Gary Hinman: The Forgotten Manson Family Victim

Gary Hinman (photo: charlesmanson.com)

On July 25, 1969, Gary Allen Hinman was 34 years old, a UCLA student who was aiming to add a PhD in Sociology to his existing degree in chemistry.  To support himself, he worked at a music shop teaching piano, drums, the trombone and the bagpipes.  He also reportedly sold relatively small amounts of mescaline and/or marijuana for extra money.  

A year earlier, he had become interested in Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism and by the summer of 1969, he was planning a religious pilgrimage to Japan with his parents, who were going to pay for the trip.  A kind and gentle soul, Gary was known to open his Topanga Canyon house to friends and acquaintances in need.  Unfortunately, this generosity would cost him his life.

He had met Bobby Beausoleil and other so-called Manson Family members through the commune scene and counterculture that enveloped Los Angeles in the late Sixties.  An open-minded man who had once played at Carnegie Hall, Gary allowed Bobby (and others) to stay in the basement of his home in 1968.    

Beausoleil was 20 years old when he met and moved in with Gary.  He was a musician and an actor, having appeared in Mondo Hollywood and Kenneth Anger's 1967 film Lucifer Rising, as well as contributing to the movie's soundtrack, which was a condition in order for him to appear in the film.  (He would eventually produce the soundtrack from prison.)   He was living with Gary when he was cast in a supporting role in  the X-rated The Ramrodder, which was filmed at Spahn Ranch in late 1968.  It was Beausoleil's first introduction to Charles Manson and his so-called "Family."   Although he would never become a full-fledged member, he did associate with them and the girls.  

At some point, an invitation to join The Family was reportedly extended to Gary, who, being devoted to Buddhism, declined.  However, he did give Beausoleil and Manson guitar lessons.  

Gary's home at 964 Old Topanga Canyon Road
(photo: cielodrive.com) 

There are conflicting accounts as to what exactly led to Gary's murder.  Some say The Family was given incorrect information that he had recently come into $30,000.  There was also the story that Manson was offended that Gary had refused to join The Family, which would have included turning over all his assets to Manson.  Beausoleil, in a 2018 interview, claimed that he had purchased 1,000 tabs of mescaline from Gary and then turned around and sold the drugs to another person, who complained of the quality.  Beausoleil went to Gary's home on July 25, 1969, looking to get his money back with two girls in tow, Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins.   Mary, a former librarian at the University of 'Wisconsin, was Manson's first follower and mother to his then 15-month old child.  When the baby had been born, it was Gary who had donated formula, baby food, and clothing for his benefit.  Susan, a former stripper and devoted Manson follower, had a nine-month old baby behind at Spahn Ranch.  Both girls were allegedly sent along as Manson felt they could help to encourage Gary to hand over money as it was said that Gary had been intimate with both at times in the past.  

The trio found that Gary did not have the money to refund Beausoleil.  Nor, apparently, did he have any recent financial gains, much less $30,000.  He showed the people he considered friends that he only had $50 in his checking account.   When threats with a gun didn't work, Beausoleil beat the peace-loving Gary, while Mary and Susan apparently looked for anything worth selling in his home.  At some point, Gary either voluntarily signed over title to his two vehicles or did so by force.  

Mary Brunner recalled later that Manson was called at the Ranch and informed that Gary was not forthcoming with any money.  Shortly afterward, Manson, armed with a Samurai sword and fellow Family member Bruce Davis, arrived at Gary's residence and after walking through the front door, without a word, slashed Gary's left ear and down the side of his face.  It bled profusely.  According to Beausoleil, Manson told him he had cut Gary to show Beausoleil "how to be a man."  Manson then left in one of Gary's vehicles, leaving the bleeding and pleading man with Beausoleil, Brunner, and Atkins.  

Over the next 24 hours, Brunner and Atkins stitched up Gary's damaged ear with dental floss while Gary chanted and prayed.  According to Mary Brunner, he told the trio he would forget what had happened and would call his wound just a scratch, so long as they just left.  

Reporting following another phone conversation with Manson, Beausoleil informed Brunner that he was going to kill Gary.  

Beausoleil said that Gary had insisted on receiving medical attention, leaving Beausoleil to realize there was no way out of the situation he had gotten himself into.  

At some point on July 27, 1969, Beausoleil stabbed Gary twice in the chest.    However, Gary lingered for hours with the wounds before Beausoleil, Brunner, and Atkins took turns holding a pillow over Gary's face to speed his death along.  It was Atkins that was holding the pillow when Gary took his last breaths.  Once he had died, they used his blood to write "Political Piggy," along with a cat's paw, on the wall, thinking it would implicate the Black Panthers.  

The three then left the home with the whopping $20 they managed to score from their crime.  They used the money to buy coffee and strawberry cake.    

On Thursday, July 31, authorities received a report of a possible homicide and found the body of Gary Hinman.  He was still clutching his prayer beads in his hand.  

A week later, on August 7, 1969, Beausoleil was found on the 101, between San Luis Obispo and Atascadero, sleeping in Gary's other vehicle, with the murder weapon secreted in the tire well.  He was arrested for the murder and on April 18, 1970 he was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.  His sentence was commuted in 1972 to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.

Beausoleil under arrest
(photo: thejuicyreport.com)

Over the years, it was speculated that the Tate-LaBianca murders, occurring on the evenings of August 8-9, 1969 and August 10, 1969, were committed in a haphazard attempt to free Beausoleil by showing copycat murders happening while he was in jail on charges for Gary's murder.  

Beausoleil himself would change details regarding the killing of Gary.  In 1981, he would claim that the murder was solely the result of a botched drug transaction, although a drug deal was never brought up during his trial.  He also claimed that he had unknowingly supplied members of the Straight Satans motorcycle gang with a bad batch of drugs and they had demanded their money back from Beausoleil.  In that interview, he denied that Manson had ever come to Gary's home and that it was Beausoleil himself who had cut Gary's face with a knife when the two were struggling over the gun.  

In 1998, Beausoleil reversed course again, saying that it was indeed Manson who had inflicted the facial wounds.  

Before her death in 2009, Susan Atkins said she had never heard mention that the trio went to Gary's home over drugs.  "In hindsight," she said, "the death of Gary is perhaps the hardest thing to understand or make sense of."  

Gary in life 
(screenshots from Helter Skelter: An American Myth)

Bobby Beausoleil remains incarcerated for taking the life of Gary Hinman.  He was recommended for parole on his 19th suitability hearing, in January of 2019, although the governor of California reversed that decision in April that same year.  Today, he claims to regret what he did to Gary Hinman, a man he considered a friend, and says he should have faced the music but "instead, I killed him."     

   

Gary's final resting place in Glenwood Springs, Colorado
(photo: findagrave.com) 

Van Houten Denied Parole; On to Beausoleil and Watson

Joyous Leslie then, serious Leslie now

Delayed news but Governor Jerry Brown did the right thing and denied Leslie Van Houten parole, despite the parole board recommending that the 66 year old convicted killer and former Manson Family member be sprung.  Thank you, Governor Brown.

Without getting too much into whether or not she's rehabilitated (which Governor Brown apparently didn't buy), let's realize for a moment that she has been incarcerated since late 1969.  That's 47 years, more than double the time she had lived in 1969.  To say that she's thoroughly and completely institutionalized is an understatement of the highest level.  (Granted, she was on bond in 1977 during her retrial.)  Things have changed since 1969 and even 1977.  The world has changed.  Van Houten herself is no longer a giggly nineteen year old singing songs on her way to and from jail.  If she were considered rehabilitated and released, could she be a healthy and productive member of society?  How?   She needs to pay for her crime with her life.  A life sentence should mean a life sentence.  And be grateful that society has granted her more mercy than she granted to Rosemary LaBianca.  Van Houten was allowed to live, more than four decades past Mrs. LaBianca, and was even able to obtain a college degree.  On the California taxpayers' dime, no less.

In October, two more Manson killers come up for parole and two more petitions need your signature.

Beausoleil today

Beausoleil in 1969

From July 25-27, 1969, Bobby Beausoleil tortured music teacher Gary Hinman.  He forced Hinman to sign over his two vehicles to him before stabbing him to death on July 27, while Hinman, who knew Beausoleil, begged him for mercy.  It's this crime for which many Tate-LaBianca devotees believe led to the August 8-10, 1969 massacre that would make Manson infamous, as some believe the Family was trying to commit copycat murders to free Beausoleil.  In 1984 Beausoleil was caught drawing cartoons of naked toddlers being spanked by adults and selling them to known pedophiles.  He has told various parole boards different stories about Gary Hinman's murder and his participation in it and even goes so far as to claim today that he was never affiliated with Charles Manson and the Manson Family in any way - - a fact that is easily disputed.  He once said "you'd better hope I never get out."  I say we heed that advice and make sure he doesn't.

Watson today

Watson in 1969/1970

The most infamous killer, outside of Manson himself, and one who participated in each of the brutal murders August 8-10, 1969 is Charles "Tex" Watson.  Watson, who now claims he prefers to go by his given name of Charles versus his Family name of Tex, also claims to be a born again Christian (isn't everyone in prison?) and has been allowed to marry and father four children while a longtime guest of the state of California's penal system.  That's right - - the man who personally stabbed to death the very pregnant Sharon Tate was not only granted the privilege to father children himself but to place the burden of the cost of those children on the state's taxpayers.  Seems fair.  He's also presented himself as some sort of pastor to a prison church that his now ex-wife helped him run (thereby having free reign with the tithes and donations) and has written several books, the most recent of which is nothing more than a finger pointing exercise at Charles Manson while claiming he was just a poor puppet influenced by the evil Manson and he's so, so sowwy for what he's done.  Yeah, not buying it.  Let's also not forget that he told his victims on the night of August 8-9, 1969 "I'm the devil and I'm here to do the devil's business."   If this individual is eligible for parole in anyone's book, there is no justice.


Van Houten's denial does not bode well for Beausoleil or Watson.  It's unlikely that Watson will ever get out (nor should he) but Beausoleil, being less known and having one victim versus seven, has a better shot.  Beausoleil has been incarcerated since July of 1969; I would think it's not likely that during his incarceration he's become a mellow tree-hugging lover of people.

Debra Tate, Sharon's younger sister, has been an advocate for many years.  I encourage you to sign her petitions, asking the California parole board to keep both Bobby Beausoleil and Tex Watson behind bars.

You can find the petition to oppose Bobby Beausoleil's parole here.

You can find the petition to oppose Tex Watson's parole here.

Debunking Helter Skelter



The ones who matter

If it seems too crazy to believe, it might just be. 


The theory of "Helter Skelter" has long been accepted as the motive behind the senseless slayings of seven people and one unborn child on the weekend of August 8-10, 1969 in Los Angeles by the so-called Manson Family.  Vincent Bugliosi did a masterful job presenting the theory of Helter Skelter to the jury, who listened, understood, bought it and found the killers guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.  Honestly though, if Manson were trying to jumpstart a race war, why stop after the two sets of murders?  It's not like the police were hot on his trail.
So was Helter Skelter the true motive for the murders? 



Drugs.  Were drugs the underlying cause of the massacre?  Tate detectives initially believed they were, convinced that a drug deal had gone south.  True, drugs were found on the property . . . but not enough to suggest anyone at Cielo was a dealer.  If a drug burn was the root of the homicides, wouldn't a hit be more clean?  In other words, would a professional (as surely a hit would suggest) show up at the Cielo property with a rope, knives and a bayonet?  Hardly the weapons of a professional killer. 


Was Voytek Frykowski dealing?  Feelings on this seem divided.  If he was, he had to have been small potatoes.  No significant amount of drugs were found in the house to suggest he was a major player and there were no weapons -- like a gun - - that you would expect a dealer to have.  Would a dealer be living in such an easily accessible property?  Even assuming that he was the target, he left the house earlier in the day - -  the perfect time to carry out a hit and making him a far easier target for a professional.


Same with Abigail Folger.  If she were the target, she had a standing appointment Monday through Friday to see her therapist every afternoon.  She could easily have been eliminated leaving or returning to Cielo Drive without involving anyone else.


Rumors have floated for years that Jay Sebring was the candyman to quite a few Hollywood players.  If true and if Sebring was the target, it makes zero sense that he would be taken out anywhere other than his own house or office.  His visit at Cielo seemed to be a casual type of dropping by you do with friends, which would make it more unlikely that he was the target in my book.  He also had no drugs on him and a relatively small amount in his Porsche.  None were found in his system at autopsy.  While it could bolster the dealer argument (as most dealers apparently live by the creed that you don't use yourself) it does weaken the rumor that he had a major coke problem.  If he was such an addict, wouldn't he have the drug in his system? 


Besides that, assuming that one victim was the target why take out everyone?  Would anyone attempting a hit slaughter a pregnant woman?   Would they write in blood on the front door?  Would they tie rope around the victims' necks? 


And where does Steven Parent fit in all this?  He had no previous connection with anyone at the Cielo property and it's not been suggested that he was a drug dealer or user.  Assuming professionals were dispatched to Cielo over a drug burn, they would have let the unsuspecting Parent, leaving the guesthouse, get in his car and drive away.


Furthermore, if drugs were behind the crimes, would the assailants leave any behind?  Wouldn't they search the property and take any and all drugs with them, even minor amounts?  And where does that leave the LaBiancas?  They had no known connection to drugs, nor were any found in their home or in their systems upon autopsy. 


While drugs may have been present and perhaps even tied the victims, however remotely, to their eventual killers, I don't think it was why the murders were committed.


The Mob.  The Mob angle is tossed around with regard to the LaBiancas but not Tate.  Since the two crimes are related we'd have to find a connection to the Tate homicide and the Mob and so far, there appears to be none.  Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski had no known ties to the Mob.  Jay Sebring was in debt at the time of his death but not to the Mob - - to Sharon, to Abigail, to his dentist, all of whom invested in Sebring International.  He seemed to be a textbook case of cash poor but having assets from his business.  No apparent connection with Abigail Folger or Voytek Frykowski.  Steve Parent had just graduated from high school two months prior to his murder so a connection there is about as likely as Manson getting parole. 


Even if the Mob were somehow involved with the LaBiancas, specifically Leno, would they execute a hit by tying up Leno and his wife, putting lamp cords around their necks, stab them repeatedly and write in blood on the walls before taking a shower and grabbing a bite to eat on their way out the door?   And making sure to write about Manson's infamous upcoming race war on the fridge?  Really?   Not only great luck and quite a coinky-dink but also an extremely sloppy hit.


As far as the Mob contracting Manson to perform the hit . . . my eyes ache from how hard I'm rolling them.


Black Magic and Witchcraft.  This theory is almost too laughable to press but it came out immediately following the murders and it still haunts to this day.  I think the gruesomeness of the crimes combined with Roman Polanski's films (most especially the then-recent Rosemary's Baby) gave this tale legs.  It didn't help that Sharon Tate was pregnant (feeding into the allegations that a child is the ultimate sacrifice) or that is was mistakenly reported (repeatedly) that Jay Sebring was found with a hood over his head. 


Over the years various "sources" have claimed that Sharon was initiated into witchcraft and said witchcraft is what got her killed.  They use a photo of her standing in a magic circle to prove it.  First, the photo is a picture taken on set of Eye of the Devil, in which she plays a witch so no dice.  If a real photograph existed, in this age of social media and eBay, you'd bet it would be circulated.  No black magic paraphernalia was discovered at 10050 Cielo Drive so what kind of black magic practitioner was Sharon anyway?  Witchcraft doesn't mesh with Sharon's Catholic upbringing and none of her friends claim that she participated in any such thing.  Her sister spent quite a bit of time with Sharon that summer and saw nothing amiss.  Furthermore, nothing has been said about Abigail, Jay, Voytek or Steven being into witchcraft so why were they killed?  Guilt by association?  The magic circle made a mistake? 


Orgies and Sex Tapes.  This topic has reached almost epic proportions in some arenas.  It was reported in Bugliosi's Helter Skelter that the LAPD recovered a videotape in the loft of the Cielo property that showed Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski making love.  Hardly an orgy or a cache of porn and yet some remain convinced that Tate, Polanski, Sebring and a host of other Hollywood players were participating in various orgies, all of which were recorded for good measure and the existence of these tapes (and the threat of them) is what incited the murders.


What makes this impossible for me to believe is, once again, that if such tapes existed, where are they?  It's been more than forty-six years since the murders; surely they would have surfaced by now.  Someone, somewhere, would be trying to get big bucks for these tapes and yet . . . not a peep.


And if the murders were committed in order to retrieve these tapes, why was it necessary to kill everyone in the house?  Why write in blood?  And why execute the LaBiancas the next evening?  Surely they had nothing to do with supposed Hollywood orgies.


And maybe the most important point - - what would Charles Manson and his band of killers have to do with sex tapes that don't involve them?  Exactly.  Nothing.


Copycat Motive.  Other than below, this motive makes the most sense out of all of them.  To wit:  Bobby Beausoleil was sitting in jail for killing Gary Hinman and The Family/Charlie/the girls thought a copycat killing spree would exonerate him for the Hinman murder and/or they needed cash to bail Bobby out.


The robbery angle is weak in my book.  Manson had no problems sending his girls out hooking before for cash so why not do that now?  He had also starting creepy-crawling homes so surely they could have pocketed some items worth a little bank. 


If Manson was so concerned about Beausoleil's incarceration why was he taking his jolly ass up north with Stephanie Schram and hitting the Esalen Institute to play his music?  (More on that below.)   Shouldn't he have been staying in town to organize his troops for soliciting and stealing? 


As far as that goes, wouldn't you think that he'd want to distance himself as much as possible from Hinman?  Especially given that he was present during Gary's imprisonment and torture, slicing off the poor man's ear himself.   You would think he'd go underground or something but this is Charles Manson.


The copycat motive is similarly weak in places.  Beausoleil (and possibly Manson, Atkins and/or Mary Brunner) had Hinman sign the titles of his two vehicles over to the Family before his death.  (In fact, Beausoleil was arrested in one of Hinman's vehicles.)  None of the vehicles at either Cielo or Waverly was touched.  (Maybe Beausoleil's stupidity taught them?)  The cops also knew that Beausoleil was part of Manson's gang so it stands to reason that another murder or set of murders along the lines of Hinman should have been a red flag leading the cops to Manson, right?


Manson and Revenge.  I believe Manson spoke about "Helter Skelter" coming down to the Family.  He was a storyteller and a preacher (non-religious, of course) who loved to hold people in rapt attention, particularly those who were under the influence of drugs and other dysfunctions.  One thing I will say about Charlie was that he was very adept at reading others' hang ups and issues, like most good con men and sociopaths.  The ragtag group of social misfits and dropouts that made up his "Family" wanted something to believe in besides all the free love and drugs that permeated Spahn Ranch.  Helter Skelter gave them a purpose and also fed into their antisocial nature by promising the "Pigs" (i.e., the white establishment) would get theirs while Charlie and his group remained hidden away until they could safely emerge and take over.  It's been said that Charlie is actually quite intelligent with a fairly high IQ, something that might very well be the truth given how easily he manipulated the Bible and the songs on the Beatles' White Album to interpret Helter Skelter. 


However, I don't think that's why seven people lost their lives that terrible weekend.  I don't think it's a coincidence that on August 8, 1968 - - exactly a year before the Tate murders - - Manson recorded his music with the help of Dennis Wilson, Terry Melcher and Greg Jacobson.  Manson wanted to be a musician, like Dennis (of the Beach Boys fame) and the Beatles but he wanted to do so without having to pay the dues that most musicians do.  In other words, he didn't want to work his way up the ladder, he wanted to own the ladder from jump.  While it's been said that he wasn't a bad musician and his voice was fine, his lyrics and the overall down nature of them turned off the executives.  Remember, this was just before the Summer of Love; the hippies were preaching peace and love, not death and destruction.  So Manson got the usual "thanks, we'll be in touch" line and went back to Spahn Ranch to wait for the call that would make him king.  The call that would never come.


Manson apparently waited and stewed for months, while putting Terry Melcher on redial.  By March of 1969, he had enough and went directly to Melcher's residence on Cielo Drive to find out why the executives weren't beating down his door with offers.  The property's owner, Rudi Altobelli, was living in the guesthouse at the time and informed Charlie that Melcher had moved out and new tenants were living in the main house.  When pressed, Altobelli told Manson that while Melcher had moved to Malibu, he had no idea where in Malibu.  A lie.  He also told Manson, when Charlie asked about Altobelli's contacts in the entertainment industry, that he was living for Europe the next day and would be gone for a year.  Also a lie - - Altobelli did leave for Europe the next day, along with Sharon Tate, but he wasn't planning on being gone for a year. More like a few months.


Manson went back to his life at Spahn of fixing dune buggies, eating out of garbage cans and sending the girls out on prostitution runs for extra cash and things seemed to be status quo until August.  In early August Charlie went up north to the Esalen Institute and played his music for its guests - - the so-called establishment that he despised.  There is no proof they were there at the time but both Sharon Tate and Abigail Folger had been guests of the Institute previously.  Charlie's music was met with dislike and disdain and he must have left thoroughly bitter.  He left on August 7, 1969.


I think when he returned to the L.A. area on the afternoon of August 8, he was seething.  It had been a year since all of his music industry dreams were to have come true.   Terry Melcher had told Manson he was going to get his music out there and to Charlie, a man born of the prison system where your word is the only thing you have, a promise was a promise.  Melcher, part of that establishment of "Pigs", along with those at Esalen Institute, had humiliated him for the last time.  He wanted revenge.


Charlie wouldn't have offed Melcher, the same way he wouldn't have offed Dennis Wilson or Greg Jacobson.  He needed them to further his musical career.  But sending a message was okay.  He had done so with Wilson by leaving him a bullet, the subtext loud and clear.  He would do the same to Melcher but in far gorier terms.


He knew Melcher no longer lived at Cielo; he may have heard that movie industry people resided there now.  It mattered little.  He knew the layout of the property and he knew that Melcher would hear of what was going to happen.  


When he sent his merry band of killers out that night, he was careful not to accompany them but his wishes were clear.  I think he sent them out on their deadly mission under the guise of Helter Skelter because he didn't want to tell them that he was really throwing a temper tantrum and ordering the deaths of a group of people because he was pissed.   Watson, Krenwinkle and Atkins - - thoroughly antisocial and blood thirsty - - were more than happy to instigate what they thought would be a race war.  In truth, they were simply obliterating human beings because Charles Manson didn't get his way.


I don't think Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring or Voytek Frykowski had personally done anything to Manson.  In fact, I doubt they had any interactions with him, ever.  They were merely representations of the industry and the establishment that had mocked him and for that, they lost their lives.  Steven Parent was collateral damage, having the extreme misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and meeting up with the evil and unsympathetic end of Watson's gun.


The LaBiancas were victims of geography, living next door to a house that Manson had been to several times, and victims of the Family's bloodlust.  They too represented the establishment that Manson had so much disdain for and yet wanted to be a part of.  For that, they too paid for his raging desire for revenge, plain and simple.


I think the truth of this case is a matter of Occam's razor - - the simpler explanation makes the most sense.  And the simplest explanation to me is revenge.