Steven Dennis "Clem" Grogan (born July 13, 1951) is an American convicted murderer and former member of the Manson Family. He was released from prison in 1985, the only person paroled after being convicted of murder in the killings committed by the Family.

Biography

Grogan, a musician and artist, dropped out of high school and was involved in minor crimes. When his frustrated parents lost hope, they decided to drop him off at

Spahn Ranch Spahn Ranch, also known as the Spahn Movie Ranch, was a 55-acre (22.3 ha) movie ranch in Los Angeles, California. For a period it was used as a ranch, dairy farm and later movie set during the era of westerns. After a decline in use for filming b ...

. He was immediately taken in by the ranch hands and began to do odd jobs around the ranch. Ranch hand Donald Shea took a liking to Grogan, often buying him clothes. Like

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 ...

, he was friends with

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. ...

of the

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

. He was often considered dumb, or even "retarded", by other Family members, earning him the nickname "Scramblehead", but some felt he was only "playing dumb". Allegedly, it was Grogan who wrecked Wilson's uninsured

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

.Steve Dennis Grogan profile
cielodrive.com; accessed March 17, 2017. In 1969, he was sentenced to 90 days observation at

Camarillo State Mental Hospital Camarillo State Mental Hospital, also known as Camarillo State Hospital, was a public psychiatric hospital for patients with both developmental disabilities and mental illness in Camarillo, California. The hospital was in operation from 1936 to 19 ...

for exposing his penis to a group of school children, but he returned to the ranch after two days. On the night of August 10, 1969, he rode with members of the Manson family. Charles Watson,

Patricia Krenwinkel Patricia Dianne Krenwinkel (born December 3, 1947) is an American murderer and a former member of the Manson Family. During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as Big Patty, Yellow, Marnie Reeves and Mary Ann Sco ...

and

Leslie Van Houten Leslie Louise Van Houten (born August 23, 1949) is an American convicted murderer and former member of the Manson Family. During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as Louella Alexandria, Leslie Marie Sankston, Li ...

were dropped off at the house of

Leno and Rosemary LaBianca James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

, but Grogan, Manson,

Susan Atkins Susan Denise Atkins (May 7, 1948 – September 24, 2009) was an American convicted murderer who was a member of Charles Manson's "Family". Manson's followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations in California, over a perio ...

and

Linda Kasabian Linda Darlene Kasabian (born Drouin; June 21, 1949) is a former member of the Manson Family. Even though she was present at both the Tate and LaBianca murders, because she was the key witness in District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi's prosecuti ...

continued to

Venice Beach Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

where, according to Kasabian, Manson sent Grogan, Atkins and Kasabian to kill actor Saladin Nader, but Kasabian led them to the wrong apartment and the plan was aborted. Grogan later helped Manson, Watson and

Bruce M. Davis Bruce McGregor Davis (born October 5, 1942) is a former member of the Manson Family who has been described as Charles Manson's "right-hand man". Early life Bruce Davis was born on October 5, 1942, in Monroe, Louisiana. Davis was editor of his ...

kill Spahn ranch hand Donald Shea. The jury returned verdicts of life imprisonment for Manson and Davis, but death for Grogan. However, on December 23, 1971, Judge James Kolts stated that "Grogan was too stupid and too hopped on drugs to decide anything on his own" and that it was really Manson "who decided who lived or died" and reduced Grogan's sentence to life imprisonment. Grogan later assisted the authorities and drew a map to where Shea's body was buried. In prison he was head of the prison's program to deter juveniles from a life of crime and kept away from fellow inmate Manson. Grogan was released on parole from prison in 1985. On January 5, 1971, fellow Manson Family member

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 ...

gave birth to a son while in jail awaiting trial; she later revealed that Grogan was the father. Grogan played guitar and sang in the Freedom Orchestra Band with fellow Manson family conspirator

Bobby Beausoleil Robert Kenneth Beausoleil (born November 6, 1947) is an American murderer and associate of Charles Manson and members of his communal Manson Family. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the July 27, 1969 fatal stabbing of Gary Hinman, w ...

when they both served time at the

Deuel Vocational Institute Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI) was a state prison located in unincorporated San Joaquin County, California, near Tracy. The prison closed on September 30, 2021. Facilities DVI opened in 1953 and named for California state senator Charle ...

Tracy, California Tracy is the second most populated city in San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 93,000 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Tracy is located inside a geographic triangle form ...

. Beausoleil later revealed that he convinced Grogan to begin the guitar, even making one. As of November 2022, Grogan is the only person who has been released from prison after being convicted of murder in the killings committed by the Manson Family.

Media

Grogan was one of the people featured in the Oscar-nominated 1973 documentary film '' Manson''. Grogan is portrayed by James Landry Hébert in the 2019 film ''

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is a ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grogan, Clem 1951 births Living people American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Crimes involving Satanism or the occult People convicted of murder by California Place of birth missing (living people) Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California People paroled from life sentence Manson Family