Summary and Analysis of Helter Skelter - The True Story of the Manson Murders by Worth Books

Author:Worth Books
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Worth Books
Published: 2017-01-02T22:00:37+00:00

Cast of Characters

Susan Atkins: Member of the Manson Family who was present at the Hinman, Tate, and LaBianca murder scenes and admitted to stabbing Sharon Tate, though she later recanted. She was perhaps the most flamboyant of the “Manson Girls,” brazenly bragging of her involvement in the murders to her cellmates and investigators. Atkins settled at Spahn Ranch with the Manson Family in 1967. She gave birth to a son, whom Manson named Zezozose Zadfrack Glutz. Known by her peers as Sadie Mae Glutz or Crazy Sadie, Susan Atkins was sentenced to life in prison.

Robert “Bobby” Beausoleil: Described as an attractive “young hippie musician,” this member of the Manson Family was guilty of stabbing Gary Hinman to death.

Danny DeCarlo: Member of the “Straight Satans” motorcycle gang, he was a friend of Charles Manson and lived with the Family for a few months at Spahn Ranch. He became concerned with all the “murder talk” and started to distance himself from the Mansonites.

Abigail Folger: Heir to the Folger Coffee fortune, Abigail graduated from Radcliffe College and worked in magazine publishing in New York City. At a bookstore party, she met Voytek Frykowski, with whom she moved to California in 1968. In Los Angeles, their relationship soured, and they were both using drugs frequently. Folger—along with Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, and Frykowski—was murdered by Charles Manson’s Family in Roman Polanski’s house.

Wojiciech “Voytek” Frykowksi: A friend of Roman Polanski’s, Frykowski was Folger’s freeloading boyfriend.

William Garretson: Caretaker living in the guest house of 10050 Cielo Drive. His presence was undetected on the night of the murders and he was the only survivor on the scene.

Steve “Clem” Grogan: Manson associate and murderer with a history of insanity and a rap sheet that included indecent exposure, he was present at the LaBianca murder scene. Grogan was charged and convicted of killing Gary Hinman and Donald “Shorty” Shea.

Gary Hinman: Music teacher who was murdered at the age of thirty-four by Bobby Beausoleil. Bobby Beausoleil and Susan Atkins went to Hinman’s house to steal money they believed he had inherited. When he protested, Beausoleil stabbed him to death.

Ronnie Howard: Fellow inmate of Susan Atkins in Dormitory 8000. Shocked by information Atkins shared with her about the crimes already committed by the Manson Family, Howard made it her mission to tell the police.

Barbara Hoyt: A former follower of Charles Manson and a witness for the prosecution, Hoyt began living with the Family at Spahn Ranch in 1969. She became suspicious when she saw some of the Family members watching the news about the Tate murders, and she later overheard Susan Atkins tell Ruth Ann Moorehouse that she had killed Sharon Tate. Hoyt, along with Sherry Cooper, another Family member, fled the ranch in Death Valley. Unsure about testifying at the trial, the Family sent Hoyt to Hawaii along with a couple other Manson girls. There, she was given food laced with LSD. Soon after, she collapsed and was rushed to the emergency room. She returned to California, and eagerly testified against the Family.

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