1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,440 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. Disgraceland is 3 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: a production of Double Elvis. Mama Cass Elliot's life career, 4 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: both with and without the Mamas and the papas. Her 5 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: complex relationship with both the victims of the Manson family 6 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: murders and with the murderers themselves, both alleged and convicted, 7 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: is so complex that we needed two episodes to properly 8 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,880 Speaker 1: tell this story. If you're just getting hip to this now, 9 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: I suggest you hip pause and go back to the 10 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: previous episode of Disgraceland, part one of the Mama cass 11 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: Elliot story, where we get into Cassa's skyrocketing fame and 12 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: mold breaking pop stardom, her challenging solo career, her romantic 13 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,680 Speaker 1: relationship with not one but two international drug dealers, her 14 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: role as Hollywood's hippie den mother, her connections to the 15 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: Manson family, and her arrest in Hollywood. In this episode, 16 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: we further explore Cass's entanglement with Charles Manson, her close 17 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: friend Sharon Tate, and Sharon's husband, filmmaker Roman Polanski, as 18 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: well as Cass's alleged involvement in some of the long 19 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: rumored hedonistic events at Sharon and Roman's home on Ciello Drive, 20 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: events that put Mama Cass at the center of a 21 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: counter narrative that explosively disrupts the supposed motive for the 22 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: Manson family murders. And we debunked the silly fat shaming 23 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: myth surrounding cass Elliott's own death that has persisted for 24 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: nearly fifty years. We of course hit upon Cass's solo 25 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: music career, great music made by one of the last 26 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: century's most unique stars. Unlike that music I played for 27 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: you at the top of the show that wasn't great music. 28 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,919 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my mellotron called play 29 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: You Play Me MK two. I played you that loop 30 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: because I can't afford the rights to any song by 31 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:19,119 Speaker 1: John Denver. And why would I play you that specific 32 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: slice of senses filling Cheese? Could I afford it? Because 33 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: that was the number one song in America on July 34 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: twenty ninth, nineteen seventy four, And that was the day 35 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 1: that Mama Cass Elliot died, kicking off one of the 36 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:38,359 Speaker 1: more ridiculous myths in rock and roll history and burying 37 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: perhaps forever one of Hollywood's darkest secrets. On this episode, 38 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: Sharon T Charles manson the help their Skelter motive in 39 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: flames and Mama Cass's secret dead next to a Ham sandwich. 40 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:25,959 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Voy Tech Freikowski, 41 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: the big Polish dude Michael Caine had met at Cass 42 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:32,679 Speaker 1: Elliott's house turned j C brings black Porsche nine to 43 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: eleven onto Hollywood Boulevard and dropped the German engineered sports 44 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: card down a gear. The engine sounded barely containable. It 45 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: hummed low, almost a growl. The sound was an attention getter, 46 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: for sure. Young hustlers on the corner of Vine took notice. 47 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: Voytech cruised. He was looking for a particular type, young, clean, 48 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: almost pretty. That's how she liked them. How he liked 49 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: them too, Not unlike Jay, not unlike Roman. Voytek spotted 50 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: what he was looking for, kerbed the Porsche, proffered, popped 51 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: the passenger side door. The strange hopped in, and voy 52 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:18,919 Speaker 1: Tech headed back up into the Hollywood Hills. Not Laurel Canyon. 53 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: Tonight's action wasn't at Cass Elliott's place. It was at 54 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 1: Roman Polanski's Colo Drive home, but Cass would be there 55 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: because Sharon, Roman's wife would be there, and Sharon and 56 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: Cass were thicke as thieves, especially when Roman was out 57 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: of town. Cass kept Sharon company. Cass was the one, 58 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: of course, who introduced her boyfriend's Pick and Billy to 59 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: Sharon and Roman, and to Voytech for that matter. Pick 60 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: and Billy made sure the parties at one zero zero 61 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 1: five zero Cillo Drive never ran out of steam. Pick 62 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: and Billy supplied Sharon and Roman's friends with whatever drugs 63 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: they needed. Pick and Billy were bringing more than party favors, though. 64 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 1: Pick and Billy were supposedly setting Voytech up with enough 65 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: product to keep him going well beyond the summer, and 66 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: to make sure he would not to subsist on the 67 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: allowance his tight wade American heiress girlfriend Abigail Gibby Folger 68 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: kept him on. Gibby wasn't going to be there tonight. 69 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: She was too straight for tonight. Tonight was for professionals. 70 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: Tonight was black hoods. Tonight was young strange. Tonight was whips, chains, 71 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: wax and whatever was freaky tonight. The dancing would be 72 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 1: as they said different Tonight was inspired by the satanic 73 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: dream sequence from Roman's Rosemary's Baby. Roman would approve, and 74 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: they were going to film it to show Roman when 75 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: he returned from London. He'd dig it the most sick 76 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 1: fuck that he was. Roman loved his tapes. Roman loved 77 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: young girls, and there would be plenty. Charlie was bringing 78 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: his dirty desert hippie harm. Charlie would share as long 79 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: as there was an angle. Arlie liked to share, so 80 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: did Roman. Roman shared his home, his drugs, his money 81 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: word was Roman even shared share it. The tan skin 82 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: on the blonde glistened in the candlelight. She moved in 83 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: motion with the ray mensaric organ. It blasted from the 84 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: home stereo system at ear shattering volume. She was the 85 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: only one not in a black hood or a mask. 86 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: She wore red panties and that was it. Bodies were everywhere, 87 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: all twisted up together on the furniture, the carpeted floor, 88 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:39,039 Speaker 1: up against the walls. The blonde worked on the broad 89 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: shouldered bad dude with the Zoro mask behind him. A 90 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,679 Speaker 1: handsome young man waited his turn patiently. His beautiful brown 91 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: quaw needlessly hidden under the hood of his open robe. 92 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:53,920 Speaker 1: The pro noticed. The pro thought it a waste. How 93 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: hard we work for things only to squander them in 94 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: the heat of the moment. It proved what mattered in life? 95 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: What was Colonel? That was it? The rest was just 96 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: window dressing when you got right down to it. This 97 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: whole hippie Hollywood dream was about one thing, and one 98 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: thing only getting off All roads led to here hedonism, 99 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: and the chanting grew louder in rhythm with raised venice pump. 100 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 1: It forced a sort of mass come on. The room 101 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: itself seemed to elevate everywhere anyone looked. There was nothing 102 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 1: but beautiful hedonism, all of it orchestrated for mass satisfaction. 103 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: Young old male, female, ball, blonde, skinny fat. Yes, even 104 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: the big girl was in on the action. Though if 105 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: one looked closer, beyond the half assed pomp and fainted 106 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: satanic circumstance, one could tell that the big Girl's heart 107 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: wasn't in it. Her heart was with another, and he 108 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 1: was lost, gone in the wind. Pick Dawson wasn't due 109 00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: at Yellow Drive that night, so cass Elliott would have 110 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: to do with Pick's friend, her other love, Billy Doyle, 111 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: and if Billy wouldn't show, the word was Cowboy was 112 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: on her way, and Cowboy would most definitely entertain Cass 113 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: if her two loves weren't around to do so. Cowboy 114 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: was like that. It was the post party at Colo Drive. 115 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: Everyone was invited, but again Pick wouldn't be there. Pick 116 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 1: knew Voytech was too pissed, pissed that he caught a 117 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: bad stash off Pick, a stash he couldn't sell. Voy 118 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 1: Tech would handle Pick eventually, and in the meantime, if 119 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: his shitty had little friend, cass Elliot's other boyfriend, Billy 120 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: Doyle had the balls to show up, then voy Tech 121 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: would take care of him too. But to voy Tech, 122 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: in Cass's dismay for different reasons like Pick, Billy never 123 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:50,440 Speaker 1: showed either, not that night anyway. But for Billy Doyle, 124 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: Colo Drive was a hard call not to heat. There 125 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,199 Speaker 1: were too many parties, too many women, too many customers 126 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: to lay off his MDA, his LSD, his coke Grass. 127 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,319 Speaker 1: Months passed during that summer of sixty nine, and Cass 128 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: Elliot's boyfriend Billy Doyle eventually found his way back to 129 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: Roman Polanski's house. Roman was still out of town. Roman's friend, 130 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: voy Tech and Voytech's girlfriend had the run of the place, 131 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: even with Roman's pregnant wife, Sharon there. Sharon was no 132 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: match for voy Tech. Voy Tech ran the show. It 133 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 1: was still the celebrity haunt. It always was, Sharon made 134 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: sure of that. But the home was also a catch 135 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:34,079 Speaker 1: all for sunset strip seekers, sixty Charlatan's Hollywood Hill's hippie rabble, 136 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:37,959 Speaker 1: and of course, lots and lots of underage sexual action, 137 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: young girls, young men. They were practically busting in some cases. 138 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: They literally were by Charlie from his place up in 139 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: the desert and his barely operable school bus painted all black. 140 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,720 Speaker 1: Billy nearly salivated at the thought Cass wouldn't be there, 141 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: not tonight. She was back in the hospital, her crash 142 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:00,679 Speaker 1: diet had crashed, and Mamma Cat was in need of 143 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,200 Speaker 1: an IV, some rest and a short spell off the 144 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: drugs in the drink. But Billy was a freeborn man 145 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: in a world gone mad and set to shake some 146 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 1: action at Cielo Drive on that night. It was a risk. 147 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,600 Speaker 1: With Roman out of town. The parties were always a 148 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 1: bit rougher when Roman was away, and when voy Tech 149 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: was left in charge, but Billy bet Voytech would welcome 150 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:25,480 Speaker 1: him and forget about the bad stash Picket sold him, 151 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: because Billy had a brand new bag of the good stuff. 152 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:33,840 Speaker 1: Billy bet bygones would be bygones, but voy Tech wasn't having. 153 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:34,199 Speaker 2: Any of it. 154 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: Billy entered the pristine, white paneled door at Coello Drive 155 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: into a party in full swing. The boy Tech spied 156 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 1: him immediately. He could practically smell the sleeves on him. 157 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 1: The voy Tech played nice, at least he seemed to. 158 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: He welcomed Billy with open arms and a drink laced 159 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:56,679 Speaker 1: into an evil cocktail of vodka, punch, Mescaline, LSD and speed. 160 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: Billy gulped it down. Billy's head went blowed up. The 161 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 1: party swung. Where was Cass? Billy wondered she'd sent her him, 162 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: she always did, but Cass wasn't there. Billy felt his 163 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 1: heart jump into his throat and his stomach turned upside down. 164 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:14,720 Speaker 1: He fumbled to the bathroom to vomit, but nothing came up. 165 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 1: He stood stumbled into the living room. Someone placed a 166 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: lip join into his lips. He drew from him, coughed 167 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 1: up a mouthful of smoke, and the room closed in 168 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,720 Speaker 1: on him, the walls squeezed. Billy knew it. He was 169 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: about to be fucked, revenge fucked. Voytec appeared flat in 170 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 1: front of him and placed his big polish mits on 171 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: Billy's shoulders. Voytec smiled, Billy swore. Voytech's eyes went black. 172 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: The next thing Billy knew he was sucking on carpet, 173 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:46,880 Speaker 1: face down, his wrists bound behind his back. The pain 174 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: was unbelievable. Where was that coming from? In blunt thrust 175 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:57,079 Speaker 1: over and over again, Billy heard the partygers laughing, cheering, 176 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 1: egging on someone something, someone from behind him. The pain 177 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: it hit him in time with the cheering from the backside, 178 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:08,319 Speaker 1: over and over again. Billy's head ballooned, the pain burst, 179 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: and Billy blacked out. When Billy Doyle came to, his 180 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,440 Speaker 1: pants were around his ankles, his head was woozy, and 181 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,680 Speaker 1: his asshole throbbed with a hurt he'd never felt before. 182 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,079 Speaker 1: The looks from the celebrity and seens, their partygoers burned, 183 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 1: the smirks, the outright laughter, the fucking judgment. Billy stood 184 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: in a rage with one thing on his mind, killing 185 00:12:55,080 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 1: Voytek Frakowski. But just then, before he could Pounce himself 186 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,079 Speaker 1: was wrapped up in a bear hug and physically speeded 187 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: outside of the Seattle Drive home. The embrace was tight, 188 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: but not angry. It was that of a friend. It 189 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:15,440 Speaker 1: was Cowboy. Still, Billy fumed. He screamed, bloody murder. He's 190 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:17,439 Speaker 1: going to fucking end the big pole who did this 191 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,079 Speaker 1: to him. But Billy was no match for Cowboy, who 192 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,920 Speaker 1: was physically much bigger and stronger than he. For the 193 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,720 Speaker 1: second time that night, Billy Doyle was tied up, Cowboy 194 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 1: threw him in her car and tore us away from 195 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,959 Speaker 1: Sharon Tate's home in the Hollywood Hills and straight towards 196 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: Sharon's friend's home in Laurel Canyon, straight toward Mama Cass's house. 197 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:41,720 Speaker 1: What happened next Cass Elliott would never forget. She wasn't 198 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: there per se, not in person. But once Cowboys safely 199 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 1: chained and irate Billy Doyle to the tree outside Cass's home, 200 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:52,160 Speaker 1: Cowboy led herself into Cass's place and phone casts in 201 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,320 Speaker 1: the hospital. Cowboy wanted cast to know what was going 202 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: on at her place in case any of the neighbors 203 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: were to complain. Freaked out by the dangerous hippie chained 204 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 1: to the tree in the front yard, screaming bloody murder. 205 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: It was for Billy's own good, Cass. Cowboy explained in 206 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,680 Speaker 1: that throaty rasp of a drawl she had, Billy's gonna 207 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 1: kill him unless I force him to cool out. Cass 208 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 1: at the time found it all to be hysterical, knowing 209 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 1: full well the reason Billy was enraged because he was 210 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:23,359 Speaker 1: just forcibly sodomized in front of a party of cheering onlookers, 211 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: and now with her b team boyfriend chained to a 212 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: tree outside of her house to keep him from killing 213 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 1: his attacker, Cass screamed through her laughter into the phone 214 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: at Cowboy to get the polaroid. Get the polaroid. It 215 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 1: seemed to be all fun and games at the time, 216 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: but for Cass Elliott, remembering it all now as she 217 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: was on stage motioning through her latest set of solo 218 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 1: material years later, it all seemed sad in addition to 219 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: the sick and horrible sexual assault that it was. But 220 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: still sad, just sad. Sadder than her falling out with 221 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: the Mamas and the Patas, sadder than her bombing in Vegas, 222 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: sadder than her relationship with Billy and sadder than her 223 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 1: relationship with Billy's friend, the real love of her life, Pick, 224 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:08,760 Speaker 1: the way he just seemed to take and never give, 225 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: to show up and then disappear. Cass loved Pick. Pick 226 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: didn't love cast Back. Sometimes that's how it all felt. 227 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: Cass loved, but the world didn't love Back. Of course, 228 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:26,080 Speaker 1: that wasn't entirely true. Mama Cass was one of the 229 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: most beloved personalities of the late sixties and early seventies, 230 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: but that wasn't enough. Cass didn't want to just be 231 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: a personality. Cass wanted to be accepted as an artist 232 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: on the level with her buddy Crosby, with Joni, with Jimmy, 233 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: and as much as she hated to admit it, with 234 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 1: Papa John. But that acceptance was hard to come by 235 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: when you didn't write your own material, and even if 236 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: you packed him in. At the London Palladium, as Cass 237 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:58,960 Speaker 1: currently was July twenty sixth, nineteen seventy four, five years 238 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:02,240 Speaker 1: almost to the day from the Manson murders, half a 239 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 1: decade from losing her friend, Cass couldn't help but think 240 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:09,480 Speaker 1: about Sharon a lot. Sharon lit up the room and 241 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: now now that light was forever burned out, And for 242 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:18,880 Speaker 1: what and why? Those rumors that wormed their way through 243 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 1: Hollywood's lead circles after Sharon's death got to the truth 244 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 1: of it all, and it was enough to make anyone 245 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: remotely connected to Sharon Tate sick with fear. But again, why, 246 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 1: the how and the who? The movie stars, the rock stars, 247 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:37,280 Speaker 1: the so called helter skelter motive, the fucking beals, and 248 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: the ghoulish nature of the killings. That was for newspaper stands. 249 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: But the why of it all, that was the stuff 250 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:46,960 Speaker 1: that kept you up at night. Some came right out 251 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 1: and pointed their fingers at Sharon and at Cass's boyfriends, 252 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,280 Speaker 1: at Billy and at Pick. In an interview with the 253 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: Los Angeles Free Press, Dennis Hopper said the following about 254 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: the inhabitants of Colo Drive, Sharon Tate included they had 255 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:05,200 Speaker 1: fallen into sadism and masochism and bestiality, and they recorded 256 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,520 Speaker 1: it all on videotape too. The LA police told me this. 257 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 1: I know that three days before they were killed, twenty 258 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: five people were invited to that house for a mass 259 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,120 Speaker 1: whipping of a dealer from Sunset Strip who'd given them 260 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:21,879 Speaker 1: bad dough unquote. Even Candice Bergen, who with her boyfriend, 261 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: music producer Terry Melcher, lived in Sharon and Roman's house 262 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 1: at Colo Drive prior to the two of them, said 263 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: in an interview with LAPD two weeks after the murders 264 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 1: that the motive was because quote it was a rape 265 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:38,399 Speaker 1: unquote a less than reputable source Manson family member, the 266 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:42,200 Speaker 1: imprisoned Bobby Boselet. In a jailhouse interview to Truman Capoti said, 267 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: quote who says they were innocent? They burned people on 268 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:49,080 Speaker 1: drug deals. Sharon Tate in that gang. They picked up 269 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:51,360 Speaker 1: kids on the strip and took them home and whipped them, 270 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: made movies of it, asked the cops, they found the movies, 271 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:02,640 Speaker 1: not that they tell you the truth. We'll be right 272 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 1: back after this. We're were were the movies? The videos, 273 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:15,880 Speaker 1: the goddamn videos. Perhaps that's the part that frightened Hollywood 274 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: the most, not the motives, but the movies made for 275 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: Roman and made by Roman. Those rumors never quit. Those 276 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,479 Speaker 1: rumors were hard. The stories about what Roman for Sharon 277 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: to do on video with what some called quote quite 278 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:35,320 Speaker 1: a few recognizable Hollywood faces unquote, along with a supposed 279 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:39,480 Speaker 1: constant flow of underage girls who'd fallen into the cracks 280 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: of the City of Angels. Sharon's friend, photographer Sharak Katami, 281 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: is on record saying of Roman Pelanski, quote, he was 282 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 1: bringing other girls to have threesomes with Sharon, and Sharon 283 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 1: didn't like it when he was picking up girls on 284 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:56,160 Speaker 1: the Sunset Strip and bringing them home to have sex 285 00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: with her. Unquote. Sex tapes orgies say it is in pedophilia, 286 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:04,280 Speaker 1: the rape of a duplicitous drug dealing boyfriend of Mama Cass. 287 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: What consequence could any or all of this have. Who 288 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,600 Speaker 1: would have benefited from the gruesome murders at Cielo Drive? 289 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 1: Perhaps someone seeking revenge for being humiliated in public, for 290 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: being sodomized, raped, for burning Sharon's friends on a bad 291 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: dope deal. But Cass knew Billy Doyle and Pick Dawson 292 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:29,720 Speaker 1: and even Cowboy were out of the country when the 293 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 1: murders took place. But Hollywood knew better. The word was 294 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,639 Speaker 1: Billy and Pick were too smart to do the deed themselves. 295 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,280 Speaker 1: And that's where the weird little dude from the desert 296 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 1: with the harem of crazy underage girls came back into 297 00:19:44,560 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: the picture. Charlie Manson Charles Manson hated the elite Hollywood 298 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 1: scum up at Coelo Drive as much as Mama Cass's 299 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: boyfriend's Billy Doyle and Pick Dawson now did, and it 300 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 1: wasn't because of any public sodomization beef. Charlie had his 301 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:30,199 Speaker 1: own humiliation to contend with Sharon Tate, Roman fucking Polanski, 302 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,240 Speaker 1: the whole lot of them, especially the herd on music 303 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:37,160 Speaker 1: biz hancho, Terry Melcher and his hoity toity girlfriend Candice 304 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: Bergen who lived at Coelo prior. All of them, Voy 305 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: Tech and his rich bitch girlfriend included, had what was 306 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 1: coming to them. They looked down at Charlie, sneered at Charlie, 307 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:52,120 Speaker 1: dismissed Charlie. All Charlie was good for was his girls. 308 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 1: At first they loved Charlie. Charlie was on a different 309 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 1: trip man. Charlie took four hits of acid. His eyes 310 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 1: went all googly in that weird way of his. He 311 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: opened up his mouth and an entirely new dimension seemed 312 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 1: to open up to anyone around him. Charlie had it 313 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: where it mattered, He had soul. Man. Wait till Charlie 314 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:13,719 Speaker 1: got it. Down on record. That's what they said. Charlie 315 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,119 Speaker 1: was going to be a star, no, a prophet like Dylan. 316 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,320 Speaker 1: That's what Neil Young thought. Neil went as far as 317 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 1: to tell Moo Austin had a Warner Brothers records the 318 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: same Neil gave Charlie a motorcycle to help him get 319 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,919 Speaker 1: around town to replace that broke down jealopy of a 320 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: school bus he had. Dennis Wilson thought similarly of Charlie 321 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:34,960 Speaker 1: as well. Dennis recorded one of Charlie's songs with his band, 322 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: The Beach Boys. Dennis couldn't do anything right that didn't 323 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,399 Speaker 1: involve either a cock or an American made engine, and 324 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: both sort of the same thing when you think about it. 325 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: But I digress. So Dennis fucked up the recording of 326 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: Charlie's song in a big way, butchered the title, changed 327 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,440 Speaker 1: it thoughts, the lyrics didn't even credit Charlie. It was 328 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: supposed to be Charlie's big break because Dennis's friend dars 329 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: Day's dope smoking dollfaced Son the music industry golden boy, 330 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,959 Speaker 1: penetrating along with Dennis, whichever Charl's girls they could get 331 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:04,200 Speaker 1: their slip music industry hands on that dude, Terry Melcher, 332 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:06,200 Speaker 1: the one who lived up at the Seattle Drive house 333 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,199 Speaker 1: before Roman. He wanted nothing to do with Charlie as 334 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: a musician. Charlie auditioned for him. Charlie blew it. Terry 335 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 1: blew Charlie off, Charlie burned, dist dismissed, heavily dosed. Charlie 336 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,960 Speaker 1: had murder on the mind, a drug burn, the rape 337 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,159 Speaker 1: of a drug dealer in retaliation, a revenge plot, and 338 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: a grieved cult leader with acid induced scrambled eggs for brains. 339 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: The fact that Charlie and his girls could get paid 340 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 1: for killing them piggies that did him wrong like they 341 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 1: did billion pick made the whole trip all the more sweeter. 342 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,680 Speaker 1: Murder for hire and a world gone mad was righteous 343 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: work if you could get it, particularly if you were 344 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 1: offering rich establishment pigs in the process. Wasn't that what 345 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:49,959 Speaker 1: Charlie's girls, Susan Atkins wrote on the door of Colo 346 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:54,200 Speaker 1: Drive and Sharon Tate's blood pig or was it something else? 347 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:59,240 Speaker 1: The word pig was hardly written. Clearly, it was blurry, bloodied. 348 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 1: Say it didn't say pig at all. Some, including Mama 349 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:07,240 Speaker 1: Cass Elliot's former Mamas and the Papa's bandleader, John Phillips, 350 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 1: told Lapd that no, it didn't say pig, It said 351 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:22,160 Speaker 1: pick p I c Pick, not pig. John was crazy 352 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: not to mention an asshole, but so too was most 353 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 1: of Hollywood. On both accounts. Cass knew this then and 354 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,960 Speaker 1: she knew it now on stage, trying her best to 355 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: focus on the task at hand, entertaining the dwindling crowd 356 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:39,440 Speaker 1: of the London Palladium. But it was hard, too hard. 357 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:43,200 Speaker 1: It was all still a fresh wound. Pick and Billy, 358 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 1: Billy and Pick. Cass introduced them to Sharon Mama. Cass 359 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:52,200 Speaker 1: brought both boyfriends, both criminals, into Sharon Tate and Roman 360 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: Polanski's world. This is recent, well documented, thoroughly sourced information 361 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: for the excellent twenty nineteen book by Tom O'Neil and 362 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: Dan Pipenbring entitled Chaos Charles Manson, The CIA and the 363 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,919 Speaker 1: Secret History of the Sixties. But back in the days 364 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,560 Speaker 1: after the death of Sharon Tate, even though all this 365 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:15,040 Speaker 1: information was nothing more than whispers, it was enough to 366 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 1: keep you up at night, to make your stomach turn. 367 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:23,320 Speaker 1: Charles Manson so called helter Skelter motive so expertly detailed 368 00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:27,679 Speaker 1: by Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Vincent Bouliosi, a 369 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,960 Speaker 1: take that kept the public riveted throughout Buliosi's trial of 370 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: Charles Manson, A take that detailed Manson's fantastical plot to 371 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 1: unleash a race war on the world via the murder 372 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,520 Speaker 1: of Sharon Tate and others. To those in the know, 373 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: to those who visited Colo Drive before the murders, to 374 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,399 Speaker 1: those who partied there regularly, the helter skelter motive of 375 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:50,639 Speaker 1: Vincent Bugliosi seemed way out of the bounds of reality 376 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:54,200 Speaker 1: compared to what was being whispered around town. That Pick 377 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 1: and Billy did Sharon's in Roman's buddy Voytech wrong and 378 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,439 Speaker 1: a drug deal mothers a funer kill us. 379 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:01,240 Speaker 2: I swear. 380 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: That Voytek did Billy drug bound and sodomized him in 381 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:10,440 Speaker 1: front of a live audience at CLO Live from Hollywood. 382 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:15,159 Speaker 3: It's the public grip and humiliation of Malocasta's. 383 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: Boyfriend Bill that Billy and Pick swore vengeance. Hired Charlie Manson, 384 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:26,080 Speaker 1: who in turn cast his spell on his acid arranged 385 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:29,280 Speaker 1: followers to conduct the murders on Charlie's command and on 386 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 1: pick in Billy's dime Helter skelter helter skelter Buliosi. Bunk 387 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: cooked up the clamp down, a conviction to sell the public, 388 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,720 Speaker 1: to sell papers and to eventually sell books, to explain 389 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,399 Speaker 1: away the dwindling dream of the sixties, and perhaps to 390 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: cover up something darker did debaucherous hedonism of a blockbuster 391 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,239 Speaker 1: movie director and his A list movie star friends at 392 00:25:56,240 --> 00:26:00,640 Speaker 1: the Hollywood studio system, and perhaps other more powerful players 393 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,240 Speaker 1: had a lot invested in, all of whom were rumored 394 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,720 Speaker 1: to be captured on video at Colo Drive in horrifying 395 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:12,359 Speaker 1: acts of illegal sexual deprivity. Hollywood had a history of 396 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 1: covering up worse. In the wake of the murder of 397 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:20,360 Speaker 1: Sharon Tate, Hollywood went fully paranoid. Mia Farrow blew off 398 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,200 Speaker 1: Sharon's funeral, too afraid she was going to be taken 399 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:26,679 Speaker 1: out with a sniper's bullet. Frank Sinatra went into hiding. 400 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,840 Speaker 1: Jerry Lewis dropped boku coin on a state of the 401 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:34,359 Speaker 1: art security system. Sammy Davis looked at Anton Leavy for answers. 402 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,800 Speaker 1: Steve McQueen stashed a gun in his glove box in 403 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,880 Speaker 1: the two days after the murders, One sporting goods store 404 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:45,920 Speaker 1: in Beverly Hills reported selling two hundred guns. Mama Cass's bandmate, 405 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 1: Michelle Phillips was one of the Hollywood e lead shopping 406 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,720 Speaker 1: for firearms, and for good reason. On the piano at 407 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: Sharon's house after the murders, they found the sheet music 408 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:58,680 Speaker 1: to the Mamas and the Papa song Straight Shooter. Creepy 409 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,680 Speaker 1: thing compared to the worst of it, the death list, 410 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 1: the death list from the Manson family, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, 411 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,200 Speaker 1: Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, and Steve McQueen. They were right 412 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:15,000 Speaker 1: to be paranoid. They were all on the list. The 413 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,520 Speaker 1: ghosts of Errol Flynn, Jack Kennedy, and Marilyn Monroe slouched 414 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:22,520 Speaker 1: toward gomorro Joan Diddyon reached for her pen. It was 415 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:27,080 Speaker 1: enough to make you bury your memories with alcohol, heroin, cocaine, tranquilizers, 416 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 1: and endless amounts of unhealthy food, which is exactly what 417 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,679 Speaker 1: cass Ellie had had been doing since the murders. But 418 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:38,400 Speaker 1: despite it all, here she was in nineteen seventy four, 419 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 1: like so many others from those heady days of nineteen 420 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 1: sixty nine, still standing for the moment anyway on stage, 421 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: but going through the motions she was tired. She knew it, 422 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:55,240 Speaker 1: and the London crowd knew it too. Cass Elliot couldn't 423 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,359 Speaker 1: wait to get back to the apartment she was staying 424 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 1: in on loan from Harry Nilsen, and to get some rest. 425 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,840 Speaker 1: This recent crash diet was one of the worst. She 426 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: was fatigued and these shows were draining. But first after 427 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,600 Speaker 1: the show, there was Mick Jagger's birthday party to attend 428 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:17,720 Speaker 1: in Chelsea. Cass chatted up Pete Townsend and Rod Stewart. They, 429 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 1: along with other guests, noticed Cass's condition, constant coughing, trouble 430 00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:25,920 Speaker 1: with her breathing, but still she kept on drinking and smoking. 431 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,919 Speaker 1: Morning came and Cass made it back to her borrowed flat. 432 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:32,960 Speaker 1: She fixed herself a ham sandwich and a glass of 433 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,919 Speaker 1: Coca cola, placed both on her nightstand, plopped down to 434 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,880 Speaker 1: sleep and never woke up. Her body was discovered the 435 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 1: next afternoon. A doctor who made the scene, Doctor Greenberg, 436 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 1: told The Daily Express that Mama Cass Elliot appeared to 437 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,920 Speaker 1: have died from a case of asphyxia, saying, quote from 438 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: what I saw when I got to the flat, She 439 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:57,280 Speaker 1: appeared to have been eating a ham sandwich and drinking 440 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 1: Coca cola while laying down, a very dangerous thing to do. 441 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 1: This would be especially dangerous for someone like cass who 442 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:09,640 Speaker 1: was overweight. She seemed to have choked on the ham sandwich. Unquote. 443 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,480 Speaker 1: What the doctor didn't tell the press prior to making 444 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,480 Speaker 1: his fat shaming assessment of cass Elliot's cause of death 445 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,680 Speaker 1: was that a bottle of tamzapam tranquilizers and a vial 446 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,360 Speaker 1: of liquid cocaine have been removed from the scene. Furthermore, 447 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,480 Speaker 1: the doctor neglected to tell the press that the ham sandwich, 448 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,600 Speaker 1: the supposed cause of death, had not even been touched. 449 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 1: Cass Elliot died basically of poor health from a life 450 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:36,880 Speaker 1: of near constant drug and alcohol abuse throughout her adulthood, 451 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:41,080 Speaker 1: in addition to being overweight and in poor physical shape. 452 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:44,640 Speaker 1: Cass Elliott did not die choking on a ham sandwich. 453 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 1: It seems false motives and explanations for Hollywood so called 454 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,720 Speaker 1: innocent Where all the rage in nineteen seventy four, just 455 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:57,680 Speaker 1: as they were back in nineteen sixty nine. Such a disgrace. 456 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan and this is disgrace. PostScript August nineteen 457 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:18,360 Speaker 1: sixty nine. Roman Polanski is back at his home on 458 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 1: Ciello Drive, days after the murders. He is wandering through 459 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: the crime scene where his pregnant wife and friends were 460 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 1: just slaughtered. The salty smell of blood still fills the 461 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: air within the walls of the Hollywood Hills home. Roman 462 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: wanders dazed amongst the lapd and investigative authorities. He is 463 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: being trailed by a psychic whom he's hired to help 464 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:45,120 Speaker 1: track down the killers, and a photographer from Life magazine, 465 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:50,680 Speaker 1: whom he's also hired, presumably to capture the moment for posterity. 466 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 1: Roman is in shock. The scene is an unimaginable horror, 467 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: a horror so realistic the filmmaker never in a million 468 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 1: years could ever dream of capturing it in one of 469 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 1: his films, Films like the one he was known the 470 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:08,120 Speaker 1: world over for Rosemary's Baby, and like a lesser known 471 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 1: film like the One in the Box and the homes Loft, 472 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:15,680 Speaker 1: the film that was filmed here at Ciello, the film 473 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: that Hollywood whispered about, the film that witnesses say Roman 474 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:24,280 Speaker 1: Polanski quietly stashed away into his pocket and left Siello 475 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 1: Drive with on that day. In February of nineteen seventy seven, 476 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:33,960 Speaker 1: forty three year old Roman Polanski is charged with the 477 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:37,320 Speaker 1: rape of a thirteen year old girl. Nearly a year later, 478 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy eight, to escape what was believed to 479 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: be an impending fifty year prison sentence for the rape 480 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:46,480 Speaker 1: of a minor, Roman Polanski fled the United States to 481 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:49,600 Speaker 1: live in exile in Europe, where he remains to this day. 482 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety one, behind bars for the Tate LaBianca murders, 483 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,400 Speaker 1: Charles Manson gives an interview to Ron Reagan Junior in 484 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:01,560 Speaker 1: which he says about Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski, quote, 485 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,960 Speaker 1: they were fucking pedophiles. They weren't innocent. 486 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,440 Speaker 2: All right, Thanks for hanging out with me and Mama Cass. 487 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:29,080 Speaker 3: Apple podcast listeners, make sure you have automatic downloads turned 488 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:31,440 Speaker 3: on so you don't miss any episodes, all right. This 489 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 3: week's question of the week is do you believe the 490 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:38,240 Speaker 3: accepted narrative around Helter Skelter has put forth by Vincent 491 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,120 Speaker 3: Buliosi six one seven nine oh six six six three 492 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:43,520 Speaker 3: eight To let me know via voicemail or text at 493 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 3: disgrace lampod to let me know via Instagram, Facebook or 494 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaker 3: ex and you'll be able to hear your answers on 495 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 3: the after party bonus episode coming up right after this one. 496 00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:53,480 Speaker 3: If you want more stories from me like this one, 497 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 3: but about actors and actresses and not about musicians, and 498 00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 3: check out hollywood Land, our Hollywood in True Crime spinoff pod. 499 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:03,840 Speaker 3: Right now, we have two episodes on Sharon Tate, Mamacass's Friend, 500 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:07,000 Speaker 3: and those episodes tied directly to the episodes on casts 501 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,120 Speaker 3: that you just heard. Search and follow hollywood Land wherever 502 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 3: you get your podcasts. We're releasing episodes every week on 503 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 3: John Waters, David Lynch, James Dean, Steve McQueen, Patty Hrsam Moore. 504 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:19,680 Speaker 3: Leave a review for Disgraceland or hollywood Land on Apple podcast. 505 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:20,640 Speaker 2: Or work Spotify and win. 506 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:23,120 Speaker 1: Some free merch. All right, here comes some credits. 507 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,920 Speaker 3: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 508 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,360 Speaker 3: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 509 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:33,800 Speaker 3: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 510 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:37,200 Speaker 3: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 511 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 3: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it, and 512 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,280 Speaker 3: if not, you can become a member right now by 513 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:46,960 Speaker 3: going to disgracelampod dot com slash Membership. 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