as they make out, she must have told Charlie about Dennis knowing that he would want to take advantage of the rich rock star. Then later she told Charlie about Hinman's money. I also read somewhere she fled to save her own skin because she had some trouble with the law not because she was appaled by the murder of Hinman. Probably testified against the family to escape her own charges.
ReplyDeleteInteresting and perhaps all too true. However I don't think Ella was a bad girl
DeleteWhat is known about Ella Jo? I've always been curious about her. She was there in the begining and was there till the murders. She was one of the first of the family and there isn't that much info written about her. This is what I know about her.
ReplyDeleteThe brother of her best friend prior to 67' contacted me 4 years ago, asking me if I knew where she was. I didn't have anything to tell him. He gave me a little bit of info about her prior to 67' and this is what he said. He said she was from Holland, Michigan and went to Holland High School. He said that she attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. During the summer of her sophomore year, she and two friends borrowed her grandfather's car to vacation in CA. He stated that her two friends returned but she did not. He said that she never returned to Holland. He said that in 1970 her mother approached him and aked if he would be interested in buying her home. He bought the home furnished, including the pots and pans. He said her mother wanted to be with her in CA and later found out why. He has since found her and communicates with her.
Does anybody here have any other info about her. Maybe collectively we could paint a clearer picture of her. What do you think?
She was not arrested in the Aug 16 raid so she fled immediately when violence came. I'm amazed that she wasn't tracked down by the Family. She stayed hidden from them until 3 days before she testified against Charlie. She apparently knew how to remain annonymous and preferred things that way.
ReplyDeleteShe escaped major noteriety because she wasn't one of the 'girls on the corner' at the courthouse. Noteriety obviously didn't appeal to her.
Ella was able to get some bad check charges dropped in exchange for her testimony in the Hinman case.
ReplyDeleteShe helped Mary Bruner wipe down Hinman's vw bus when it was brought to the ranch.I get the feeling she knew then was the time to get out for now she was an accessory to a murder. Thieving wasn't beyond her but murder was.
I have always felt she was one of the more intrigueing family members given her length of time there. Maybe I am biased but I have trouble assigning sinister motives to her introducing the Fmaily to Dennis Wilson or even her comment on Hinmann having money. Obviously I could be wrong but I just feel it was made in the spirit of maybe Gary helping them out rather than maybe we can rob him or force him.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to know if Ella Jo ever married Bill Vance. Where did Bill Vance go? He fell off the eath it seems.
ReplyDeleteif you click on the link under the post it will bring you to a site with all the newspaper (not yellow)
ReplyDeleteclippings on Ella. that is what i pieced together the post from.
she has not lived in CA for many many years now.
I read all the articles. Nothing much there, purfunctory stuff. Nothing about Vance, and really nothing about Ella Jo. Just what she testified to.
ReplyDeleteElla Jo's tipping point was obviously Gary's demise. But you have to wonder how suprised she could have been given the upsurge in weapons around Spahn and all the paramiltary training.
Still, it sure would be a treat to get her recollections and insights. People want to dismiss Ella Jo and her testimony because she got some bad check charges dismissed. That makes little sense to me given that having the Family pissed at you for life is a whole lot worse than 90 days for bad checks. Ask Shorty.
Leary7 said:
ReplyDelete[Quote]But you have to wonder how suprised she could have been given the upsurge in weapons around Spahn and all the paramiltary training.[End Quote
MrPoirot replies:
She set him up for a "donation" after she was aware Manson had shot Lotsapoppa. She must have had an inkling that things were going south for the Family. But then Beausoleil persisted in robbing Hinman after two days. Why didn't Beausoleil relize earlier on that Hinman had no money? What did Manson think was going to happen by slashing Hinman? Perhaps this is the insanity that enveloped the Family. They had all gone insane as one. Group insanity came over them. A Bonnie and Clyde flameout occurred.
group insanity...now that is an interesting concept. There are a thousands examples of it...Waco and Jonestown etc.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite quote about group insanity comes from Jung I think in regards to the rise of Nazism, he said that "the German people have a particular and peculiar susceptibility to mass psychosis."
Group insanity...yeah, that is a concept worth contemplating.
By the way, do we know for sure Ella Jo knew about Crowe? One thing that I got from Gypsy's reminisces was that there was allot of stuff going on that not everyone was privy to. Even though Ella Jo was an original and there for a long time, my sense is that she floated on the fringe. And not being one of the more attractive girls Manson let her. Is that wrong?
yeah, Charlie slashing Gary is a real tipping point in the whole shebang. And you're right, it made no sense. It had to be clear by then that Gary had nothing. He wasn't living like Dennis Wilson. And once Charlie swung the sword that automatically put all of them - Bobby, Charlie, Bruce, Mary and Sadie - behind bars for 4-7. all part of aggravated robbery. Charlie knew it. And probably Bobby too. That is why the order of "finish the job" must have made sense to Bobby. What 20 year old wants to do serious time because somebody else got all ninja with a sword.
ReplyDeleteSwinging that sword was insane.
did gilmore write about bailey in the garbage people? and if so which alias did he give her? was she the one that was atkins romantic girlfriend? i know she joined with atkins and they were friends prior to meeting manson.
ReplyDeleteBTW all, the Col is back. Some good recent posts:
ReplyDeletehttp://tatelabianca.blogspot.com/
ya Matt the col is back and the first person to respond was none other then james robinson ie monkeyfuck haha
ReplyDeletebeauders said...
ReplyDeletedid gilmore write about bailey in the garbage people? and if so which alias did he give her?
i actually just finished reading that,well the revised one. i do not recall any mention of ella.
and why the hell do they use aliases? is it beacause the person refused to give permission for them to use their name? that has always driven me crazy.
MrPoirot said...
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to know if Ella Jo ever married Bill Vance. Where did Bill Vance go? He fell off the eath it seems.
i have tried very hard to find vance. no luck.
as for ella and bill marrying- i dont know if that ever happened.
she does go by her married name and it is not Vance.
wasnt one of her nicknames "ella beth cinder'?
ReplyDeleteIf she was friends with Susan prior to meeting Manson, did she live with Susan on Lyon St. in SF?
ReplyDeleteGrumpfrompahrump said...
ReplyDeleteeviliz said...On November 16, 1969 an unidentified body was found which was later identified as possibly being family member, Sherry Cooper.
This was a something I always wondered about... In the Early editions of "The Family", it read Jane DoeXX, AKA "Stephanie Rowe". A Stephanie Rowe was arrested with the "Witches of Mendocino."
In the revised version her name is no longer in that sentence. Who was she? Any pics of her?
Also, somewhere in the revised "Family", it says Madeline Joan Cottage (Little Patty) was living with Bill Vance in MO.
February 4, 2011 11:04 PM
sherry cooper is simi valley sherri. she is alive and well and living in l.a. she ran off with decarlo and lived in oregon, then canada. they lived a life of crime, got married, had a child, the child died, and they divorced, and she returned to l.a.
ReplyDeletegreat, always wanted to know what she looked like. One of the original core group, yet scarcely known. What we need now is her testimony, wouldn't it be great to get all those records?
ReplyDeleteBTW, anyone read "and The Sea Will Tell" ? It's another Bugliosi book. Have to give it to him, he can really write. It's good, very good. He's a blindingly good lawyer.