Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois • Page 28

RECORDS Saturday, August 8, 2009 Free Manson 'family' members haunted by horror LOS ANGELES (AP) Forty years ago, they were kids. Vulnerable, alienated, running away from a world wracked by war and rebellion. They turned to a cult leader for love and wound up tied to a web of unimaginable evil. They were part of Charles Manson's "Family" and now, on the brink of old age, they are the haunted. "I never have a day go by that I don't think about it, especially about the victims," says Barbara Hoyt who was 17 the summer of the Sharon Tate-LaBianca murders.

"I've long ago accepted the fact it will never go away." The ones who aren't in prison are scattered across the country. Some live under assumed names to hide their past from friends and business associates. Some have undergone surgery to remove the that Manson ordered them to carve on their foreheads, showing they were out of society. Some live with endless regret. Those who escaped taking that snuffed out at least part in the spasm of lives would seem to be lucky.

But their lives have been linked forever to one of the craziest mass murders in history. "Manson made a lot of victims besides the ones he killed," said Catherine Share, who once lived with the Manson Family under the nickname "Gypsy." "He destroyed lives. There are people sitting in prison who wouldn't be there except for him. He took all of our lives." It was 1969, the summer of the first moon landing. War was raging in Vietnam.

Hippies were in the streets of San Francisco, the last bastion of the waning counterculture movement. For many, that summer i is remembered for one thing the most shocking celebrity murders to ever hit Los Angeles. Mention of the Sharon Tate murders or the name Manson four decades later is enough to make people shudder. On the morning of Aug. 9, a housekeeper ran screaming from a home in lush Benedict Canyon.

She had discovered a This 1992 file photo shows the the hills of Los Angeles, where along with four others on the night ago, Manson "family" members running away from a world wracked turned to a cult leader for love and unimaginable evil, and now, on the haunted. scene of unspeakable carnage. Five bodies were scattered around the estate. The most famous, actress Sharon Tate, 26, the pregnant wife of director Roman Polanski, had been stabbed multiple times. But there were four others that day and two more the next.

Abigail Folger, 25, heiress to a coffee fortune; Jay Sebring, 35, celebrity hair stylist; Voyteck Frykowski, 32, a Polish film director and Steven Parent, 18, friend of the caretaker, were found stabbed or shot in a bloody scene. On the front door the victims' blood was used to scrawl the words, "Death to The city was thrown into a state of fear. If that was not enough, a similar murder scene was discovered the next night. Wealthy grocer Leno La Bianca, 44, and his wife Rosemary, 38, were found stabbed to death in their home across town. A killer had carved the word "WAR" on Leno La Bianca's body.

The words "Helter were written in blood on the refrigerator. "These murders were probably the most bizarre in the Manson on Aug. 9-10, 1969 have spent decades trying to bury their past and free themselves from his grasp. Some never succeeded. Sandra Good and Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme committed crimes later that they said were for Manson and went to federal prison.

When Good, 65, was paroled she moved near the maximum security prison that holds Manson, reportedly so she could "feel his Fromme, 60, is due for parole this summer after serving 33 years for the attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford. In 1969, there were perhaps 30 of them, a ragtag band of Associated Press runaways and dropouts living on a movie ranch in the San Benedict Canyon estate, sheltered in Fernando Valley, all loyal to a actress Sharon Tate was murdered of Aug. 9, 1969. Forty years shaggy-haired con man who were kids. Vulnerable, alienated, preached a gospel of violence.

by war and rebellion. They bers and Manson are in Five of the "Family" memwound up tied to a web of brink of old age, they are the prison for the infamous TateLaBianca murders. Three are in prison for others crimes recorded annals of American and two have been released. crime," said Vincent Bugliosi, Those who are free are still the former deputy district trying to sort out how they attorney who prosecuted the fell under his spell and how killers and wrote the book, they came so close to one of "Helter Skelter." the worst crimes of the 20th It would be more than three century. This is the annivermonths before the name sary of their nightmare.

Charles Manson was linked to They were very young when the crimes. And then the they found Manson or he story became even weirder. found them. Some were just The discovery of Manson's 14. Others were in their late clan living in a high desert teens and early 20s.

commune opened up the Share muses how she might astounding story of an ex-con- have been a lawyer or jourvict who had gathered young nalist had she never met people into a cult and ordered Manson. them to kill. His reasons still "We were just a bunch of remain a subject of debate. kids looking for love and Some say he wanted to attention and a different way foment a race war; others say to live," recalls Share, 66. "He it was senseless.

was everything to us. He was "It was a -life horror a con, a manipulator of the story," recalled Stephen Kay, worst kind." who also prosecuted the Man- Hoyt was a 17-year-old who son Family. "Manson is the had left home after an argureal-life Freddie Kruger." ment with her father. She was The former prosecutors sitting under a tree eating her worry that Manson, 74, is lunch when a group of Manbecoming a folk hero to a new son followers came along in a generation. He is the subject van and asked her to go with of several Web sites, and them.

They went to a house in Manson souvenirs are sold the San Fernando Valley. online. "I met Charlie the next "Evil has its lure and Man- morning," she said. "He took son has become a metaphor me for a motorcycle ride and for evil," said Bugliosi. we went for doughnuts.

He Those cult members lucky was very nice. I thought he enough not to have killed for was pretty Now hiring: Everywhere you didn't want to work By The Associated Press Some of the dirtiest, smelliest, most dangerous jobs are suddenly looking a lot more appealing in this economy. People who have been out of work for months are lining up for jobs at places they once considered unthinkable: slaughterhouses, sewage plants, prisons. "I have to just shut my mouth because I can't do anything about it," said Nichole McRoberts of Sedalia, who pictured more for herself at age 30 than working in a poultry plant, cutting diseased or damaged flesh off chicken carcasses. Recessions and tight job markets always force some people to take less-desirable or lower -paying work than they are used to.

But this recession has been the most punishing job destroyer in at least 60 years, slashing a net total of 6.7 million jobs. All told, 14.5 million people were out of work last month, with a jobless rate of 9.4 percent. The result is that many people have had to seek jobs they would not have considered in the past. Take Kristen Thompson. Before the recession, she worked at an upscale Los Angeles-area gym arranging pricey one-on-one personal training sessions.

Now she's a guard at a women's prison in rural Wyoming. After the gym laid her off last year, Thompson spent months looking for work. Even fast food restaurants failed to respond to her application. For each opening, dozens of other people seemed willing to work for less money. When she heard that a prison in Lusk, (population 1,447) was hiring, she leapt at the chance.

In her new job, she patrols cellblocks and monitors the mess hall. Back in L.A., she never had to worry about inmates with weapons or drug stashes or prisoners getting into fights. Yet she's hardly complaining. It's a job. "People have to pay the bills, so what we see is people kind of grasping at straws and taking anything that's available," said Matthew Freedman, assistant professor of labor economics at Cornell University.

The desperation of the longterm jobless has rippled through the labor force. More skilled and educated workers have filled clerical or restaurant jobs. So unskilled workers such as teenagers or high school graduates who once held most of those positions have displaced those even lower on the economic ladder, such as immigrants, Freedman noted. The intensified competition has hurt all workers even those who are still employed because it shrinks wages. Employers don't have to pay more to lure workers.

That helps explain why personal income fell 0.1 percent in June, excluding the one-time benefits of the government's stimulus program. Wages have fallen each month since October a total of 5 percent over the past eight months. Indeed, many people who have had to downshift to unsavory jobs have found they're now earning less, too. With two kids to support and just a high school diploma, McRoberts has few options in the job market. "I feel like I'm not accomplishing much," said McRoberts, who lives with her boyfriend and children.

"I'm paying my bills and my rent, but that's it." A year ago, McRoberts had a good job building tool boxes at Waterloo Industries Inc. The work was fast-paced and fun. And the nearly $14 an hour was plenty for her and her boyfriend to pay the bills. But as production slowed, Waterloo cut her hours. By February, she was out of a job.

Around Sedalia, some other employers had begun cutting staff, too. The result was a crowded job market and few openings. As her options dwindled, McRoberts decided to apply at a Tyson Foods Inc. poultry plant. She found work on the "re-processing line," where damaged birds are sent by Agriculture Department inspectors who spot bruises or sores on carcasses.

The plant is wet and noisy. McRoberts worries about injuries when nearby workers use knives to cut birds in a hurry. She fears being sliced during a moment of distraction. McRoberts spends evenings searching the Internet for other openings, but they are scarce. "Until things start booming again, I can't go anywhere else," she said.

"Otherwise I would." Work at poultry plants has often been done by recent immigrants, who now face more competition for such jobs. Hackers attack Twitter; Facebook also slows down NEW YORK (AP) Hackers on Thursday shut down the fast-growing messaging service. Twitter for hours, while Facebook experienced intermittent access problems. Twitter said it suffered a denial-ofservice attack, in which hackers command scores of computers toward a single site at the same time, preventing, legitimate traffic from getting through. The attacks may have been related the ongoing political conflict between Russia and Georgia.

They started with hackers using a botnet to send a flurry of spam e-mail messages that contained links to pages on Twitter, Facebook and other sites written by a single pro-Abkhazia activist, according to Bill Woodcock, research director of the San Francisco-based Packet Clearing House, a nonprofit that tracks Internet traffic. www.jg-tc.com DEATHS AREA Pearl Burgess WINDSOR Pearl Burgess, 88, of Windsor died at 6:52 p.m. Thursday (Aug. 6, 2009) at the Shelbyville Manor. The funeral will be at 2 p.m.

Sunday in the LovinsLockart Funeral Home in Windsor with the Rev. Richard Eident officiating. Visitation will be from noon until service time at the funeral home. Burial will be in the Windsor Cemetery. She was born Oct.

10, 1920, in Taneyville, the daughter of George and Willie Taylor Cook. She married Clarence M. Burgess in 1960; he survives. Other survivors include three sons, Ronald Burgess and Douglas Roberts, both of Shelbyville and Gary Roberts of Hillsboro, Ohio; one daughter, Burma Rudd of Valicity, Ohio; two sisters, Colleen Wyatt of Bolivar, and Juanita Hunsucker of Cedar Creek, 14 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by two brothers, two sisters and one great grandchild.

Mrs. Burgess was formerly employed as a cook and bartender at George's in Sullivan. She was a member of the VFW Auxiliary of Sullivan and the Eagles in Mattoon. Danny H. Decker GREENUP Danny H.

Decker, 67, of Greenup, formerly of Peoria, died at 3:20 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 5, 2009) at his residence. The graveside service will be at noon today (Aug. 8) at the Harmony Cemetery in rural Greenup.

Visitation will be a.m. at the Barkley Funeral Chapel in Greenup. He was born May 17, 1942, in Greenup, the son of Howard and Kathleen Sowers Decker. Surviving are three sons, Dennis Decker of Delavan, David Decker of Pekin, and Darrell Decker of Peoria; two daughters, Donna Decker and Deanna Decker, both of Peoria. He was preceded in death by his parents.

Mr. Decker was a machine oiler at Caterpillar in Peoria. Earl L. Horath SULLIVAN Earl L. Horath, 67, of Sullivan died at 10:55 a.m.

Wednesday (Aug. 5, 2009) in Decatur Memorial Hospital. A memorial service will be 10 a.m. Monday at the New Life Tabernacle in Sullivan MARRIAGE LICENSES Brad Andrew Spokas and Erin Marie Shinafelt, both of Marshalltown, Iowa Shane Michael Way and Anjenete Lyna Herman, both of Charleston SIREN REPORT Coles County sheriff Steven L.Mead, 19, 138 Woodlawn Mattoon, was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident after his vehicle went into a ditch near the intersection of County Roads 1050E and 650N at 8:52 p.m. Sunday.

Timothy D.Maulding, 33, 2221 Western Mattoon, was cited for driving under the influence of alcohol and improper lane use after his vehicle went into a field near the intersection of U.S. Route 45 and County Road 1600N at 6:30 a.m. Monday. Maulding was taken to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center. Charleston police Patrick W.

Hood, 25, 1125 Fourth was ticketed for leaving the scene of an accident after a collision at 9:50 a.m. Aug. 1 with a vehicle driven by Ronald L. Bradley of Ashmore at McDonald's, 12 W. Lincoln Ave.

Hood also was ticketed for driving without valid insurance. with the Rev. Dave Dolan officiating. The Reed Funeral Home Sullivan is in charge of arrangements He was born March 6, 1942, in Mattoon, the son of Clarence S. and Freda Fleshner Horath.

He married Louette Roberts in 1986; she survives. Other survivors include his mother, Freda Bridges of Sullivan; two children, Danny Horath and Cindy Martin, both of Sullivan; stepchildren, Connie Crockett, Terry Titus, Pennie Crowe and Donna Titus, all of Sullivan and Lyle Titus of Greenup; 17 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his father and two brothers. Mr. Horath was a World War II U.S.

Army veteran. He was a member of the New Life Tabernacle in Sullivan, Sullivan American Legion Post 68 and a lifetime member of the Disabled American Veterans. He had worked at the Brach Candy Co. in Sullivan. Condolences may be sent to the family at reedfuneralhome.net.

Iris K. Montgomery TOLEDO Iris Kathleen Jenkins Montgomery, 86, of Brandon, formerly of Toledo, died at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009. A graveside service will be 11 a.m.

Saturday (Aug. 22, 2009) at the Greenup Cemetery. Bishop Funeral Home in Greenup is assisting the family with arrangements. Ivan Price MATTOON Ivan Price, 96, of Mattoon died at 7:50 a.m. Friday, Aug.

7, 2009. Arrangements are incomplete at the Mitchell-Jerdan Funeral Home i in Mattoon. Elmer E. Townsend GAYS Elmer E. Townsend, 96, of Gays died at 11:46 a.m.

Friday (Aug. 7, 2009) at the Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center. Arrangements a are incomplete at the Lovins-Lockart Funeral Home in Windsor. McWhorter service MATTOON The funeral for Xavier Kymani McWhorter was Friday at the Schilling Funeral Home with the Rev. Gary Stephen officiating.

Xavier, 5-month-old infant son of Blake William McWhorter and Stephanie Elaine Givins, died Aug. 2, 2009, at St. John's Hospital in Springfield. PERSONALS Card of Thanks THE FAMILY OF Marion Carol Croy would like to thank everyone for their support during this time of sorrow for our family. We appreciate all of the kindnesses from prayers and cards to food, flowers and general support for our family.

We also want to thank the many of you who have helped sustain Carol through the many months with cards, visits, food, prayers and more. We take solace from each of you and in knowing she is now walking in heaven. The Donald Croy Family Memoriams GENE GRAVES 8-8-88 We loved you miss you everyday. Sue, Cheryl, Franda Chuck IN LOVING MEMORY Of My Mom Wanda Cloyd on her birthday August 9th Love, Linda REMEMBERING OUR Cherished Wife, Mom and Grandma JOANIE COFFEYWho went to be with her best friend Jesus on Aug. 9, 2008.

We've only lost sight of you for a little God's promises are everlasting. Forever in our Always on our Your Loving Family to Russia recognized as independent the attack could disable such a well-known breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Web site shows just how young and vulAbkhazia after a brief war with Georgia nerable Twitter still is, even as it quickly a year ago. becomes a household name used by When people clicked on the links, they celebrities, large corporations, small were taken to the activist's legitimate businesses and even protesters in Iran. Web pages, but the process of loading "Clearly they need a stronger infrathe pages at such volumes overwhelmed structure to be able to fight this kind of some servers and disrupted service, attack," said Graham Cluley, senior Woodcock said. He said it's hard to technology consultant at computer secuimmediately tell whether it was a case rity firm Sophos.

Twitter's tech support. of hackers trying to punish the sites for teams, he added, "must be frankly out of publishing views they disagree with, or if breath" trying to keep up with the site's they were directing traffic to the sites enormous growth. out of sympathy for the activist's mes- According to comScore, Twitter had 20.1 million unique visitors in the United "There's very little way of distinguish- States in June, some 34 times the 593,000 ing which side was taking this action, a year earlier. because either side could hypothetically For Twitter users, the outage meant no benefit from it," Woodcock said. tweeting about lunch plans, the weather The fact that a relatively common or the fact that Twitter is down.

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