I think they do.
I found Dianne Lake’s recent contribution to the
Manson library, Member of the Family, to be at times captivating, especially those parts that gave
insight into the early days of the Family and the description of her parents 'dropping out' of society. But overall I came away with nagging doubts about the
accuracy of the book.
For me, there were too many errors and
omissions and that impacted everything else. In many cases these could have been cured by a five minute search
on Wikipedia. It is possible that she is shedding light on some aspects of the 'official narrative'. Maybe she is accurate and changing that narrative. But I don't think so.
SPOILER ALERT: This post is about Dianne Lake's book, Member of the Family and will disclose quotes from that book. So if you haven't read Member of the Family and don't want to know part of what happens; don't read this.
The List
Meeting Dennis Wilson
Lake does not describe an invasion of Dennis Wilson’s home while he is
absent after picking up Krenwinkel and Bailey. Manson does not bend down and kiss Wilson’s feet in the driveway. Instead, Wilson first meets Manson at Spahn Ranch where they rap and Manson plays guitar. This contradicts every source I am aware of.
_____
“When Dennis pulled up to Spahn Ranch that day to drop off
Patty and Ella, I have no doubt that Charlie instantly sized up the situation
and understood the opportunity that Dennis’s presence signified for him. Like
the rest of us, Patty and Ella had been trained for precisely this kind of
situation, and they’d delivered in sterling fashion. Dennis represented a
direct line to a level of fame and influence that had long been inaccessible to
Charlie—and the best part was that he’d been delivered right to Charlie’s
doorstep.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the
Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 3485-3489). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
Sandra Good
While a minor issue, she appears to suggest that Sandra Good joined the Family sometime in May, 1968 two to three months later then my understanding. Although she does
not give a clear timeframe, Lake seems to place the Krenwinkel-Bailey hitchhiking
incident sometime in May with the move into Wilson’s some time afterwards and that is when Good appears on the scene.
_____
“Despite the Beatles eventually severing their ties with the
Maharishi, he went on to tour with the Beach Boys who ended their tour with him
in May 1968 after news of the guru’s health problem broke. Now sans guru,
Dennis had returned to his home on Sunset Boulevard. What that meant for
Charlie and the Family was that when Dennis Wilson picked up Patty and Ella
hitchhiking shortly after he came off tour, not only was he without a steady
guru, but he’d been perfectly prepped for this unusual date with destiny.”
*****
“He [Manson] also brought along [to Dennis Wilson’s home] a
new member named Sandra Good, whom I initially dismissed as a privileged prima
donna. She came from money, had allergies to this and that, and was always
complaining, but she went on to become one of Charlie’s most devoted followers.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 3591-3594). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
The Wilson Recording Sessions
According to Lake there was a large crowd at the Brian
Wilson recording session. She places the session during the summer of 1968 consistent with most histories of the event but describes ‘producers’ and ‘musicians’ being present. She also includes Brian
Wilson and Dennis Wilson at the session. Mike Love makes an appearance at a party going on
upstairs in the house at there time.
Lake suggests the session ended because Manson pulled a
knife on the crowd, which isn't new. And then says this happened because the assembled recording crew changed the lyrics to ‘Cease to Exist’.
Others, such as Stephen Desper, tell a different tale
and I personally don’t recall any account that placed ‘muscicians’ or even
Brian Wilson at the session.
Never Learn Not to Love (Cease to Exist) was recorded by the Beach Boys on September 11, 16-18, 1968. It was released December 2, 1968. According to the official narrative this was after the Family left Wilson's home and after the Brian Wilson recording session (although I believe that session occurred a year later, in 1969)
_____
“As we headed for the door [of the studio] I noticed that
someone who I believe was Brian [Wilson] along with some of the others were
stopping Charlie and making suggestions. Someone suggested he increase the
tempo of the song.”
*****
We ran into Mike Love, who was clearly avoiding the
recording session with Charlie.
*****
I moved away from Mike toward the people who seemed very
comfortable partying at Brian’s house. It wasn’t a huge crowd, but I wondered
if Brian knew all these people or if his house was simply open to friends and
their hangers-on.
*****
The group [in the studio] was dispersing, and Brian and the
other musicians who had been in the studio with Charlie seemed shaken. I have
heard accounts that Charlie had pulled out a Buck knife when he got fed up with
the attempts to “produce” him as they would any other musician.
*****
Dennis was trailing behind but wasn’t saying anything to
Charlie.
*****
Dennis was trying to explain that they were producers and
wanted to help Charlie be successful.
“Dig it, man, they want me to dress like you dudes. I ain’t
gonna wear no threads like that. That just ain’t me!”
“Charlie, man, they are just trying to help. They didn’t
mean any insult to you.”
“What about changing the words to my song? ‘Cease to Exist’
is ‘Cease to Exist,’ man.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations various including 3853-3858). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
[Aside: Given the May, 1969 Rave magazine article ("Sometimes the Wizard frightens me...."), I did find this quote
interesting:
““This is Charlie,” Dennis graciously announced to his friends.
“He is the wizard, man. He is a gas.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 3613-3614). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.]
_____
Terry Melcher Broke His Promise
Lake says Terry Melcher arranged studio time for Manson. My pervious research revealed no evidence of this, although Jakobson did arrange a lot of studio time.
She also says Melcher directly rejected Manson in a phone call. Melcher’s
testimony as well as Jakobson’s disputes this and Kanarek went out of his way
at the trial to tell Melcher Manson had no hard feelings.
_____
“Terry arranged for us to record at a real studio.”
*****
“Charlie reached out
to Terry to find out what was going on, but the answer was not what he wanted
to hear: Terry simply wasn’t interested in helping him get a record deal. Charlie
was livid. He thought he had a deal with Terry and the rest was just details.
Now it turned out that his last chance at music stardom was lost. “Those
motherfuckers don’t keep their promises!” Charlie shouted.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 4727-4728). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
Manson the Drug Dealer to the Stars
While the drug burn crowd will likely embrace this next quote,
there is little evidence I know of to support the notion that Manson was broadly dealing drugs to
‘musicians’.
_____
I know that Charlie had his fingers in a lot of things and
was doing his best to cultivate contacts in the music industry who could help
him become the success he believed he should be. He was reputed to be a drug
dealer to musicians, but I never saw any of this directly. He was looking for
ways to connect, and good drugs were always a draw.
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 3985-3987). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
______
Admittedly, Lake qualifies her statement by admitting she never saw it but by doing so one
has to ask why add the comment at all?
The Wilson Bullet
The Dennis Wilson ‘bullet’ incident, according to Lake, occurred in September, 1968, nearly a year before the witnesses claim it
happened and before Never Learn Not to Love was released.
_____
“I am not sure how this happened or why, but in September of
1968 the Beach Boys with Dennis on vocals recorded a version of Charlie’s
“Cease to Exist,” renaming it “Never Learn Not to Love,” changing some of the
lyrics in the song, and making the bridge and the sound to be more pop. The
song, credited to Dennis Wilson as the only writer, later found its way onto a
Beach Boys album. I am sure Charlie was outraged. There are stories that have
Charlie visiting Dennis after finding out about the song and leaving a bullet
at his home to send a not so subtle message.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 3995-3999). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
Linda Kasabian's Car?
Linda Kasabian, per Lake, not only brought a valid driver’s
license and $5,000 in cash to the Family, she brought a car, the car used on
the two nights of murder.
_____
“One came in the form of a pretty blond girl named Linda
Kasabian, who’d been brought to Spahn Ranch by Leslie. A hippie with a little
girl and an ex-husband, Linda joined us, and to prove her commitment, she
scored about five thousand dollars from her ex and his friend. She also came
with a car and a valid driver’s license, which would prove useful for Charlie
but devastating for her future.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 4847-4851). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
Straight Satans #1
And per Lake……
_____
“The ranch was becoming more of a compound, with field
phones throughout so the Straight Satans, acting as guardians, could alert
everyone of intruders.
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Location 4866). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
Huh?
Bernard Crowe's Visit to Spahn
Aside from the fact that Bernard Crowe is, according to
Lake, a drug dealer (he may have been one, although I don’t believe it), she
places Crowe at Spahn Ranch after the burn and before he is shot, something we know never happened and something
that could not have happened given the timeline of the Crowe drug burn.
_____
“I know the details of the shooting of a drug dealer whose
alias was Lotsapoppa only from later
accounts, but I do know I witnessed a very
angry-looking African American man confronting Charlie one day. This was not
something that happened often, and I later heard that Charlie assumed he was a
member of the Black Panthers. That may have been what he told us to keep us
believing in the impending race war, but what was most certainly a sighting of
Bernard “Lotsapoppa” Crowe added to our evidence that Charlie was telling us
the truth.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 4767-4768). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
Crowe also makes his reappearance in Manson’s life in the
courtroom, although, most accounts I have read say this happened when Manson
passed Crowe in the hallway of the jail. But then again, neither she nor I were there.
_____
“In fact, unbeknownst to Charlie, Crowe survived the gunshot
and emerged a year later, as a witness at Manson’s trial. When a man Charlie
thought was dead walked into the courtroom, Charlie was shocked, to say the
least, but he whispered to Crowe that there were no hard feelings.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 4777-4780). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
Beausoleil Was Arrested When?
According to Lake, Manson learned of Beausoleil’s arrest on
August 5, 1969. There are two problems with this. The obvious one is that
Beausoleil’s arrest was August 6th. The second problem is Manson
wasn’t at Spahn Ranch on August 5th. This is the Esalen trip. He didn’t learn of Beausoleil's arrest until
he returned on the early afternoon of August 8th. To me this one is hard
not to classify under the heading 'fiction' because Lake cites the actual date, something she
typically avoids.
_____
“ON AUGUST 5, CHARLIE FOUND OUT BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL WAS PICKED
up for something that had to do with a stolen car and put in jail.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles Manson,
Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle Locations
4872-4874). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
Kasabian, Again
Lake seems to have memories regarding what she was
told about the murders that originate from Watson's trial (where she testified). She has Kasabian drive the killers to Cielo Drive in Kasabian's car.
_____
“He [Tex] told me that Linda Kasabian drove Patty, Sadie,
and him to a house they knew would be occupied by pigs.
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 5010-5011). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
Perhaps Watson was already formulating his trial defense when he told her this or
maybe Kasabian did drive to Cielo even if no one else seems to think so. But Kasabian wasn't driving Kasabian's car.
Jab and Thrust, Pull Up
Dianne Lake claims that the autopsy reports confirm the ‘killing
style’ taught to her and the others by Manson when using a knife. She describes
this ‘style’ as “Jab and thrust, pull up.”
_____
"One horrifying detail that I discovered recently when
looking at the autopsy reports chilled me to the bone. It was something that to
me left Charlie’s fingerprints on the crime almost as if he’d been at the
scene. The autopsy reports show patterns of how the victims were stabbed. These
seemed to match the instructions Charlie had given to us. Jab and thrust, pull
up. That day that he’d handed me that large knife I’d wanted nothing to do
with, we weren’t being taught to defend ourselves, we were being trained to
kill. And Tex, Sadie, and the rest of them were clearly following orders with a
clear knowledge of what they were doing and how."
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 5032-5034). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
There are several issues I have here. I spent a good deal of
time for a previous post studying those reports and wounds and even tried to determine if I
could draw any connection to the alleged knife training. The wounds were largely
inflicted not as a ‘jab’ or a ‘thrust’ but as an overhand motion with the blade
of the knife held in a downward direction from a gripping fist. None of the
wounds show signs of the ‘pull up’ motion suggested by Lake. The wound dimensions are uniform. The wounds are consistent with the use of three knives with three different lengths and widths based upon the wound evidence. Perhaps more importantly, you have to go well beyond the autopsy report to even reach these conclusions. To really understand the reports you have to read the testimony, in part, because there are errors in the reports.
At that time I also was unable to ascertain any identifiable pattern to
the knife wounds or tactics such as a strike location except for the obvious fact that one target area was the area of the chest and heart on every victim. For whatever it’s worth, neither
did Thomas Naguchi.
According to Lake, Krenwinkel admitted to her that she had
carved “WAR” on Leno LaBianca’s stomach (which she didn't do) and inserted the fork in his torso
(which she did) but she omits the knife found in his neck.
_____
"He had no defensive wounds, a fatal wound to the carotid
artery, and the word war carved into his stomach. A fork had been stabbed into
his flesh as if he were a suckling pig. Patty later claimed responsibility for
those special touches as well as leaving the misspelled words healter skelter
on the refrigerator door in Leno’s blood."
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 5094-5096). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
Straight Satans #2: Bikers Killed Shorty
Apparently, if Lake is correct, the Straight Satans skated on the Donald Shea
murder rap along with Watson.
_____
“What I didn’t know was Charlie, Tex, Bruce Davis, Clem, and
some bikers had already brutally stabbed ranch hand Donald “Shorty” Shea to
death because Charlie believed he was a snitch.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 5201-5202). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
Memory and Lake....but....
Obviously, some of these issues can be written off to the
passage of time (fifty years ago is a long time). Lake was also in an LSD induced psychosis at the time and much of the time she was
high on marijuana or LSD. She testified to using LSD 40-50 times in two years. She also testified to being 'spaced out' from October 1968 until February 1970. (Dianne Lake testimony, People Vs. Watson, Cielodrive.com.)
I would be the last one to suggest a witness’s 50
year old memory is reliable. In fact, I'd be a hypocrite if I did. And a jury, like the Tate/LaBianca jury, is always
instructed to be careful when confronted by witness inconsistencies.
“Do not automatically
reject testimony just because of inconsistencies or conflicts. Consider whether
the differences are important or not. People sometimes honestly forget things
or make mistakes about what they remember. Also, two people may witness the
same event yet see or hear it differently.” (Tate-LaBianca jury instruction)
But Ms. Lake is writing a book she hopes millions will buy and read. She is telling her experience of these events; but they are events she is claiming happened as she describes them. It seems that if an author undertakes that task they should at least get the facts right, especially when those facts don't really impact the point of her story, like here. I believe she would have been better served if she
would have acknowledged with greater clarity where her recollection differed
from ‘the official narrative’ or simply fixed the errors.
Ironically, this was something she did quite well when
discussing whether Atkins actually stabbed Sharon Tate. While I believe the
physical evidence confirms that Atkins did not (but did inflict mortal wounds
on Frykowski) she handled her disagreement with other witnesses well.
_____
“In the years since this night when I was a reluctant
audience for her words, Tex has also claimed responsibility for the murder of
Sharon Tate and Sadie, at different points, has both recanted her confession
and reiterated that it was indeed she who had killed Sharon Tate. Who really
did what has remained a controversy. No matter what they’ve both said, there is
no doubt in my mind that Susan Atkins was telling me the truth that night in
the desert. She was not embellishing. She was not lying and there is nothing
that would allow me to think of anyone other than Susan committing this
unspeakable crime.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 5105-5106). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
She did not handle the other occasions nearly as well and in one case, that concerns me.
Lake's Testimony
For me, one of the most significant issues is how Lake’s
descriptions of what she heard and observed after the murders differs rather
significantly from what she actually said when called upon to testify. I’m not
talking about her Grand Jury versus Trial testimony.
Lake, when she reaches her Tate/LaBianca court appearance in the
book, leaves it up to the reader to imagine what she said on the witness stand based upon what he has read. She does not discuss her actual testimony in any detail.
But here is what she claims she witnessed and what the
reader is left to assume formed the basis of her testimony.
"She [Van Houten] came in and dumped a bunch of things on her
bed. She liked to sleep in the living room near the fireplace. She asked me to
help her get some firewood which we used to build a fire. She took a rope off
her bed that was with the pile of stuff and put it in the flames. She also
added a brown purse and some credit cards which started to smell awful. We both
turned and saw some headlights headed our way. Leslie begged me to help her out
and pulled the rope out of the flames, ran into the bathroom and tried to put
it out.
*****
“Snake, don’t let that man see me,” she said. “He just gave
me a ride from Griffith Park.” Then she jumped into her bed pulling the sheet
over her entire body and face. I knew not to ask any questions.
*****
“Don’t worry, Snake,” she said and handed me some wood to
build up the fire again. She finished burning the little brown purse even though
it was difficult. It didn’t catch very easily. The credit cards burned and then
she took off the clothing she was wearing and burned that too. I watched the
flames consume everything while she took a shower. I figured if she wanted to
tell me anything she would. When she got out of the shower she showed me a
plastic bag of coins and dumped them on the table. We both counted about eight
dollars without counting the Canadian nickels.
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 4923-4927). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
*****
“You know that night we went to the house near Griffith
Park.” Leslie looked to Patty and Sadie for affirmation. As if the pump had
been primed, Leslie’s description of the night bubbled up in a gush. I didn’t
want to know any more than what I had read in the newspaper or than Tex had
revealed, but it was too late. I remained silent as Leslie recounted the second
night of murderous terror orchestrated by Charlie. Later accounts say that
Charlie considered the first night too messy, so he would go along to show them
how it should be done. Somewhere in the middle of this micromanaging of
madness, Charlie left the rest of the job to Tex, Patty, and Leslie. “Tex told
me what to do,” Leslie explained. Leslie paused, but surprised me with her
reaction. I thought she would say something about how awful it was. But instead
she described how strange it was to stab someone but that after a while it was
fun. Rosemary, whom Leslie referred to only as the woman, was still warm, and
she may have already been dead when Leslie stabbed her. She couldn’t really be
sure. Then she was told to wipe the fingerprints off of everything—and she did,
removing them from the refrigerator, the lamps, and the doors, even things that
they hadn’t touched. [Van Houten Confession]
*****
“Un-huh.” I nodded my head but couldn’t say anything more. I
didn’t have to, as Sadie took this as her opportunity to describe her important
role in the first night’s slaughter at Cielo Drive. Sadie explained her role in
the killings, but also how she had contemplated saving Sharon Tate’s unborn
baby. “The woman was pregnant and was begging for her life. I thought about
saving the baby while I was stabbing her but decided against it,” Sadie
described as my blood ran cold. [Atkins' Confession]
*****
“Charlie told us to do something witchy and we did,” Patty
said proudly. As if it was possible, she made things worse by describing the
scene at the Tate house the first night. I listened to her talk about the blood
and how she had dragged a woman, later determined to be Abigail Folger, from
the bedroom to the living room. After she had stabbed her, the woman got up to
run and Patty said she chased her out of the house and tackled her. She then
stabbed her until she saw the life leave her eyes. [Krenwinkel's Confession]
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 5108-5112). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
If Lake had actually heard and witnessed all of this, it is
logical to assume that Bugliosi would have brought it all out during her
testimony. This is more than just significant evidence. It is dynamite. Lake actually heard Atkins, Krenwinkel and Van Houten in one place and at one time confess to murder. While the confession of Van Houten appears in Helter Skelter, I was unable to locate any reference to the Atkins and Krenwinkel confessions.
In court, Lake did testify that Krenwinkel dragged Folger
into the living room (versus the confession). She also testified that Van Houten admitted stabbing a
dead body and enjoyed it the more she did. And, yes, she testified about Van
Houten hiding from the young man who gave her a ride home from the LaBianca’s
and burning various items including Van Houten’s clothing. At the Watson trial she also testified concerning Watson's confession (not included above).
But Lake claims more than this. She claims to have been
privy to a discussion where Krenwinkel and Atkins each admitted what they did during the murders. This discussion forms the basis of her opinion regarding Atkins' stabbing Sharon Tate, above.
Krenwinkel and Atkins, describing the murders, would have been, for
Bugliosi, a ‘Golden Ticket’. But I do not believe Lake ever testified about their confessions.
[My Confession: I do not have access to Lake's Tate/LaBianca testimony to do my own fact checking so someone might blow me out of the water on this. There is, however, no mention of the Atkins and Krenwinkel confessions in Helter Skelter. Bugliosi mentions Van Houten's confession about stabbing a dead body and enjoying it and Krenwinkel dragging Abigail into the living room when describing Lake's testimony in his closing argument. The Atkins and Krenwinkel confessions are not mentioned there. I once read Lake's testimony on another site. My notes from that also do not mention the confessions. If I am wrong, please correct me.]
If I am right, there is no logical explanation for this omission.
One might argue that she didn’t
remember in 1970 what had happened a year earlier and thus failed to tell
Bugliosi, who interviewed her several times, Kay who also interviewed her twice or the five different detectives and police officers who also interviewed her after she became cooperative.
One problem with the memory explanation is that two
critical pieces of her actual testimony (Van Houten’s confession and Krenwinkel
taking Abigail Folger into the living room) originate from the same discussion. A second problem is this book was written from memory 50 years after the events. That, of course, may very well explain the error.
Lake wasn’t a co-conspirator (no matter what she suggests). No independent corroboration of her testimony was
necessary and these confessions corroborate Kasabian, Bugliosi’s biggest
challenge during the trial, and other witnesses such as Virginia Graham. This would have been brought
out in court if it happened. If it wasn't, it didn't happen.
As I have said before, we sit as a jury. We admittedly have the benefit
of 20-20 hindsight and access to more information than was available to the prosecution in 1969
but so did she when she wrote this and most of this could have been fixed with a simple reading of Helter Skelter by her ghost writer or editor.
Final Points
Missing Victims
I, personally, find one omission in her book to be inexcusable: ignoring
a victim.
[Aside: W
hile Lake paints herself as a victim of Manson (and she was) she says surprisingly little about the murder victims.]
 |
| This is Steven Parent |
_____
“I scanned the page as it depicted the horrible details of
how the actress Sharon Tate, the eight months’ pregnant wife of filmmaker Roman
Polanski, her husband’s friend Wojciech Frykowski, his girlfriend, coffee
heiress Abigail Folger, her friend the celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring, and
another unrelated young man had been slaughtered at her home.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 5002-5005). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
What happened to Steven Parent? I searched my Kindle
addition and was unable to find his name anywhere in her book. Why? Isn't this case really about the victims? So why didn't she mention him?
I think the
answer lies in the same reason Steven Parent was ‘the caretaker’s friend’ and a ‘teen from
El Monte’ in the press of the day. I think the answer also lies in why the
official ‘label’ applied to the Cielo Drive murders became the ‘Tate Murders’.
Remember, Sharon Tate’s ‘name’ was ‘Polanski’ and also remember the standard protocol
in the LAPD was to describe a murder by the name of the first victim case file number: “Steven
Parent”.
In my opinion the crime became the Tate/LaBianca murders and filled the courtroom with press for the
same reason Lake omits even Steven's name: celebrity sells. Who cares about a kid from El Monte when we have a celebrity hair stylist, an actress, an heiress and her lover.
Her Sister
Another point for me was the abrupt end of the story
following her trial testimony. I wasn’t looking for, or for that matter wasn't interested in, her life after the Family (although I am sure some are). But
what I found interesting was the absence of any reflection back on her friend,
lover and sister from the beginning of her membership in the Family: Patty.
Van Houten she clearly identifies as not being close to her.
And Atkins she finally identifies in terms that strongly suggest she viewed her as a sociopath.
This may explain their absence.
But Krenwinkel is another story. Krenwinkel was
her big sister, a mother figure at times and likely a victim of the same abuse
that was inflicted on Lake (although while other abuse is mentioned in Member of the Family I don't recall any names or descriptions). While she identifies her feelings at the time she
became aware of Krenwinkel's involvement in the murders there is no later mention of those looking back from today. I had anticipated that she might reflect back on their fate and how she escaped it or how she felt about what had happened to those she once viewed as her only real family and maybe her feelings about that loss.
_____
“As I struggled to keep my emotions in check, I found I was
less surprised by how Sadie and Leslie gleefully described their roles in these
murders. In the time I’d known them, I’d never fully believed in their ability
to feel for others. Patty, however, was a different story. Learning both of her
involvement and what she had become left me heartbroken.
Patty had joined Charlie because he made her feel loved in a
way she had never felt before. Throughout my time with the family, she became
the most loyal to him, as if her identity was only a reflection of how he saw
her. She didn’t exist outside of his aura, and now to me she was forever lost.
She’d become something I couldn’t recognize. Her transformation spoke volumes
about the power of Charlie’s manipulation. As confused as I was with my own
loyalty to Charlie, I could not understand how Patty could become a murderer
for him.”
Lake, Dianne. Member of the Family: My Story of Charles
Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties (Kindle
Locations 5124-5127). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
_____
It felt to me that she abandoned Krenwinkel and the
rest emotionally the moment she was free of Manson’s influence as best summed up by this quote. I’m not sure I
could have done that.
Do facts matter? I think they do.
We live in a world where regardless of your political leanings we are confronted with lies. It could be 'fake news' and 'alternate facts'. Instead of the errors of the 60's and Watergate teaching us to change our ways, it has taught all of us- right and left- to not get caught.
Altering the facts, or ignoring them allows us to pursue our agenda, secure in the belief we are 'right' as we define 'right'. This, in my opinion, has almost become a part of our culture. It doesn't seem to matter if 'that didn't happen'. In fact, even when it is proven it didn't happen 'lying in the face of photographs' or punishing the revealer, is more important than admitting the truth.
[Aside: When I was in high school the official 'history book' had a caption under a picture in the 'politically correct' textbook that focused on racial issues and slavery in connection with the Civil War. That picture was of 'Pickett's Charge'. I have always been a 'history nerd'. The caption read: 'Pickett's charge was the largest cavalry charge in United States history'. I objected to my teacher. I received 'in school suspension'. Look Pickett's Charge up or watch the movie.]
There were enough errors
and omissions in
Member of the Family that I came away questioning whether I
could really rely on anything Dianne Lake said. I was also asking who was alive to refute or confirm her claims. I found myself asking who could independently verify or
corroborate her facts. I even started 'googling' the Hog Farm, the Oracle and other aspects of her story. That left me viewing the horrific abuse she suffered at the hands
of Manson, the sex, drugs and the rest of her tale with some degree of skepticism.
Please understand, I would never suggest the abuse she suffered did not occur or seek to minimize it. It happened. Some of her specific examples came to light in her testimony in the Watson trial where she testified Manson hit her four to five times, once after she hit Mary Brunner's baby, and several of the specific incidents she describes appear in
Helter Skelter.
Manson abused women. There should be no doubt of Manson's abuse. Anyone who doesn't believe it should read his court statement as it relates to Dianne Lake.
_____
"Manson: So she [Dianne Lake] would do things like drop coffee and spill things and
do childish little things so her Daddy would come and spank her on the hand.
So she brought that problem to the ranch. She asked to be
spanked several times
She come close to burning the ranch up and I would tell her,
"would you quit doing that.," I says, "If you don’t stop doing
that I'm going to spank you. I’m going to
whip you."
And she would keep doing it, so as any father would do I
conditioned her mind with, pain to keep her from burning the ranch down or to
keep her from doing something that she may have done that would affect
everyone."
_____
Lake testified at the Watson trial to witnessing four others being abused by Manson (Gypsy, Madeline Cottage, Mary Brunner and Barbara Rosenberg). There is also no doubt that
Member of the Family tells her personal story of her descent into that Hell, her recovery and her survival. And that is truly an amazing story.
There is no doubt about Manson's abuse or her suffering, but that is not where my skepticism lies.
Where I am skeptical is ‘why’ the choice was made to feature the sex, drugs and abuse so prominently in
Member of the
Family while fact checking went completely by the wayside? I was left answering that question with this (1.) domestic violence fills our headlines, daily; it is a 'hot topic' and (2.) hot topics, sex, drugs and violence sell books and movies.
It is the decision to make that choice that bothers me.
Dianne Lake said Linda Kasabian drove the murderers to Cielo Drive in Linda Kasabian's car. She could have said 'my recollection was that Linda Kasabian came to the Family with the car they used that night. I have learned that is wrong'. That would have given me insight's into Dianne Lake as a person and her recollection of events. It would have been 'cool'.
Instead, she said 'Susan Atkins told me she stabbed Sharon Tate and based upon what I saw in her eyes I believe she did'.
Pax Vobiscum,
Dreath
