• 1975 – Squeaky Fromme, a devotee of Charles Manson, attempted to assassinate U.S. president Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California.

Squeaky Fromme


Fromme as a high-school junior in 1964

Born: Lynette Alice Fromme; October 22, 1948 (age 76); Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Other names: Red
Criminal status: Paroled
Conviction(s): Attempted assassination of the President of the United States (18 U.S.C. § 1751(c))
Criminal penalty: Life imprisonment

Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme (born October 22, 1948) is an American criminal who was a member of the Manson family, a cult led by Charles Manson. Though not involved in the Tate–LaBianca murders for which the Manson family is best known, she attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975. For that crime, she was sentenced to life in prison. She was paroled from prison on August 14, 2009, after serving approximately 34 years. She published a book about her life in 2018.

Early life

Fromme was born on October 22, 1948, in Santa Monica, California, the daughter of Helen (née Benzinger) and William Millar Fromme, an aeronautical engineer. As a child, Fromme performed with a popular dance group called the Westchester Lariats, which began touring the United States and Europe in the late 1950s, and had an appearance on The Lawrence Welk Show and at the White House.


A section from a wall of Fromme's Redondo Beach apartment

In 1963, the family moved to Redondo Beach, and Fromme began using alcohol and drugs. Her grades dropped at Redondo Union High School, but she graduated in 1966. She moved out of her parents' house for a few months before her father convinced her to enroll at El Camino College. She returned home for two months before her father kicked her out following an argument, rendering her homeless.

Charles Manson and Manson Family involvement

By 1967, at the age of 19, Fromme had dropped out of college. She went to Venice Beach after her parents threw her out of the family house. Suffering from depression, she sat on a curb and watched a bus arrive, and Charles Manson exited. Manson stopped and looked at her and said, "Your parents threw you out, didn't they?" Fromme immediately decided Manson was a psychic. Manson walked away and Fromme picked up her belongings and followed him. Manson had recently been released from the federal prison at Terminal Island, and Fromme became the second member of what would become the Manson Family.

Fromme found Manson's philosophies and attitudes appealing, and the two became friends and traveled together with other young people, including Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins. She lived with the Manson Family at Spahn Ranch where they worked for their keep, and at the Barker Ranch in Death Valley, which was owned by the grandmother of one of the Family members. Ranch owner George Spahn gave her the nickname "Squeaky" because of the sound that she made when he touched her.

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Assassination attempt on President Ford
Main article: Attempted assassination of Gerald Ford in Sacramento


The Colt M1911 .45-caliber pistol used in Fromme's
attempt to assassinate President Gerald Ford

On the morning of September 5, 1975, Fromme went to Sacramento's Capitol Park, ostensibly to plead with President Gerald Ford about the plight of the California redwoods, dressed in a red robe and armed with a Colt M1911 .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. The pistol's magazine was loaded with four rounds, but there was no round in the chamber. When Fromme pointed the gun at Ford she was immediately restrained by Secret Service agent Larry Buendorf. She managed to say a few sentences to the on-scene cameras while being handcuffed, emphasizing that the gun "didn't go off". In 1980, Fromme told The Sacramento Bee that she had deliberately ejected the round from her weapon's chamber before leaving home that morning, and investigators later found a round on her bathroom floor.

Fromme refused to cooperate with her own defense during her trial. Despite claiming that "I was not determined to kill the guy", Fromme was eventually convicted of the attempted assassination of the president and received a life sentence under a 1965 law that made attempted presidential assassinations a federal crime. Attorney Dwayne 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. She told the press that she "came to get life. Not just my life but clean air, healthy water, and respect for creatures and creation."

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Larry Buendorf


Buendorf (in foreground, with sunglasses) protecting Ford
on 5 September 1975, Ford's attempted assassination day

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Mary Brunner


Mary Brunner in a 1968 mugshot

Born: Mary Theresa Brunner, December 17, 1943 (age 81); Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Criminal status: Paroled in 1977
Children: Valentine Michael Manson (son with Charles Manson)
Parent(s): George and Elsie Brunner
Criminal charge: Armed Robbery, Credit Card Theft, Indecent Exposure
Penalty: Incarcerated at the California Institution for Women

Mary Theresa Brunner (born December 17, 1943) is a former member of the "Manson Family" who was present during the 1969 murder of Gary Hinman, a California musician and Ph.D. candidate. She was arrested for numerous offenses, including credit card theft and armed robbery, and she served a prison sentence at the California Institution for Women.

Meeting Charles Manson

Brunner was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin to George and Elsie Brunner. She moved to California upon graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1965 and took a job as library assistant at University of California, Berkeley. She met 33-year-old career criminal Charles Manson who had been released from Terminal Island prison several weeks earlier. She let him stay at her apartment and the two became lovers after several weeks. She was thus the first person whom Manson recruited into his "Family". She quit her job and the two began to drift around California in a van meeting other young women.

Brunner became pregnant by Manson during the summer of 1967 and she gave birth to a son on April 15, 1968, whom she named Valentine Michael, nicknamed "Pooh Bear". They were living in a condemned house in Topanga Canyon, and she was assisted during the birth by several of the young women from the Family. She acquired a number of aliases and nicknames, including "Marioche", "Och", "Mother Mary", "Mary Manson", "Linda Dee Manson", and "Christine Marie Euchts".

Brunner and Manson met 18-year-old Lynette Fromme in Venice, California, and the three began living together in a rented house at 636 Cole Street in San Francisco. Over the course of the following two years, the Family enlarged to include between 20 and 30 individuals living communally; some became ardent followers of Manson, such as Brunner and Fromme, while other young people drifted in and out of the group.

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