Former Charles Manson's Cult Member Recalls How He Lured Her Into His 'Family'
A former Charles Manson's cult member has opened up how she escaped the group just months after the "Family" committed the horrible Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969.
Now an Oregon resident, Juanita Wildebush, revealed the time she spent with Charles Manson and his other followers at Spahn Ranch in Los Angeles County.
According to the now 77-year-old woman, Manson's hold was too powerful, and she was afraid she would have been involved in the murders if she was still there, Daily Mail reported.
The former cult member has already retired from her work as a social worker who worked with cult survivors. Juanita Wildebush said that part of Charles Manson's allure was that he was an "incredible lover."
"He was amazing... He would bring you just to the point of orgasm and then he would bring you back. Like a Kama Sutra kind of thing, you know, just bring you up, and bring you up, and bring you back," Wildebush told The Daily Beast.
Wildebush had agreed to give Charles Manson, not just her van and the $14,000 she had in a trust fund but also her whole self.
Juanita Wildebush first met Susan "Sadie" Atkins in the summer of 1968. She offered to give Atkins and the two men she was with a ride. Atkins was pregnant at the time.
Wildebush said that as soon as Atkins got into the van, she started telling her about the "Family" and how they sang with the Beach Boys. She said that she liked Atkins right away.
Wildebush, who was 24 at the time, drove them to Spahn Ranch, where Manson lived. The Manson Family packed up and ended up staying at the Barker Ranch, which had more space, in November 1968.
They returned to Spahn Ranch in March 1969 to prepare for what Charles Manson called a "race war" and dubbed it "Helter Skelter," which was after a song on the Beatles' White Album.
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Tate-LaBianca Murders
Charles Manson sent Charles "Tex" Watson, Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian to the old home of music producer Terry Melcher at 10050 Cielo Drive on Aug. 8, 1969.
They were instructed to kill everyone at the house and make it appear like Gary Hinman's murder, with words and symbols on the wall. Wildebush and Brooks Poston were left at Barker Ranch to watch the place.
Melcher was no longer residing in the home, and the place was being rented by film director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate, according to a ThoughtCo report.
The group first killed Steve Parent. He had been visiting the property's caretaker, William Garretson. The group saw him and killed him despite Parent begging them not to do so.
Atkins held Tate down while Watson stabbed the pregnant actress multiple times, killing her. Atkins then used Tate's blood and wrote the word "Pig" on the wall.
Charles Manson's group killed Tate and six other people in two nights in Los Angeles. Autopsy reports showed that 102 stab wounds were found on the four victims, namely Tate, Folger coffee heiress Abigail Folger, celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring, and Folger's lover Wojciech Frykowski.
The next day Charles Manson, Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, Steve Grogan, Kasabian, and Leslie Van Houten went to the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.
After they had murdered the couple, they had dinner, showered, and hitchhiked back to Spahn Ranch. Charles Manson, Atkins, Grogan, and Kasabian even drove around looking for other people to kill but failed.
The group was apprehended in October 1969. And the jury returned guilty verdicts for all defendants, including Charles Manson, on Jan. 25, 1971.
Meanwhile, Wildebush noted that the power of Charles Manson over them has eventually waned, and they took an interest in Paul Crockett and Bob Berry's gold prospecting excursions and decided to leave the "Family."
Crockett and Berry showed up at Barker Ranch looking for a place to stay at the time when Wildebush and Poston were there by themselves for three months.
Wildebush admitted that she has "survivor's guilt" as she would likely have taken part in the killings if she was with the group.
As a licensed therapist, Wildebush went on to lead a relatively normal life. The former cult follower married Berry and stayed with him up until his death two years ago. They had a son who already had children of his own.
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