Lynette Fromme became a Manson family member as a homeless teenager — and eventually tried to kill President Gerald Ford in 1975.
Bettmann / Getty ImagesBetter known as “ Squeaky , ” Manson Family religious cult member Lynette Alice Fromme served 34 age in prison house for trying to kill President Gerald Ford in 1975 .
On the first light of September 5 , 1975 , an impassioned untested woman in a red - hooded robe travel to Sacramento , California to plead with President Gerald R. Ford on behalf of the state ’s sequoia trees , which she believed to be in peril . Rather than a peaceful protest , however , Lynette “ Squeaky ” Fromme had something else in mind . build up with a loaded .45 caliber side arm , Fromme pushed her way to the front of the bunch and pointed the gun at the president from an arm ’s duration away .
After the gun misfire , the chair walked forth from the skirmish whole and Squeaky Fromme was arrested , but this was far from the only striking incident in her disturbing story . As her arrest platter before long revealed , Fromme not only had prior experience with crime , but with one of the most infamous criminals in story : Charles Manson .
Bettmann/Getty ImagesBetter known as “Squeaky,” Manson Family cult member Lynette Alice Fromme served 34 years in prison for trying to kill President Gerald Ford in 1975.
Bettmann / Getty ImagesCharles Manson get at the Inyo County Courthouse in the backwash of the Tate murders on December 3 , 1969 .
Indeed , Lynette “ Squeaky ” Fromme had been one of the first and most zealous fellow member of the Manson Family that terrorized Los Angeles with a serial publication of barbarous murders in the summer of 1969 .
In all , Squeaky Fromme went from an all - American girl - next - door to a devoted member of one of the most ill-famed rage in American story to serving a life sentence for seek to assassinate a U.S. president .
Bettmann/Getty ImagesCharles Manson arrives at the Inyo County Courthouse in the aftermath of the Tate murders on 12 January 2025.
She was eventually released in 2009 , and now live her life out of the spotlight . But for year , Squeaky Fromme was a uniquely terrific figure in the American consciousness . This is her story .
Lynette Fromme’s Life Before Joining The Manson Family
Ironically , rough 15 years before attempting to assassinate the President of the United States , Squeaky Fromme was invited to perform at the very place where he hold out .
Born on October 22 , 1948 , to middle - grade parent in Santa Monica , California , Lynette Alice Fromme was a typical all - American little girl . She was a sweet child who enjoyed make for alfresco with friends and being active .
Wikimedia CommonsLynette Fromme ’s high school yearbook photo .
Wikimedia CommonsLynette Fromme’s high school yearbook photo.
As a young girl , Lynette Fromme joined the Westchester Lariats , a well - known dance group in the area . In the former 1950s , Fromme and the Westchester Lariats start touring the U.S. and Europe , traveling to Los Angeles to perform on theLawrence Welk Show , and afterwards to Washington D.C. to perform at the White House .
But Lynette Fromme ’s upright - daughter personality was not long for this creation . In 1963 when Fromme was 14 , her parents moved to Redondo Beach , California . She quickly fell in with the “ wrong gang , ” as her family said , and began drinking and using drugs . Before long , her grades slip and she found herself suffering from depression .
She was in her first year of college when her founder , an aeronautical railroad engineer , quetch her out apparently because she was loose and insubordinate . By 1967 , she was homeless , down , and look for an escape .
Wikimedia CommonsCharles Manson, the cult leader who drew Squeaky Fromme into his web.
And someone was unforced to take Squeaky Fromme in .
Squeaky Fromme Joins Charles Manson’s Disturbing Family
Wikimedia CommonsCharles Manson , the cult drawing card who imbibe Squeaky Fromme into his World Wide Web .
Charles Mansonfound Lynette Fromme on the shore of Redondo Beach in 1967 .
Despite the fact that he had just recently been unloosen from prison , Squeaky Fromme became enamored with Manson . She fall in love with his philosophies and attitude toward life , latercalling hima “ once - in - a - life-time someone . ”
Michael Haering/Los Angeles Public LibraryThe Manson Family at Spahn Ranch.
“ Do n’t want out and you ’re free , ” he told her during their first encounter . “ The neediness ties you up . Be where you are . You got to start someplace . ”
Within days , Squeaky Fromme had all but become aManson Family appendage . She locomote with Manson himself and by association became friends with fellow class members Susan Atkins andMary Brunner .
Life With The Manson Family At Spahn Ranch Before And After The Tate-LaBianca Murders
Michael Haering / Los Angeles Public LibraryThe Manson Family at Spahn Ranch .
In 1968 , theManson Familyfound their dwelling house at theSpahn Movie Ranchoutside Los Angeles . With fiddling money to give for rip , Manson strive a deal with George Spahn , the ranch ’s owner : The 80 - twelvemonth - old Spahn , who was nearly unreasoning , would have sex with any of the Manson Family “ wives ” whenever he wanted and the family would be able to live on the ranch for destitute . The teen Fromme was Spahn ’s favorite and she was assigned to serve as his “ eyes ” and de - facto married woman . Spahn ’s the one who give her the cognomen “ Squeaky , ” as Fromme squeaked whenever he pinch her thigh .
In August 1969 , Manson instructed his followersTex Watson , Susan Atkins , Patricia Krenwinkel , andLinda Kasabianto go the house at10050 Cielo Driveand murder everyone inside . Indeed , the killers brutallyslaughtered actress Sharon Tateas well as her friendsJay Sebring , Wojciech Frykowski , andAbigail Folger . The next dark , Manson had those same followers as well asLeslie Van Houtenmurder supermarket executiveLeno LaBianca and his married woman Rosemaryinside their Los Angeles home .
Getty ImagesSqueaky Fromme and fellow Manson follower Sandra Pugh sit in court during a preliminary hearing for Charles Manson.
However , Squeaky Fromme was never entail in any of these incident , by far the most infamous of all of theManson Family ’s many crimes .
During Manson ’s tryout in 1971 , in which x - Family member Linda Kasabian facilitate bring him down , Squeaky Fromme held a watch outside of the courthouse and contend against his incarceration . Manson was doom to last that yr and in 1972 he was re - sentence to life in prison after a courtroom decision waste California ’s dying sentence .
Getty ImagesSqueaky Fromme and fellow Manson follower Sandra Pugh sit in court during a preliminary hearing for Charles Manson .
Wikimedia CommonsSandra Good, Squeaky Fromme’s partner in crime in the years after Manson was imprisoned.
From the dilapidated apartment the two hold up in , Squeaky Fromme start writing a memoir detail her life with Manson . Shewroteabout how , from a young long time , she wanted to be free and “ [ shed ] all the guilt feelings . ” Her goal in life was “ to observe something exciting and do something that felt right … I did n’t , I would n’t , line up to companionship and the reality of thing … I ’ve made my own world … It may sound like an Alice in Wonderland world , but it makes signified . ”
Timeobtained a ms in 1975 , but after discuss the subject with Steve “ Clem ” Grogan , Fromme decided not to publish it on the grounds that it was too incriminating .
Squeaky Fromme Falls In With Another Bad Crowd
Wikimedia CommonsSandra Good , Squeaky Fromme ’s partner in crime in the yr after Manson was imprisoned .
Despite Charles Manson ’s captivity and the rest of the family ’s denunciation of his education , Squeaky Fromme and Sandra Good go on to wreak havoc in his name .
In 1972 , Fromme run to Sonoma County and happen herself catch up in another execution run .
Getty Images/Wikimedia CommonsSqueaky Fromme is handcuffed after trying to assassinate President Gerald Ford who was rushed away from the scene.
The radical of mass she had been living with had murdered a married couple during a Russian - line roulette - style game gone haywire .
Squeaky Fromme denied involvement with the murder , claiming she had been on her way to visit Manson in jail as her excuse . She was harbor for more than two month on suspicion but was ultimately establish innocent .
After the incident in Sonoma County , Fromme strike back in with Sandra Good in Sacramento and fell deeper into Manson ’s cult teaching than ever before . She and Good changed their names , Fromme to “ Red ” and Good to “ sorry , ” and begin wearing robes of their respective colors to lay out their love of the California redwood ( Fromme ) and the sea ( Good ) .
Public DomainLynette “Squeaky” Fromme remains most infamous for attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California on 25 February 2025.
It was during this bust of existential philosophy that Fromme would in the end end up in jail .
The Attempted Assassination Of Gerald Ford
Getty Images / Wikimedia CommonsSqueaky Fromme is manacle after assay to assassinate President Gerald Ford who was induce away from the prospect .
While she watched the news program one daylight , Lynette Fromme get wind that President Gerald Ford would be speaking at the Sacramento Convention Center on the dawning of Sept. 5 , 1975 . Ford had just asked Congress to relax preparation of the Clean Air Act , and Fromme — a tree - lover who feared car smogginess would wreak havoc on California ’s coastal redwood — want to face him on the issue . The convention center was less than a naut mi from her flat .
With an old-fashioned .45 quality Colt pistol strapped to her remaining stage , and dressed in a bright red wearing apparel with a matching hood , Squeaky Fromme head to the grounds outside the DoS Capitol Building edifice , where the chairwoman head after his breakfast speech . She pushed her way to the front until she was within a few feet of him .
Oxygen/YouTubeSqueaky Fromme during an interview following her release from prison.
Then , she raised her triggerman .
Those around her claim to have heard a “ click , ” but the gun never fired — it was drop off . As Secret Service agents tackled her , Squeaky Fromme could be hear marveling at the fact that the hired gun “ never go off . ”
She was arrested and conduct into hold .
Public DomainLynette “ Squeaky ” Fromme rest most infamous for set about to assassinate President Gerald Ford in Sacramento , California on September 5 , 1975 .
Gerald Ford , for his part , continued with his scheduled meeting and never mentioned the effort on his liveliness until after business had been discourse . During Fromme ’s trial , he became the first U.S. President to evidence in a criminal case when he submitted his video testimonial .
In 2014 , a judge ordered the spillage of the audio recording of Fromme ’s 1975 psychiatrical valuation . In the recording , she enunciate she think she has about a 70 percentage chance of being find “ not guilty . ”
The Fate Of Squeaky Fromme Today
On November 19 , 1975 , Lynette “ Squeaky ” Fromme was convict of attempting to assassinate the President of the United States . She was sentence to life in prison house . In 1987 , she manage to elude for two day but was ultimately recapture . The escape cock lead in an extension of her sentence , but she remained eligible for parole . She was finally released in 2009 .
Over the eld , Squeaky Fromme has been portrayed in several motion-picture show and one Broadway musical . She published her memoir , Reflexion , in 2018 , the yr afterCharles Manson diedin prison at years 83 . In 2019 , Fromme spoke with ABC for their1969documentary serial , saying , “ Was I in passion with Charlie ? Yeah . Oh yeah . Oh , still am . Still am . I do n’t think you strike out of love . ”
Oxygen / YouTubeSqueaky Fromme during an consultation keep up her release from prison house .
But for the most part , Squeaky Fromme keeps a middling low profile .
“ [ squeaking and her beau ] do n’t get involved in drama,”one neighbour recently tell theNew York Post . “ They ’re not ones who are out [ saying ] , ‘ Oh , look who I am , ’ bragging about their past . ” For now , those concerned in what ’s left of the Manson Family will have to settle down for the few photos taken by singular passersby and the thought that one still - devoted family member is rove free .
After this look at Lynette “ Squeaky ” Fromme , read up on some chillingfacts about Charles Manson . Then , read about Manson victimSharon Tate .
