S05 Episode 5: When Love Breaks Down (Pt. 2 of 2)

and one younger brother. Her family moved a number of times as she was growing up, but were based mainly in San Jose, superficially, at least to sid as they seemed normal enough. Later, Susan would claim that as a young girl, she was sexually abused by a male relative, and that both her parents drank heavily. By twelve years old,

she was shoplifting regularly. Having been brought up to believe in God, Her parents alcoholism, and later her mother's painful and premature death left her angry and resentful that any God would sanction such things. Being left to effectively take over her mother's role in the home and having to watch her father drink himself into a drunken stupor every

night only served to harden her sense of injustice. Before long, she would find herself secretly frequenting the bars on the quieter edges of town, seeking comfort in the alcohol and company she found there. Feeling increasingly restless and trapped by her predicament, her grades at school began to suffer, and after being told she would have to repeat her junior year, she made the decision not to go back and headed

to San Francisco. Despite quickly picking up a job selling subscriptions to magazines, her employer neglected to give her a steady wage, and before long she was struggling to pay her bills. But something else was beginning to bite, a deep and profound sense of loneliness, something she was beginning to realize had dogged her her whole life. One night, Susan attempted suicide by swallowing a bottle of codeine pills, claiming later that it was just a cry for help.

Soon after, she met a guy and together along with a friend of his, they embarked on a road trip to Oregon for some business he had to attend to the business turned out to be an unspecified heist of some sort. Rather than being disturbed by the revelation, what Susan felt most of all as they sped toward their destination was an intense sense of freedom and the sheer

thrill of it. Not long their journey, however, after holding up a number of gas stations, the group were caught by highway patrol officers on the lookout for their vehicle, which, unbeknownst to Susan, had been stolen. Susan was given three months in jail for her part in the operation, and afterwards returned to San Jose. A month later, she was back in San Francisco, still searching for somewhere to belong, and then she discovered lysurgic acid diethylamite, also known as LSD.

It is a mode of all new generations to examine and reevaluate the world left to them by their forebears. For nineteen sixties youth in the West, that was a world partly characterized by war and control. With its innate ability to unravel the mind, LSD provided the perfect tool to deconstruct this press reality. Though hallucinogenic drugs were nothing new, having long been used by many ancient cultures throughout the world.

The nature of LST, a synthesized compound of lysurgic acid invented in a lab in nineteen thirty eight, made it perfect for cheap mass production and consumption. Susan's first trip was a nightmare ride, taking it in the company of the stranger she had procured it from all sense of the world around her quickly dissolved into wild, kaleidoscopic patterns and explosions of color. But before long, all sense of herself began to dissolve too. As Susan battled the terror

that she might lose herself forever. The stranger did what he could to reassure her, reminding her over and over again that she was still Susan and that she was not going to disappear. A few weeks after this experience, Susan fell in with Barbara and her commune on the corner of Oak and Lyons Street. Though warmly accepted by the group, Susan continued to be plagued by that abject sense of loneliness until the day she met Charlie. After

listening to him play guitar for the first time. The pair had spent the night together a few days later, while sat on the curb in hate Ashbury, Charlie attempted to explain to her the importance of living in the now. To live in the now was to be cleansed of the baggage of the past and the expectations of the future. It was as pure estate as you could reach. And should you ever want for anything, he explained, all you have to do is think it and it will be so.

If you want a quarter, for example, just visualize a quarter. A moment later, Susan watched with utter amazement as a stranger approached, holding out a quarter and placed it in Charlie's hand. When he asked her later that day to go with him to Los Angeles, it was as if

he already knew what she was going to say. Sharon and Roman had returned to Los Angeles in early nineteen sixty seven after Sharon was offered a part in an adaptation of the nineteen sixty six novel Valley of the Dolls, while Roman secured a three picture agreement with Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. In August, Roman left for New York to begin principal photography on the first of these three films,

an adaptation of the Irah Levin book Rosemary's Baby. The film, now regarded as one of the finest psychological horror films of all time, follows the story of Rosemary and her husband Guy as they prepare for the birth of their first child. When their eccentric neighbors take an unusually keen interest, Rosemary becomes convinced they are part of a Satanic coven intent on stealing it. Without wanting to give too much away for those who haven't seen it, the tortured Rosemary

isn't entirely wrong in her assumptions. At one point, Sharon was considered for the lead role of Rosemary, which was offered in the end to Mia Pharaoh. Though she was disappointed, nineteen sixty seven was still set to be a big year for her, with no less than three movies due for release at the end of the year. Much to Sharon's further disappointment. However, or three films, The Fearless Vampire Killers, I of the Devil, and finally, Valley of the Dolls,

were poorly received, both commercially and critically. The response left Sharon, who already felt insecure about her acting abilities, deeply despondent and questioning the state of her career prospects. Meanwhile, Roman was glowing after wrapping up Rosemary's baby in December, convinced he'd captured something special with Sharon, turning her thoughts to settling down and perhaps having a baby of their own. The couple were married in January the following year, and

traveled back to Europe to spend a honeymoon. A few months previously, Susan, Charlie, and five other young women were speeding down Route One inside a black painted bus heading toward Los Angeles. Halfway down, the group pulled over to admire the golden Californian coastline and dropped acid together. Doing it with Charlie was an altogether different experience from Susan's

first time in San Francisco. Whereas before she'd resisted the assault on her sense of self, Charlie urged her to embrace it, telling her you must die to self in order to become one with the world. Arriving in La later that day, the group settled into Panga Canyon, an area of rugged country northwest of Santa Monica and home to a slew of artists and musicians keen to escape

the city. Over the next few months, living off the charity of others, their lives centered around LSD and marijuana and the ceaseless teachings of Charlie, imploring them to shed all inhibitions and to forget about yesterday and to morrow, and to live only in the eternal now. Sometimes it

would be the odd lines uttered throughout the day. Other times Charlie would give long, intense lectures to drive home his point, urging anyone willing to listen, to throw off the shackles of the plastic world, even to reject all concept of time, since it too was just another meaningless construct. And whenever Susan threatened to dip into one of her familiar lows, whenever that sense of loneliness gan knocking at

the door, there was Charlie to remind her. You are beautiful, you are perfect, and you must learn to love yourself. By the spring of nineteen sixty eight, the tide was already turning against the Summer of Love and the optimism of the Flower Power generation, as their dreams of bringing an expanded consciousness to the wider population was already beginning

to fade. The war in Vietnam continued to drag on, and as the opposition to it became increasingly hostile, so too did the government's response to that opposition, metering out violent retribution to many who rallied and protested against it. In April nineteen sixty eight, after all the gains of the civil rights movement, the assassination of Martin Luther King Junior was a brutal reminder of the segregationist attitude that

continued to underpin much of the nation. Then, in June, presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy, a long time supporter of civil rights who also recognized the folly of persisting with the American Vietnam War, was also assassinated, effectively handing that year's presidential election to Richard Nixon. Sharon and Roman had dinner

with Kennedy a few nights before he was murdered. A few days later, Roman received the distressing news that Christoph Commoda, who composed the score for Rosemary's Baby, had been involved in an altercation at a house party and fallen off the edge of the property. Commoda was knocked unconscious, sending him into a coma from which he would never wake up, dying four months later. Some noticed similarities with the accident and the fate of a character in Rosemary's Baby, leading

some to suggest that perhaps the film was cursed. The couple's marriage was struggling too, not helped by the discovery one night by Sharon and her friends of a set of unmarked video tapes belonging to Roman. Putting one on out of curiosity, they watched with horror when it became clear that they were tapes of Roman having sex with another woman. Sharon turned increasingly to her ex boyfriend Jay for support, with the pair having remained close since Sharon

and Roman got together. It was that year also that Sharon began work on the Wrecking Crew, during which she was interviewed by Hollywood correspondent de Kliner and reminded of that horrifying night she'd spent at Jay's house On eastern drive back into Panga Canyon. Susan's new family was growing larger by the week to include a number of men to add to the six women that originally traveled to

La with Charlie. Sparn Ranch was the perfect solution. Nestled in the Santa Susanna Mountains just fifteen kilometers to the north, the ranch dressed up to look like an old Western film set, had previously been hired out by a number of films and TV shows. By nineteen sixty eight, however, much like the paint on the various outhouses dotted about

the place, its glory days had long since faded. When Charlie approached branch owner George Sparne, offering to look after the maintenance of the property in return for his group living there rent free. Sparne, who was eighty years old at the time and almost completely blind, was more than happy to agree. That he was apparently offered occasional intimate time with some of the young women who would be

living there, only served to sweeten the deal. Shortly before arriving, Susan discovered she was pregnant, fearing it might jeopardize her position in the group. She was relieved to find that Charlie was overjoyed at the prospect, insisting that children were the best of them since they were completely pure and uncorrupted by the plastic world. Likely due to her drug use, Susan gave birth two months premature in October. The baby, weighing only two pounds at the time, was named Zeso

zes sad Frack. Life at the ranch was a fairly languid affair, consisting mostly of the group sitting around smoking pot, playing cards, and making love to each other. Everything was shared, from clothes to food, with dinner often involving the group sitting round a large pot of stew and rice and taking it in turns to eat from it and throughout it all. Charlie continued his teachings. Then in November, with the release of the Beatles White album, the Teachings took

a darker tone with their new album. Charlie believed the Beatles were trying to communicate with him directly, and it was in one song in particular that their message was most abundantly clear. Helter Skelter, according to some, is a brilliantly frenetic, sexually charged blast of proto heavy rock. To Charlie, however, it was nothing less than a coded prophecy signaling the

oncoming of an apocalypse. Charlie had already begun discussing the potential for apocalypse prior to the album's release, putting his own spin on the stories contained in the Book of Revelations. At some point, Charlie, a confirmed white supremacist, became convinced that a race war was going to take place in America, whereby white Americans would fight each other over the treatment of Black Americans. What was left of the white population

would then be slaughtered by black militants. Charlie's plan was to find somewhere for their group to hide until it was over, after which they would emerge and subjugate the black population, since, according to him, they would be incapable of running the country. The Book of Revelations speaks of a bottomless pit from which the fifth angel Abadon will

release a plague of locusts on to the world. Charlie, who believed himself to be Abodon, surmised that the group would have to find this bottomless pit in order to survive the apocalypse and fulfill his prophecy. Helter Skelter would quickly become Charlie's shorthand for this racist vision, and one that began increasingly to consume him and in turn seep into his followers. Do you ever have trouble sleeping? One

especially spooky podcast keeping you up all night? Perhaps? Do you ever worry that you aren't getting all the nutrients you need for your body to thrive? Athletic greens is a great tasting multivitamin, a multimineral made from the most absorbable form of each ingredient that takes the guess work out of knowing what to take or from where. Whilst more Athletic Greens goes beyond the standard multivitamin by encompassing other nutrient categories to give you much more helping to

support gut health, energy, immunity, stress, and sleep. With as many as seventy five vitamins, minerals and whole food sourced ingredients, you'd be hard pressed to find a more nutrient dense formula on the market. I enjoy it because it tastes good and makes getting as much high quality nutrition as possible incredibly easy. So if you're looking to upgrade your multi vitamin or take one nutritional formula that's going to help your daily nutritional basis, then you want to consider

Athletic Greens right now. Athletic Greens is also giving my audience a special offer on top of their all in one formula, which is a free liquid Vitamin D supplement amounting to a one year supply with your first purchase for additional immune support. Make an investment in your health to day and by the ultimate all in one wellness Bundle and support your immunity, gut, health and energy by visiting Athletic greens dot com. Slash unexplained that Athletic Greens

dot com slash unexplained. In February nineteen sixty nine, Sharon fell pregnant and with Patty Duke neading her home back, she decided with Roman to find somewhere a little more permanent to raise the baby. It was around this time that Sharon heard her friends Terry Melcher and Candy's Bergen's house was going on the market. The house, located at one hundred and fifty Clo Drive in Benedict Canyon, was built in nineteen forty four with previous residents including Carrie

Grant and Henry Fonder. Located at the furthest end of the road, the long, one story house was surrounded by tall pines and cherry blossom, with a much prized view overlooking the canyon down cross to Beverly Hills and all the way to the sparkling waters of the Pacific Ocean about ten miles away. Sharon and Roman knew the place well, having attended numerous parties there before, and needed little convincing

to take it off the market. Sharon was especially taken with the line of Christmas lights that former owner Candies, had strung up across the front of the property, lending it a perennial air of festive spirit. Presently, it was occupied by a young man who'd been staying there temporarily, having been living previously with a group of hippies out

on an old Western movie set called Spahn Ranch. In late February, Sharon and Roman signed the lease and promptly moved in, before both taking jobs in Europe while they were away. The couple offered the place to their friends Abigail Fulgier and Voychek Vraikovsky. In late March, the day before Susan was due to travel to Italy to begin work on her latest film, she invited her friend photographer shiroc Hertamy to the property to take some publicity stills

of her. Later that afternoon, they were joined for dinner by j Voytek and Abigail. At some point, Sharroc noticed a shortish looking man with long dark hair and an intense look on his face making his way across the front lawn. Moments later, the man drew up to the porch. Angered by the stranger's sudden appearance, Shiroc went over to meet him and asked him what he was doing there. When the man said he was looking for Terry Melcher, Shirac informed him that he no longer lived there and

promptly sent him on his way. As the man walked away, Sharon arrived suddenly to inquire who he was. It's nobody, explained Sharroc. He's just looking for someone who wasn't here. Aside from impending apocalypse, Charlie's other obsession was music, specifically becoming a verified recording artist in his own right. Convinced he was just as talented as any of the other bands clogging up the air waves, he made numerous efforts during his time at sparn Ranch to secure a record deal.

At some point, Charlie had worked himself into the orbit of Beach Boy Dennis Wilson and spent many hours accompanied by Susan and other members of the group, hanging at Wilson's house. Wilson was sufficiently impressed by Charlie's songwriting that he even appropriated one of his songs called Ceased to Exist, to use as a B side on the Beach Boy's single Blue Birds Over the Mountain, released in December nineteen

sixty eight. Wilson recommended Charlie to his friend and producer Terry Melcher, suggesting that he worked with him on a few tracks. After spending a few sessions with him in the spring of nineteen sixty nine, however, Melcher was unconvinced

of his talent. About the same time, Charlie was becoming more and more convinced of his own prophecies and moved the group to another ranch in Death Valley, the place where he believed they would find the bottomless pit that was going to save them from the end of the world. The group, now leaning increasingly on new arrival, Tex, turned

to dealing drugs in order to pay for the move. Techs, a former honor student and athlete, had been studying at the University of North Texas before he dropped out and found his way to Los Angeles and eventually Span Ranch. One night, Tex claimed he was ripped off in a drug deal with a man named Bernard Crow, prompting Charlie to drive out to Crow's home and shoot him. Returning to Span Ranch, it was clear something had shifted in him. He was convinced the crow was a black panther and

that the organization would come looking for retribution. In short, this was the beginning of the race war. He had foreseen. Time was fast running out and they would need money and protection to survive. Charlie ordered his followers to keep a knife on them at all times, and so began

the creepy crawling. For Susan, it was nothing more than utilizing the shoplifting skills she had procured ever since she was ten years old, and so it was that in the dead of night or even in the middle of the day, she and the others began to tiptoe silently in bare feet into the homes of the rich and famous, armed with knives as they cautiously hunted for things to steal. Everything was justified because possession was just a state of mind.

Nothing belonged to anyone and nothing was real, and if they had to exist in a plastic world that they didn't choose, this was the only way to survive. The next step seemed almost inevitable. Gary Hinman had befriended Susan and the rest of the group during their time into Panga Canyon. He'd even helped them out, often giving them

food and money. It was late one afternoon when Charlie approached Susan and told her that if she wanted to do something important for the group and their mission, she should go to Gary's house and steal the twenty one thousand dollars he'd recently inherited, and if she really wanted to prove her commitment to the mission, she should kill

him too. That night, Susan, along with two other of Charlie's accolytes, Bobby and Mary, drove out to to Panga Canyon, and demanded that Gary give them the money or suffer the consequences, but Gary refused, insisting that he didn't have the money. Taking the lead, Bobby pulled out a gun and tried to shoot him, only for Gary to fight back and eventually wrestle the gun away from Bobby. But Gary wasn't a violent man. He offered the gun back to Bobby, saying he didn't want any trouble and that

they should take it and leave. Knowing they couldn't possibly return to Charlie empty handed, Susan and Mary were told to watch Gary while Bobby went to call Charlie. When he arrived an hour later, he brought a sword with him and used it to slash the right side of Gary's face. As Gary ride about in agony, Charlie asked the others to make him comfortable, but keep him prisoner until he gave up the money. By the third day

of keeping him hostage, Bobby had had enough. After getting Garry ownership of his car over to the group, Bobby stabbed him in the stomach, then smothered him to ensure he was dead. In a panic, the group tried to make it look as though the murder had been committed by political revolutionaries by writing political Piggy on the wall

in Gary's blood. By then, Charlie's group, often referred to now as the Family, had become scattered between Spahn Ranch, Death Valley, and a house in Canoga Park known as the Yellow Submarine. When news of Gary's murder began filtering back to them all, many were shocked and immediately ended their association with the group. Many of the others who chose to stay, like Susan, only became more and more convinced by Charlie's teachings, Helter Skelter was coming and there

was nothing any of them could do about it. Nor was there any reason to fear what was happening. Guilt, like everything else, was just an illusion, And when even you are an illusion, there is only one and everything is part of it. On Friday, August eighth, nineteen sixty nine, La was in the middle of an intense heat wave. Up at Sharon and Roman's home at one hundred and fifty Yellow Drive, Sharon, by now eight months pregnant, was overseeing the painting of what was to be her baby's nursery.

At the time, Sharon was sharing the house with Abigail and Voytek, who Roman had asked to stay on and watch out for her while he was away in London. After going for a swim in the morning, Sharon received a call from Roman, who had been delayed coming back to La, to let her know that he would be returning the following Tuesday. Around five thirty that afternoon, Sharon's ex boyfriend Jay left his home on Eastern Drive and

arrived at Sharon's house a short time later. The pair had been due to attend at dinner party at Sharon's friend Sheila Wells's house that night, but when Sheila called about it that afternoon, Sharon tied out from the heat, declined the invitation. Instead, When Abigail and Foytech, having been out all day, returned home at seven, Jay suggested the four of them go to El Coyote for dinner, a

trendy restaurant at the time located on Beverly Boulevard. It had just gone ten when the group arrived home, a little high and drunk with the exception of the pregnant Sharon, and tired from the long hot day. As they approached the property, all was dark save for a light by the side of the garage and those bright colorful Christmas lights strung out across the front of the house, and

then the four of them made their way inside. Earlier that day, Susan was lounging around the board walk at sparn Ranch when Charlie appeared, calling for Linda, pat Tex and Susan. He asked to speak to them individually. Susan watched as he spoke quietly to the others until finally he approached her. It was a simple request to go

with Techs and do whatever he did. The four of them, each carrying a knife and dressed all in black as per Charlie's request, piled into a beat up forward galaxy, where Susan noticed a rope and a pair of bolt cutters on the back seat, Asking Techs where they were heading, he replied to Terry Melcher's house, and with that they pulled out of the ranch and headed off on their way. After getting lost en route, the four finally arrived at the base of the steep private road that led toward

the house, turning into it. Text then parked up close to an electricity pole and ordered the others out of the car. The women watched as he took the bolt cutters, climbed up the pole and cut two wires that led out toward the house at the end of the drive, Ordering everyone back into the car. They then parked it at the bottom of the road before getting out and

making their way barefoot toward the house. As they approached, Susan caught sight of a long line of Christmas lights stretched out across the front of the property and wandered for a moment what kind of people might live there. At the front gate in case it was alarmed, Susan headed toward the fence just to the right, put her knife between her teeth, and shunted up over it, falling

heavily into an ivy bush on the other side. Dusting herself down, she waited for the others, after which they dropped to their hands and knees and had just begun crawling toward the house when a pair of lights flashed across the ground. A car was approaching. Text told them to lie down and stay quiet, then disappeared into the night halt. The voice was Texts and had come from somewhere out of the darkness in front of them. Then another voice was heard, Please don't hurt me. I won't

say anything. Then there was a brief pause followed by the sound of four gunshots. Text returned a few moments later and told the others to follow him. As they neared the house, Susan could see the rambler car now parked up in the middle of the drive and the young man slumped dead in the front seat. Text reached in and turned off the lights, and together they quietly pushed the car off the driveway, Turning their attention back

to the house. The group continued silently toward it, Arriving at a window, Tex opened it and crawled inside, telling the others to wait where they were. A moment later, hearing the front door open, they turned to see Tex standing there, ushering them inside. Susan and Pat stepped softly into the house, while Linda was told to wait outside. Continuing further in, the two women stopped suddenly at the sight of Techs standing over a couch on which a

man was lying fast asleep. Just then the man began to stir, stretched out his arms and slowly opened his eyes. What time is it, he asked sleepily. Tex jumped in front of him and held out his gun. Be quiet, don't move, or you're dead, he said. Who are you? What are you doing here, said the man, terrified. I am the devil, replied Tex, and I'm here to do the devil's business. If you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help support us, you can now do so via Patreon.

To receive access to add three episodes, discount or merchandise, as well as brand new video and audio content exclusive to Patreon members. Just go to patron dot com, forward Slash Unexplained Pod to sign up, or if you'd like to make a one time donation, you can go to Unexplained podcast dot com. Forward Slash support All donations, no

matter how large or small, are greatly appreciated. Unexplained, the book and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before been covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music,

are produced by me Richard McClane smith. Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com, forward slash Unexplained Podcast