5-8-08
Mja Inc Investigations has sent you a story:
CNN News
cnn.com/crime
updated 20 minutes ago
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/08/bts.ro...f=ib_topstoriesBehind the Scenes: Body hunt at Manson ranch
Story Highlights:
Detective, cadaver dog may have found 5 graves at
Manson's Barker Ranch
Scientists find evidence of possible remains at three
of the same spots
Manson's top lieutenant doesn't believe anyone else
was killed at hideout
A decision to dig on the federally-owned land is
expected this week
_____________________________
By Ted Rowlands
CNN Correspondent
In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents
share their experiences in covering news and analyze
the stories behind the events. CNN's Ted Rowlands
takes viewers inside the Barker Ranch, tonight on
"Anderson Cooper 360°," at 10 p.m. ET
DEATH VALLEY, California (CNN) -- The Charles Manson
murder spree of 1969 ended in a remote Death Valley,
California, cabin called Barker Ranch. It's where
Manson and members of his cult "family" hid after the
seven murders, dubbed the "Helter Skelter" killings
that terrified the country.
Authorities could decide this week to start digging
for more bodies at Barker Ranch, Charles Manson's
hideout.
Now,thanks to a small-town detective and his cadaver
dog, Manson's hideout might be searched for more
murder victims.
About a year ago, Sgt. Paul Dostie of the Mammoth
Lakes Police Department decided to test his dog,
Buster, at the Barker Ranch. He heard rumors that
Manson and his followers had killed more people and
buried them behind their hideout.
After several visits, Buster, who was trained to find
human remains, found five possible graves, Dostie
says.
A few weeks ago, a CNN crew went with Dostie, Buster
and gold prospector Emmett Harder to Barker Ranch.
Harder knew Manson and his top lieutenant, Charles
"Tex" Watson, and spent time with the Manson family in
1969. Harder says at that time he had no idea some of
Manson's group of more than 30 men, women and children
had just gone on a killing spree. Watch a report from
the ranch »
Getting to the Barker Ranch requires a four-wheel
drive to manage the steep, rocky terrain of the Golar
Wash -- a narrow passage separating the High Desert
Mountains from the arid desert valley below. As we
bounced around on the drive in, it was hard to imagine
how Manson and his cult got a school bus up the same
road 40 years ago. See photos inside the Manson
compound »
We finally arrived at the Barker Ranch about an hour
after leaving the ghost town of Ballarat.
'Anderson Cooper 360°'
Did Charles Manson and his cult family murder and bury
more bodies at their remote hideout in Death Valley?
Ted Rowland's takes us inside Barker Ranch, 40 years
later.
Before Buster, the dog, went to work -- we went into
the old cabin which was virtually unchanged since
Manson and his crew was arrested here.
Dostie shows us the bathroom where Manson was hiding
at the time of his arrest -- crammed in a tiny
cabinet.
"His hair was sticking out," Dostie said, as he
explained how Manson was found while an officer was
using the bathroom.
Emmett Harder, the gold prospector, showed us the old
kitchen where he and the Manson girls ate pancakes.
"We rolled them up and dipped them in syrup," said
Harder, who hired Watson and Manson to do some work --
even thought he says he didn't trust them around his
gold mine.
"Find Fred," Dostie shouts, a command used to send
Buster looking for remains.
One by one, with our camera rolling, the 4-year-old
black lab goes to five separate areas, which Dostie
believes are the site of old graves.
"I don't know who's buried here, but I think there are
bodies," Dostie says as he praises his dog.
"I think there were more," says Harder, recalling a
story one of the Manson girls once told him.
"This one girl didn't get along with Manson or Watson
at all," Harder recalls. "And they took her for a
walk, and they came back in a short distance, and we
never saw her again," he says, raising an eyebrow
under his cowboy hat.
CNN sent letters to Manson and "Tex" Watson, asking if
there were victims buried behind Barker Ranch.
Manson never replied, but Watson did.
In a letter, he told CNN: "I was the first family
member to go to the desert after the murders and also
the first to leave. I say this only to let you know
that no one was killed while I was in the desert. But
I don't know what took place after I left. I don't
think there were any more killed, I hope not! I have
absolutely nothing to hide.
Police say they don't know of anyone associated with
Manson who was reported missing after his arrest.
Barker Ranch is located on federal land but the
decision whether to do a follow-up dig is up to the
Inyo County Sheriff's Department, which wanted do more
testing -- including sonar readings -- before spending
the time and money to excavate.
After reviewing soil samples uncovered by Dostie, a
team of Oak Ridge scientists recently traveled to the
ranch for further testing. They found enough evidence
to excavate -- evidence of possible remains at three
of the same places where his cadaver dog alerted,
Dostie says.
"It seems very viable," he says. "I would say we have
a tremendous amount of probable cause to look."
Even if bodies are found, there is no guarantee they
would ever be identified, and even if the bodies were
identified, prosecuting Manson or any of his followers
for murder would be virtually impossible.
"Really that's not what we're interested in," Dostie
says. "Many of these Manson family members are on
one-year parole reviews, and there's a lot of movement
out there to try to get them out."
A decision on a dig is expected this week. Without a
search, we may never know whether Buster the dog was
just barking, or whether his barks unlocked a Manson
family secret.
__________________________________
Posted by:
Mja Inc--Mark