In March of 1968, two of the ladies were walking/hitch hiking down Sunset Blvd in L.A, when they got picked up by Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, who ended up making fast friends with Manson. Quickly benefitting from the new found friendship, ‘The Family’ moves into Wilson’s Hollywood home, and spends all of their time partying, doing drugs and writing music. It was said that Wilson really wanted Manson to become a Beach Boy but the other members of the group didn’t like or trust Manson thinking he was bad news and eventually pressured Wilson to get rid of him, resulting in The Family moving out and them cutting ties.
The Beach Boys song “Bluebirds over the Mountain” was originally a song written by Manson on which he wasn’t credited on, the song was altered and released by producer Terry Melcher, who they had met while staying with Wilson, and whom Manson didn’t like very much. This act planted a seed of a grudge that will later lead to the infamous Helter Skelter murders.
August 1968, the family moves to an old western movie set found by longtime family member, Susan Atkins. Owned by 80 year old half blind George Spahn, and secluded enough, the old set made the perfect home for a large group of people. Shortly after settling into their new home, the family was joined by Leslie Van Houten. Now during this time in 1966, there were riots being reported in protest of the Vietnam War, and Manson, following these reports, was getting more and more paranoid that a race war was underway and starts preaching to his family the importance of learning to protect themselves from the violence of the black man.
In July of 1969, Tex, one of the family members/drug dealers, owed a lot of money to a fellow dealer by the name of Bernard Crowe, a black man living in Los Angeles. Tex had taken about 1,500 dollars worth of dope, leaving his girlfriend as collateral, and never returning for her, leaving Crowe expectedly angry and looking for his money. When Crowe called looking for Tex (ironically his real name was ALSO Charles) it was Manson he spoke to on the other end to whom he claimed that if he didn’t get his money, he was going to burn down the ranch and rape all of his women. An already paranoid Manson agrees to meet with Crowe, only to shoot him multiple times upon arrival and dash. After the incident, Manson grew more and more paranoid, believing that Crowe belonged to the “Black Panthers” and that they were going to come after him and his family.
At some point in his paranoia, he decides he needs to get the family members to commit crimes making them complicit in the crimes he had committed. Due to his fear that the Black Panthers were going to come after him and his family, Manson enlist a motorcycle club called the Straight Satans for protection over the ranch. One day the gangs looking for drugs so Bobby, a family member, hooked up with a guy named Gary Hinman, who could supply said drugs. The bikers give Bobby their money and he gets the drugs from Gary and hands them back over to the bikers, not knowing the drugs were bunk. The bikers, after receiving the bunk drugs expectedly were a bit pissed and demanded their money back. So not wanting to cause further problems with the bikers, Manson sends Bobby and two of the ladies, Mary Brenner and Susan Atkins, to get the money back from Gary but Gary refuses to give the money back, saying the drugs were good and he had already spent it. so Bobby, Mary and Susan end up holding him hostage in house for two days before Gary agrees to sign over his cars. At some point during this time period, an altercation of sorts happened and one of the ladies had called Manson who comes in hot shortly after the agreement for the cars, threatening Gary and slashing him across the face with a confederate sword. Bobby realizing Gary may now rat them out, kills Gary and in an attempt to make the murder look like it was related to the Black Panthers, he draws on the walls in Gary’s blood a Black Panther paw print and the words “political piggy”.
