Monday, February 24, 2020

The Manson/Shea Lawsuit

Did you know that there was a lawsuit filed by Shorty's first wife, Phyllis Shea, on behalf of herself and daughter Karen?

The lawsuit called for a $1.5 M payoff.

There was a small article published in various California newspapers in March of 1971 before the trial charging Manson, Davis and Grogan with Shorty's murder had been scheduled.  As it was explained to me by David, our resident attorney, a wrongful death suit needs to be filed within one year of the death.  In this case Shorty was considered missing until a grand jury in December 1970 issued an indictment against Manson, Davis and Grogan for the murder of Shorty.  So, the clock starts at the indictment.



Also, included were Steve Grogan's parents, named as John Doe Grogan and Mary Doe Grogan in the lawsuit, because Steve was a minor at the time of Shorty's disappearance/death.  Steve turned 18 years old on July 13th 1969 and was considered a minor at that time because he was under the age of 21.  Many articles about the Manson Family say that Leslie Van Houten was the youngest member of the Family to have been convicted of murder but actually Steve was the youngest.

Phyllis Shea's lawsuit claimed that Shorty had been the sole support for her and their daughter.  In fact, Phyllis and Shorty separated five months after their marriage May 15, 1959.  Their daughter was born November 10, 1959, a month after the separation.  There is no record of a divorce for Phyllis and Shorty.  There is also no evidence that Shorty ever paid Phyllis any alimony or child support although Shorty may have given Phyllis money from time to time but considering Shorty's record of earning and borrowing money even that is doubtful.


Phyllis did hook-up with a man not long after she and Shorty split up and had four children with that man before Shorty was killed.  I think it's safe to say that Phyllis did not depend on Shorty for an income.  But, no one can fault her for trying to get a little something for the daughter she had with Shorty.

The lawsuit went on for years but eventually petered out due to unknown reasons.

Here's the lawsuit-





19 comments:

Peter said...



What are the lost earnings of an out of work stuntman?

orwhut said...

I suppose Shorty would have preferred nearly anyone drain his murderers of their funds than for any of the murderers to live in luxury.

Fayez Abedaziz said...

Charlie, it's 1969 and well,
Boy, you're gonna carry that weight carry the weight for a long time...
Beatles-1969
I think, don't you, that the dirty head criminals that murdered Shea should be mentioned and denounced more than we read, hear and see?
Weirdos and owners of small brains like Clem Grogan, Bruce Davis, Tex and it was said Larry Bailey and Bill Vance were there. (whenever i see a picture of these two awful face looking guys, I wanna punch 'em, at least "on principal" as we used to say.) ha
Why, oh why, did brother Charlie think, what kinda mindset did he have to get that kinda 'out of control?'
How, brother,how and why did ya think that, even after the raid of August 16, with the law now having even more information and suspicion on ya, that you could carry on with violence? You had a great lucky break from prison life and now you're enjoying fun and Spahnin'
Later,
Charlie was simply not gonna put all the blame on the criminal creeps I mentioned above, cause..."I'm not a snitch," not gonna put all the blame on those bums.
And,
brother Charlie was not gonna admit to direct guilt for the nights of August 8-9 or of Shea's murder. That would be giving in, giving something of yourself up, so to speak.
That was a most cowardly act of ambush, of cold blooded murder by thugs.
That act, I'm convinced would have been discovered, along with who the killers were, even if Tate-LaBianca was not discovered till, say, months or a year after this one-1969.
So, the stage was being set for the final curtain. And, for what? Violence, what the hell.
They all denounced brother Charlie, later, they didn't give a damn. So, well, what?
Around five years later, after the verdicting (my word) and so on and it was prison sentence time,about five years later, I said, Susan Atkins sat back, broke down and cried. Now I am here, 'see the light.'
Sleep pretty Susan and do not cry and the Beatles will sing you a lullaby. Beatles-1969
and so did I.

Monica said...

Fayez...I've been digging all of your comments the past few months. Sounds like you have stories to tell (or at least a good memory for lyrics). Carry on.

Fayez Abedaziz said...

Hello Monica, good evening. I'll open up to you. And:
there was the time she said, "I didn't like my life and I lay on a roof and wished I wasn't living anymore."
I almost told her, I almost said, "last year I was left alone by a girl in a field in the mountains and I read the note she left me and I was crying and I said, aloud, 'I wish I was dead.' Only the mountains heard.
But, like most all else, of my life in '66-69, I didn't till years later.
I don't have to justify anything to anyone and I feel much better in 'letting it all out.' Finally, in 2007, I was told, that girl Sadie is was, in Chatsworth.
We took walks, then were by a tree and she said, "come on," and I made love to her.
There in July of '69 and the year before, '68, I lived with 'hippies' and the girl that left me was the only one that I knew that saw the future. Yeah, I know...but I saw it. You won't believe how she had me understand, with a messenger, not much later.
I got involved in the Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy campaigns in '68.
I was in and helped start anti-Vietnam war demonstrations, before I was with Susan Atkins and after, I had affairs as in the old 'playboy' thing. In early'69 and
and later that year. Two separate times with two girls at the same time-twice. (all four girls were straight) Like it or not... I've been thinking about people who know me and read about me here and there...it was what it was and now I knew, that no one had the experiences I had in the 60's and 70's-all in my 800 pages and all the names named are real and almost all of the people are still around and alive.
You see, I went back and forth between elementary, junior high, high school and college in several different countries and so, when I 'dove' in, in the culture in America in the late 60's, I could think in two languages and in two cultures.
Somehow, I didn't 'crack up' or go 'bananas' with what I saw and did.
I asked several people why some don't like what I related to them, after all these years, the answers were the same from the girls I asked, they laughed and said, "don't you get it...it's because you did and they didn't..." Only one guy thought it was all cool and said, "tell me more."
Well, thought I'd write this so people will see that I have a way with writing and I have something to say, on just about everything. And the first song that comes to mind when I think back at Sadie, is 'A Day In The Life' by the Fab Four
because, too, in the summer of '68, the 'hippies' I met in Colorado, said, "we'd love to turn you on." And that's when it began

ColScott said...

PETER --> shame on you
Fayez--->Uh huh

Deb-->cool story- it likely went no where because what could any attorney get from these people?

HellzBellz said...

Asked myself the same question.... Neither one of them, Manson,Davis,Watson,Grogan could ever pay such an amount. They were ALL in Jail at that time.

Peter said...

Well if the question is why the lawsuit just fizzled, the answer is that the damages would never amount to anything.

orwhut said...

Fayez,
Have you published a book? If you'd start from the beginning and put things on a fifth grade level, I might be able to understand what you're saying. As things are it's like I tuned late on a dream.

Fayez Abedaziz said...

Well, orwhat,
it appears as if, perhaps ironically, with your words, you are actually getting, somewhat relating, to what I'm saying.
As you asked, than I'll have a clear clarification of what I mean and meant and why.
I'll do that in one of the upcoming posts here, in the comments.
There, it will be seen what I have to say, when I say:
no one had my experiences, which is 'mind blowing.'
They were mind blowing to me when I read them after I wrote them.
I finally decided that I don't care what anyone thinks about what I have done in the past. So far, I have not, but will soon, submit my book. One source offered me what I wouldn't even respond to. I wouldn't take that amount for one (of around 130 chapters) and so, it goes. There are several hundred pages on Susan Atkins and those fun years, sometimes in the 60's. The other pars deal with the Vietnam, Cuba, 'spooks' spying on 'agitators' like me, situations, on campuses, also parts about rock/pop bands, the so called 'sexual revolution,' which it was not, by the way, and of course the real story of what 'hippies' were and more factual descriptions of American culture. By someone, moi, who lived it and the names,places and people are all right there. Dig it
Thanks for asking, I'm sure you'll get a kick outta what I shall describe.

Dan S said...

"I'm one off the few people you'll meet who has written more books than he's read." Garth Marenghi

"Hear me now, believe me later." Franz

orwhut said...

Fayez,
Thanks for the clarification.
Whut

orwhut said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
orwhut said...

Fayez,
I understand you to be saying your manuscript is complete but, you're having trouble finding a publisber. It seems to be a rather long book. I've bought a long, HEAVY book or two and have never finished them because they were uncomfortable to read in bed. Have you thought about dividing your story into several smaller books?

Fayez Abedaziz said...

Actually, I have not submitted my book anywhere.
An agent sent me a message months ago ( he read something about me on some internet site) with an offer that had a percentage that agency wanted, and I wouldn't go for it.
I started to write in 2016 and it wasn't where I sat and typed for five days, all day in a week, or something.
A couple times I had it put on flash drives and printed much of it, then I went and wrote some more. There were things I had been embarrassed about for years, but then I thought...why? And, I'm telling it all. So I kept writing and there is a part of my 'amorous' adventures, that, well, I think has the funniest and most of the content to do with cultural 'movements' and aspects. And outright descriptions of sex. Yeah, me and all those girls.
Most of what's there ( the book) is not about our friends from the 'Manson Family.'
And, I didn't get interested in that whole Manson situation out of the blue.
Didn't think about what you said, about several different books, but it's interesting to think of.
Also, to get to the 'study' and so on of the zany old Manson crowd from the Haight, then to Spahn, I will give a background of myself and how I came to meet some of them, then realize who and what all that meant. The average person, I don't care if they were going around like I was or not, from say, 1966-1972 didn't do what I did and some who read of that, resent it, ha ha, too freakin' bad-I lived it and enjoyed it, though I did have moments I cried (many times) as I wrote and remembered some of which I regretted and people that were no longer in my life. Wait, actually no one lived as I did: from 'radical' to 'hippie' land, to playboy within two years.
I'll briefly give an account soon, as I stated above, probably in the next one or two posts that go on here, in the comments, simply put in a paragraph or two, then
things will be clear and where I came from and how I met some girls in the bright, fresh air of Chatsworth. Among other people and when. Thanks

Doug said...

Fayez - Do you know Mario George Nitrini III?

I was just wondering if you did and you may know of what he's been "teasing" us with for so long with regard to the biker presence at Spahn.

An insider such as yourself must know what he's constantly teasing about without divulging his "bombshell."

Because...as you state, "when I say: no one had my experiences, which is 'mind blowing.'"

Because...well, surely all of us have lived lives devoid of any unique or, exceptional experiences...

I truly believe that only yourself and Mario George Nitrini III pisess the "TRUTH" [tm]

I look forward to your book launch/big reveal.

Doug said...

Possess the "TRUTH" [tm]


Damn sausage fingers...Zzzzzz

orwhut said...

Fayez,
If you decide to divide your book into several smaller ones. Your experiences with the Manson girls might be a good one to start with. Interest in things Manson is as high now as it's been in a long time. You might build a reader base with that book.

G. Greene-Whyte said...

I mean like dude I was starting to read every word of your mysterious and formerly as frustrating as RH's comments during a nice little MB binge on a locked in Saturday in Ohio and then you dropped the two threesomes with straight girls. I busted out laughing. Don't take it as a diss. You can even get a high five. But damn, man...

I'll still totally read your book. Publish it yourself.