2nd Official Tate-LaBianca Murders Blog

Note: The exact date for Shorty Shea's murder is not known. It occurred sometime between August 19-28, 1969. The Family was arrested for GTA, Grand Theft Auto, in a raid on the 16th, and released the 19th. Biker Danny DeCarlo stated it was soon after their release they killed Shorty. Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi deemed it to be the 25th or 26th. I concur. As a leaned guess for this recreation, I've chosen the wee hours on the 25th heading into the 26th. *** Another Chatsworth dawn. Another sunbaked, sandblasted, sagebrush scuttling day. A day like any other day. But not for people without a conscience. It was after 9 a.m., August 25, 1969. Sadie flicked on the Spahn Ranch saloon transistor radio. It was playing Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man. As everyone else slept, Sadie swayed to the haunting tune. It was never too early for a party in old Sadie's spaced-out head. Some Family members slept in longer than usual, as they were exhausted from their clean and sanitary stay i...

   The Garbage-Bin Goulash was the dinner fare, yet again. Afterwards, the kids went their separate ways — some down to the creek, others inside the caves — smoking their allotted pot to chill for the evening as the sun melted away. Not everyone in the Family would sit back and relax this evening. As the Spahn Ranch work day came to a close, Charlie and Clem headed to the barn to see Shorty before he left for the day. "Hey Shorty, man, we never see ya. How come you don't wanna party with us no more?" Charlie clapped his hand on Shorty's shoulder, flashing a toothy smile. "Hey Charlie. I just do my job and go home. I got a wife now, you know. Any partying is done with her now. What do you care, anyhow? You got all them kids to party with." Shorty shoveled the last of the horse manure into a wheelbarrow, his final chore of the day. "Ah, hell, man, at least come sit with us a spell at the fire. We got some good weed I nabbed from my friends up near San...