SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Nearly 40 years after a former Manson family member pointed a gun at President Gerald Ford, the audiotape from her pretrial psychiatric examination has been made public.
U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller granted the release of the 132-minute recording last week in response to a motion filed by the Sacramento Bee in November.
The recording of Lynette Alice “Squeaky” Fromme was made Sept. 21, 1975, a little more than two weeks after the 26-year-old Fromme aimed her pistol at Ford in Sacramento’s Capitol Park. The gun did not go off and Fromme was wrestled to the ground by a Secret Service agent.
The tape was made to determine her competence to stand trial and to represent herself.
The Sacramento Bee reports that in the recording, Fromme spoke confidently about her ability to defend herself at trial and be acquitted.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 04/25/2014