"All the next day, from our lookout posts in the hills, we watched the National Park rangers driving back and forth like ants over the desert roads, looking for us. After it got dark, Charlie and I drove all night by the light of the moon, surveying his desert kingdom. He was very quiet, wound up like a spring. When we got back to Myers Ranch early the next morning, he handed me a double-barreled shotgun that had been stolen from one of the girl's parents before we left Los Angeles.
"'Go up into the attic there,' he said to me, pointing to a place where the attic extended out over the porch of the ranch house with gaping holes between the boards. 'Go up there with this and wait. When those two rangers come -- kill them.' He drove off and I climbed into the hot, dusty attic to wait." *
-- Charles "Tex" Watson, Will You Die For Me?
"You know that little hideaway in Barker's place? Well, I used to sleep up in there, and all the mice used to have to crawl over me to get out to go to the water, right? And I'd have these buckskin pants on, and they would start chewing on my pants.
"So, one night, when it was Tex's turn -- because what we'd do is like keep a point up there, and anybody would come, we'd listen to what they was saying. So, it was Tex's turn to see if the cops was gonna come up, you dig, so he was gonna be stashed there, you know, to see what the cops was gonna say. And we'd always leave a coffee pot there, and we'd leave a couple pounds of coffee and all that kind of stuff....
"So [Tex] was over that night, and them rats came out and started chewing on them pants. He freaked out and he couldn't deal with it. He run home to his mother, man. He left the pants there, man, and the rats ate a fucking hole in the pants and shit. Fucking rats ate my pants up. That's cold, huh?"
-- Charles Manson, from a tape-recorded telephone conversation
* This is one of the instances in his book where Watson confuses the Barker and Myers Ranchs. The old Myers ranch house, which burned down in June of 1999, never had an attic space such as he describes. The photo is of the attic space at Barker Ranch (also since burned down). -- GS
54 comments:
If Tex confuses Barkers and Myers ranches, how much more detail in his book is wrong? When reading Tex's literary effort, it became abundantly clear to me that it was written to show the world that helpless innocent Tex just did everything that evil wizard Charlie told him to do:):) If someone handed you a shotgun and instructed you to kill, wouldn't you be inclined to say "do it yourself"?
I am laughing at Charlie's description of the rats eating his buckskins, and then Tex running home to his mother:)Tex sure had 'mommy issues'.
Aaaah, that great literary effort, "Will You Lie For Me (& grant this good ole Christian boy parole)?" The man who should have been executed decades ago. Wonder what's on those tapes, for there to be such a lockdown?
... Got so caught up in ranting about that s.o.b. I forgot to say that this was a really enjoyable post. Funny, I was just looking at pics of Barker the other day and saw a lot of gaps over the front porch, & was wondering if that was the area referred to as the attic.
I shudder at the thought of being stuck up in a dark attic with freakin RODENTS gnawing anywhere near me. Of course, anything & everything is 100% better than roaches! If it would of been roaches instead of rats, I probably couldn't of even finished reading this post. I, Austin Ann am a certifiable roach-phobia sufferer. I cannot see them even in photos or on TV without getting cold sweats. See, when I was a kid, living on our family ranch, I went into our tack room to get a bridle and one of those freakish, brown & glistening, armor-having, helicopter-like tree roaches flew right into my face and was stuck in my long hair. I went nuts and danced screaming, trying to get it off. It clung to me by those spiky leg hair things. Ever since then, I've developed a serious phobia. Gulp.....now I'm thinking about it....
Ann that sounds more like a cave cricket.
YES, "Chaplain Ray" got quite a few things mixed-up, BUT maybe it was GOD telling HIM what to write.
IF THEY looked like "ants" from so far away, how could ANY human KNOW they were National Park Rangers. ? BUT "GOD" would KNOW, cause HE sees / knows EVERYTHING. And Chaplain Ray went to college-school to learn how to "communicate" with God, so there is a sense-able explanation for "Will you die for me."
When I was just a kid, my Catholic friend next door would come home from Catholic school and tell me the Priest talked to GOD last night and God said..... So stupid ME thought: Oh, the telephone, of course.
Ever wonder WHO was talking to Curt Gentry at night on the phone, while HE was "writing" Helter Skelter ?
BTW, when a "book" is published by a publishing "company" vs self-publishing, the "company" also re-edits the book. And IF a book is self-published, it is adviseable to hire an editor to "edit" it for you. (Many legal issues may lurk in the small print)
Did you know most all autobigraphical "celebrity" books are "ghost" written ?
Robert Hendrickson said...
YES, "Chaplain Ray" got quite a few things mixed-up....
Hi Mr H,
Yes, maybe, but you would think that that paragon of virtue, Charles Watson, would have corrected the text before publication. You know, what with Tex being a Man of God and Seeker of the Truth:):)
Robert Hendrickson said...
Chaplain Ray went to college-school to learn how to "communicate" with God
Mr. H that's hysterical, but also kinda true. Love it!
Robert Hendrickson said...
Did you know most all autobigraphical "celebrity" books are "ghost" written ?
Mr H,
That is because so many celebrities are somewhat cognitively challenged. If they are not reading off a script or telecue, they are lost!
To be fair to Tex, doesn't he own up to killing Tate in his book? It's also a good read, and without Chaplain Ray we wouldn't have had Atkins book or God's Prison Gang.
As to editing, Mr Hendrickson, surely you cannot deny that Bill Nelson's books would lose appeal if they had been edited for readability?
On an aside, psychologically speaking our brains tend to focus on one thing at any one time, so it is unlikely that we can remember everything accurately as chances are we would have been focused on one particular event when everything was happening. So there is no accurate recall for say how the events at Cielo Drive went down, or Tex forgets which ranch because he was thinking rodents.
Tex wasn't the only one with mommy issues. Charlie had a few himself.
Yes Chris he owns up to killing Sharon but he completely attributes it and minimizes it to Manson's hold on him - and his debt via the Crowe shooting.
That book and the Atkins book were just "see how good I am now so please let me out" essays IMO.
Patty is still disappointed that she never saw Barkers intact. She and Mr Patty got lost that first trip before the fire. By the time they figured it out Barkers was gone...
POS stabs a pregnant woman to death but pussies out shotgunning cops.
I hate to say this but Manson's recollection sounds more believable. Manson was street smart. I have a hard time believing he'd tell anyone to kill a cop with nowhere to run. And how far is the visibility from the ranch that you could see police cruisers the size of ants?
Visibility is good there's very little up there to distract the eye from a break in the pattern be it a police cruiser, a red hat a'la Sadie or a pissed off donkey.
Tex is full of it. All the people who got locked up all read each other's books and interviews and take little bits or parts of what this person or that person said and then repeat it. Under the law of Disclosure any and all evidence against a person has to be made available to them, so there is no documented they haven't read or police interview tape they haven't heard and from all this is how legends are built and the smoke screen gets darker.
I doubt Charlie who was running from the law and chaos would want to have them poking around more for two rangers who turned up missing upon scoping them out. Unless he was planning to go out in a Waco-style blaze of glory and full blown shoot out with the cops. The fact they found him balled up in a cupboard tells me that wasn't on the agenda.
His book contains NO reference to Shea too. Reading his book, you wouldn't even know Shea existed. Chaplain Ray used a great portion of Tex's private conversations with Bill Boyd. If Boyd was being honest about Tex laying it all out, then Chaplain Ray had to know about Shea. But Jesus Christ forgave Tex. In the eyes of Christ, Tex was reborn and forgiven. So the good Chaplain had no problem sweeping that under the carpet. Tex was good for his agenda and he was good for his.
I think Bugliosi wanted to write his book as a testament to his legal genius.
You can see this in the way he gloats about "tricking" Atkins by asking
her for an exemplar (handwriting sample) of the words "healter skelter".
If she had complied, her handwriting sample would have no courtroom
value at all, but because she refused, as Bug hoped, her refusal THEN became a critical 2nd piece evidence legally required to introduce circumstantial evidence as an overall part of his prosecution. (or something like that, I'm not a lawyer)
Gentry, on the other hand, knew full well what would sell the book, and it was
not Bugliosi's genius - FEAR would sell the book.
Helter Skelter aside, if we can agree that Manson deliberately facilitated anti-social behaviour in his companions to encourage committing murders at his suggested locations, doesn't that make Tex his ultimate success?
Without Tex the Family is just talking-up the fear. With Tex they have the legacy.
Manson has spent years wearing the reputation of another man's crimes to keep himself out of general population.
Helter Skelter came out around the same time he ran for Attorney General. So that was one of his ambitions. He was calling it the case of the century, "most bizarre blah blah" murder in the annuals of American history from the start. He knew he found himself in the spot like and a prosecutor is like a play producer. He sets the stage and casts the roles. His case was genius if he knew ahead of time that the role he cast the killers, they would glad take on as a defense and help him nab the guy he wanted to nap the most. In a case where the only difference between the Prosecutor and the defense is "and" and "but" (Bugliosi: They murdered these people, AND Charles Manson made them do it. Defense: They murdered these people, BUT Charles Manson made them do it)....that leaves Charlie like a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.
Bugliosi liked to recount the time he told Manson he WAS going to convict him, but only AFTER a fair trial. Was it before or after the Life magazine article did he say that? Or before he slipped Farr some Manila envelops under the table? Or set the stage where both the prosecution and defense would argue only the guilt of the women and degree in which they were under a spell?
D. LaCalandra said...
His book contains NO reference to Shea too. Reading his book, you wouldn't even know Shea existed.
1000% agreed
I'm almost done with Restless Souls. It's been a very rewarding read for me. Now I can see where a lot of you get some of your info. on Tex in prison. You really have to admire Doris Tate, for what she did and her style. It's interesting to ponder one of the central questions of TLB-Tex's version of reality vs. Manson's, especially the most central moment what was said between them before Tex and the girls took the drive to Cielo.
Patty said: Patty is still disappointed that she never saw Barkers intact. She and Mr Patty got lost that first trip before the fire. By the time they figured it out Barkers was gone...
Was Mr. Patty too stubborn to ask the local wildlife for directions?
Lol Humphrat. It was November and getting dark and they couldn't discern the proper turnoff. In retrospect they were sooooo close!
When we were driving up to Barker with Emmett Harder he made it seem like it was a straight shot up Goler Wash but in fact there are a few forks in the road. I should have left bread crumbs to be able to find it again!
Humphrat likes the way Patty says "they" couldn't discern and "they" were so close. Please say hello to them for me.
Patty and Mr. Patty should've stopped by the Krusty Krab for a Krabby Patty and asked Mr. Krabs for directions.
YES Hump - YOU dscovered the KEY to the hidden lock.
The "conversation" between "Charlie" and TEX is the LOCK that opens the "door" to the TRUE motive for the TLB massacre OR maybe behind that door merely lies something like "Hey TEX, how about bringing home some milk-shakes tonight - when you get off work."
BUT "Helter Skelter" renders that "conversation" unnecessary, cause Charlie Manson is the "mastermind" who promoted the murders - says the government man we can ALL trust - Vincent Bugliosi.
Charlie said in one interview that a single word changed Tex's mind and implied that whatever it was, lead to what happened. He mentioned this only once and never elaborated on it.
Robert several of your marbles are doing real well on ebay!
Like, they...they think it's right to sell Robert Hendrickson's marbles on eBay. They want to sell Robert Hendrickson's marbles on eBay. Look at all the people. And they get a kick out of it. A sexual kick out of it. The whole thing - I think it's sick! I mean....I don't know.
Incidentally, I think I saw Cory Hurst in a porno once. Which would make her one of the more successful graduates of Laurence Merrick's Studio Academy of Dramatic Arts.
"Charlie said in one interview that a single word changed Tex's mind and implied that whatever it was, lead to what happened. He mentioned this only once and never elaborated on it."
Was it.... 'Relax!' ?
(Sorry. Zoolander reference. The best political film ever.)
Ziggy,
You left out the most important part of the Cory Hurst story. What was the name of the film?
COL: I was just thinking about YOU ! I saw an old friend the other day and he said: I don't even like Donald Trump, BUT I'm going to vote for him, because HE is throwing a wrench into the whole fucked-up system.
Later I thought, is there anyone quite like the TRUMP and YOUR name came to mind. BTW, that's a compliment.
Of course, TRUMP is just talking (reflecting) what folks do on social media do - disrespect each other. So everyone on the internet is thinking: "He's just like me, so I love HIM !
Now, NBC is saying: OK, you folks who loved "the Apprentice" were going to "fuck YOU" by having the Swartznegger take it over.
AND that's like YOU being assigned to star in a movie, as the leading man, with "Vera" being the leading lady. Then, If I was the director I would change the leading line to "Frankly, my dear - I don't give a FUCK.
AND then Your line would be. "Yes dear."
My brain hurts.
@orwhut - I wish I knew the name. I saw it sometime in the late 80's/early 90's, but the porno appeared to be from the 70's, judging by the clothes and hairstyles. My dad used to borrow vhs copies of pornos from a guy at work and I'd sneak a peek at them when he wasn't around. The storyline was something like - a bunch of people hanging out at a party go to different rooms and have sex. It was riveting.
Doris, P.J. and Patti Tate were admirable people in the way they lived their lives and fought their battles. I don't know what happened to Debra...was she adopted maybe? lol
Matt said...
My brain hurts.
@Matt, yes, I feel your pain:) Matt, maybe when Mr H was doing his stint in Vietnam, he got splattered with Agent Orange,and is still suffering after effects:):) I never thought anyone could visualise Vera in a Col Scott movie.
Ziggy,
Thanks for the details. Cory was easy to look at. I wonder how many grand children she has now.
Equinox and Joseph,
While Robert is a veteran who served during the Viet Nam War, I'm pretty sure he didn't go to Viet Nam. Robert, please correct me if I'm wrong.
yeah I thought he said in a previous post that he wasn't in Vietnam.
Orwhut and Mr Humphrat,
My post was not meant to be serious - I thought that would have been clear. I am surprised, however, that no one has picked up on the language used in Joseph's post toward racial groups and minorities.
Equinox,
I thought your reflexion of Joseph's statement might have been sarcasm and only included your name because you perpetuated his apparent misconception. Now, I wonder whether he was being sarcastic too. No harm intended.:-)
@orwhut
No offence taken!! There are some of us on here that just like to pull Mr H's leg!! You will find that in all the responses I have ever made to Robert on this blog, sarcasm was never a feature from me. PEACE.
I'm betting Matt and the Col are getting just a big a laugh as I am.
You SEE, My "marbles" on eBay can be taken several ways, so it seems even the Col has learned how to communicate in true "cryptic" form.
AND like "My brain hurts" that's Matt's way of politically / correctly letting US know - once again HE got trapped in a re-occuring issue.
AND as far as "Vera" and the Col being ACTORS in a "love story" movie - like "Gone with the Wind" - Of course, it's the typical love / hate relationship like Clark Gable and Vivan Leigh. YOU cannot LOVE without HATE, just like there can be NO God without a Devil. And JOE cannot HATE all those everyday folks WITHOUT loving them also.
IF JFK and LBJ were actually intelligent enough to understand and embrace that simple paradox, there would most likely NOT have been a Vietnam WAR.
IE: HATE the Communists BUT LOVE them also. Instead THEY and their political party chose to try and KILL all the Commies and when they failed they simply reversed their position and decided to become as one with THEIR beloved Socialists. WE like to say: "If you can't fight em, join em" and it actually works. IF want to eliminate YOUR enemy, simply JOIN him and YOU no longer have an enemy. Kind'a like putting a FIRE out with WATER - instead of gasoline.
At least, it makes sense to ME. AND hey guys, it wasn't the Agent Orange in Vietnam - it was ALL those cool "drugs" - courtesy of the CIA that has "changed" America FOREVER.
BTW, I consider "pulling one's leg" in fun to be: a form of flattery in a very dear manner.
Thanks Col, Matt and everyone else. I am STILL learning from you-all and I LOVE to learn. Didn't get a chance to learn much in public school. The teacher was too busy mentalbating to give us much of her infinate wisdom.
Robert Hendrickson said...
BTW, I consider "pulling one's leg" in fun to be: a form of flattery in a very dear manner.
Hi Mr H,
Glad YOU took it the right way! Cheers.
Hey! I thought the "NATIONAL PARK" service didn't even acquire the Barker Ranch area until way AFTER the TLB murders ?
Because D. Trump has been talking up the Muslim ISIS situation, I re-read P. WATKINS "Black Muslim" testimony and HIS talks to us. This was Bugliosi's KEY Helter Skelter witness and HE makes it abundantly clear; It's BLACK Muslims who will take OVER. AND you can expect the key words "Black Muslims" to continue to rise on Internet searches in the future - unless the CIA decides to silence the Trump-et.
BTW - I could NOT be sent to Vietnam because of my U.S. security involvement. I volunteered twice and was turned down both times.
When I read the tite ,"Tex's Attic", I think how it must have been the opposite of Johnny Carson's early TV show, "Carson's Cellar".
Well folks, here's a GREAT one: Seems the good folks of Farmersvile, TEXAS
(hometown of your favorite PREACHER and Mass Murderer) thinks it is being invaded by MUSLIMS. Cause THEY want to make an Islamic "cemetary" there.
YES and I'm NOT "pulling ANY leg" here. Some are now saying TEX was actually trying to FIGHT the Muslims off in Helter Skelter.
I don't think IT will ever get any funnier that this.
IF THEY bought the old Watson "estate" and that's where the Muslims plan a cemetary, I'll shit a brick for Matt to bang HIS head on.
Robert Hendrickson said...
"...Some are now saying TEX was actually trying to FIGHT the Muslims off in Helter Skelter."
From the look of Tex, he probably can't even spell the word 'Muslim':) I don't think Tex was ever the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Post a Comment