SQUEAKY FROMME IS OUT OF PRISON
(RIGHT HERE IN FORT WORTH)

Dedicated follower and lover of Charles Manson, Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme, has served her time after her conviction for attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford. She served 34 years.

She should not expect to see a lot of yellow ribbons tied around the local oak trees.

Fromme apparently tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California. Oddly, the gun had no bullet in the chamber, although there were bullets in the clip. That means it would not have fired had she pulled the trigger without racking the slide. She claims she only wanted to get attention and be heard, not to kill him. She succeeded only to a limited extent.

Fromme wanted to call Manson as a witness in her trial. The judge refused because it would give him a pulpit to rant and rave. Fromme refused to participate in the proceedings from then on, except to hit the prosecutor with an apple at one point.
She was convicted in 1975 and given a life sentence.

Fromme attacked a fellow prisoner with a hammer in 1979. She escaped from prison in 1987 and was captured. She received additional time on her sentence for the escape. She became eligible for parole in 1985, but waived her right to a parole hearing. Federal prisoners who are sentenced to life usually get parole after 30 years.

Fromme is now 60. She has been in prison here in Fort Worth at the old Carwell Air Force Base, now a federal prison for women. It is now called the Federal Medical Center at Carswell. She has been in the maximum security unit. That's where they keep the Bad Girls.

I think the interesting thing will be to see if she tries to go see Manson, who is still in prison in California with a swastika tattoed on his forehead. She called him a “once in a lifetime soul”. We can only hope she is right.

Fromme grew up in what appeared to be a nice home. Her father was educated and supported the family well enough for her mother to stay home. They lived in Santa Monica, California. However, in high school she started taking drugs and began to decline. Manson, for his part, had already been to prison. He met Fromme in 1967 on Venice Beach right after his release from Terminal Island. She took up with him immediately and ran off with him.

In 1969, Manson and some of his followers broke into a house and killed every one there, including actress Sharon Tate and the baby she carried. Fromme stayed at the abandoned ranch that was there home while this mass murder was committed. Manson and his crew were arrested. Fromme camped outside the courthouse during the trial. She carved an “x” into her forehead when Manson did the same during the trial. I guess when her mom said "would you jump off a bridge just because everyone else did" she would say yes if Manson was part of the everyone.

She refused to testify in the case and was held in contempt.

She continued to be loyal to Manson, though. He basically sold her and the women in his group to the Aryan Brotherhood in prison for protection. She sent nude photos of herself to the prison and moved in with some of the guys when they got out, to pay off Manson’s debt. Although she was not convicted of it, she evidently had some involvement in a murder committed by these guys, killing a man and his wife at a cabin, leaving behind a baby girl.

Fromme has also practiced a religion that Manson invented. It is a shame she did not embrace real religion and give her life to Christ rather than Manson and the devil he represents. Her master used her and abused her and she came back for more. Christ would have loved her and changed her and made her life useful.

Manson was the ultimate adolescent. Fromme thought he saw everything differntly than everyone else. Basically, he was saying "you're not the boss of me" to everyone. He wanted to be offensive and repulsive and he succeeded, although he deluded himself into thinking he was important and different. Unfortunately, he was able to pursuade a goup of rebellious adolescents, with the assistance of drugs, that he was in fact an original thinker and someone who would do great things, leading them to a new and shiny place they would like. He played his pipe; they danced to his tune.

Most of them went to prison and spent their lives there. Fromme debased herself in everyway possible and somehow believed she was still making a statement. Instead, she became a curious and sad foot note to Manson's tawdry tale.

What a sad waste of a life.