Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme (born October 22, 1948) is an American criminal who was a member of the
Manson family, a
cult
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
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 ...
. Though not involved in the
Tate–LaBianca murders
The TateLaBianca murders were a series of murders perpetrated by members of the Manson Family during August 810, 1969, in Los Angeles, California, United States, under the direction of Tex Watson and Charles Manson. The perpetrators killed five ...
for which the Manson family is best known, she
attempted to assassinate President
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
in 1975. For that crime, she was sentenced to
life in prison
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
. She was
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
d 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
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, 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
''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 195 ...
'' and at the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
.
![Piece of Lynette](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Piece_of_Lynette_%22Sqeaky%22_Fromme%27s_apartment.jpg)
In 1963, the family moved to
Redondo Beach, and Fromme began using alcohol and drugs. Her grades dropped at
Redondo Union High School
Redondo Union High School (RUHS) is a public high school in Redondo Beach, California.
Redondo Union High School is a part of the Redondo Beach Unified School District.
All residents of Redondo Beach are zoned to Redondo Union. In addition, resid ...
, 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
El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park.[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 ...]
after her parents had thrown her out of the house. Suffering from
depression,
[ she sat on a curb and watched a bus arrive, and ]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 ...
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
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 c ...
and 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 ...
. She lived with the Manson Family 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 ...
where they worked for their keep, and at the Barker Ranch in Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth.
Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...
, which was owned by a Family member's grandmother.[ Ranch owner ]George Spahn
George Christian Spahn (February 11, 1889 – September 22, 1974) was an American rancher who once owned the Spahn Ranch near Chatsworth, Los Angeles. Spahn rented the ranch to the movie industry to film Westerns, and later allowed Charle ...
gave her the nickname "Squeaky" because of the sound that she made when he touched her.
Manson and some of his followers were arrested for the 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 ...
and 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 ...
murders in 1969, and Fromme and the remaining Manson Family camped outside the trial. Manson and fellow defendants Atkins, 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 ...
carved Xs into their foreheads, as did Fromme and her compatriots. They proclaimed Manson's innocence and preached his apocalyptic philosophy to the news media and to anyone else who would listen. Fromme was not 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
Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...
when she refused to testify herself. She was given short jail sentences for both offenses.[
Fromme and ]Sandra Good
Sandra Collins Good (born February 20, 1944) is a long-time member of the Manson Family and a close friend of Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme. Good's Manson Family nickname is "Blue", which was given to her by Charles Manson to represent clean air and ...
moved into an older attic apartment in downtown Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, as they wanted to be near Manson after he was moved to Folsom Prison
Folsom State Prison (FSP) is a California State Prison in Folsom, California, U.S., approximately northeast of the state capital of Sacramento, California, Sacramento. It is one of 34 adult institutions operated by the California Department of ...
. She and Good lived in the third-floor apartment at 1725 P Street in Sacramento.()
Around 1973, Fromme started work on an extensive 600-page book about the Manson Family, including intricate drawings and photos; other family members had contributed to it as well. Fromme sent it to publishers, but she dropped it after discussing it with Clem Grogan
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 ...
, deciding that the project was too incriminating. The book, titled ''Reflexion'', was eventually published in 2018 by the Peasenhall Press.
Murder in Stockton, California
Fromme traveled to Stockton in 1972 with Nancy Pitman, Priscilla Cooper, and Aryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as the Brand or the AB, is a neo-Nazi prison gang and an organized crime syndicate which is based in the United States and has an estimated 15,000–20,000 members both inside and outside prisons. The Southern ...
members Michael Monfort and James Craig, in order to follow through with Manson's deal with the Brotherhood. This group met James and Lauren Willett at a cabin. In November 1972, Montfort and Craig forced James Willett to dig his own grave and then shot him because he was going to tell the authorities about a series of robberies that they had committed after they were released from prison. His body was found with his hand still sticking out of the ground. The housemates were arrested on suspicion of murder, after which Lauren's body was discovered in the basement. She had been shot to death. The Willetts' eight-month-old daughter, Heidi, was found alive in the house. Fromme was released for lack of evidence.[
The ]Sonoma County
Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...
coroner's office concluded that James Willett was killed sometime in September 1972, although his decapitated body was not found until the beginning of November. He had been buried near Guerneville. On the night of November 11, 1972, the Stockton Police responded to information that a station wagon owned by the Willetts was parked in front of 720 W. Flora St. Sergeant Richard Whiteman forced his way into the house: "All the persons subsequently arrested were in the house except for 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 along with amounts of marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
, and noticed freshly dug earth beneath the building."
Fromme later told reporters that she had been traveling in California trying to visit "brothers" in jail and to visit Manson. She said that she came to Stockton on November 10 to visit William Goucher, who was in jail on a robbery charge, when Lauren died. When Fromme left the jail after visiting Goucher, she called the house on Flora Street to have someone pick her up, and the Stockton Police traced the call and arrested her at a phone booth.
The Stockton Police exhumed the body of Lauren Willett the following day. Cooper told investigators that she had been shot accidentally, contending 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 then pointed it at the victim, when it fired. The police determined that Lauren had been with them voluntarily. Fromme was held in custody for 2½ months but never charged; she said she was innocent of any wrongdoing. The other four people involved were convicted.
After leaving Stockton, Fromme moved into a Sacramento apartment with Sandra Good. The two wore robes on occasion and changed their names to symbolize their devotion to Manson's new religion, Fromme becoming "Red" in honor of her red hair and the California redwood
''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...
s, and Good becoming "Blue" for her blue eyes and the ocean; both nicknames were originally given to them by Manson.
Attempt to contact Jimmy Page
Prior to a Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
concert in Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
in 1975, Fromme knocked on the hotel door of Danny Goldberg, vice-president of the band's record label, Swan Song Records
Swan Song Records was a record label launched by the English rock band Led Zeppelin on 10 May 1974. It was overseen by Led Zeppelin's manager Peter Grant and was a vehicle for the band to promote its own products as well as sign artists who f ...
. Fromme, described as frantic and with a nervous tic marring her face, asked to meet with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page
James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...
to warn him, claiming to have foreseen the future and wishing to warn Page of imminent "evil" which she believed might take place that night at the concert. Goldberg stated that she could not see Page until the following night, to which Fromme responded "tomorrow night will probably be too late". After a long discussion, Goldberg agreed to deliver a message to Page if she wrote it down. Fromme was subsequently escorted away against her will and the note was ultimately burned and never read. A week later, Goldberg saw Fromme on the television news after she had attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford.
Assassination attempt on President 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
The M1911 (Colt 1911 or Colt Government) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge (firearms), cartridge. The pistol's formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was ''Automatic Pistol, Calibe ...
.45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. The pistol's magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
was loaded with four rounds, but there was no round in the chamber
Chamber or the chamber may refer to:
In government and organizations
* Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests
*Legislative chamber, in politics
* Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...
. When Fromme pointed the gun at Ford she was immediately restrained by Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
agent Larry Buendorf
Larry Buendorf (born November 18, 1937) is a former Chief Security Officer of the United States Olympic Committee, United States Navy aviator, and Secret Service agent. He is best known for his successful intervention during an assassination att ...
. 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
''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...
'' 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."
Aftermath
In 1979, Fromme was transferred out of Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin
The Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin (FCI Dublin) is a low-security United States federal prison for female inmates in Dublin, California. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp housing minimum-security female offender ...
, for attacking fellow inmate Julienne Bušić
Julienne Bušić (; born Julienne Eden Schultz; September 20, 1948) is an American writer, activist, widow and co-conspirator of Zvonko Bušić. She was arrested with Bušić in 1976 after hijacking TWA Flight 355 and sentenced to life in prison, ...
with a hammer. On December 23, 1987, she escaped from Federal Prison Camp Alderson in West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
in an attempt to meet Manson. She was captured two days later and incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell
The Federal Medical Center, Carswell (FMC Carswell) is a United States federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, Incarceration of women in the United States, for female inmates of all security levels, primarily with special medical and mental health ne ...
, in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
.[
Fromme continued to profess total allegiance to Manson. ]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 ...
wrote in '' Helter Skelter'' that she and Good were the only members of the Manson Family who had not renounced him. She once told an Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
reporter, "The curtain is going to come down on all of us, and if we don't turn everything over to Charlie immediately, it will be too late."
Fromme first became eligible for parole in 2005 and was entitled by federal law to a mandatory hearing after thirty years, but she could waive that hearing and apply for release at a later date. She waived her right to request a hearing and was required by federal law to complete a parole application before one could be considered and granted. She was granted parole in July 2008, but was not released because of the extra time added to her sentence for the 1987 prison escape.
She was released on parole from Federal Medical Center, Carswell, on August 14, 2009, and moved to New York State, where she and her boyfriend Robert Valdner live in a house decorated with skulls. In a 2019 televised interview, Fromme said about Manson, "Was I in love with Charlie? Yeah, ..I still am."
In popular culture
* Fromme is portrayed by Laraine Newman
Laraine Newman (born March 2, 1952) is an American actress, writer and comedian. She was part of the original cast of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live''. She took an interest at improv in high school. After graduating, she studied mime with Marcel M ...
on Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
, Season 1, Episode 3 (October 25, 1975), in a skit titled "Dangerous but Inept," in which she is interviewed on a talk show of that title by its host, Jane Curtin
Jane Therese Curtin (born September 6, 1947) is an American actress and comedian. First coming to prominence as an original cast member on the hit TV comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards for ...
.
* Fromme is a character in Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...
's ''Assassins
An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder.
Assassin may also refer to:
Origin of term
* Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins
Animals and insects
* Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviida ...
'' (1990), a musical about nine people who attempted to assassinate a U.S. president.
* Fromme is played by Kayli Carter
Kayli Carter (born July 8, 1993) is an American actress. She portrayed Sadie Rose in the Netflix western TV series '' Godless'', and Amber McCarden in the movie '' Bad Education'', opposite Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney. Her role in ''Priva ...
in the 2018 Mary Harron
Mary Harron (born January 12, 1953) is a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter, and former entertainment critic. She gained recognition for her role in writing and directing several independent films, including ''I Shot Andy Warhol'' (1996), ''Ame ...
directed autobiographical drama film '' Charlie Says''.
* Fromme is portrayed by Dakota Fanning
Hannah Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994) is an American actress. She rose to prominence at the age of seven for her performance as Lucy Dawson in the drama film ''I Am Sam'' (2001), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomina ...
in Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
's 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 ...
'' (2019).
Books
*''Squeaky: the life and times of Lynette Alice Fromme'', 1997, Jess Bravin, St Martin's Press
*''Reflexion: Lynette Fromme's Story of Her Life with Charles Manson 1967–1969'', 2018
See also
*Sara Jane Moore
Sara Jane Moore (née Kahn; born February 15, 1930) is an American criminal who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford in 1975. She was given a life sentence for the attempted assassination and was released from prison on December 3 ...
, also tried to assassinate Ford
References
External links
Official website (ATWA)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fromme, Squeaky
1948 births
20th-century American criminals
American failed assassins
American people convicted of attempted murder
American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Criminals from California
Escapees from United States federal government detention
Failed assassins of presidents of the United States
Fugitives
Gerald Ford
Living people
Manson Family
People from Oneida County, New York
People from Redondo Beach, California
People from Santa Monica, California
People paroled from life sentence
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California