Early life
Fromme was born in Santa Monica, California, to Helen
Benziger Fromme, a homemaker, and William Millar Fromme, an aeronautical
engineer.
As a child, Fromme was a performer for a popular local dance group called
Westchester Lariats,[1] which in the late
1950s began touring the US and Europe, appearing on The Lawrence
Welk Show and at the White House. Fromme was in the 1959 tour.[2]
In 1963, the family moved to Redondo Beach, a suburb of Los Angeles, and Fromme began
drinking
and taking drugs. Her grades in high school dropped, but she managed to graduate
in 1966. She moved out of her parents' house for a few months before her father
convinced her to consider El Camino Junior College. Her attendance here
only lasted about two months, however, before an argument with her father
rendered her homeless.
Charles Manson and Manson Family involvement
In 1967, Fromme went to Venice Beach, suffering from depression. Charles Manson, who had been recently released
from federal prison at Terminal Island near Long
Beach, saw her and struck up a conversation with her. Fromme found Manson's
philosophies and attitudes appealing, and the two became friends, travelling
together and with other young people such as Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins. She lived in southern California at
Spahn Ranch, and in the
desert near Death
Valley.
After Manson and some of his followers were arrested for committing what
would become known as the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969, Fromme and
the remaining "Manson family" camped outside of the trial. When Manson and his
fellow defendants, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten
and Atkins carved Xs into their foreheads, so did Fromme and her compatriots.
They proclaimed Manson's innocence and preached his apocalyptic philosophy to the news media, as well as
to anyone else who would listen. She was never charged with involvement in the
murders, but was convicted of attempting to prevent Manson's imprisoned
followers from testifying, as well as contempt of court when she herself refused to
testify. She was given short jail sentences for both offenses.
[edit]
Murder in Stockton California
Fromme moved to Stockton, California, with friends Nancy
Pitman and Priscilla Cooper, a pair of ex-convicts named Michael Monfort and
James Craig, and a couple, James and Lauren Willett. After the body of James
Willett was found, the housemates were taken into custody on suspicion of
murder. Lauren Willett was also then discovered to be dead as well. An infant
girl believed to be the Willetts’ daughter was found in the house and placed in
Mary Graham Hall.[3] Fromme was
released due to a lack of evidence.
The Sonoma County coroner’s office concluded that James Willett was killed
sometime in September 1972 although his body was not found until the beginning
of November 1972. He had been buried near Guerneville in Sonoma County.[3] On the
night of Saturday November 11, 1972 the Stockton Police responded to information
that a station wagon owned by the Willetts was in the area. It was discovered
parked in front of 720 W. Flora Street. "Police Sgt. Richard Whiteman went to
the house and, when he was refused entry, forced his way in. All the persons
subsequently arrested were in the house except for Miss Fromme. She telephoned
the house while police were there, asking to be picked up, and officers obliged,
taking her into custody nearby. Police found a quantity of guns and ammunition
in the house, and noticed freshly dug earth beneath the building."[3] The
Stockton Police obtained a warrant and dug up the body of Lauren Willett around
5 a.m. the following day. Cooper told investigators that Lauren had been shot
accidentally and had been buried when they realized she was dead.[3] Cooper
contended that Monfort was "demonstrating the dangers of firearms, playing a
form of Russian roulette with a .38 caliber pistol" and had first spun the gun
cylinder and shot at his own head, and when the gun didn't fire, pointed it at
the victim, whereupon it fired.[3]
The Stockton Police indicated that Lauren Willett "was with the others of her
own volition prior to the shooting, and was not being held prisoner."[3]
Fromme then moved into a Sacramento apartment with her friend,
fellow Manson family member Sandra Good. The two wore robes on occasion and
changed their names to symbolize their devotion to Manson's new religion. Fromme
became "Red" in honor of her red hair and the redwoods, and Good became "Blue"
for her blue eyes and the ocean.
Attempt to contact Jimmy Page
In March 1975, Fromme confronted Danny Goldberg, the publicist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, which was performing concerts in the
United States as part of its North American concert
tour. She said she had to see Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page because she had foreseen something evil in his future and thought it might happen
that night during the band's concert at the Long Beach Arena. She
swore that the last time this had happened, she had seen someone shot to death
before her very eyes. Goldberg persuaded her to write a long note to Page, after
which she left. The note was burned, unread.[4]
Assassination attempt on President Ford
On the morning of September 5, 1975, Fromme went to Sacramento's Capitol Park
(reportedly to plead with President Gerald Ford about the plight of the California redwoods) dressed in a nun-like red robe and armed with a .45 Colt automatic pistol, that she pointed at Ford.
The pistol's magazine was loaded with four rounds, but none was in the firing chamber. She was immediately
restrained by Secret Service agents, and while
she was being further restrained and handcuffed, managed to say a few sentences
to the on-scene cameras, emphasizing that the gun did not "go off".[5] Fromme subsequently
told The
Sacramento Bee that she had deliberately ejected the cartridge in her
weapon's chamber before leaving home that morning, and investigators later found
a .45 ACP cartridge in her bathroom.[6]
After a lengthy trial in which she refused to cooperate with her own defense,
she was convicted of the attempted assassination of the president and received a life
sentence under a 1965 law (prompted by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy) which
specified a maximum sentence of life in prison for attempted presidential
assassinations. When U.S. Attorney Duane Keyes recommended severe punishment
because she was "full of hate and violence," Fromme threw an apple at him, hitting him in the face and knocking off
his glasses.[7]
Aftermath
In 1979, Fromme was transferred out of the women's prison in Dublin,
California, for attacking a fellow inmate, Julienne Busic, with the
claw end of a hammer. On December 23, 1987, she escaped from the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in Alderson,
West Virginia, attempting to meet up with Manson, who she had heard had testicular cancer.
She was captured again two days later and is now serving time in Texas at the Federal Medical Center,
Carswell. Though she has been eligible for parole since 1985, Fromme has
consistently waived her right to a hearing.
Seventeen days after Fromme's assassination attempt, Sara Jane Moore
attempted to assassinate Ford in San Francisco; she was also unsuccessful.
Fromme's story is one of eight told in Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's musical Assassins.
She and John
Hinckley, Jr. appear in the duet "Unworthy of Your Love".
Bibliography
Bravin, Jess (1997). Squeaky:
The Life and Times Of Lynette Alice Fromme. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312187629.
