ates, a singing tour. He mad an unprofitable record and film and believed he had not achieved the reputation he deserved, so he returned to California. The commune behind the Spahn ranch some 30 miles from Los Angeles was now the headquarters of the Family. Members of the family were kept high on hallucinogenic drugs, and there were now over 20 people in the group. Manson began drawing up a death list of "pigs" he wanted to eliminate for various reasons, and the death of these people would occur on the day of reckoning, which Manson had given the code-name "Helter Skelter" from a Beatles record. By 1969 the ranch was being used for various criminal activities, including drug peddling, and the number of followers was now over 40.
Manson ordered three of his followers to go to the house of Gary Hinman, another musician, to rob him. He also ordered them to murder Hinman, which they did, leaving him to b
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