Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
In this issue of Los Angeles Magazine and on the website, Steve Oney revisits the summer of 1969 when Hollywood figures, and then much of the city, were terrified by the murders carried out by followers of Charles Manson. It's probably hard for newcomers to appreciate just how big of a deal it was in Los Angeles when pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others were found tortured and slaughtered in Benedict Canyon, with the word PIG written in her blood on the front door. Then Leno and Rosemary LaBianca the next night in Los Feliz, and finally to have the mystery tied to a creepy tribe of young women from the suburbs and their master who squatted at the Spahn Ranch in Santa Susana Pass when they weren't hanging with the Beach Boys. Oney talks to many of the players, including former Manson followers and prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi.
Also in the magazines: Orange Coast has a nice feature on the Orange County final days of Philip K. Dick.