SALVATION: CHURCH HAS HIGH HOPES FOR SPAHN RANCH.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Standing by his church's wooden cross, the Rev. David Miller pointed to nearby Spahn Ranch where Charlie Manson ordered his ``family'' to commit the infamous murders that occurred on Aug. 9, 1969.

When Church of Rocky Peak was built in 1988, Miller and his congregation tried not to think about the dark legacy of Spahn Ranch.

But they soon felt its spell.

They learned the chaparral-covered hills in the Santa Susana Mountain Pass were used by devil worshipers and often littered with sacrificed animals and pentagrams.

They learned the ranch is in an area known locally as Devil's Canyon and was once a home to a suicidal cult and bandits.

But now, thirty years since Manson and his cult left their bloody mark in history, The Church of Rocky Peak is negotiating to buy Spahn Ranch, to bring light to a place with a dark past.

``We'd like to obtain this piece of property - Lord willing - for a Christian day-care center and a small elementary school,'' he said. ``Our desire is to put a light where there was a lot of darkness and death - a place many would say was even Satanic.''

The family of Manson's victims was pleased by the church's plans.

``It sounds good to me,'' said Cory LaBianca, the 51-year-old daughter of Leno LaBianca and stepdaughter of Rosemary LaBianca. ``I'm glad the property is going to be used in a positive way.''

Manson case prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi said the church's plans perpetuate the battle between good and evil that Manson foresaw.

``It's certainly a tremendous irony with respect to the religious aspects,'' said Bugliosi, author of ``Helter Skelter,'' the book that maintains Manson masterminded the seven murders to ignite a race war in Los Angeles.

``The Manson family thought Manson was the Second Coming of Christ and the devil all wrapped into one. There was a connection between the Beatle's `Helter Skelter' song and the Bible's Revelations, Chapter 9. It's about the final destruction of men on earth - Armageddon.''

The portion of Spahn Ranch the church is interested in is a 10-acre site owned by Bettina Thompson, Miller said.

Moved from Valley

The Manson Family moved to the San Fernando Valley in the late 1960s, living in a house in Canoga Park and then moving to Spahn Ranch, where Manson's girls used their wiles to charm the nearly blind ranch owner, 80-year-old George Spahn.

``They were a raggle-taggle bunch of kids,'' said Chatsworth Historical Society historian Virginia Watson. ``I went up there to rent a horse and buggy for the Chatsworth Parade. I was appalled. They dressed funny. The girls used to flatter Mr. Spahn.''

On the night of Aug. 9, 1969, Manson's followers crept into a Benedict Canyon home in Beverly Hills and butchered beautiful, pregnant actress Sharon Tate, the 26-year-old wife of movie director Roman Polanski, director of ``Rosemary's Baby,'' a film in which a young woman gives birth to the devil's child.

The other victims included Hollywood's premier hair stylist, Jay Sebring; coffee fortune heiress Abigail Folger; jet-setting Polish film director Voytek Frykowski; and Steven Parent, shot leaving the caretaker's home.

The murder scene was one of ghoulish horror, with Tate's blood used to smear the word ``Pig'' on the front door.

The next night, Manson's followers killed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca at their Los Feliz home, smearing in blood the words ``Death to Pigs'' and the misspelled ``Healter Skelter'' on the walls and doors.

The savage slayings terrorized Los Angeles for months as investigators fumbled evidence and missed important clues. People locked their doors, bolted windows and bought guns until the suspects were caught three months later.

Spahn, before and after

In the years since the murders, the number of tourists looking for directions to Spahn Ranch has not abated.

``We still get people who come in and ask about Manson and Spahn Ranch,'' said historian Watson.

After Spahn's home burned in a 1970 ``Dante's Inferno''-type wildfire, it was never rebuilt. The German company that bought the land from Spahn never developed it into the dude ranch for German tourists they had planned, Bugliosi said. A portion of the property was sold to the state, and the remainder was bought by a private family who operate a dog kennel, Miller said.

The Santa Susana Mountain Pass is known for its colorful history.

Archeological discoveries have revealed ancient Indian burial grounds, and infamous bandit Tiburcio Vasquez used it as a hide-out in the 1870s. Other bandits used the rocky crevices to rob passing stagecoaches.

Hundreds of movies and television shows were filmed around the Spahn Ranch, Stony Point and Iverson Ranch areas, including ``Ben Hur,'' ``The Lone Ranger,'' ``Stagecoach,'' Roy Rogers' shows and numerous Westerns.

The area was also the home to another cult - the Fountain of the World. In 1958, two members of the cult used dynamite to blow themselves and their fellow cultists to kingdom come, Watson said.

A little further up the mountain sits Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Laboratory, a place where nuclear reactors and rocket fuel were tested for 40 years.

In the years since Manson and his followers left Spahn Ranch, a dark cloud has seemed to hover over the ranch.

Just last year, Frank Letz, who lived nearby, died when he was crossing a bridge to his home and it collapsed in a flash flood.

But the dark myths don't bother Miller, who says the church wants to purchase both the Letz and former Spahn Ranch properties.

``It was Voltaire who made the statement that within 100 years, no one would take the Bible seriously,'' Miller said. ``A hundred years later, the Bible Society purchased his home, and it became a Bible publishing center.''

Born again

After a 10-1/2-month trial that held the world spellbound, Manson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Susan ``Sexy Sadie'' Atkins and homecoming princess Leslie Van Houten were convicted and sentenced to death.

High school football star Charles ``Tex'' Watson, who was tried separately, also received a death sentence. But a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found California's death penalty statute unconstutional in 1972 led to commuting their sentences to life in prison.

Since the imprisonment, Watson and Atkins have become born-again Christians. All of them have renounced Manson.

Paul Fitzgerald, who represents Krenwinkle at her parole hearings and was the Manson case's chief defense attorney, said the ``girls were soldiers in his infantry.''

``But the remarkable thing about it is, 30 years later, how did he get young, white middle-class girls who had good educations and came from decent homes to kill?

``They were lovely, bright, sensitive and thoughtful people. You can see that today. When I saw the girls recently, they looked like 55-year-old nuns. They don't dye their hair or wear make-up. It's hard to believe these are the same 18- and 19-year-old girls I sat next to for a year-and-a-half.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Map

PHOTO (1--Color) The Rev. David Miller stands on a hill above the Church at Rocky Peak near Spahn Ranch.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

(2) The Spahn Ranch, owned by George Spahn, became home to the Manson Family in the late '60s.

MAP: Spahn Ranch