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NOTES
Prologue: Charlie at the Whisky
Descriptions of events are based on interviews with Gregg Jakobson, Lorraine Chamberlain, Phil Kaufman, Mary F. Corey, and Charles Perry. I found Domenic Priore’s Riot on Sunset Strip to be an exceptional history of this famous street in the mid- to late 1960s.
three cars eased down Sunset Boulevard: Gregg Jakobson interview.
the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco still clung: Charles Perry interview.
As civil disorder swept the rest of America: Barney Hoskyns, Waiting for the Sun: A Rock ’n’ Roll History of Los Angeles (Backbeat Books, 2009), pp. 132–43; Domenic Priore, Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock ’n’ Roll’s Last Stand in Hollywood (Outline Press, 2007), p. 25; Mary F. Corey interview.
were expected to mingle with the public: Lorraine Chamberlain interview.
Together they were part: Gregg Jakobson interview.
their philosophy was: Ibid.
the most famous club in town: Priore, pp. 41–42.
rock gods Mick Jagger and Keith Richards: Phil Kaufman interview.
Anyone in Los Angeles who had pretensions: Ibid.; David Crosby and Carl Gottlieb, Long Time Gone: The Autobiography of David Crosby (Doubleday, 1988), p. 90.
Melcher handed over the keys: Gregg Jakobson interview.
Manson assumed that he was always welcome: Ibid.
Wilson’s house guests ran up an $800 tab: Ibid.
In recent weeks Wilson had also begun: Steven Gaines, Heroes & Villains: The True Story of the Beach Boys (Da Capo, 1995), p. 212.
The club wasn’t particularly big: Priore, pp. 41–42.
they were startled by a commotion: Gregg Jakobson interview.
Chapter One: Nancy and Kathleen
It is always worrisome when writers of nonfiction claim to know what long-deceased people were thinking. But in the cases of Nancy and Kathleen, for the portions of their lives described in this chapter, we know their thoughts as they revealed them to Manson’s cousin Jo Ann and his sister, Nancy, both of whom I interviewed. Jo Ann’s grandmother shared many confidences with her, including her frustrations with her youngest daughter and her reactions when Kathleen married William Manson and when Kathleen and Luther were sentenced to prison for the “Ketchup Bottle Holdup.” Jo Ann also provided insights into her mother and stepfather’s courtship and subsequent marriage (they frequently took her along on their dates). Kathleen told Nancy how she rebelled against her mother’s Bible-inspired rules, and how she met and became intimate with Colonel Scott.
Others interviewed for this chapter include Lyle Adcock, Vincent Bugliosi, Jim Powers, George Wolfford, John P. Maranto, Virginia Brautigan, Robert Smith, Lon Dagley, and Jim Kettel. I offer special thanks to Virginia Brautigan for lending me Nancy Maddox’s personal copy of The Self-Interpreting Bible, Volume III, which contains the underlined passages described here.
Charlie Manson’s sister, Nancy, provided family snapshots of Nancy Maddox holding her infant grandson Charlie.
Court documents and copies of confession statements made by Luther Maddox, Nancy Maddox, and Julia Vickers made possible the detailed description of the August 1939 robbery that resulted in Manson’s mother and uncle being sent to prison.
People didn’t consider Nancy a fanatic: Virginia Brautigan interview.
Charlie Milles Maddox, also from Kentucky: State of Kentucky Bureau of Vital Statistics; Ashland Daily Independent, October 27, 1931.
they became comfortably middle-class: Lyle Adcock interview.
Ashland was a business port: James Powers and Terry Baldridge, Ashland (Arcadia Publishing, 2008), pp. 7–8.
Charlie and Nancy were able to buy a house: Boyd County Recorder’s Office.
Nancy bowed her head and gave thanks daily: Jo Ann interview.
she moaned that she felt: Ibid.
Charlie left his widow a railroad pension: John P. Maranto interview.
Nancy often kept her granddaughter: Jo Ann interview.
In case the rest of the family didn’t fully grasp: Virginia Brautigan interview.
Bill Thomas proved to be: Jo Ann interview.
Nancy was raised as a Protestant: Lyle Adcock interview.
the Nazarene Church, which had conservative rules: Robert Smith and Lon Dagley interviews.
“the Big Five”: Robert Smith interview.
There was an empty space between the stove: Nancy interview.
She considered Nancy to be a hard person: Ibid.
The problem was that in Ashland: George Wolfford interview.
Upstanding citizens in Ashland: Ibid.
Scott’s two sons soon gained local reputations: Ibid.
He let her think that he really was: Nancy interview.
When she told Colonel Scott: Ibid.
Somehow, she’d show him: Jo Ann interview.
She wanted a man like Charlie Maddox: Nancy interview.
Very little is known about William Manson: Lyle Adcock interview.
Nancy wasn’t informed in advance about the wedding: Jo Ann interview.
Nancy and Glenna were concerned: Ibid.
Nancy, frantic and expecting the worst: Virginia Brautigan interview.
Kathleen went to court in Kentucky: Vincent Bugliosi and Lyle Adcock interviews; Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry, Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders (W. W. Norton, 1994, 25th Anniversary Edition), p. 137. A Kentucky law passed in 1980 to provide confidentiality of juvenile records has sealed this file. But in 1970 Bugliosi obtained a copy of the file for use in the trial of Charles Manson.
On the afternoon of August 1, 1939: The description of the “Ketchup Bottle Holdup” comes from the State of West Virginia Department of Public Safety Report of Investigation A1633, which includes the report of the investigating officer and the post-arrest statements of Luther Maddox, Kathleen Maddox, and Julia Vickers.
their haul totaled $27: Subsequent newspaper articles put the amount at $30 and $35, but the initial police reports stated that $27 was taken from Martin’s wallet; the wallet itself was valued at $1 by investigators.
There was no real challenge: If Kathleen and Luther had really pulled a series of previous stickups in Chicago as their mother Nancy believed, they would surely have been better at it than they proved to be in Charleston. If not, they would have been nabbed by police on some if not all of these supposed earlier attempts. But there are no police records of Kathleen and Luther being arrested in Chicago. This is why I believe the bungled Charleston robbery was their first try at strongarm robbery.
Nancy Maddox pulled her granddaughter, Jo Ann, aside and whispered: Jo Ann interview.
Chapter Two: Moundsville and McMechen
Interviews for this chapter include Jo Ann, Nancy, Lyle Adcock, Virginia Brautigan, Richard Hawkey, Greg Park, Tom Stiles, Don Clutter, Becky Clutter, Jason Clark-Miller, and Fred Brautigan.
Soon after Kathleen was taken away: In 1986 Grove Press published Manson in His Own Words: The Shocking Confessions of “The Most Dangerous Man Alive” by Nuel Emmons. Emmons and Manson knew each other by crossing paths twice as prison inmates long before the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969. After Manson was convicted, Emmons contacted his old jail acquaintance and visited him on multiple occasions. The result was a curious bo
ok that Emmons said was written to bring Manson’s own version of his life directly to the public without distortion by intermediaries. Nobody who knew Manson well thought the first-person voice sounded at all like him. Emmons claimed that he never took Charlie at his word, and that he traveled the country interviewing people who had known the now notorious Manson and fact-checked everything—“a long process,” he noted in the book’s Introduction.
Manson subsequently disavowed the book, saying it was something Emmons wanted to do and so he let him. Emmons died in November 2002, insisting to the end that everything he wrote was accurate. It wasn’t. Even the most cursory research proves that many “facts” presented in Manson in His Own Words are demonstrably false. Perhaps Manson lied to Emmons and Emmons failed at fact-checking, or Emmons took Manson at his word and did not check facts. I think Emmons did his best to interpret Manson’s semi-incoherent ramblings and produced a mishmash of mostly incorrect blather. I lean toward the third option.
For example, when Emmons relates Manson’s first-person memories of Charlie’s early childhood, he writes that Charlie went to McMechen to live with his Uncle Bill and Aunt Joanne. Jo Ann was Manson’s cousin. The first chapter also includes a touching passage where Charlie Maddox, Manson’s grandfather, takes the six-year-old aside and explains to him that his mother “wouldn’t be coming home for a long time” because she had been sentenced to a term in prison. In September 1939, when Kathleen and Luther were convicted of robbery, Charlie Maddox had been dead for almost eight years. Manson never met his grandfather.
When it appears that Emmons is reporting Manson’s own words about a specific event in his life, I cite the passage to reflect Manson’s self-serving spin on something. A few times, it appears that Charlie told the truth and Emmons wrote it that way.
McMechen, with a population of around 4,000: Interviews with Virginia and Fred Brautigan, Tom Stiles, Don and Becky Clutter, Richard Hawkey, and Greg Park.
Little Charlie Manson was a disagreeable child: Jo Ann and Nancy interviews.
They tried to demonstrate some affection: Jo Ann interview.
the prison was designed to resemble: My description of the prison—its physical appearance, its inhumane conditions for inmates, its reputation in the local community—is based on material from Jonathan D. Clemins’s West Virginia Penitentiary (Arcadia Publishing, 2010) and two guided tours of the prison, as well as an interview with a manager of the facility in its current incarnation as a public museum. The local legends of the decapitated hanging victim and other mysterious deaths among inmates gained traction until West Virginia Penitentiary gained a national reputation for being haunted that endured even after the prison was shut down in 1995 for overcrowded conditions that an investigative panel ruled to be “cruel and unusual punishment.” When modern-day television networks began broadcasting series about the paranormal, West Virginia Penitentiary and its reputed ghosts were featured on The Scariest Places on Earth (ABC), Ghost Adventures (Travel Channel), and FEAR (MTV).
Whatever love she tried to communicate: Tom Stiles and Jason Clark-Miller interviews.
longtime McMechen residents still shudder: Jo Ann, Virginia Brautigan, Richard Hawkey, Don and Becky Clutter, and Jason Clark-Miller interviews.
he consistently attracted the notice of bullies: Jo Ann interview.
Another incident cemented: Ibid.
In the two and a half years that he lived with the Thomases: Virginia Brautigan, Lyle Adcock, Nancy, and Jo Ann interviews.
Charlie had only bad memories: Clara Livsey, The Manson Women: A “Family” Portrait (Richard Marek, 1980), pp. 135–37.
Chapter Three: Kathleen and Charlie
One of the frustrations in chronicling Manson’s early years is that juvenile court and reform school records are frequently sealed. During his prosecution of Manson in the Tate-LaBianca murder case, Vincent Bugliosi obtained access to Manson’s juvenile files. He used them as evidence in court and mentioned them in his book about the case. I discussed them with him in a series of phone interviews. This is why many mentions of Manson’s juvenile trials and reformatory assignments and transfers in this chapter are credited to Helter Skelter.
Chapter interviews include Vincent Bugliosi, Jo Ann, Nancy, Tom Stiles, Jason Clark-Miller, Sara Dolan, Lyle Adcock, Michele Deitch, Volker Janssen, and Gregg Jakobson.
Lots of paroled inmates: Tom Stiles interview.
Van Watson hired Kathleen: Charleston Gazette, September 15, 1971.
One of the first things Kathleen noticed: Nancy interview.
Charlie ended up stashed: Jo Ann interview.
Though Van Watson couldn’t remember the fellow’s name: Charleston Gazette, September 15, 1971.
Kathleen fell back into another bad habit: Ibid.
At one she met Lewis: Nancy interview. Lewis is identified only by his first name to protect Nancy’s identity.
From the first days of their marriage: Nancy interview.
Kathleen’s concern about her son was so great: Ibid.
he still scared Kathleen: Ibid.
she felt sometimes like she was going insane: Ibid.
She’d heard about foster care programs: Ibid.
The Gibault School for Boys: Isaac McIntosh, Gibault Home for Boys. Federal Writers’ Project, 1936. This facility changed names several times. When Manson attended it was the Gibault School for Boys.
Charlie claimed he was regularly beaten: Livsey, pp. 136–37.
Gibault found Charlie’s: Bugliosi, p. 137.
It hurt Kathleen to send him back: Nancy interview.
It was Jo Ann’s idea: Jo Ann interview.
Instead Luther lived with his mother: Ibid.
When he died in 1950: West Virginia State Department of Health death certificate.
On Christmas Eve, everyone prepared: Jo Ann interview.
He once again fled: Bugliosi, pp. 137–38.
Unlike Gibault, boys at the facility in Plainfield: William J. Siebold. The Hill: A History of the Indiana Boys’ School, 1901–1999 (self-published), pp. 3–5, 12, 59, 60–64, 146; Albert Deutsch, Our Rejected Children (Little, Brown 1950), pp. 46–50.
“You know, getting raped”: Marlin Marynick. Charles Manson Now (Cogito Media Group, 2010), pp. 71–72.
Reports from teachers indicate: Bugliosi, p. 138.
Charlie developed a lifelong defense mechanism: Gregg Jakobson and Volker Janssen interviews.
Kathleen was still trying to salvage: Nancy interview; Los Angeles Times, January 26, 1971.
Charlie joined six other boys: Kokomo Tribune, October 20, 1949.
when he was sixteen, Charlie tried again: Kokomo Tribune, February 19, 1951, and March 10, 1951; Bugliosi, p. 138.
his IQ score of 109: Sara Dolan interview.
His scores were satisfactory: Bugliosi, p. 138.
The most promising students: Ibid.
But this proved beyond him: Bugliosi interview; Bugliosi, pp. 138–39.
Modern experts in child psychology: Volker Janssen, Michele Deitch, and Jason Clark-Miller interviews.
Chapter Four: McMechen Again
Along with research assistant Sara Tirrito, I spent several days in McMechen meeting with people who remembered Charlie Manson. After so many years, they are less reluctant to talk about him than they were immediately after he was arrested and tried for the Tate-LaBianca murders. McMechen still hasn’t changed much; visiting there today feels like time traveling back to the 1950s.
Town residents were deliberately insular: Richard Hawkey interview.
Wheeling a few miles to the north was widely recognized: George T. Sidiropolis, Bill Miller, Richard Hawkey, David Javersak, and John Catlett interviews.
Charlie’s immediate concern: Virginia Brautigan, Jo Ann, and Nancy interviews.
He was finally hired at Wheeling Downs: Lyle Adcock and George T. Sidiropolis interviews.
McMechen parents tried to provide their youngsters: Fred Brautigan, Becky Clutter, and Don Clutter interview
s.
Newcomer Charlie, with no social skills to speak of: Virginia Brautigan interview.
He was allowed to live with Nancy only: Virginia Brautigan interview. Nancy Maddox was close friends with Virginia’s parents.
many did not consider the small cinder block church: Becky Clutter interview.
though, in her own way, she still believed: Nancy interview.
Since he was out of Nancy’s sight: Virginia Brautigan interview. She attended the Nazarene teen Sunday School with Charlie.
Charlie mistakenly tried to glorify it: Virginia Brautigan interview.
teens in McMechen had some familiarity with sin: John Catlett and Fred Brautigan interviews.
they were sometimes allowed to buy: Richard Hawkey interview.
They’d never heard the word “marijuana”: Richard Hawkey and David Javersak interviews.
The Nazarene kids closed ranks: Virginia Brautigan interview. During the sensational Tate-LaBianca murder trial in 1970, the national media descended on McMechen, frantically seeking lurid tales of Charlie Manson’s time there. To prevent residents from being overwhelmed by reporters banging on their doors, county official George Sidiropolis arranged for individual McMechenites to grant interviews. After only a few days, the outsiders left—dismayed, Sidiropolis says, by the lack of juicy revelations. Many longtime residents claimed that they didn’t even remember Charlie. Those who did described him as a minor-league thug who was not at all notable in town history. Sixteen years after Charlie bragged to his Nazarene Sunday School classmates about shooting up, the shunning was still in place.
Jo Ann was astonished: Jo Ann interview.
The thing about the prostitutes that most interested Charlie: Phil Kaufman interview.
Clarence Willis was nicknamed Cowboy: George T. Sidiropolis interview.
“the baby came early”: Virginia Brautigan and David Javersak interviews.
Nancy gave a reception: Virginia Brautigan interview.
