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Charles Manson — Part 4
Page 426
426 / 551
is case may he the
filstorti LSD murders,”
the attorney said, "As a.so-
ciety, as a-people,:as' a na-
tion, we teed to know, we
need. to.. study atid eéva~
‘uate.
" "Phese family members
marched to the tune of a
totally different drum-
mer. 0"
Fitzgerald argued that
the savagery of the crimes
themsélves and Patricia}.
Krenwinkel's lack of. re-
morse and lack of concern
for herself are signs of
mental itiness..
He said he was not ask-
ing. the jurors to free his
client but was aghing for
lie tine
“Keith argued that, Miss
SW ierstten is as much a
victim of the “evil he was
talking about as thé vic-
tims in the case.
But, he suggéstéd, there.
might ‘be: 4 spark left, that
with intensive help and in-|}
tensive treatthhent ‘what
ever is left of Leslie Van
Houten might be saved.
Keith pleaded for jurors
'ta let.the sick.,"Leslie.of to-
diy". die so that the "Les-
ie; that was" ean live:
:He: “attacked ‘the ‘death,
‘penalty;
; What does: it'do to ws?”
Keith asked. "It makes. kil-
lers, Cut of us all." |
-Phe last of the, fot de-
have a. chance. because: of
her chronic use of LSD.
"By the time Les arrived
at) Spahn ranch, her mind,
I suggest to you, was a
vacuum, — a vacuum for
the intrusion of the devil,"
Keith: said.
He described the slim,
dark-haired young woman
as "malleable, impression-
fable connon-fodder" and
totally unprepared ‘to cope
With what she found there.
Keith told attentive jur-
ors. that he was not, sug-|f
gesting' Miss. Van Houten
was an angel" or that.any~|
one forced. her at:gunpoint) |,
ssociated Press reported
that an unidentified bailiff ral that
three, months ago Manson had iden-
tified those. to be killedas his attor-
ney, Irving A. Kanarek, Older and
an unspecified number of unnamed
children,
Tt was rumored, also, that.in an
overheard conversation earlier this}
month Mansori had threatened to
cut off Older's head. -
Manson's "mnurder and: bloodshed"
threat came shortly before defense
attorney Maxwell Keith began. an}
emotional fina] argument on behalf
of defendant. Leslie Van. Houten, 21.
Keith did not mention Manson by.
name but he hinted. at a fearful,
frightening; evil force that had ‘pro-
duegt” the miirders.
"T think you. know, ied and.
gentlemen,” the attorney told. the|{to'take LSD at age 14 or 15 forse attorneys tooffer fi. Prisonment.
jurors, "you have insight. I. think arid then become a chronic inal argument, | Paul Fitz: i ber vou please allow
user.
. He said that, when ‘she
needed help. there was’ no
vone tigre ‘to: help/ thér., Tn.
Stead ‘she was” caught up}
with ‘other: cong users, he
said, .
atl (asp). “asstroyscyour
values. It ‘destroys vour
goals, You have no values:
Jeft. ‘This. is the terror of
the drug,” Keith argited.
Not.-onl Wasp. Leslie's
mentale | emotional : doe
velopment. stor
LISD, he said, but her men
tal state had been turned
baek by the drug to th
point that jurors now se
before them "a sick child.”
"T wonder if she has an
emotional age right now of
10 yéars old," he said.
Sentencing her to death
should be the “last thing"
the jury would want ‘to do,
them to live," ‘he conclud-
ed. "Give. them the gift: of
life, We've had enough.
killing.” |
Fitzgerald did not. refer.
to Manson as. K eit-h ‘had
done, but Bugliosi - een
tered on the cultist in te-
buttal argument, ‘
‘Charles Manson’ is * 36.
evil. that Satan“ himself
would be jealous," Buglio-
si Said.
The prosecutor argued -
that. Marison's "slaves"
were so dominated by '
"their God" —
wouldn't. be surprised if
you know."
After his argument, Keith was
asked whether. he was talkitig about.
Manson. He replied, “Hell, yes.”
Portrayal as Idyllic,
‘The soft-spoken/attorney said life
lat. Spahn ranch and at. Manson
"family" hangouts in Death Valley.
was portrayed .as. “idyllic,” an exist-
ence of complete freedom from rules,
no order and no: govérnment.
But, Keith maintained, that in or-
det for the "family" to have existed
as a cohesive unit for moré than
tivo years there had to be-a leader.
"There has: to be," Keith said.
"There must be government. There
must be organization."
Members of the family who took
the witness stand during the penalty
phase of the trial did not tell the
entire story about an environment
in which, Keith said:
Total evil and hate were dis-
guised as love.
—Arrogance rhasqueraded as. none!
violence. ;
—Total immorality was fobbed
off as total. freedom. :
“When Leslie Van Houten : came
into, the Manson subcultuss—tange
19, the attorney said his client didn't,
tacking the evedin an -eye
philosophy of the death
penalty. :
He read an. sents:
glish senterice ‘that pravid-
ed for a, convicted man to
ke hanged, take
wWiie=scdll alive,” disem-
bowled and finally, ‘cut into
tour pieces.
"To say that something
| lis legal, doesn't. make: it
right," he argued.
“Witzgerald ealled on jur-
ots. to look at the wholé
person of his 23-year-old
client. He said she had
lived almost: a. model life
for about.200,000 hours but
was being judged on what
happened in three hours:
However, he centered
his. argument. on LSD and
its <=
mm
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