‘This is crazy’: Former AP reporter remembers Manson trial
LOS ANGELES — The first time I saw Charles Manson being led into a courtroom in 1969 at the old Los Angeles Hall of Justice, I was shocked — not because of the mythology that preceded him, but because of just how small he was.
The cult leader, accused of the most notorious murders in decades, arrived amid stories of mystical powers and hypnotic eyes. Now, he was shuffling down a hallway in handcuffs, wearing fringed buckskins, surrounded by deputies.
At just over 5-foot-3, Manson was not much taller than me. His shaggy brown hair hung across his face, and he appeared dazed by the hysteria surrounding him.
Photo crews galloped down the hallway, jockeying so fast to get near him that they knocked a water fountain off the wall, flooding the corridor.