182. Okay, Manson, which is it?

At least once on this blog, it's been reported that Manson has claimed that Krishna Venta commited suicide in order to make a statement about the ecology.  But then there's another (undated) link wherein, beginning at 40 seconds in, Manson says Krishna Venta was "having a sex orgy one night with about 12 or 15 women, and in those days - back in the 1940s - that wasn't very well accepted.  So, what happened was someone put dynamite up underneath his house and blew him up.  They blew him up, blew his wife and all his children, blew everybody up, blew about 15 or 20 people up...and I was a kind looking at this."

So, which is it?  Of course, both of Manson's versions of history are way off the mark.

There's plenty of erroneous information in the above.  For one, more than likely, Krishna Venta was asleep when the suicide bombing occured, so it's doubtful he was having sex with anyone.  The bombing occured in 1958, when Manson was pimping on the streets, not the 1940s.  Krishna Venta's wife was in Alaska at the time and, while children definitely were injured and killed, none of Krishna Venta's children died that night.

181. Krishna Venta, 1949

This group's moderator recently purchased the original of this photo.

180. Hendrickson's "Death to Pigs" (3 of 3)

Hendrickson's book is just under 600 pages and, curiously, comes with a note that reads, "Because this book has a very large soft cover and is a historical document, it should be handled with care. When opening the front cover be sure to open and fold open at the manufactured crease. Otherwise, you may negatively affect the spine."

Unfortunately, the spine on my copy of the book was broken before I even opened the package in which it was mailed.  Returning the book to the publisher was an option, but I decided to cut my losses and - for less than it would have cost me in postage - took the book to a local company and had it professionally rebound.

179. Hendricksons' "Death to Pigs" (2 of 3)

As those who've read this blog know, I have a lot of issues with the sloppy history Ed Sanders presented in his book The Family: The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion, particularly the "facts" that Sanders presented about Krishna Venta in the book, which Sanders presumably plucked out of his ear.

Page 502 of Hendrickson's book contains a comment by Vincent Bugliosi regarding Ed Sanders, in which Bugliosi says:

[The book The Family is] full of misstatements of facts...[and Sanders] engages in gross speculation.  For instance, uh, [Sanders will] say, "It is believed that Manson said this," or he'll come out, right out and say, "Manson said this."  [Sanders] won't say to whom [Manson] said it, [Sanders] wont' say when [Manson] said it, [Sanders] won't say where [Manson] said it.  [Sanders] constantly draws...completely unwarranted inferences, [Sanders] doesn't state any bases or any facts...[Sanders] doesn't grasp the significance of [the Tate/LaBianca] murders, the sociological importance...

178. Hendrickson's "Death to Pigs" (1 of 3)

I recently purchased Robert Hendrickson's 2011 book Death to Pigs: The Behind the Scenes Story of the Charles Manson Family and the Crime/Trial of the 20th Century.  The book includes Paul Watkins' comments about the Fountain of the World, as previously included here, as well as Hendrickson's comments regarding same.  From Page 274:

In Box Canyon, just up the road from the Spahn Ranch, is where Manson supposedly tried to take over the 'Fountain,' an established religious sect.  In 1958, when I was only 14 years old, the 'Fountain' became newsworthy when ten members were killed there.

The story then was rather simple and straightforward.  The group had gone relatively unnoticed and actually tended to several community needs, like helping to feed the homeless.  Then, on December 10, 1958, two disgruntled members set off explosives killing the sect's leader...it was as if Barnum and Bailey had been commissioned by the traditional news media to creat a circus-like atmosphere.

177. Krishna Venta, 1949

This group's moderator recently purchased the original of this photo.

176. Fountain members, 1956

L to R: Priest Paul (Martin Baker, who was killed in the explosion

of December 1958), his wife, Sister Babs and Brother Kenneth

This group's moderator recently purchased the original of this photo.

175. WKFL Fountain of the World photos from 1966

174. McCarthy Hearing, 1954

(L to R: Mother Ruth, Brother Samuel,

Brother Asaiah, Cardinal Gene and Krishna Venta)

This group's moderator recently purchased the original of this photo.

173. Krishna Venta photo, 1958

This group's moderator recently purchased the original of this photo.

This photo appears previously on this blog.