Lynette Fromme

Lynette Fromme (1965)

Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme (born October 22, 1948 in Santa Monica , California ) is an American assassin.

She was a member of the Manson Family led by Charles Manson . In 1975 she was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempting to assassinate then US President Gerald Ford .

Childhood and youth

Lynette Fromme's mother, Helen Benziger Fromme, was a housewife; her father, William Millar Fromme, was an aeronautical engineer. As a child, Fromme danced with a popular dance group, the Westchester Lariats , which performed on the Lawrence Welk Show and the White House . Her father was often characterized as tough and aloof, and that's how he treated his daughter. After a few years, he even refused to speak to her.

In 1963 the family moved to the Los Angeles suburb of Redondo Beach . It was there that Lynette Fromme began to drink alcohol and take drugs . Her high school grades went bad , but she graduated from school in 1966. Shortly afterwards, she moved out of her parents' house. The father convinced his daughter a few months later to enroll at the local community college , which she left after about two months after an argument with her father. Then she was homeless .

Manson and the Manson Family

Lynette Fromme moved to Venice Beach , a neighborhood in Los Angeles. Charles Manson , who had just been released from a prison at Terminal Island near Long Beach , saw her crying on a bench in a park. He made friends with Fromme, who liked his bizarre ideas. The two toured the state of California and met other homeless youth in various places . The group eventually stayed in Southern California as well as in the desert near Death Valley .

After Manson and some of his followers in 1969 because of the Tate - LaBianca had been taken murders in custody, camped Fromme and the remaining family members on the road to the Court in downtown Los Angeles. They insisted that Manson was innocent and proclaimed Manson's philosophy to the press and the public. Although prosecutors never accused Fromme of murder, they were found guilty of intimidating efforts to prevent other Manson supporters from giving testimony . Fromme himself refused to testify against Manson. For these acts, pious people were sentenced to short prison terms.

Fromme later moved to Stockton, Northern California . There she lived with two friends, Nancy Pitman and Priscilla Cooper, and two released prisoners, Michael Monfort and James Terrill Craig. A married couple, James and Lauren Willett, who were murdered by the group, lived in the house. Pitman, Cooper, Monfort and Craig were convicted of the murder, and Fromme were acquitted for lack of evidence.

Fromme then moved into an apartment in Sacramento with her friend Sandy Good . At times the two women wore robes and officially changed their names to emphasize their affiliation with the new Manson religion. Lynette called herself “Red” because of her red hair, and Sandy was named “Blue” to symbolize her blue eyes and the ocean.

attack

The Colt M1911 .45 caliber pistol , which Fromme used as a murder weapon

On the morning of September 5, 1975, Fromme went to Capitol Park in Sacramento. Allegedly she wanted to discuss protective measures for the famous coastal redwoods . However, Fromme was armed with a Colt 45 pistol , with which it aimed at the then US President Gerald Ford . The magazine contained four bullets, but the cartridge chamber was empty. The Secret Service security agents stopped the woman fixed immediately. When she was handcuffed , Fromme tried to tell the press that she hadn't fired the gun. During a lengthy process , Fromme refused to cooperate with her own defense team. She was found guilty of attempted murder of a US president and received a life sentence.

Later developments

1979 was moved Lynette Fromme out of the women's prison in Dublin , California , after they had attacked another inmate with a hammer. On December 23, 1987, Fromme escaped from Alderson Federal Prison Camp , West Virginia, and traveled west in hopes of reuniting with Manson. She had heard false rumors that Manson had testicular cancer . Pious people were arrested again two days later. Fromme initially waived all rights to probation hearings. After 34 years, Fromme was paroled from Carswell Prison Hospital on August 14, 2009, at the age of 60 .

Web link

• Lynette Fromme on cielodrive.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Manson's most important disciple is available again on welt.de.
2. ↑ After 34 years, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme to be released on cnn.com on August 5, 2009 (English)