Линнетт Фромм: от последовательницы Мэнсона к покушению на президента Форда

Cultist and failed presidential assassin

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.

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. 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.

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, 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. Manson and some of his followers were arrested for the Sharon Tate and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca murders in 1969, and Fromme and the remaining Manson Family camped outside the trial. Manson and fellow defendants Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten 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 when she refused to testify herself. She was given short jail sentences for both offenses. 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, deciding that the project was too incriminating. The book, titled Reflexion, was eventually published in 2018 by the Peasenhall Press.

Fromme traveled to Stockton in 1972 with Nancy Pitman, Priscilla Cooper, and Aryan Brotherhood 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, Monfort 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. The housemates were arrested on suspicion of murder, after which Lauren Willett's body was discovered in the basement. She had been shot to death. Fromme was released for lack of evidence. 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.

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. As she was apprehended, she reportedly yelled "it wouldn't go off" and said "it didn't go off. Can you believe it? It didn't go off" when brought to the ground by Buendorf. 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."

In 1979, Fromme was transferred out of Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, California, for attacking fellow inmate Julienne Bušić with a hammer. On December 23, 1987, she escaped from Federal Prison Camp Alderson in West Virginia in an attempt to meet Manson. She was captured two days later and incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell, in Fort Worth, Texas. Fromme first became eligible for parole in 2005. 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. and moved to Marcy, New York, 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."

Fromme was portrayed by Laraine Newman on Saturday Night Live, 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. Fromme is a character in Stephen Sondheim's Assassins (1990), a musical about nine people who attempted to assassinate a U. S. president. Fromme is played by Kayli Carter in the 2018 Mary Harron directed autobiographical drama film Charlie Says. Fromme is portrayed by Dakota Fanning in Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).