Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Lynn Writes:
We took a boat trip last weekend in the Harbor-Port of Los Angeles, near San Pedro. 
Very educational... we saw where the Coast Guard is located and saw the actual Coast Guard boat that goes out and puts the buoys in the water... they also repair them. 
We also went by Terminal Island Prison... it was built in the 1930s, and was once a maximum security prison.  The famous prisoner that we heard about during our cruise was Al Capone.  It now houses Level 3 prisoners or prisoners with medical issues. 
We got back home and did some research and Charles Manson was there.  I would have taken better pictures, if I had known that… LOL


Lynyrd’s Terminal Island "Fast Facts":
--The first prisoners, 610 men and 40 women, filed into the new 21-acre federal prison near the southern end of Terminal Island on June 1, 1938.  The Terminal Island Federal Correctional Institution consisted of three cell blocks built around a central quadrangle, and cost $2 million to build.
--In 1942, the U.S. Navy took control of the prison for use as a receiving station, and then as a barracks for court-martialed prisoners.
--After the Navy deactivated the facility in 1950, the state of California took it over for use as a medical and psychiatric institution.
--The state ceded control to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in 1955, which converted the facility back into a low-to-medium security federal prison.

The prison has housed the famous and the infamous over the years...
--Al Capone spent the last few months of his 10-year sentence for income tax evasion at Terminal Island in the late 1930s.
--Charles Manson, did two stints in Terminal Island before his 1971 conviction in the infamous Tate-LaBianca murder case.  In the mid-1950s, he was sent there after his conviction for car theft, and was paroled in September 1958.  He returned in June 1966 and was paroled in March 1967, while serving out a sentence for cashing a stolen check. (He was first sentenced to McNeil Island in Washington state in 1961, but ended up back at Terminal Island in 1966)  When he was released in 1967 he told the releasing officer that he did not want to leave.  He’s currently serving a life sentence at Corcoran State Prison.
--In 1974, LSD guru Timothy Leary and Watergate co-conspirator G. Gordon Liddy were incarcerated there at the same time.
--Sara Jane Moore came to Terminal Island in 1976 after her failed assassination attempt on President Gerald Ford.
--Hustler publisher Larry Flynt spent time there after shouting obscenities at a judge during one of his trials in the early 1980s; he was transferred after allegedly punching prison staff members.

The prison was coed, with women prisoners housed in a separate area, until overcrowding forced authorities to transfer the women to the federal prison in Pleasanton in 1977.  It has been male-only ever since then.
--During the 1970s, Terminal Island became known for escape attempts.  In December 1979, the San Pedro News Pilot reported 12 escapes during a single 2 1/2-month period.  Fortification including more barbed wire and increased armed guards were added to dispel the facility's "Club Fed" image in the early 1980s.
--The prison was rocked by a corruption scandal in the early 1980s that resulted in the indictment of six Terminal Island federal employees between 1982 and 1984. The charges involved bribes, cover-ups, marijuana sales to inmates and other types of corruption.
--Up until that time, the scandal was the most serious in the history of the federal prison system, because of the high-ranking officials involved. These included Charles DeSordi, the prison's former chief investigator of crimes committed, the highest-ranking federal prison official ever to be indicted.
--As of Thursday, August 19, 2010, the inmate population stood at 1,099. More than half of its inmates are in prison on drug-related charges, and more than 60 percent of its inmates have no documented history of violence. 
Thanks Lynn!!!  You Rock!!

29 comments:

LynyrdSkynyrdBand said...

Thanks so much Lynn!

You're energy, friendship, generosity... and always-interesting personal stories... make this place feel more like family... than just a blog.

You Rock Lynn!

katie8753 said...

Thanks Lynn. Is this an actual island?

Boy what a slap in Charlie's face that they didn't mention him on the cruise! HA HA.

Anonymous said...
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katie8753 said...

Lynn, was Squeaky imprisoned at Terminal Island for attempting to assassinate President Ford? As well as Sara Jane Moore?

katie8753 said...

According to Wiki, during Squeaky's trial for trying to kill Ford, US Attorney Duane Keyes recommended severe punishment because she was "full of hate and violence," so Fromme threw an apple at him, hitting him in the face and knocking off his glasses.

That little minx. HA HA HA.

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katie8753 said...

I don't know about Terminal Island but I've been to Alcatraz. You can only get there on a ferry. I think there was only one alleged escape from there. The only way to escape was to jump and swim, and the current is strong and the water is COLD in the San Francisco Bay.

katie8753 said...

I wonder if Squeaky tried to kill Ford because he pardoned Nixon.

Manson didn't like it that Nixon said he was guilty. LOL.

katie8753 said...

Al Capone did time there for tax evasion. Hmmmmm......

Boy, it goes to show you, you can gun down anyone you want, but you can't get away with cheating the IRS. HA HA.

katie8753 said...

Well I have to say that I'm disappointed with the Anthonys' interviews.

Yesterday was okay, but in watching today, I'm getting the feeling this is all staged to get people mad again, which creates viewers.

Cindy Anthony sat and defended her daughter the whole time, and today she said "the justice for Caylee was when her mother Casey was acquitted".

Now that takes the cake!!! This woman is either staging or she's gone completely out of her mind!!!

Dr. Phil asked George Anthony again if he had an affair with River Cruse. He looked like he was going to heave.

Man, that is one of the ugliest women I've ever seen. I don't know if he had an affair with her or not, but it would be a "double bag" situation. HA HA.

What I really think is that she was a defense ploy. I don't believe a word she says.

beauders said...

this prison also housed a sixteen year old ronnie howard, of future manson fame, as atkins cellmate, who atkins blabbed too and then howard of course went to the authorities, testified at the trials, was awarded $12,000.00 and then was murdered. howard's incarceration at sixteen was for extortion. she claimed she learned how to be a con at terminal island.

LynyrdSkynyrdBand said...

Hi Beauders.

Once again, your post is fabulous.

Could you share your opinion (or more details), regarding Ronnie's murder/death?
Do you have more specifics?
Did anyone ever get convicted for her murder?
"Family" related?
I know zero of her murder...

Anyone?

Also... wikipedia... lists Lynn Fromme as a former inmate of Terminal Island.
To my knowledge, this is complete bunk.

I always thought Lynn was incarcerated as follows:

"In 1979, Fromme was transferred out of Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin in Dublin, California, for attacking a fellow inmate, Julienne Busic, with the claw end of a hammer. On December 23, 1987, she escaped from the Federal Prison Camp, Alderson in Alderson, West Virginia, attempting to meet Manson, whom she had heard had testicular cancer. She was captured again two days later and incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas".

Anyone?

LynyrdSkynyrdBand said...

Manson has admitted in at least one video (I believe it was the Geraldo footage), that he did in-fact, ask to stay-on at terminal Island in 1967... when his release day came...

Anyone have any thoughts on that fact?

katie8753 said...

Hi Bobby! I guess if you add 2 + 2 you're gonna get 4. HA HA.

Lynyrd, it doesn't surprise me that Manson wanted to stay at Terminal Island. If you get used to a certain lifestyle for quite a while, a lifestyle that's ordered and you really don't have to think for yourself, it's gotta be hard to adjust to something that could seem daunting. A new lifestyle that you're not sure how it's gonna turn out.

According to Harold True, he picked Charlie up on the highway, evidently Charlie was just walking up the highway, perhaps with nowhere in mind to go.

I know we've gone thru this before, but if Charlie was on probation, the violations of probation were rampant. I would think that part of his probation would be to NOT hang out with known criminals. He evidently started doing that the moment he was released from prison with Phil Kaufman.

starship said...

I think True was there to pick up Kaufman...and Charlie just happened to tag along...

katie8753 said...

Hi Starship!

>>>Starship said: I think True was there to pick up Kaufman...and Charlie just happened to tag along...>>>

I believe that's how it happened, but Charlie knew that was a violation of his parole.

But in looking at Charlie's actions the whole time he was out, he didn't care about the parole provisions, he just did whatever he wanted. Which leads me to believe, as we've discussed before, that he couldn't possibly have cared if he went back, because he never once tried to stay out of trouble.

All of his activities during those few years of freedom involved parole violations and breaking the law.

katie8753 said...

Ronnie Howard was supposedly kidnapped by a "gypsy" taxi driver on September 21, 1979. She says she was beaten and robbed. She died on October 3, 1979 from blunt force trauma to the head.

The detectives don't feel like it had anything to do with her testifying at the Manson trial.

Who knows??

v717 said...

It was at Mc Neil Island that Charlie first came in contact with Scientology by a fellew convict Lainer Rayner. During this period Manson allegedly achived the highest level of Scientology "theta clear."
The definition "Clear is a person who can be at cause knowingly and at will over mental matter, energy, space and time.
Another name for "theta clear" is "operating thetan" or "OT." Scientology founder L.Ron Hubbard wrote: "Neither Lord Buddha nor Jesus Christ were OTs ackording to the evidence. They were just above clear."
Ackording to Paul Watkins he and Manson dropped into the Scientology Church in downtown L.A in 68 , and Manson asked the receptionist, "What do you do after clear"? When she was unable to tell Charlie anything he hadn´t already done, he walked out.
After the Tate/LaBianca murders there was a rumour that Scientology had something to do with the murders and that a hit list circulated including the victims of the Tate murders.

katie8753 said...

>>>V717 said: During this period Manson allegedly achived the highest level of Scientology "theta clear.">>>

Well now.....ain't that somethin'! HA HA.

LynyrdSkynyrdBand said...

Saint... what's the name of that other woman Sadie squealed to (in prison), from the Hendrickson film?
I'm having a brain freeze...
Something Graham??

She was a lot better-looking than Ronnie Howard... at least I thought so...

She said (in the movie):
"Susan was so crazy, even the bull-dykes wouldn't mess with her"... (paraphrasing).

Whatever became of her?
Anyone know??

beauders said...

virginia graham took her $12,000.00reward money and moved to hawaii and opened a small business, an art studio i believe.
ronnie howards murderers were never found but according to hendrickson she made a deal with two tate detectives that she would give each $5,000.00 out of the whole reward. she only got $12,000.00 though and didn't give either one any money. she claimed they were beating her up and threatening her life and then she ends up dead.

v717 said...

Katie8753 Wrote: -theta clear, ain´t that something-.
"Yes, I agree Katie.
Personally I don´t think "the Church of Scientology" had something to do with the murders. It was just a rumour with no valid evidence.
But i wrote this to point out that Manson isn´t just a simple mindless thug from the street who in frustration over an unsympathetic society took out a blood stainded revenge."
He is, as I have said before a "Shaman" and is worth a more careful study.

LynyrdSkynyrdBand said...

Thanks Beauders.

katie8753 said...

Hi Beauders!

>>>she claimed they were beating her up and threatening her life and then she ends up dead.>>>

By "they" are you talking about the detectives?? So you think the detectives killed her?

BTW, didn't Ronnie say she had been to Cielo Drive for a party previous to her incarceration, and was trying to see if Sadie was telling the truth about the murders by asking her questions about the interior of the home?

Anonymous said...

V717...do you think that because Charlie reached Theta Clear he is a Shaman? Have you been around many Scientologists?

v717 said...

Lynn asked: Do you think that because Charlie reached Theta Clear he is a Shaman? Have you been around many Scientologists?
That was a very interesting question. Let me try to answer in this way.
I think that then Manson came in contact with Scientology at McNeil Island it helped him to understand who he really was and the true nature of the powers he possessed. I think he was born with those powers and I also think that he was born a Shaman. The Scientology teaching just gave him a structural foundation to stand on.
The Church of Scientology knows very well what kind of person Manson is and what powers he has inside himself. They probably also knows that he is stronger and more powerful than any Scientologist is. That has to do with that Manson is born with those powers unlike their followers who has to study a technique to attain some results.
It´s pretty much like this. Most people can be rather good in math if they study hard. But to be a real mathematican you have to be born with specific skills. But let me emphasize one thing. Manson is not a Scientologist. He is beyond that teaching.
Have you been around many Scientologists?
I know people who are on the same level as Manson. But they are not into Scientology.

Anonymous said...
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beauders said...

hendrickson implies the police may have been involved in howard's death, but doesn't know for sure. if you can afford hendrickson's book you should get it. he does not paint a pretty picture of the police. maybe five people could get together and buy the book and then share it, it really that important of a document on the manson era.