1. Mary Theresa Brunner was born on December 17,1943 and is an American criminal and former member of the "Manson Family" who was present during the 1969 murder of Gary Hinman, a California musician and Ph.
24 Facts About Mary Brunner
1. 2.
Mary Brunner was arrested for numerous offenses, including credit card theft and armed robbery and served a prison sentence at the California Institution for Women before being paroled in 1977.
3.
Mary Brunner met 33-year-old career criminal Charles Manson in the Spring of 1967 who had been released from Terminal Island prison several weeks earlier.
4.
Mary Brunner let him stay at her apartment and the two became lovers after several weeks.
5.
Mary Brunner was thus the first person whom Manson recruited into his "Family".
6.
Mary Brunner quit her job and the two began to drift around California in a van meeting other young women.
7.
Mary Brunner became pregnant by Manson during the summer of 1967 and she gave birth to a son on April 15,1968, whom she named Valentine Michael, nicknamed "Pooh Bear".
8.
Mary Brunner had illegal firearms and played host to a motorcycle gang.
9.
Mary Brunner was booked on endangering the life and health of a child, after her one-week-old son, Valentine, was found by deputies improperly dressed and shivering.
10.
Charges against Mary Brunner were later reduced to contributing to the delinquency of a minor and she was given two years' probation and a 15-day suspended jail sentence.
11.
Mary Brunner subsequently told authorities she planned to return to her parents' home in Wisconsin and Valentine was returned to her.
12.
Mary Brunner's face had been deeply slashed on the left side and he had two stab wounds in his chest.
13.
Mary Brunner's house had been ransacked, and "Political Piggy" and a paw print were drawn on the wall in his blood.
14.
Mary Brunner had a sheath knife attached to his belt.
15.
Mary Brunner was present throughout and was the key witness for the prosecution.
16.
Mary Brunner testified at Beausoleil's trial that Beausoleil killed Hinman, because Hinman had refused to join Manson's pop group.
17.
Mary Brunner further explained that several hours after the gang purchased the mescaline from Beausoleil, they showed up at Spahn Ranch, claiming the mescaline was poisoned with strychnine, demanded their money back and threatened to kill Beausoleil.
18.
Mary Brunner contended that it was Atkins who wrote the words "Political Piggy" on Hinman's wall.
19.
Mary Brunner later received immunity from prosecution to testify against both Beausoleil and Atkins.
20.
However, during Beausoleil's March 1970 trial, Mary Brunner recanted her testimony that Beausoleil murdered Hinman and Beausoleil produced an affidavit signed by Mary Brunner stating that he did not stab Hinman.
21.
Mary Brunner's son was sent to live with her parents.
22.
Mary Brunner drove a white van to a Hawthorne, California Western Surplus Store on August 21,1971, accompanied by Family members Catherine "Gypsy" Share, Dennis Rice, Charles Lovett, Larry Bailey, and Kenneth Como.
23.
Mary Brunner was sent to the California Institution for Women where Leslie Van Houten, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel were serving their sentences for their participation in the Tate-LaBianca murders.
24.
Mary Brunner disappeared from the public eye after being paroled in 1977.