Editing Charles Manson (section)

=== Apprehension ===
On December 1, 1969, the LAPD announced warrants for the arrest of Watson, Krenwinkel, and Kasabian in the Tate case; the suspects' involvement in the LaBianca murders was noted. Manson and Atkins, already in custody, were not mentioned; the connection between the LaBianca case and Van Houten, who was also among those arrested near Death Valley, had not yet been recognized.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|125–127, 155–161, 176–184}} Watson and Krenwinkel were already under arrest, with authorities in [[McKinney, Texas]], and [[Mobile, Alabama]], having picked them up on notice from LAPD.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|155–161}} Informed that a warrant was out for her arrest, Kasabian voluntarily surrendered to authorities in [[Concord, New Hampshire]] on December 2.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|155–161}}

Physical evidence such as Krenwinkel's and Watson's fingerprints, which had been collected by LAPD at Cielo Drive,<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|15, 156, 273, and photographs between 340–41}} was augmented by evidence recovered by the public. On September 1, 1969, the distinctive .22-caliber Hi Standard "Buntline Special" revolver Watson used on Parent, Sebring, and Frykowski had been found and given to the police by Steven Weiss, a 10-year-old who lived near the Tate residence.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|66}} In mid-December, when the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' published a crime account based on information Susan Atkins had given her attorney,<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|160,193}} Weiss's father made several phone calls which finally prompted LAPD to locate the gun in its evidence file and connect it with the murders via ballistics tests.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|198–199}}

Acting on that same newspaper account, a local [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television crew quickly located and recovered the bloody clothing discarded by the Tate killers.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|197–198}} The knives discarded en route from the Tate residence were never recovered, despite a search by some of the same crewmen and by LAPD.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|198, 273}}  A knife found behind the cushion of a chair in the Tate living room was apparently that of Susan Atkins, who lost her knife in the course of the attack.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|17, 180, 262}}<ref name="atkins"/>{{rp|141}}
The trial began on June 15, 1970.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|297–300}} The prosecution's main witness was Kasabian, who, along with Manson, Atkins, and Krenwinkel, had been charged with seven counts of murder and one of [[Conspiracy (criminal)|conspiracy]].<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|185–188}} Since Kasabian, by all accounts, had not participated in the killings, she was granted [[Qualified immunity|immunity]] in exchange for testimony that detailed the nights of the crimes.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|214–219, 250–253, 330–332}} Originally, a deal had been made with Atkins in which the prosecution agreed not to seek the death penalty against her in exchange for her grand jury testimony on which the indictments were secured; once Atkins repudiated that testimony, the deal was withdrawn.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|169, 173–184, 188, 292}} Because Van Houten had participated only in the LaBianca killings, she was charged with two counts of murder and one of conspiracy.

Originally, Judge [[William B. Keene|William Keene]] had reluctantly granted Manson permission to [[Pro se legal representation in the United States|act as his own attorney]]. Because of Manson's conduct, including violations of a [[gag order]] and submission of "outlandish" and "nonsensical" [[motion (legal)|pretrial motions]], the permission was withdrawn before the trial's start.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|200–202, 265}} Manson filed an affidavit of prejudice against Keene, who was replaced by Judge [[Charles Older]].<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|290}} On Friday, July 24, the first day of testimony, Manson appeared in court with an X carved into his forehead. He issued a statement that he was "considered inadequate and incompetent to speak or defend [him]self"—and had "X'd [him]self from [the establishment's] world."<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|310}}<ref name="Sanders"/>{{rp|388}} Over the following weekend, the female defendants duplicated the mark on their own foreheads, as did most Family members within another day or so.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|316}}

The prosecution argued the triggering of "Helter Skelter" was Manson's main motive.<ref name="bugliosi"/> The crime scene's bloody White Album reference, "helter skelter", written by [[Susan Atkins]], and the writing of "pigs" was correlated with testimony about Manson predictions that the murders Black people would commit at the outset of Helter Skelter would involve the writing of "pigs" on walls in victims' blood.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|244–247, 450–457}} The defendants testified that the writing in blood on the walls was to copy that of the Hinman murder scene, not an apocalyptic race war.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|426–435}} According to Bugliosi, Manson directed Kasabian to hide a wallet taken from the scene in the women's restroom of a service station near a Black neighborhood.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|176–184, 190–191, 258–269, 369–377}} However, as co-prosecutor Stephen Kay later pointed out the wallet was left about twenty miles away in a predominantly White neighborhood, [[Sylmar]].<ref>{{cite AV media|last=Day|first=Buddy|author-link=James Buddy Day|url=https://www.amazon.com/Charles-Manson-Final-Words/dp/B07YCDVCHX|title=Charles Manson: The Final Words|publisher=[[Pyramid Productions]]: via–[[Amazon Prime]]|date=December 3, 2017|access-date=August 9, 2021|time=1:14:00-1:15:00|url-access=subscription}}</ref>