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My Brush With a Killer
2008-07-03 - 11:52 p.m.
It�s hard to believe that it�s happened nearly 30 years ago. I was just a tiny little girl at the time, but I remember the day as if it were yesterday. On August 8, 1969, I remember seeing my Momma, sitting in front of the TV, as if hypnotized, stare in disbelief as the news announced,
�shortly after midnight, the brutal attack on residents at the Tate residence began. In all, 102 stab wounds are inflicted on four victims; a fifth victim is shot. Left dead are actress Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Voytek Frykowski, Abigail Folger, and Steven Parent.� I watched my Momma, as tears rolled down her face. I remember being frightened. I think this must have been the first time I saw her cry. I ran to comfort her as she held me tight and continued to cry. Soon, I began to cry too. It seemed so odd to see my Momma, my �super hero� vulnerable, crying, not a �super hero� but human. I remember asking her why she was crying when she didn�t know any of these people. She said she didn�t know, but it was just something in the eyes of Sharon Tate, something angelic, that she felt guilty for feeling blessed that it wasn�t HER daughter that had to die that way.
The leader of these terrible murders, Charles Manson.
He was then 34 years old. A mad, sick genius (he test at genius level) obsessed with the Beatles music and the so called �messages� he believed they were sending to him personally.
I saw this man this week. It was across a prison yard. I knew he was there, but I never expected to actually see him. I couldn�t help but watch him. He was so much smaller than I had envisioned, perhaps 5'3" at most, and so much older than I had thought. I guess I forgot that time didn�t stand still and that he is now 73 yrs. old. He saw me watching him. I guess I was staring without realizing it. He stopped in his tracks, turned in my direction, and stared back at me. He took several steps in my direction, stopped again, smiled, winked and walked away. A cold chill ran over my entire body. As I felt warm tears run down my cheeks, I felt grateful for both the sunglasses I wore and the fence between us.
"Mr. and Mrs. America--you are wrong. I am not the King of the Jews nor am I a hippie cult leader. I am what you have made me and the mad dog devil killer fiend leper is a reflection of your society. . .Whatever the outcome of this madness that you call a fair trial or Christian justice, you can know this: In my mind's eye my thoughts light fires in your cities."
--Charles Manson's statement after his conviction
for the Tate-LaBianca murders. 
0 GAVE ME A LITTLE RINGY DINGY
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