Post by starviego on May 15, 2024 12:01:08 GMT -5
One Filippo Tenerelli, 23, allegedly shot himself in the face with a shotgun on Oct 1, 1969 in a room he rented at a motel in Bishop, CA., which is about a 100 miles north of Barker Ranch. His death was ruled a suicide, though some have speculated Tenerelli may have been a victim of the Manson Clan. Author Tom O'Neill in his book Chaos, has brought forth some interesting facts which cast doubt on the police version of events.
Here is the official timeline of events, according to media accounts and the police report(via O'Neill's book):
Monday, Sept 29
Tenerelli drives up to Crowley Point in Death Valley from his home in Culver City, Los Angeles County. He attempts to drive his new Volkswagen off the edge in an alleged suicide attempt but it gets stuck on the rocks. He uses a pick ax and shovel to jimmy it over the edge, but it takes off before he can get back in. He then hikes down to the wreck for whatever reason(carrying the pick ax and shovel with him), leaves blood at the scene, and climbs back up.
Tuesday, Sept 30, evening
Tenerelli checks into the Sportsman's Lodge in Bishop, 100 miles away, using another name but without any ID. He tries to cut his wrists, but can't complete the job.
Wedesday, Oct 1
He buys the shotgun, ammo, a case, and a gun cleaning kit at a gun store in town. Elsewhere, he buys two bottles of Whiskey, two pairs of underwear, a shaving razor, and a Playboy mag. In the evening he is seen by motel owner Bee Greer. Between 9:30pm and 10:30pm, Tenerelli shoots himself in the face.
Thurday, Oct 2 noon
Tenerelli's dead body discovered in his room, he is listed as a John Doe by the Coroner's Office.
Friday, Oct 3
His family files a missing persons report.
Saturday, Oct 4
The blue VW is spotted by hunters at the bottom of the ravine at Crowley Point, CHP notified. A "cache of unused shotgun shells" found amongst other items in the vehicle. Investigators say it had been dumped no more than two days before. (Oct 2 at the earliest - and thus it couldn't have been the deceased Tenerelli who dumped it over the cliff)
Oct 18
Inyo Coroners Office learn that their John Doe is likely Tenerelli.
Oct 30
Local media says Tenerelli finally identified as the dead person discovered in the motel room a month before.
Now here is the evidence which disputes this account:
--Bee Greer
She was the owner-operator/desk clerk who checked in 'Tenerelli.' She says he had an ID card with his name on it, but no car. She claims she would not have allowed him to rent a room without an ID. This contradicts claims by police that the person registered under an assumed name without an ID. Greer said the police came back and attempted to have her change her story, which made her angry.
Chaos, pg415
"Bee Greer remembered when Tenerelli showed up at the motel. He arrived without a car, she said, which was why he had to show her a driver's license--something the police and the newspapers had explicitly said he didn't do.
"I never would've checked in anyone in who came without a car and a license," she said ... She copied the license information into her register, which she later gave to the police. But the cops... refused to believe that the victim had showed her ID, or even that he had a wallet. "They kept coming back and trying to talk me out of it, she said, still angry all these years later. "It was a wallet with a driver's license--but they didn't want me to say that."
Greer also said this person spoke without any accent, while Tenerelli, who immigrated to the US while a teen, spoke with a noticeable Italian accent. And if the guy who rented the room wasn't Tenerelli, then maybe it wasn't Tenerelli who bought the shotgun and ammo.
--The doctor who performed the autopsy thought it was not a suicide, but made that conclusion only after being pressured by his superiors. He said the body/clothes bore drag marks.
Chaos, pg417
Robert Denton, the surgeon, who'd conducted Tenerelli's autopsy, told me he'd never believed the case was a suicide; he only called it that under pressure from the coroner's office. ... It appeared to him now, as it probably did then, that Tenerelli had been "in a fight or dragged" before he was shot.
--Officers of the two agencies investigating the wrecked and abandoned VW-the California Highway Patrol and the Inyo County Sheriff's Office-thought Tenerelli's death was not due to suicide.
--The body was found with two bath towels under his head, and a pillow over his face. The hand-drawn crime scene diagram also shows the shotgun laying on top of Tenerelli's body, with the left hand around the stock and his right hand laying next to the trigger. All this seems unrealistic. IMO, when you suffer a head blast from a close-in shotgun round, things go flying in all directions.
There is some evidence that Filippo had contact with the Family:
Chaos, by Tom O'Neill pg419
"After the Manson Family was arrested for their auto-theft ring, one of the girls told investigators that she was "involved" with Tenerelli, and that he'd been with the Family in Death Valley before his death."
pg419
"In Bishop... a highway patrolman had stopped a "late model" blue Volkswagen... The patrolman questioned the driver, who, like his two male passengers, was a "hippie" type. Later, investigators showed the patrolman a photograph of the Family, including Manson, Steve Grogan, and Danny DeCarlo. He "was sure" that DeCarlo was the driver of the car."
Helter Skelter, pg105
witness Steve Zabriskie: ... a "Charlie" and a 'Clem' had committed both the Tate and LaBianca murders. He had heard this...from Ed Bailey and Vern Plumlee, two hippie types from California... Bailey had told him something else, Zabriskie said: that he had personally seen Charlie shoot a man in the head with a .45 caliber automatic. This had occurred in Death Valley.
Tenerelli, of course, died of a headshot near Death Valley.
Chaos, by Tom O'Neill pg503
Susan Atkins ... told Ronnie Howard... that the Family had killed more people than they'd been held accountable for, including "a guy in the desert--they can't identify him." ...this conversation between Howard and Atkins took place on November 2, 1969, a few days after Tenerellis's body had been identified in Bishop. Evidently the news hadn't reached Atkins yet.
But IF this was a Manson murder, why not just say that? Why a cover-up?
Maybe Charlie's surveillers and/or handlers hear(or know) about the killing, and think to themselves "Shit, he's gone and done it again." But that presents a big problem, because if the podunk Inyo County Sheriff or Bishop PD arrest Charlie/Family for murder, they are going to steal all the glory from the LAPD. Even worse, Inyo County may then legally have the right to try them all FIRST on the Tenerelli murder, and who knows what damaging or unapproved info would come out in that trial re TLB or the Family as a whole?
So they once again give Charlie a pass, just like in the Crowe shooting and Hinman murder, ensuring the Family will be brought back to the controlled environment of LA, where the covert operators know they will have cooperation from the LASO, from the LAPD, and from the DA's office.
At any rate, there is now more than enough evidence for me to conclude that this one is a probable Manson/Family murder.
Here is the official timeline of events, according to media accounts and the police report(via O'Neill's book):
Monday, Sept 29
Tenerelli drives up to Crowley Point in Death Valley from his home in Culver City, Los Angeles County. He attempts to drive his new Volkswagen off the edge in an alleged suicide attempt but it gets stuck on the rocks. He uses a pick ax and shovel to jimmy it over the edge, but it takes off before he can get back in. He then hikes down to the wreck for whatever reason(carrying the pick ax and shovel with him), leaves blood at the scene, and climbs back up.
Tuesday, Sept 30, evening
Tenerelli checks into the Sportsman's Lodge in Bishop, 100 miles away, using another name but without any ID. He tries to cut his wrists, but can't complete the job.
Wedesday, Oct 1
He buys the shotgun, ammo, a case, and a gun cleaning kit at a gun store in town. Elsewhere, he buys two bottles of Whiskey, two pairs of underwear, a shaving razor, and a Playboy mag. In the evening he is seen by motel owner Bee Greer. Between 9:30pm and 10:30pm, Tenerelli shoots himself in the face.
Thurday, Oct 2 noon
Tenerelli's dead body discovered in his room, he is listed as a John Doe by the Coroner's Office.
Friday, Oct 3
His family files a missing persons report.
Saturday, Oct 4
The blue VW is spotted by hunters at the bottom of the ravine at Crowley Point, CHP notified. A "cache of unused shotgun shells" found amongst other items in the vehicle. Investigators say it had been dumped no more than two days before. (Oct 2 at the earliest - and thus it couldn't have been the deceased Tenerelli who dumped it over the cliff)
Oct 18
Inyo Coroners Office learn that their John Doe is likely Tenerelli.
Oct 30
Local media says Tenerelli finally identified as the dead person discovered in the motel room a month before.
Now here is the evidence which disputes this account:
--Bee Greer
She was the owner-operator/desk clerk who checked in 'Tenerelli.' She says he had an ID card with his name on it, but no car. She claims she would not have allowed him to rent a room without an ID. This contradicts claims by police that the person registered under an assumed name without an ID. Greer said the police came back and attempted to have her change her story, which made her angry.
Chaos, pg415
"Bee Greer remembered when Tenerelli showed up at the motel. He arrived without a car, she said, which was why he had to show her a driver's license--something the police and the newspapers had explicitly said he didn't do.
"I never would've checked in anyone in who came without a car and a license," she said ... She copied the license information into her register, which she later gave to the police. But the cops... refused to believe that the victim had showed her ID, or even that he had a wallet. "They kept coming back and trying to talk me out of it, she said, still angry all these years later. "It was a wallet with a driver's license--but they didn't want me to say that."
Greer also said this person spoke without any accent, while Tenerelli, who immigrated to the US while a teen, spoke with a noticeable Italian accent. And if the guy who rented the room wasn't Tenerelli, then maybe it wasn't Tenerelli who bought the shotgun and ammo.
--The doctor who performed the autopsy thought it was not a suicide, but made that conclusion only after being pressured by his superiors. He said the body/clothes bore drag marks.
Chaos, pg417
Robert Denton, the surgeon, who'd conducted Tenerelli's autopsy, told me he'd never believed the case was a suicide; he only called it that under pressure from the coroner's office. ... It appeared to him now, as it probably did then, that Tenerelli had been "in a fight or dragged" before he was shot.
--Officers of the two agencies investigating the wrecked and abandoned VW-the California Highway Patrol and the Inyo County Sheriff's Office-thought Tenerelli's death was not due to suicide.
--The body was found with two bath towels under his head, and a pillow over his face. The hand-drawn crime scene diagram also shows the shotgun laying on top of Tenerelli's body, with the left hand around the stock and his right hand laying next to the trigger. All this seems unrealistic. IMO, when you suffer a head blast from a close-in shotgun round, things go flying in all directions.
There is some evidence that Filippo had contact with the Family:
Chaos, by Tom O'Neill pg419
"After the Manson Family was arrested for their auto-theft ring, one of the girls told investigators that she was "involved" with Tenerelli, and that he'd been with the Family in Death Valley before his death."
pg419
"In Bishop... a highway patrolman had stopped a "late model" blue Volkswagen... The patrolman questioned the driver, who, like his two male passengers, was a "hippie" type. Later, investigators showed the patrolman a photograph of the Family, including Manson, Steve Grogan, and Danny DeCarlo. He "was sure" that DeCarlo was the driver of the car."
Helter Skelter, pg105
witness Steve Zabriskie: ... a "Charlie" and a 'Clem' had committed both the Tate and LaBianca murders. He had heard this...from Ed Bailey and Vern Plumlee, two hippie types from California... Bailey had told him something else, Zabriskie said: that he had personally seen Charlie shoot a man in the head with a .45 caliber automatic. This had occurred in Death Valley.
Tenerelli, of course, died of a headshot near Death Valley.
Chaos, by Tom O'Neill pg503
Susan Atkins ... told Ronnie Howard... that the Family had killed more people than they'd been held accountable for, including "a guy in the desert--they can't identify him." ...this conversation between Howard and Atkins took place on November 2, 1969, a few days after Tenerellis's body had been identified in Bishop. Evidently the news hadn't reached Atkins yet.
But IF this was a Manson murder, why not just say that? Why a cover-up?
Maybe Charlie's surveillers and/or handlers hear(or know) about the killing, and think to themselves "Shit, he's gone and done it again." But that presents a big problem, because if the podunk Inyo County Sheriff or Bishop PD arrest Charlie/Family for murder, they are going to steal all the glory from the LAPD. Even worse, Inyo County may then legally have the right to try them all FIRST on the Tenerelli murder, and who knows what damaging or unapproved info would come out in that trial re TLB or the Family as a whole?
So they once again give Charlie a pass, just like in the Crowe shooting and Hinman murder, ensuring the Family will be brought back to the controlled environment of LA, where the covert operators know they will have cooperation from the LASO, from the LAPD, and from the DA's office.
At any rate, there is now more than enough evidence for me to conclude that this one is a probable Manson/Family murder.