Mental Floss is partnering with FilmNation and iHeartPodcasts to take you the transcript forGreatest Escapes , a podcast hosted by Arturo Castro about some of the wildest escape stories across story . In this episode , Aimee Carrero ( The Menu , The Consultant ) help Arturo explore a dark chapter in Hollywood story as they learn about one of Charles Manson ’s original crime syndicate members : Lynette “ Squeaky ” Fromme . study all the transcriptshere .
Arturo Castro : Hey guy cable , receive toGreatest Escapes , a show bringing you the barbarian true escape valve stories of all time . Today ’s tale goes into a truly dark chapter of Hollywood account , only this time we ’re talking about the criminal offence — and escapes — that you usually do n’t discover about .
I ’m Arturo , and for this one I had to bestow in the unbelievable actress and voiceover artist and Queen of Miami : It ’s Aimee Carrerro !
Aimee Carrero ! ! ! [ Airhorn sounds]Hola , welcome !
Aimee Carrero : Should I just use my normal Miami accent or what ?
Arturo : Yeah , just , like — let ’s f***ing do it . Like , just — the 305 is present and accounted for .
Aimee : It ’s present — but you be intimate what ? We actually see way beforeThe Menu . commemorate that ?
Arturo : That ’s genuine .
Aimee : call back that ?
Arturo : We were doing headphone banking live on ABC or whatever ?
Aimee : Uh , Good Morning America .
Arturo : That ’s what it was .
Aimee : Yeah . And we sit next to each other .
Arturo : That ’s correct . And I remember I was like , “ oh my God . ” And we saw John Leguizamo was one of the main guests . “ I ’ll see you in about 10 year in a picture show calledThe Menu , John Leguizamo . ”
Aimee : The Menu . Right , right . So that was my presentation .
Arturo : And look how far we ’ve come . Now we ’re in a podcast together . Wow . This is great .
Aimee : I eff it .
Aimee’s Escape
Arturo : Aimee , what do you turn over to be your bully escape ?
Aimee : It materialize Christmas 2021 . I was by myself and — my hubby Tim had run to Egypt with his family for Christmas . We — our wedlock is majuscule . No , I ’m kidding .
I was doing a TV show at the time , and it was like right after Christmas , we ’d had these Egypt tickets book and I was like , “ You should just go . ” I — I could n’t go , like — you know , I had to work , whatever .
So I stayed and in secret , I was like , “ Ooh , this is nice . Get the house to myself . ” So I was walking the dog , and — I sleep with my neighbourhood manifestly really well , I ’ve lived here like almost 10 yr — and I turned around and there was this all like , black — like a disgraceful saloon , and the front mirror was melanize out , and I remember think that was really strange . I was like , “ Why ca n’t I see ? ”
Arturo : You do n’t see that in Los Angeles . Yeah .
Aimee : Right . Like the front mirror , proper ? So I turned around , the cable car was there and it must have pulled up and it was n’t , like , a loan-blend , but I did n’t hear it . And so I was walk the dog and it was just kind of in a weird spot . I live kind of in , like — in an area where there ’s not a lot of car that stop .
It ’s just like , you get it on , it ’s strange to that — for that to happen . So I was like , “ you know what , I ’m not gon na go back to my firm cause I do n’t desire this person to make out where I hold out just in casing . ” So I like — I wish , went up the hill cause I dwell in the Benny Hill .
Arturo : Mmhmm . gracious short side promissory note there .
Aimee : Yeah . Um , and I was blend in for like 30 minutes . I ran into a neighbor . I start out talking to the neighbor , blah , blah , blah . And I was like , “ OK , the car ’s probably go . ” So I ’m going back down this J. J. Hill to sprain to the street where I experience , but my house is like six houses down , correct ? So I ’m like , turning , and there ’s this product . So I ’m here with my frankfurter and that elevator car is like , going — like , slide by , and he see me and stoppage , and take out over .
Arturo : Whoa .
Aimee : And there was this other railroad car that was like , I guess maybe like , with that car . It was like , this Lexus car , and there was a woman in it — like , a Latin woman in it , cause I have intercourse my fellowmamis . And she stopped behind him . So this car pull over , she pulls over behind him . Luckily there ’s like , this mass of dudes that are like , riding bike[s ] . It ’s like the — literally , it ’s like Christmas daylight and I guess they went on a Christmas - day wheel ride and I was like , “ oh my God , thank God . ” So , I scooch in where they are and I lead back home , lock the door and I finish up spending like four Nox in a hotel after that . get I ’m like , “ I got ta take the air my dog . Like what if – ”
So get this , this is like comes full circle . So like two years afterwards I was watching the news and I saw that there had been like a dog kidnapping in West Hollywood . And they had picture of it , and the owner was dragged , stimulate his , like , jacket got caught onto the room access . So he was dragged and I see to it it and what do I see , but this blacked out Nissan or what , sedan chair , whatever it was , veracious ?
Arturo : No f***ing mode .
Aimee : Yeah . So I was like , “ oh my God . ” I called the LAPD . I was like , “ I mean I know what car it is . ” I did n’t get the permission plate , obviously , so it was useless data that I gave him . But I was like –
Arturo : But you just wanted to feel heard ?
Aimee : Yeah . I was like , “ I narrowly escaped with my click . ” And so –
Arturo : Wow . How scary . Well , thank you so much for share that with us , Aimee . Now are you quick to hear some f***ing crazy outflow ?
Aimee : I’m ready .
Arturo : Let ’s rock and drum roll .
CHAPTER 1: Squeaky Clean Getaway
Aimee : So it ’s December 23 , 1987 , and at Alderson Federal Prison in West Virginia a routine bed check raised the dismay : Lynette Fromme was missing . FROMME !
[ Suspense drawing string ]
Yes . She had just turn 39 , but she — give thanks you for that , Ben .
Aimee : Fromme was lose from !
Arturo : Fromme ! She had just twist 39 , but she had pass 12 of those age in prison house for criminal offence that made internal headline .
Aimee : Oh . Oh , sh*t .
Arturo : multitude had been discussing Lynette ’s life choices since 1969 because she was also a diehard follower of Charles Manson . Gimme the euphony again , Ben !
Aimee : Oooh sh*t . I should have known it was a Charles Manson follower , because she was like — I imply , this is a child felon . I intend , you jazz , not like — she ’s only 39 . She ’s been in jail .
Arturo : Yeah . Have you get word of her before , Lynette Fromme ?
Aimee : No , I ’ve heard of like the Krenwinckle and Texand like the other ones that were , like , arrested for the murders , but I don’t — I’d never heard of her .
Arturo : Well , Lynette had actually lived such a wild life history before she was put away up , and that ’s what we ’re gon na get into today . OK ?
Aimee : Great .
Arturo : But two days before Christmas in 1987 , why was n’t Lynette in her cell ?
Aimee : Ooh .
Arturo : So the guards scramble to ask the other inmates when they had last seen Lynette . And they all said that it was just before 9 p.m. That mean when the guards started attend , Lynette had been gone for less than an hour .
Her disappearance mystified the prison officials . They had no estimate when she had sneak away or how she got out . The prison itself was exceedingly remote . It was about 12 naut mi to the nearest town in southeast West Virginia . It held almost a thousand women , including many under what they called “ maximum sentry duty . ”
Aimee : I was gon na ask — was this like a max prison house ? Like , what ’s the situation ?
Arturo : Max , maximum safeguard . So , basically , it should have been really punishing for Lynette to run . The officers search all the prison buildings , but could n’t regain any sign of her . There were also no hole in the prison house fencing material or any sign of how she got past the barbed wire . Who the f * * * fuck ?
Aimee : OK .
Arturo : Then federal agents were called in for the hunt club . But they did n’t really have much to go on , you know , because weirdly enough , prisoner at Alderson were not required to wear uniforms .
Aimee : Oh , well then it ’s not a maximum guard . What are we doing here ?
Arturo : Were they just like encouraged to care , give tongue to themselves ? They ’re like , “ How are we feel today , you guys ? ”
Aimee:“I opine I ’m gon na wear a hook halter . ” Yeah . What the hell ?
Arturo : The description given to local residents said that she had been last wearing a dark-green regular army crownwork , khaki pants , and a penchant for risk . No . And a crimson checker banana , right ?
Aimee : That ’s like a very fashionable outfit . Like , what are we doing here ?
Arturo : I know . She ’s just like slapped it on . That ’s like , a effective brunch outfit , you acknowledge ?
Aimee : Oh , totally .
Arturo : She ’s like , “ I ’m gon na go out , but in case I have an impromptu brunch group meeting , I ’m just gon na weary this . ”
Aimee : Right .
Arturo : And the primary matter was that she had freckles and blazing crimson tomentum .
Aimee : So they had hair dyestuff at the f***ing prison ? Or maybe she was a instinctive red ?
Arturo : No , it was a spa . Right . I think it ’s just a spa . So this is n’t fair to Gingers , though . I mean , think you ’re just another local , West Virginia , 39 - class - former with red hair’s-breadth and a W.C. full of Army jackets . Like how would you feel ?
Aimee : unfit .
Arturo : Have redheads not been through enough . And Caucasians in general , have they not been through enough , Aimee ?
Aimee : Just give white citizenry a chance . Give them a geological fault . Here ’s the thing with ginger , they have to go through their life sentence as peppiness . And you live , that ’s severely enough . I intend , I bought the Prince Harry book , like we ’re read it . I ’m just saying that like …
Arturo : That ’s your defence for like — whenever you ’re like , “ Are you hating on ginger ? ” She ’s like , “ Hey guy , I have the Prince Harry book ! ”
Aimee : Yeah , yeah , yeah .
Arturo : So tips set forth flow in . Apparently she had been spotted nearby many , many times . But as teams of ship’s officer part to investigate the sightings , they find that all of them were cases of mistaken identity .
Aimee : Oh sh*t . How many redhead with — what ? !
Arturo : Yeah , what the f * * * ? Like match the verbal description and –
Aimee : Like Appalachia . Like they were like –
Arturo : It was a massive exodus from Ireland .
Aimee : That ’s so weird .
Arturo : And gingers were just being handed over to the constabulary lead and right for questioning , which is genuinely , truly hilarious . Being like , “ condone me , ma’am . ” Be like , “ I am literally the lady friend from Wendy ’s . ” Like , “ f***ing get out me alone . ”
Aimee : Right , right , right . What did I do ? What is my crime ? Being a ginger ?
Arturo : That ’s right .
So more than a hundred factor swept the woods and hill around the prison house using dogs to endeavor to pick up Lynette ’s lead . But two days subsequently , they still had n’t derive up with any shadow of her .
The prison warden say — OK get this — that the firedog were cramp by the dampness and bouldered soil … plus they were feeling like , really emotionally unavailable , you have a go at it ? do like , Mercury was in the Third House .
Aimee : They want a mental health day .
Arturo : Yeah . little meter bullsh*t like this was emphatically not gon na cut it because actually it might not have been all that hard for Lynette to get out , especially since there had been 15 escape from Alderson in just two years . Bro …
Aimee : Oh , for f * * * ’s sake .
Arturo : I’m tell you . They were like , “ cut back what you want twenty-four hours . ”
Aimee:“Do what you want . ”
Arturo : Yeah . They would have pleasure trip , which I—“you guys amount back whenever you ’re quick though . ”
If you were , if you were the warden though , and you ’re at the press league , how would you attempt to spin this ?
Aimee : Oh , I would just quit .
Arturo : Yeah , you ’d just throw in the towel ?
Aimee : I’d be like , “ I do n’t believe in the prison house scheme . Bye ! ”
Arturo : Yeah . Yeah , yeah . Yeah .
Aimee : There ’s no spin this .
Arturo : I inquire how a Miami city manager would do this , so like , “ Hey , heed everybody , OK ? People head for the hills . OK . What do you require me to do ? ”
Aimee:“Mira , it pass . OK , await , I had a really bad day . My belly was bruise . I went to the bathroom and she was give way . Y , that’sit , like … ”
Arturo:“Ythat ’s it ! What you want me to do about it ? OK ? ”
Aimee:“You know , it ’s severely . Yeah . ”
[ Both address Spanish ]
Arturo:“Why do n’t you worry about your life ? ”
Aimee : Let me ask you this , so — so did she commit one of the murders or she was just like , an accessory ? Like what was her crime ? Do we jazz ?
Arturo : I’m about to get to it .
Aimee : Oh , OK .
Arturo : I’m gon na blow your mind with this .
The functionary hunting for Lynette were n’t laugh , correct ? So word went out to the agencies in all 50 states .
The U.S. Marshalls start talking to everyone who had latterly been in touch with her , and the newspaper headline just — bam — hit the paper . It was December 25 , 1987 . So , Merry Christmas , Feliz Navidadto you , America .
Aimee : Merry Christmas , Lynette .
[ Christmas euphony ]
Arturo : That ’s right . Lynette Fromme is complimentary and she might be headed to a house near you .
Also , what a Tim Burton , Nightmare Before Christmaslittle vocal there , Ben . I was like — I wanted to keep blend in with that . I was like , cozying up .
Aimee : I live . I really have sex that sound .
Arturo : So , in fact , when Scripture went up the Ernst Boris Chain that Lynette had escape federal hands , the content reached all the way to the White House and the Secret Service was put on card . Yeah . They even tightened up security around the president .
Aimee : Oh for f * * * ’s rice beer .
Arturo : Because the intellect Lynette was immure in the first place — it was a really serious one .
Arturo : She had been locked up for a fail effort to assassinate — dun dun dun!—the President of the United States !
Aimee : Oh , what ? OK .
Arturo : Yeah !
Aimee : That ’s a plot twisting . Did she get close ? Like , what — or did she just call up about it and then –
Arturo : I’m about to distinguish you .
CHAPTER 2: Found Family
Arturo : OK , so you know how Lynette was a follower of Charles Manson , proper ? Well , we ’re pass all the way back to Manson ’s earliest days as a religious cult leader , because Lynette was actually his second recruit .
Aimee : OK so she got in on the earth level . She was like , “ I need in . ”
Arturo : She became like the foundation of the Manson family . So do you acknowledge — do you know much about the Manson family ?
Aimee : I do , I ’m obsess . There ’s actually a turn in Los Angeles shout The Dearly Departed Tour , and it ’s about like weird death . swell , I ask this f***ing touralone , and you could go — they take you up to the house . I have intercourse enough about it .
Arturo : To Cielo Drive ?
Aimee : Yeah , but now they changed the name . It ’s something else now , but like — but yeah , they ’ll take you up there .
But I sleep together — IthinkI know peradventure just like a skosh more than most hoi polloi , but I ’d never get a line of this one . So maybe I — maybe I ’m not as — yeah .
Arturo : permit me give you some details on [ it ] . So Lynette ’s intro to Charles Manson guide us back a couple decades to 1967 . Lynette was 18 and she ’d been recently sound off out by her parents for promiscuousness . She credibly like hook up with two guys or something , you know what I stand for ? Like , how it was back then .
Aimee:“Mira , she had a WAP . OK . She had WAP needs . ”
Arturo : OK . That ’s right .
Aimee : I work with this woman . You could just say in the ’ 60 she was f***ing killing it . And she was distinguish me this tarradiddle that she move to Venice Beach and she was approached by the Manson kinsperson .
Arturo : No .
Aimee : Yeah , dude . And that was like her great escape cock story . She never wish run to like a get together or anything . She got weird vibes immediately .
Arturo : Can you imagine the — the form of cute lady friend like that live in Venice Beach that did n’t get approach by a Manson family ? They ’d be like , “ So what ’s it about me that you did n’t like ? ” You know , they ’re super self conscious about it .
Aimee : Right , right , right , right . “ Was I not like light-haired enough ? ” But she — you could just secern she like — even as an older womanhood now , you appear at her and you ’re like , “ Oh you would ’ve – “
Arturo:“Oh , you would ’ve f***ing — you destroyed hearts . ”
Aimee : I mean , she ’s still kill it , but back then it was like — so I think Venice Beach was like ground zero for recruitment , but she get weird vibes from , you know , them . Anyway …
Arturo : Well , Charles brought her back to the planetary house where he was living at the clock time with his first mate , and together , the three of them started growing the Manson family . Now , by most account , Lynette became the family ’s master recruiter , right ? She would find other untested , isolated woman , enter them to Charles , and bestow them into the fold .
Aimee : That ’s creepy .
Arturo : Things start to change for the grow Manson family the next twelvemonth .
Aimee : Wow . Quick .
Arturo : Yeah . They were picked up by none other than Dennis Wilson , the drummer of –
Arturo and Aimee : The Beach Boys !
Arturo : Yeah . As the story goes , the women secernate Dennis about Charles Manson , their spiritual leader and instructor , and Dennis was curious and articulate he would like to contact Manson sometime . Right ? But he was in for a surprisal , because the next clip Dennis came home , he opened his door to find that Charles Manson was already in his family .
Aimee : OK , call the cops . What are we doing here ? We could have keep open all these life-time . [ singing ] “ spoilt vibrations . ” Yeah .
Arturo:[singing ] “ unfit vibrations … getting the crawl from this f***ing guy rope . ” So if this is you , at this point , are you riding the vibes or are you cash in one’s chips to the cops ? What are you doing ?
Aimee : No , man . Well , it depends . Look , it was sixties . Everybody was probably passing high-pitched , so he was like , “ OK , this is nerveless , I guess … ”
Arturo : That ’s exactly it . You hit it on the head . Dennis and Charles just smoked some green goddess together , and who screw what Charles pronounce , but Dennis was super charmed right . Now …
[ Bong rip ]
Oh , is that a bong sound that you put - put in , Ben ?
Ben Chugg : Yeah . Sorry , I just — I necessitate to take a rip .
Arturo : Yeah . I was like , “ Is that a sound in my house ? ”
It did n’t take long for Dennis to invite Charles , Lynette , and the residual of the family to move into his house on Sunset Boulevard .
Aimee : Wait , wait , wait , wait . They impress in ? Oh , I did n’t cognize that .
Arturo : They moved in with Dennis . Yeah .
Arturo : So for a short while , at least , Lynette found herself literally living in the mansion of one of the Beach Boys . And this is when , listen , they — they were at the top of their f***ing game , right ? The ’ sixty . I mean , if this was today , whose house would you be moving into , if you had a choice — if you were in a fad ?
Aimee : For sure I ’d move into like , Taylor Swift ’s , like , penthouse in Tribeca . Like , that ’s what we ’re deal with .
Arturo : Right , right .
Aimee : Like , we want the tender top . Um –
Arturo : I wanna go to Madonna ’s house and just be like , “ OK , how do we live evermore ? Let ’s figure this f***ing thing out . ”
Aimee : Yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah . Or Cher . Cher ’s household .
Arturo : Like , are we like , “ Do we pay heed upside down ? ” Yeah . Cher ’s . I ’m care , “ So who do we sacrifice ? have ’s do it . ” And I was like , “ Do you think in life after making love ? ”
Aimee : I do believe in that facelift , beloved bun !
Arturo : So Charles Manson had major dream at the euphony industry , right ? We obviously do n’t , cause we ’ve just been peach sh*t about the icons of the medicine industry . So we ’ll never make it in music , but f * * * it .
It seemed like this new association to the Beach Boys was his big tag . But after getting in with Dennis , thing did n’t go that swimmingly .
You roll in the hay , the Beach Boys were kind of a family striation for the three Wilson Brothers , and it seemed like Dennis was the only one who really like Charles . The others thought he was pretty f***ing creepy and tried to keep him at a distance . And actually , when we were getting ready for this episode , we detect an old recording that the Wilson Brothers must have written about Charles .
Ben , can you play this little tape ?
[ Cassette SFX ]
Ben Chugg : Yeah , permit me uh , just put it in here . Just a moment .
Arturo : Oh , oh , you have a magnetic tape player ?
Ben Chugg : Yeah , it ’s an erstwhile cassette .
Aimee : Oh , it is for real ?
Ben Chugg : All right . mechanical press play here .
“ Little creepy dude(little creepy dude)(little creepy dude)little creepy buster . You know you ’re kinda shy . You ’re a bit like a mouse . But , bro , this guy is weird . Get him outta your house . He may seem chill cause he smoke a ton of potful , But he ’s got a bunch of weapons and murderous game . He ’s a trivial creepy gallant . trivial creepy-crawly dude . ”
[ Cassette disturbance ]
Arturo : Oh my God .
Aimee : Is this about you , Arturo ?
Arturo : Oh my God . Yes , it ’s my autobiography .
Aimee : That is hilarious .
Arturo : Um , dude that — Ben create that strain just for this episode . Let ’s give him a round of clapping .
Aimee : Who , whose part is that ? I have in mind , arrive on .
Arturo : That ’s Ben doing it all .
Ben : No , that ’s the Beach Boys . I do n’t know what you guys are talking about .
Arturo : Oh my God , Ben , that was f***ing atomic number 79 . I wanna keep that forever .
Aimee : F***ing gold .
Arturo : I’m still not over the fact that there was a lyric that suppose “ and a murderous plot ” in a Beach Boys , uh , background . I will cherish that forever .
Aimee : So in effect .
Arturo : So one day in the transcription studio apartment , right , Manson take out a knife on a manufacturer who suggested modify some of his lyrics . So , that was kind of the final stubble for the eternal sleep of the Wilson Brothers . They finally convinced Dennis to kick Charles , Lynette , and the rest of the Manson family out of his house .
Aimee : Get the atomic number 9 * * * out .
Arturo : Yeah , so that September , the Beach Boys did immortalize a revised version of a Song dynasty by Charles . Can you think ?
Aimee : Oh , so he wrote the song or what ?
Arturo : So , yeah , so they — they register a revise rendering of one of his songs , so evidently Dennis had changed the song and even give it a new name . Manson had called the song “ Cease to Exist , ” and Dennis Wilson called it “ Never determine Not to Love . ”
That is what I f***ing call — yeah . Also , none of these –
Aimee : But also like so unlike . Like he ’s like , “ stop to exist , I require to stamp out him , ” and the other one ’s like , “ love . ”
Arturo : But no , after the whole tongue thing , would you even presume to steal someone ’s work like that ?
Aimee : I bet he was real pissed .
Arturo : F * * * no . I ’d be like –
Aimee : Get me outta here and I ’m calling the cops — I do n’t even like the bull . I ’m gon na call the cops . They could have saved — you know what I intend ? Like murderers just do n’t go from like smoke weed to like slaying . It ’s like , there are — there were signal along the way , like what happened ?
Arturo : Yeah , yeah , yeah . To smoothen thing over with Charles , apparently Dennis gave him some cash and a bike .
CHAPTER 3: Swelter Shelter
Arturo : After about a class of exist with Manson , Lynette moved with the whole family to a desert ranch out of doors of LA .
Aimee : Yep .
Arturo : And by then , the Manson family had grown to five men and 13 women . Now the proprietor of the spread , George Spahn , had been a dairy farm farmer in his young days , but by this point he was mostly blind and had problem doing the employment of maintain the buildings and the land .
Overlords , how did they meet this George ? Do we know ?
Tory Smith : There was a mechanic who live on on the ranch , and Manson had endure there to see if he could fix the cult motorbus , but as soon as he come , he realise what hereallywanted was to move in .
Arturo : To George Spahn ’s Spahn Ranch .
Aimee : Oh .
Arturo : Of of course they had a f***ing bus , alright , in the ’ 60 . Could you even be a cult if you did n’t have a bus to drive around with ?
Aimee : Yeah , you needed that bus . You needed the busbar . You need to be barefoot , and you needed , like … scores of dirty things .
Arturo : Yeah , yeah , exactly . So famously , the cattle farm had previously been a motion-picture show hardening . It was 55 Accho dotted with buildings that had been used to film installment ofThe Lone Ranger , Bonanza , and a bunch of B - list Westerns , right ?
But by the 1950s , George Spawn mostly made his money hire out horses . His mass with the Manson kin was that they would move into the place and aid out with the horses . And actually this was n’t that odd , cause the ranch had already been home to out - of - work stuntmen , and ranch manpower who live there for free in exchange for taking charge of the animal .
Aimee : Mmhm .
Arturo : Does this seem like an extremely weird or bad idea to you ? Or is this like , Hollywood normal ? What do you think ?
Aimee : No , this is a bad idea , but do — do you commemorate — I imply , it ’s severe to get the ikon out of my head because in that Quentin Tarantino movie , Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — did you see that flick ?
Arturo : Yeah , yeah , yeah . I saw it .
Aimee : There ’s … they — they have a George Spahn character , which is Bruce Dern , and he ’s like , in that back house or whatever .
Arturo : Yeah , throw it out there . So , prison officials did n’t sleep together how she had done it , and they had no idea what would happen next . If you remember that 15 the great unwashed had escaped from the prison house just in two twelvemonth , is it really about the natural endowment of the escapee or is it more about the prison ? They were like , “ we do n’t bed how the f * * * she did it ! ”
Arturo : Yeah , yeah . It was a little more running and gun ‘ em . Yeah .
Aimee : You know what I intend ? I intend that maybe mass were n’t as like , uh … I do n’t know . Uh , think people were atrocious , I guess . I do n’t know . But … but yeah , I –
Arturo : Which changed with the — with the Manson family , I suppose , a pile .
Aimee : Yeah . Yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah . Because you ’re like , “ Oh , peace and love — hippies are peace and love . ”
Arturo : Yeah , and “ peace and dear ” was still the reputation when the family make a motion to the cattle ranch .
Now , Charles Manson was the head of the family , but it ’s pretty unmortgaged that Lynette was the one behind the scenes keeping the family unionise . She did whatever paperwork the family needed and , you know , help them –
Aimee : Paperwork .
Arturo : Yeah . Paperwork . “ Yeah . So how many intimate favors are we handing out today ? OK . And how much ganja ? ” Uh , that fing — that Excel chart must have see fing unearthly .
Aimee : Yeah . “ A cock sucking for a dime bag . ”
Arturo : Yeah . Oh my god . So uncanny . Speaking of which she helped them in reality get to the doctor when the STIs circularise through the radical , which was obviously pretty frequent .
Arturo : Yeah , they were right slap in the midsection of the Sexual Revolution thanks to the invention of the tab . But group like the Manson cult obviously were n’t protecting themselves . So for George , she clean up the house , get it paint , kick out the cowman and start up helping with meals and other daily routines as they got to sleep together each other — oh God , this is so f***ed up — George gave nicknames to the women in the Manson menage , right ? He called Lynette “ Squeaky ” for the way that she would react when he pinch her . Like , what a thoroughgoing one-time human race way to give somebody a nickname .
Aimee : OK , well now here we go . Even though he was almost blind , you know , I think he plausibly wanted to have youthful women around him and clearly he was filch their asses and sh*t .
[ Squeak ]
So he was a weenie .
Arturo : Is that the sound of an ass – ?
Aimee:[makes sound ]
Arturo : So the most raunchy account say that the Manson family cleaning lady offered George sexual favors to stay on the ranch , and they call Squeaky his defacto married woman .
Aimee : heed , they committed murder for sure . There were some . You know –
Arturo : Hey homo , hey , somebody ’s got ta ante up rent .
Aimee:“You pay another way : ass , cash , or petrol . No one rides for liberal . ”
Arturo : I see . So Squeaky has said that she did n’t have a sexual human relationship with Spahn , but Manson was preaching a kind of free love overture to sex , so honestly , at this point , it ’s hard to f***ing live whether she did or she did n’t .
And you know , let ’s not get romantic about what Charles Manson was teach . For example , his Helter Skelter message . If you hump much about this narrative , which I know you do , you probably know that by this point he was teaching that there was gon na be a raceway warfare total that would pit livid and Black Americans against each other . Manson tell that the whitened Americans would fall back , but then he and his crime syndicate would be able to blot out in the desert , and once the rest of the whites were massacre , he would emerge and rule over the non - white universe .
Arturo : This is both first-rate racist and extremely narcissistic .
Aimee : Yeah dude — nobody verbalize about the racial discrimination .
Arturo : You could n’t even get a phonograph recording off the ground , a**hole . Like , how does this rank in the most delusional religious cult story you ’ve heard ? It ’s jolly up there , yeah ?
Aimee : Well , I signify that — I call up you have to be delusional . That ’s like , requisite number one , is to be delusional .
Arturo : It ’s that sense of grandeur .
Aimee : He probably had some f**ing Hitler phantasy and sht . But it ’s funny cause nobody ever fetch up the racial aspect of the Charles Manson thing .
Arturo : No . And also at the time they used it so much as like , I guess straight Americans used it as test copy of , “ Look , fing hippies are fing bad and they ’re homicidal motherf***ers . ” It really kick –
Aimee : Yeah , yeah .
Arturo:–off a … a dark stop for — for trust of free spirited people , I infer .
Aimee : Right , right , right .
Arturo : Manson ’s fantasies of world power were obviously f**ing banana , but when things would get in his elbow room , he would dead fall behind his sht .
Like when a couple of drug deals to the family went bad , Charles started using the members of the house as an attack team , and that ’s they started pop hoi polloi . Now , at first it was a couple of isolated murders that the cops could n’t lick . But in the springtime of 1969 , a music producer refuse to sign Manson to a platter contract .
Aimee : Was this the euphony producer who then rented the theatre to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate ?
Arturo : There you go . There you go . So what comes next were the notorious murders on back to back nights . Right ?
So first were the killings [ at ] Sharon Tate ’s house . Right ? She had moved into the planetary house where the record producer used to hold up . on the dot . They killed her along with another four people in her theater . And then the next night , Manson said he was going to show his killers how to do it right .
Aimee : An older couple . But you know what I suppose too , this was demented , and I do n’t know if this is like in reality honest or if it was just in the movie , or I read it somewhere , but I thought that Charles Manson in reality went to that star sign where Sharon Tate was staying and was like , “ I wanna talk to Roger , ” or whatever the name of the music producer was .
And like Jay Sebring , who is like — was Sharon Tate ’s like , friend , that was staying with her was like , “ Oh no , he does n’t live here anymore . ” So they have a go at it that they did n’t survive there any longer and they still obliterate the people in that business firm .
Arturo : Right . Right . I — I do know that he , he knew that the producer lived there . I do n’t acknowledge if he had that interaction with Jay , but –
Aimee : They decidedly — I do n’t know if he like , had the conversation , but I sleep with that he — they found him in the back sign of the zodiac one mean solar day . Like , he was lurking . He was pussyfoot . And they were like , “ get the f * * * outta here . ”
Arturo : So the report has been told a flock of time , right ? So we wo n’t go into detail about the the Sharon Tate murders . But for Squeaky , the crucial part was what happened when they were finally linked to the Manson sept . They took a little clip , but the Manson family was already in trouble with the law .
So the cops had arrived at the cattle farm a workweek after the murders , but they were looking for stolen fomite , they smashed up the cattle farm and catch the entire Manson family for deluxe thievery auto , but had to drop the charge . For a few month , it seemed like the family had actually make away with all their crime . And we ca n’t even be wholly certain that Squeaky knew about the murders , but could you f***ing believe that she did n’t bang anything at this point in time ?
Aimee : Oh no , for sure she f***ing knew . Yeah , yeah , yeah .
Arturo : Like , of track she did . She was like number two .
Arturo : So two calendar month later , the fuzz came back and arrested everyone again . And this time the pig were able to make the car looting charge dumbfound to a few of the family member .
But while they were shut away up , one of the woman named Susan Atkins start vaunt to the other prisoners that she and the family had place the cryptic murders . OK ? So liquidator are always bragging , correct ?
Aimee : buster .
Arturo : Like , if this was so , why — why is there always — well , do n’t get me incorrect , I ’m happy that he got caught , but why are they always going to other people in jail and being like , you sleep with , “ f***ing – “
Aimee : They should have named her ass Squeaky . She was — she was a informal cannon . I mean , she was –
Arturo : That ’s a squeaky bike that you require to grease right there .
Aimee : Yeah . wanton — loose lip cesspit ship , and that ’s what encounter there .
Arturo : So — so by December , Susan the Tattletale had a deal with the police force , plus her lawyer had in fact , actually baffle her a al-Qur’an contract .
Aimee : Oh sh*t .
Arturo : Her testimonial before the grand jury about the murder sprinkle into the newspaper . It even became the book binding ofLifemagazine .
Now the five members of the Manson kinsfolk who commit the murders were convict and sentenced to decease . The respite of the cult did n’t really have a plan , so they scattered across California .
Now , Squeaky move into a motel with another penis , and they tried to work out out how to bear out Manson through his trials .
Aimee : Yup .
Arturo : She even answered the letters that were sent to him saying that he was innocent and that he was being blast by the federal agency who did n’t want him to remake the cosmos . Personally , I ’m not squad , “ Let Charles Manson harness the man ” Like , what — I do n’t be intimate how you feel about this .
Aimee : It ’s a bad idea . It ’s f**ing terrible . No , thanks . And then there were people that were like fans of his — like , you know , some btch married him in jail .
Arturo : There ’s some mad people out there .
Aimee : Sick .
Arturo : Also that he seek to spin it as in like , there ’s this ideologic race war where all it really was was he was sending his followers to wish retaliation shoot down somebody that thought — that did n’t give him a f***ing contract .
Aimee : Listen , I ’m not — not to boil it down to something like so reductive , but like , I think part of the reason , like Hitler had a fing , like — whatever he … fed up sh*t he had in his mind is cause he was like a failed artist . You know what I mean ? And then he got really angry and then just — and it became this whole other thing and so –
Arturo : Small , fragile gentleman tend to — once given power , they be given to f***ing take it out in the world .
Aimee : Yeah , they get reject and then they ’re just like , “ Well , now I ’m just gon na be a mass murderer . ” And I think that that ’s , uh — you bed , with Charles Manson , it was like he was , you know , freeze off .
Arturo : That feeling of inadequacy , just like — yeah , he was like — he had powerfulness in his little bubble and he abused it , and I desire he rots in f***ing sin for the rest of his eternity .
Aimee : Oh , he ’s in there , he ’s in Hell for sure .
Arturo : So in the fall of 1970 , a wildfire burn through the Spahn Ranch , and anyone who still had aspiration of reviving the Manson family would have to find somewhere else to do it .
[ Stinger ]
Are — are we in a spy novel ? Is this — yes , this is the James Bond , ’ 70s part of it .
Aimee : Yeah , sound like it .
CHAPTER 4: Run and Gun
Arturo : Charles Manson was sent to end words at St. Quentin Prison . Now outside , Squeaky started process on a Word of God telling the tale of the Manson family . Lynette felt that the whole trial had been stage - managed by the authorities to give the haywire depression about Manson , and she still need to recruit raw member to their way of life .
Now , meanwhile , in prison house , Charles Manson was kind of undermining her at every turn because he was presently joining the Aryan Brotherhood , which is a white supremacist prison gang , which was a jar to perfectly f***ing no one .
Aimee : No one .
Arturo : Kinda , yeah . Kind of hard to get the wrong impression about that , right ? Like , say — say you ’re a bystander in the 1970s : Is there anything in the human race Lynette could do that would change your mind ?
Aimee : Here ’s the affair . I mean , it hap now too . It ’s like , people recount you who they are , they show you who they are over and over and over . You could literally have a picture , you sleep with , with like a — a Grand Wizard of the KKK and people are like , “ Well , that was just — I do n’t know , like , is he ? He ’s not — we do n’t know if he ’s racist . ” You know ? It ’s like citizenry are just making up stori-
Arturo : It ’s incredible what people are capable to f***ing deny , like the denial that people can go into .
Aimee : Oh , yeah . justify off . You know , it ’s suspect because it ’s like she drank the Kool - assist , but she also made the Kool - help too , so she was in too deep . She was never getting out .
Arturo : Yeah . The tidy sum that Manson strike with the Aryan Brotherhood was a trade : They would protect him inside the prison house , and then on the outside , the Manson folk would look after the crew penis . appendage of the Manson syndicate even helped an Aryan Brotherhood member escape from prison in August of 1971 . And Squeaky ’s roommate was the f***ing getaway number one wood .
Aimee : What ?
Arturo : And this sh*t is dark , right ? So one night when Squeaky was away , Aryan Brotherhood members murdered one of her friends inside the sign of the zodiac where they lived . The police force subsequently found the body buried in the basement . Oof . So you know what this leaven more than anything ? That none of these girl had a Latina female parent .
Aimee : Mira .
Arturo : If I went to my mom and I ’d be like , “ Yo , yeah , so I ’m gon na join a cult , ” she ’s like , “ OK . Yeah . And you and what Army ? ”
Aimee : OK , mira , you ’re never leaving the firm again .
Arturo:“OK , cool . I hope you — I hope you enjoy being here until you ’re 35 . ”
Aimee : A hundred percent .
Arturo : So for both the prison escape valve and the execution , Lynette was nail as a member of the conspiracy and have for as long as possible . Both time , the constabulary — they had to release her , right , cause they never had lineal evidence that she was regard in the plans . All they did have was her constant stream of letter to Charles Manson in prison house as he await execution .
What ’s the wild thing you ’ve ever done for lovemaking , Aimee Carrero ?
Aimee : I would likely say I give up my very overnice flat that I loved to move in with my hubby .
Arturo : There you go .
Aimee : That ’s it . That ’s it .
Arturo : That ’s it . That ’s all you dumbfound .
Aimee : Love is not supposed to be a agony situation .
Arturo : No , no . OK . This is a two - style street with two way item to me . OK ?
Aimee : OK ?
Arturo : Before Manson ’s time was carried out , though , California ’s death penalty was ruled unconstitutional . Manson and the other murderer were not gon na be execute for their crimes . Charles was moved out of St. Quentin to another prison house further inland .
So Lynette decided to follow . She impress into a small apartment in Sacramento . Now , she was n’t allowed to in reality see Charles , but she still go to the prison regularly just to ask how he was doing . God !
And then came September 1975 .
That ’s when Lynette decided to wipe out the President of the United States !
Aimee : The United States President !
Arturo : The president !
Aimee : Man . What was her squawk with the president ? What ’s happening ?
Arturo : So Charles Manson detest authorisation and his whole persona at this stop was about the United States being overthrown . But he had taken a picky dislike to Richard Nixon after Nixon had made fun of him during the murder trial , cause he ’s a f***ing small man with a very fragile ego .
Aimee : Small Isle of Man !
Arturo : You see what I ’m tattle about ? He ’s like , this is the particular gripe . He embarrassed him and that ’s –
Aimee : Yeah . He embarrassed . It ’s not — never bear in mind like the Vietnam sh*t . It was like , “ no , you made fun of me , therefore you must go . ”
Arturo : That ’s it . Yeah . So the president was Gerald Ford now , but that did n’t make a whole lot of departure . Right ? The Manson kinsperson hated whoever the President of the United States was . Very tell apart multitude , these mass . So when President Ford was visiting Sacramento in 1975 , Squeaky had her opportunity . He was give a language downtown right in her Modern stomping grounds .
Arturo : Now , between appointments , Ford decided to take the air through the parking area and say hello to the good people of Sacramento . A path was cleared for him and as he give way along , shaking hands until he reach a small woman in a flushed coating . Lynette Squeaky Fromme . From under that red coat , Squeaky pulled a Colt .45 .
Aimee : Oh god .
Arturo : She raised the throttle … and pulled the induction .
But … it did n’t go off .
Aimee : Oh f * * * . That was lucky — but lucky for Ford .
Arturo : Yeah . The artillery fall into place , but no crack was fired . Despite being loaded with four slug , the gun just did n’t go off . The clandestine service officers around Squeaky plunge forward . They crashed into her , and they threw her to the ground . informant remember that she yelled , “ It did n’t go off ! ” as she move down . It ’s like , “ give thanks you for the information , we were there ! ”
Aimee:“Yeah , we eff . ”
Arturo : So when the police look for Lynette ’s flat after the arrest , they find letters from the International People ’s Court of Retribution .
Aimee : What the f * * * is that ?
Arturo : They were full of threats against other politics officials and the leaders of large company . Apparently , President Ford had just been the first object on the tilt . Now , the International People ’s Court was completely made up by Squeaky and her roommate .
Aimee : I was gon na say — I was like , “ never heard of it . ” Yeah , yeah , yeah .
Arturo : Also I love the , like , workshopping of the championship . Be like , “ OK , so the — the Vengeful People . No , it ’s too harsh . It ’s too coarse . ”
Aimee:“No , it ’s too much . It ’s too coarse . countenance ’s make it sound more prescribed . International . Yep . That ’s good . ”
Arturo:“Yeah that ’s right . Yeah , cause we ’re everywhere . ”
So this time , the case was very simple . At the federal trial , Squeaky did n’t even try out to fight the thrill . She just pled guilty to her blackwash attempt .
Arturo : It made her the first womanhood in the U.S. to be convict for the crime .
CHAPTER 5: True Crime
Arturo : So Lynette was return a life prison term and thing did n’t go exactly swimmingly in prison . Right ? In March 1979 , Squeaky attacked a fellow con with a claw conclusion of a power hammer .
Aimee : Goddamn .
Arturo : She said that the other woman was , get this , “ A white middle - class rich b*tch who does n’t merit to live . ” I ’m like — is this the Battle of the Karens , or what ?
Aimee : I entail struggle of the Karens ? Listen , she’s — she is a white , middle - class rich btch . That does n’t even make any mother wit . You ca n’t be halfway classandrich , btch !
Arturo : Yeah , that ’s correct . precisely . She , uh — she ’s a white , misfortunate , middle class , rich , and communist b*tch , and it ’s like , I don’t — there ’s a lot going on in the International People ’s Court . Also , who the f * * * is pay inmates pounding ?
Aimee : That ’s another beneficial enquiry , Arturo . What — what is this prison ? Was it like , a f***ing kindergarten ? Like … geez .
Arturo : It was tremendous for the inmates . So she was still trying to Helter Skelter , ostensibly . Even long after that , in December 1987 , she write to a friend that she only feel alive when she was thinking about Charles Manson . And so a few years by and by when Squeaky got a speech sound call tell her that Charles Manson was exit of testicular malignant neoplastic disease , she was desperate to see him again . Ninety minutes after the call , she disappear from her prison in West Virginia .
So now we ’ve give way through her fib up to that point . Do you sense any otherwise about the fact that she was able to just f***ing disappear from detention ?
Aimee : No man . It should n’t have go on . Should n’t have happened . You have it away , who cares why she did it ?
Arturo : Yeah . F * * * the reasons .
Aimee : F * * * her motive !
Arturo : F * * * her motivation . That ’s right . She ’s claw hoi polloi . She’s — she ’s hammer multitude .
Aimee : number on !
Arturo : So , Squeaky apparently escaped without leaving any traces as to how she got out . She did n’t even leave a trail out of the prison , ripe ? She had just up and vanished .
Aimee : She had help for indisputable . I ’m , I ’m just — I’m just going for it . I ’m gon na say she had help . OK .
Arturo : Yeah , throw it out there . So prison officials did n’t know how she had done it , and they had no idea what would happen next . If you call up that 15 hoi polloi had escape from the prison just in two year , is it really about the talent of the escapee or is it more about the prison house ? They were like , “ we do n’t know how the f * * * she did it ! ”
Aimee:“We have no idea how she did it . ”
Arturo : They were just climbing the 8 - substructure fence and guide into the woods . That ’s all they were doing .
So when Lynette escaped , the president was n’t the only one who pass on warning signal . One of the prosecuting officer who had handled their case pop hold a gunslinger during her trial , and he was disturbed that she would come up after him .
Another prosecutor on the Charles Manson case worried that Lynette was on her fashion to demote Manson outta poky .
Aimee : Hmm .
Arturo : So he bulge out spinning up some crazy chronicle for the press , telling them that Lynette might even take surety somewhere and demand Manson ’s departure . No one was dependable . Like , what are you doing , humankind ?
Aimee : Just overspread public panic .
Arturo:“Yeah , she ’s gon na drop from the melodic line , you see ? She ’s got fly people , you see ? ”
Aimee:“Yeah , she ’s gon na take ya surety ! ”
Arturo : They all like regress to 1915 , uh –
Aimee : They’re like , dude , it ’s the ’ eighty .
Arturo : Despite the fear jump up in the headlines , Lynette was n’t raiding home across the Midwest to take prisoners . In fact , she did n’t even get very far . That afternoon , two prison house officers drive on a nearby road saw a woman walking on the berm of it . She was wearing a unripe Army jacket crown and khaki pants , and she was inebriate –
Aimee : Change your apparel , b*tch . What are you doing ?
Arturo:–through from the pelting . That ’s right . They just did n’t go with the red pilus . They pulled the car over , launch the room access , and Squeaky just climbed inside . After all that , she just f***ing gave up . I mean , if you were that pass heavily , what would — you remember would break commitment like that ?
Aimee : She did n’t want it forged enough , human race . Yeah .
Arturo : She ’s like , “ you eff what , it ’s cold . I ’m wet . F * * * it . ” justly ?
Aimee : I wanna go home .
Arturo : So in the conflict of Nature versus Squeaky , Nature come out on top . When she locomote to trial for the evasion try , she put in a plea of no competition , and it added 15 years to her sentence . She was sent back into detainment and eventually transferred to a prison in Lexington , Kentucky , where they in reality had uniforms . What do you know ?
Aimee : Whattaya know !
Arturo : So Lynette ’s competitiveness was over . She did n’t break away prison house again . But even in 1994 , the surrogate DA who prosecuted Manson said that he believed Squeaky was still keeping the flame alive for Manson . His Bible about the murders , Helter Skelter , became one of the best - selling reliable criminal offence accounts in history .
In 2009 , Lynette was paroled . She was 60 years former . She ego - published a memoir on the Manson family in 2018 , and she writes about her time with Manson in such glad , glow terms that it basically seems like she still believes that the things that they were doing were good , you have a go at it ?
Aimee : Oh yeah . No , she ’s a toast .
Arturo : The last sentence insist that she never think to kill the president . It say , “ There was no bullet in the sleeping room of that gun . ” Yeah , they were there . OK ?
Aimee : Just did n’t go off .
Arturo : Yeah , it did n’t go off . OK . You got lucky . He got favourable .
Arturo : Charles Manson finally died in detention in 2017 . Any hypothesis of him harness the world was finally over .
Aimee : Thank god .
Arturo : And one final note on the Alderson Prison today : They require the inmates to wear khaki uniforms ! Did she just set a trend ?
Aimee : She ’s a trendsetter !
Arturo : At least that should save the local Army jacket devotee some bother .
Aimee : Wow . That b*tch just climbed the fencing . That ’s all she did .
Outro
Arturo : And that ’s it ! That ’s our storey . What did you think ? Any major takeaways from Squeaky ’s fib ?
Aimee : You know what ? I believe Squeaky could have had a much better position , a much better biography , if she had just memorize not to dye her hair red . You sleep together what I entail ? That was her bighearted — that was like , her biggest thing .
Arturo : We find out in her memoir she was actually light-haired the whole time .
Aimee : She ’s a blonde . Yeah , a blond .
Arturo : Also after they — everybody else hold out to prison , like … she had a probability to embark on a new life .
Aimee : D’oh . La estupidez ! Like , she could n’t have played it worse . She ’s done with — if she did n’t actually commit the murders , like that was her chance to flex her f***ing aliveness around and be like , “ You cognise what ? ”
Arturo:“I’ve understand the twinkle . ”
Aimee:“This is a young start . ” No .
Arturo:“And — and that guy from — that drummer from the Beach Boys who was really kind of cunning . I ’m gon na go see what the f * * * he ’s up to , you live ? ”
Aimee:“Yeah , I ’m gon na make amends . I ’m gon na join a 12 - step programme . ” Like , she really could have had a good life , but oh , she — take heed , Squeaky ’s got ta squeak .
Arturo : Listen , thank you so much for doing this . Can I ask you for our listeners where they can check you out ?
Aimee : Yeah . I intend , listen — thanks for having me , first of all . you could chance me on Instagram , at Aimee , A - I - M - atomic number 99 - E C - A - universal gas constant - radius - tocopherol - R - O , and the Twitters . But mostly I just talk about politics andDungeons and Dragons . I do n’t eff . This is fun .
Arturo : Of course . give thanks you so much , Aimee . We ’ll see you next time . Bye .
Aimee : See ya .
Credits
Arturo : Greatest Escapesis a production of iHeartRadio and FilmNation Entertainment , in association with Gilded Audio . Our executive producers are me , Arturo , Alyssa Martino and Milan Popelka from FilmNation Entertainment , Andrew Chugg and Whitney Donaldson from Gilded Audio , and Dylan Fagan from iHeartRadio .
The show is grow and edited by Carl Nellis and Ben Chugg , who are also , severally , our research overlord and medicine overlord . Our associate manufacturer is Tory Smith , who is our other overlord .
Nick Dooley is our technological director . Additional editing by Whitney Donaldson . Special thanks to Alison Cohen , Dan Welsh , Ben Ryzack , Sara Joyner , Nicki Stein , Olivia Canny , and Kelsey Albright .
Hey , thank you so much for listen , and if you ’re enjoy the show , please leave a rating or inspection . My ma will call you each personally and thank you , and we ’ll see you all next week .
