Barbara Hoyt (December 27, 1951 – December 3, 2017) was a member of the " Manson Family", led by

Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed a series of nine murders at four loca ...

. Hoyt was a

witness In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...

in District Attorney

Vincent Bugliosi Vincent T. Bugliosi Jr. (; August 18, 1934 – June 6, 2015) was an American prosecutor and author who served as Deputy District Attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office between 1964 and 1972. He became best known for s ...

's prosecution of Manson and his followers for the Tate-LaBianca murders, one of the highest-profile murder trials in history.

Life

Hoyt lived with the Manson Family at Spahn Ranch. In 1971, five Manson followers —

Catherine Share Catherine Louise "Gypsy" Share (born December 10, 1942) is known as a former member of the Manson Family; she was convicted of witness intimidation in relation to the 1970 trial of the Tate-LaBianca murders. In 1971 she was convicted of armed r ...

Lynette Fromme 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, ...

, Dennis Rice,

Steve Grogan Steven James Grogan (born July 24, 1953) is a former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football at Kansas State University and was selec ...

and Ruth Ann Moorehouse — were charged with attempted murder after they plotted to murder Hoyt to prevent her testifying for the prosecution during the Tate/LaBianca murder trial. Moorehouse was to lure Hoyt to

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, Hawaii, so that she would be unable to testify. Once in Hawaii, if Hoyt could not be convinced not to testify, Moorehouse was to kill her. On September 9, 1970, as Moorehouse was preparing to board her flight back to California, it was alleged that Moorehouse bought Hoyt a hamburger and laced it with a multi-dose of

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

, then left her and flew back to California. Hoyt survived the attempt on her life. Share and the others were initially charged with

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ye ...

; the charge was later reduced to conspiracy to dissuade a witness from testifying. Share, Fromme, Rice, and Grogan served 90-day sentences in the Los Angeles County Jail. Moorehouse never served her sentence, as she failed to appear at the sentencing hearing. After Hoyt had pursued a career in nursing, she had become friends with

Sharon Tate Sharon Marie Tate Polanski (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress and model. During the 1960s, she played small television roles before appearing in films and was regularly featured in fashion magazines as a model and cover ...

's sister, Debra.

Death

Hoyt died of

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...

on December 3, 2017 at the age of 65

References

External links

Barbara Hoyt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyt, Barbara 1951 births 2017 deaths Deaths from kidney failure Manson Family People from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho