- Steve "Clem" Grogan
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Steve Dennis "Clem" Grogan (born May 24, 1952), is an American murderer, former member of The Manson Family.
Grogan, a musician, dropped out of high school and was involved in minor crimes before joining the Manson family at the Spahn Ranch. Like Charles Manson, he was friends with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. He was often considered dumb, or even 'retarded', by other Family members, earning him the nickname 'Scramblehead', but some felt he was only "playing dumb". Allegedly, it was Grogan who wrecked Wilson's uninsured Ferrari.[1]
In 1969 he was sentenced to 90 days observation at Camarillo State Mental Hospital for exposing his penis to a group of school children, but he returned to the ranch after two days.[1]
The night of August 10, 1969 he rode with members of the Manson family. Tex Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten were dropped off at the house of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, but Grogan, Manson, Susan Atkins and Linda Kasabian continued to Venice Beach where Manson sent Grogan, Atkins and Kasabian to kill actor Saladin Nader, but Kasabian led them to the wrong apartment and the plan was aborted.
Grogan later helped Manson, Watson and Bruce Davis to kill Spahn ranch hand Donald "Shorty" Shea. The jury returned verdicts of life imprisonment for Manson and Davis, but death for Grogan. However, on December 23, 1971, Judge James Kolts stated that "Grogan was too stupid and too hopped on drugs to decide anything on his own" and that it was really Manson "who decided who lived or died" and reduced Grogan's sentence to life imprisonment.[2] Grogan later assisted the authorities and drew a map to where Shea's body was buried. In prison he was head of the prison's program to deter juveniles from a life of crime and kept away from fellow inmate Manson.[3] He was released from prison in 1985 and remains the only Manson family member who has been convicted of murder and released from prison.
Grogan was one of the people featured in the Oscar-nominated 1973 documentary film Manson.
References
- ^ a b Steve Dennis Grogan cielodrive.com
- ^ Bugliosi, Vincent, with Curt Gentry, Helter Skelter -- The True Story of the Manson Murders 25th Anniversary Edition, W.W. Norton & Company, 1994. Page 466. ISBN 0-393-08700-X
- ^ Manson Family - Special Report Part 4 Steve Grogan Paroled
Manson Family Leadership Members Maria Alonzo · Marcus John Arneson · Susan Atkins · Ella Jo Bailey · Larry Bailey · Susan Bartell · Bobby Beausoleil · Mary Brunner · William Rex Cole · Sherry Cooper · Madaline Joan Cottage · Bruce Davis · Daniel DeCarlo · Juan Flynn · Lynette Fromme · Jennifer Gentry · Catherine Gillies · Sandra Good · Steve "Clem" Grogan · Bruce Vann Hall · John Phillip Haught · Barbara Hoyt · Linda Kasabian · Patricia Krenwinkel · Dianne Lake · Robert Lane · Charles Lovett · Kathryn Lutesinger · Ruth Ann Moorehouse · Randy Mourglea · Nancy Pitman · Vernon Plumlee · Brooks Poston · Dennis Rice · Mark Ross · Barbara Rosenberg · Stephanie Rowe · Laura Sheppard · Stephanie Schram · Mary Ann Schwarm · Mary Ann Scott · Catherine Share · Colleen Sinclair · Claudia Smith · Leslie Van Houten · Thomas Walleman · Paul Watkins · Charles "Tex" Watson · Joan WildebushMurders Gary Hinman · Abigail Folger · Wojciech Frykowski · Leno and Rosemary LaBianca · Steven Parent · Jay Sebring · Donald Shea · Sharon Tate · James and Lauren WilletPossible murders Attempted murders Beliefs In media Charles Manson discography · Lie: The Love and Terror Cult · The Family Jams · Charles Manson Superstar · Helter Skelter · Helter Skelter (1976) · I Drink Your Blood · Manson · Helter Skelter (2004) · The Devil Exists · Living Type · The Manson Family · Leslie, My Name Is EvilWikiquote · Wikimedia Commons Categories:- 1952 births
- Living people
- American people convicted of murder
- American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
- Crimes involving Satanism or the occult
- People convicted of murder by California
- Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California
- People paroled from life sentence
- Manson Family
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