Nov. 5 – We have been informed by the Los Angeles Police Department that retired LAPD detective Michael J. McGann passed away last Friday in Palm Desert, California, due to complications from cancer. McGann was a 1st Lieutenant in the 185th Armored Squadron before he joined the LAPD in May of 1959. He was promoted to Sergeant in February of 1967 and 16 months later was assigned to the special unit investigating the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy. McGann investigated the activities of Sirhan Sirhan at the Pasadena and San Gabriel gun clubs, as well as Sirhan’s alleged attendance at Peace and Freedom Party meetings. In August of 1969, McGann found himself on another high profile case, when he was made a lead detective assigned to the Tate murders. During the course of the investigation, McGann interviewed several key witnesses and his tireless work was instrumental in establishing cases against the Tate-LaBianca killers. After his retirement, McGann assisted researchers and also made several television appearances discussing the case. He was 77 years old.

Oct. 7 – The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Homicide Bureau, Gary Hinman investigatory files. A retrospective of Hinman investigation as seen through never before released homicide, arrest, laboratory, investigation and progress reports, witness interview transcripts, and interoffice correspondences.

07/31/69 – First Homicide Report
08/04/69 – Residence Photographed
08/06/69 – Classification Change
08/06/69 – Bobby Beausoleil Arrest Report
08/07/69 – One Arrest Made
08/07/69 – Complaint Issued
08/08/69 – Palm Print Lifted
08/09/69 – Preliminary Hearing Set
10/13/69 – Additional Suspect Arrested
10/17/69 – Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme Arrested
11/00/69 – Arraignment Date Set
11/19/69 – Danny DeCarlo Statement
12/04/69 – Progress Report
12/04/69 – Stephanie Schram Statement
12/00/69 – Mary Brunner Interviewed
12/04/69 – Mary Brunner Statement
12/08/69 – Investigation Made
01/20/70 – Louis Puttek Interview
01/27/70 – Firearms Identification
01/29/70 – One Arrest
02/20/70 – Vehicle Impounded
03/09/70 – Sword Examination
03/17/70 – Gun Recovered
03/20/70 – Alan Springer Interviewed
04/06/70 – Brunner Warrant Issued
04/06/70 – Mary Brunner Statement
04/10/70 – Rosanne Walker Interviewed
04/19/70 – Grand Jury Indictments
04/21/70 – Defendant Sentenced
04/22/70 – Defts. #2 and #3 Appear for Trial Setting
04/29/70 – Defendants Arraigned
05/06/70 – Evidence Held
05/12/70 – New Sentencing Date Set
05/18/70 – Ella Jo Bailey Interviewed
05/21/70 – Mary Brunner Affidavit
06/15/70 – Defendant #1 Formally Sentenced
06/15/70 – Beausoleil Formally Sentenced
06/17/70 – Grand Jury Hearing Held
10/19/70 – Ronnie Howard Interviewed
12/19/70 – Bruce Davis Arrested
09/16/71 – Manson Family Activities

Aug 26 – A U.S. District Judge has granted the disclosure of President Gerald Ford’s video testimony from United States of America vs. Lynette Alice Fromme, according to a report by the Sacramento Bee.

On July 24, 2013 the Eastern District Historical Society along with the Sacramento Bee filed a motion requesting the court unseal the taped deposition in order to “preserve events of historical significance in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.”

Last Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller granted the motion, ordering the original VHS tape be transferred to DVD and copies be provided to the Eastern District Historical Society, The Sacramento Bee, the Clerk’s office and the National Archives.

The taped deposition, which was unsealed by a prior court order in April of 1987, runs about a half hour long and shows President Ford answering questions about the events of September 5, 1975, when Fromme pointed a loaded .45 caliber handgun at him before being wrestled to ground by Secret Service agents.

Dean Allen Moorehouse in 1971

Aug. 17 – Dean Allen Moorehouse (born 2/13/20 in Minnesota, male Caucasian, 5-5, 157 lbs., gray hair and blue eyes) grew up in the Minneapolis area and had at least two older siblings – one brother, two sisters. In 1939, at the age of 19, Dean married Audrey Lucile Sirpless and during the course of the couple’s 28-year marriage, they produced four children; Kathleen Adair (1940), Deane Thomas (1941), Sharon Lee (1945) and Ruth Ann (sometimes 1951/1952/1953)

In 1967, the then 47-year-old Moorehouse reportedly was employed, or formerly employed as a protestant minister and was residing in San Jose, California with his family. Around this time, Dean befriended Charlie Manson after picking up the ex-con hitchhiking through the area. Manson had recently been paroled from federal prison after serving almost six years of a ten year sentence for forging a $37.50 check in May of 1959.

Moorehouse invited Manson to dinner at his home and Charlie ended up staying the night. Manson and Moorehouse discussed the Bible, sang religious songs and when Charlie admired an old piano at the house, Dean told him he was welcome to have it. Moorehouse told Charlie he was always welcome in his home and Manson became a frequent visitor, taking a special interest in Dean’s youngest daughter, Ruth Ann.

Sometime that summer, Manson found a Volkswagen Microbus for sale in Moorehouse’s neighborhood and negotiated a deal with the owner to trade it for Dean’s piano. Shortly after acquiring the Microbus, Charlie took Ruth Ann on a trip up the coast which prompted her parents to report her as a runaway. The pair were eventually apprehended by Sheriff’s deputies on Friday, July 28, 1967. Ruth Ann was returned home and Charlie was arrested for trying to interfere with the police. The following month, Dean and Audrey officially ended their marriage, filing for divorce in Sonoma County.

Dean was arrested on Thursday, March 21, 1968 and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, after he was found in a Redwood Valley home that Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies raided for marijuana. Sheriff’s deputies arrested 11 individuals on a range of charges and Dean was slapped with the delinquency charge because the majority of those in the home were not of age.

Dean was arrested again in May, after Roger Tholan and Gertrude Romanski told authorities that the $50 of LSD they were found in possession of, was sold to them by Moorehouse. Dean was charged with a violation of Section 11912 of the Health & Safety Code.

A few weeks later, Ruth Ann married 23-year-old Edward L. Heuvelhorst in Santa Cruz, California in an effort to become emancipated. According to Ruth Ann, the marriage only lasted one day, and she soon headed to the Los Angeles area where Charlie and the family had relocated months earlier. Soon to follow her was an angry Dean, reportedly hell bent on getting Ruth back. When Dean arrived in Los Angeles, he met up with Charlie at Dennis Wilson’s house where Manson immediately diffused the situation by kneeling down and kissing the preacher’s toes, welcoming him to the party.

Dean spent the rest of the summer at Dennis’ house living in the guesthouse in exchange for taking care of the landscaping duties. He reportedly became a devout follower of Charlie and championed his lifestyle and philosophies. In August, Dean headed back to Mendocino in order to face trial for the LSD arrest back in May. The trial resulted in a hung jury and was set to be re-tried in December. In the meantime, Dean returned to L.A. and reconnected briefly with the family at Spahn Ranch.

Dean’s second trial began on December 17, and this time he was found guilty. He returned for sentencing on January 2, 1969, when Judge Wayne Burke sentenced Dean to 6 months at the Vacaville Medical Facility. Records show he was received the following day and that he was transferred several times during his incarceration, serving his sentence in multiple facilities, including Folsom and San Quentin.

After the Tate-LaBianca murders were connected to the Manson family, LAPD sent detectives to visit Dean in prison. According to the officers that made the trip, Moorehouse offered little to help their case.

Dean was denied parole on May 7, 1969, March 3, 1970, and August 26, 1970, before he was finally granted parole on March 23, 1971.

Little has been documented about Moorehouse’s activities in the years that followed. Records indicate he lived for a long time in the Redding, California area. In May of 1991, Dean was convicted on charges of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 and given a 8-year term in state prison. He served 52 months of the 8-year term and was paroled on Saturday, September 2, 1995. He violated parole less than two years later and was returned to prison on May 29, 1997. Dean was re-released on parole on May 22, 1998 and discharged from parole supervision on Sept. 9, 1999.

Dean Allen Moorehouse passed away on Saturday, May 22, 2010 in Shasta Lake, California.

Bill Vance drinking in the Longhorn Saloon in the film Linda and Abilene

Jun. 21 – The Lost Films of Herschell Gorden Lewis, a 2-disc BluRay/DVD combo pack released in January, features three recently restored sexploitation films including the erotic western Linda and Abilene. Filmed at the Spahn Movie Ranch in 1969, Linda and Abilene tells the story two siblings, Abilene and Tod, who after being orphaned on their western farm, become attracted to each other. The confused Tod fleas to a nearby town where he meets Linda, a local bar girl, and begins a sexual relationship with her, while a rough cowboy, named Rawhide, sexually assaults Abilene leading Tod wanting revenge despite Linda’s wariness and growing compassion for Abilene.

The movie, which features fantastic color footage of Spahn’s Ranch, was filmed while the Manson Family was living there. According to liner notes, “Lewis claims that he and the crew ‘thought little or nothing of’ the unusual people hanging around the location, even when seemingly the entire Family showed up on set to peep on the lesbian sex scene as it was being filmed. They were just a bunch of ‘goofy kids…stoned out of their heads,’ according to Lewis.”

But perhaps the most interesting thing about the film is that it stars the Manson family associate, Bill Vance. Although he has no lines, Vance is a prominent extra within the film and there are several close ups of him.

The film also provides possible answers as to why some at Spahn would later say that Sharon Tate had visited the ranch. Shortly after the Tate-LaBianca murders were tied to the Manson family in December of 1969, there were reports that an actress named Sharon had visited the ranch earlier that year. This led to the speculation that the actress was Sharon Tate. Perhaps Linda and Abilene was the cause of the confusion, because the part of Abilene is played by the actress Sharon Matt. Could she have been the actress that some at Spahn would later confuse to be Sharon Tate?

Special thanks to BlueJay for finding this.