1
00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,800
(birds chirping)

2
00:00:16,930 --> 00:00:19,140
Member 1: Here come some
more guests, ready for the shoot.

3
00:00:19,220 --> 00:00:21,470
It's a jitney full of people.

4
00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:24,560
Aha!

5
00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:26,810
(laughter, soft chatter)

6
00:00:26,900 --> 00:00:29,570
- Hello!
- member 2: Welcome to the shoot!

7
00:00:30,150 --> 00:00:31,230
Member 3:
Bang, bang, bang.

8
00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:33,490
- Member 1: Let me help you out.
- (gunshot)

9
00:00:33,570 --> 00:00:36,110
- (gunshot)
- Chuck Dederich: There you go!

10
00:00:36,160 --> 00:00:39,160
(overlapping chatter, laughter)

11
00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,410
- Bang bang bang bang bang bang.
- Chuck: Alright.

12
00:00:42,500 --> 00:00:45,710
This is the way you walk
around here with a gun.

13
00:00:46,830 --> 00:00:49,090
Always, like this.

14
00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,840
(gunshots)

15
00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,590
(tense music playing)

16
00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:57,510
(clicking)

17
00:00:58,550 --> 00:01:01,310
Member 1: There's no reason
ever to shoot a handgun for anything.

18
00:01:01,350 --> 00:01:02,720
Chuck:
No, except to kill people.

19
00:01:02,810 --> 00:01:05,520
- Member 2: Oh, come on.
- Pistols have one purpose.

20
00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,810
That is to kill people.
There's no other reason.

21
00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:10,520
(gunshot)

22
00:01:11,650 --> 00:01:12,690
(gunshot)

23
00:01:12,940 --> 00:01:13,990
(gunshot)

24
00:01:14,530 --> 00:01:17,610
We take careful aim,
and we fire!

25
00:01:17,700 --> 00:01:21,160
(gunshots)

26
00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,200
- (projector whirring)
- (dark tone playing)

27
00:01:24,250 --> 00:01:26,870
(projector whirring down)

28
00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:28,170
(echoing click)

29
00:01:29,130 --> 00:01:33,130
(highway noise)

30
00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:45,770
(bus rumbling)

31
00:01:47,770 --> 00:01:50,400
(quiet office chatter)

32
00:01:52,110 --> 00:01:54,940
Narda Zacchino: You know, the
whole thing about investigative reporting,

33
00:01:55,030 --> 00:01:56,190
I think,
is just to reveal the truth.

34
00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:58,570
That's very simple.
Revealing the truth.

35
00:01:59,570 --> 00:02:01,870
That's my favorite
kind of journalism.

36
00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,160
In 1977,

37
00:02:05,250 --> 00:02:08,160
I was a really young reporter
at the "LA Times."

38
00:02:09,420 --> 00:02:12,960
One day, an attorney
named Paul Morantz called me.

39
00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,050
He said, "I have a really
good story for you guys.

40
00:02:16,090 --> 00:02:18,090
"It's about a woman.

41
00:02:18,130 --> 00:02:20,220
"Her name is Frances Winn,

42
00:02:20,260 --> 00:02:22,100
"and she was, um,

43
00:02:22,140 --> 00:02:24,140
she was having sort of
a nervous breakdown."

44
00:02:24,220 --> 00:02:28,310
- (seagulls cawing)
- (mysterious music playing)

45
00:02:30,100 --> 00:02:32,110
She was walking on the beach

46
00:02:32,190 --> 00:02:34,770
in front of
the Synanon headquarters

47
00:02:34,820 --> 00:02:36,280
in Santa Monica,

48
00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,280
and, uh, she ran into somebody
from Synanon

49
00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,820
who talked her into
going into the building,

50
00:02:42,910 --> 00:02:45,290
the Casa del Mar.

51
00:02:45,330 --> 00:02:48,160
And, uh, they didn't
wanna let her out.

52
00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,130
So, they convinced her

53
00:02:52,210 --> 00:02:55,300
that her husband
didn't love her anymore.

54
00:02:55,340 --> 00:02:57,460
She became very upset.

55
00:02:57,550 --> 00:03:00,260
She believed them.
They then put her on a bus,

56
00:03:00,300 --> 00:03:02,640
and they shipped her up
to Northern California,

57
00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:05,350
where they had another facility.

58
00:03:05,430 --> 00:03:07,680
(soft somber music playing)

59
00:03:07,770 --> 00:03:10,190
(breeze blowing)

60
00:03:10,270 --> 00:03:12,100
Paul Morantz:
I, uh, had a client

61
00:03:12,150 --> 00:03:14,520
who said that his wife
was in Synanon,

62
00:03:14,610 --> 00:03:16,730
and that the organization
was refusing

63
00:03:16,820 --> 00:03:20,650
to allow him to see
or speak to her or take her out.

64
00:03:21,450 --> 00:03:24,280
We got her out at approximately
9 or 10 days later,

65
00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:26,950
and, uh, we filed a lawsuit.

66
00:03:26,990 --> 00:03:28,910
And, of course,
then the question was

67
00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,620
how and why did all this happen?

68
00:03:32,620 --> 00:03:36,460
Paul and the husband charged
that Synanon kidnapped her.

69
00:03:38,170 --> 00:03:39,880
All of this was revealed
in an article

70
00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:41,680
I wrote in the "LA Times."

71
00:03:45,350 --> 00:03:47,600
When the thing with
Frances Winn was happening,

72
00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:49,310
there was a lot
of other stuff going on.

73
00:03:49,350 --> 00:03:51,390
There was, um, you know,

74
00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:53,520
the Moonies were in the news.

75
00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:55,770
Scientology was in the news.

76
00:03:55,860 --> 00:03:58,530
The Manson chicks
had shown up at court

77
00:03:58,610 --> 00:04:00,860
for Manson
with their shaved heads.

78
00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:04,660
I didn't feel like a Manson,
but I felt like

79
00:04:04,700 --> 00:04:07,120
the community at large
was gonna view us that way.

80
00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:09,370
♪♪

81
00:04:09,450 --> 00:04:11,160
Paul:
You know, what is a cult?

82
00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:12,580
Quite often there's one leader,

83
00:04:12,660 --> 00:04:15,380
one charismatic man
that sets the policies,

84
00:04:15,460 --> 00:04:17,920
sets that ideology,
and everyone follows.

85
00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:20,960
The one thing that I've become
concerned about is that

86
00:04:21,050 --> 00:04:23,430
when you follow the evolution
of many of these groups,

87
00:04:23,510 --> 00:04:25,390
that while they may
start off benign,

88
00:04:25,470 --> 00:04:27,720
they quite often
end up malignant.

89
00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:28,930
(indistinct yelling)

90
00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:31,520
Lance Kenton:
Paul Morantz is a litigious,

91
00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,390
ambulance-chasing lawyer

92
00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:36,350
who's never been to Synanon.

93
00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:38,020
He doesn't know
anything about it.

94
00:04:38,060 --> 00:04:39,940
And, um, you know,
he was a proponent

95
00:04:40,030 --> 00:04:43,740
of just negative thought
after thought after thought.

96
00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:46,410
Ron Cook:
Morantz's case, the husband

97
00:04:46,450 --> 00:04:48,580
who wanted his wife back
and claimed

98
00:04:48,660 --> 00:04:51,290
that we kidnapped her
and brainwashed her.

99
00:04:52,580 --> 00:04:54,120
What did we want her for?

100
00:04:54,210 --> 00:04:56,580
That lady came in, saying,

101
00:04:56,620 --> 00:05:00,130
"My husband's beating me,
I need help."

102
00:05:00,210 --> 00:05:02,590
We did what decent
people would do.

103
00:05:02,630 --> 00:05:05,800
We took her in off the street,

104
00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:07,930
sent her to Tomales Bay.

105
00:05:09,930 --> 00:05:10,890
Yeah, she shaved her head.

106
00:05:10,930 --> 00:05:13,430
Everybody had shaved
their head at the time.

107
00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:17,230
But nothing bad happened to her.

108
00:05:17,270 --> 00:05:18,650
She wasn't restrained.

109
00:05:18,730 --> 00:05:21,440
She could've left any day
she wanted to.

110
00:05:23,780 --> 00:05:26,700
Narda: After I wrote the
story about Frances Winn,

111
00:05:26,780 --> 00:05:29,660
I started getting calls from
people, and so did Paul.

112
00:05:29,740 --> 00:05:32,580
People who had been in
Synanon couldn't get out.

113
00:05:32,620 --> 00:05:35,790
Families had been broken up
and separated.

114
00:05:35,830 --> 00:05:38,790
We realized
this was a much bigger story.

115
00:05:41,670 --> 00:05:44,170
Newscaster: On March 3rd,
the Marin County grand jury

116
00:05:44,260 --> 00:05:46,470
released a report
criticizing Synanon

117
00:05:46,510 --> 00:05:50,350
for actions that have
left people worried and uneasy.

118
00:05:51,970 --> 00:05:54,430
The grand jury referred
to the number of reports

119
00:05:54,470 --> 00:05:57,730
it had received about
child abuse inside Synanon.

120
00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:00,610
Narda: Finally,
there was a grand jury

121
00:06:00,650 --> 00:06:02,610
that was called in Marin,

122
00:06:02,650 --> 00:06:05,990
which did a study of,
basically, of child abuse.

123
00:06:07,490 --> 00:06:10,450
They had testimony
from kids themselves.

124
00:06:11,570 --> 00:06:13,990
It shocked people into realizing

125
00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,000
that this wasn't a utopia.

126
00:06:17,410 --> 00:06:19,420
Newscaster:
Julie Moncharsh, 16,

127
00:06:19,500 --> 00:06:21,840
who ran away from
Synanon two years ago,

128
00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,300
says she was punched and beaten

129
00:06:24,340 --> 00:06:25,880
and saw many others beaten.

130
00:06:26,340 --> 00:06:28,300
One boy was physically beaten

131
00:06:28,340 --> 00:06:31,680
because he did not do the 20
push-ups which he was assigned.

132
00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:33,970
He was hit in the head
and then socked in the stomach.

133
00:06:34,010 --> 00:06:35,520
(panting)

134
00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:38,440
Newscaster: Synanon says the
allegations about child abuse are lies.

135
00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:39,940
(children chanting)

136
00:06:40,020 --> 00:06:43,360
It also denies that children
are being held prisoner.

137
00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:45,150
(drill instructor yells)

138
00:06:47,030 --> 00:06:50,200
Judi Ehrlich: I think at that point
things really started to become

139
00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:52,700
stranger and stranger,

140
00:06:52,780 --> 00:06:54,330
and Chuck became very defensive

141
00:06:54,370 --> 00:06:57,000
and, you know,
felt like a lot of people

142
00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,830
were targeting Synanon
and were gonna come after us.

143
00:07:00,870 --> 00:07:04,880
The threatening telephone calls
are incredible!

144
00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,550
I can't brush this off!
I just can't!

145
00:07:08,590 --> 00:07:12,800
Threatening notes,
filthy mail, and-and-and so on!

146
00:07:13,890 --> 00:07:15,510
Rod Mullen:
Chuck had a table

147
00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:17,470
down at the Home Place
with a microphone,

148
00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,600
and he would rage on
about the enemies.

149
00:07:20,690 --> 00:07:22,520
(curious music playing)

150
00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,900
"Enemies of Synanon were
determined to bring us down,

151
00:07:24,980 --> 00:07:27,280
and we have to
protect ourselves,"

152
00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:29,030
and, you know,
"We're under attack."

153
00:07:29,570 --> 00:07:32,070
Talking people
into that posture.

154
00:08:00,180 --> 00:08:02,810
- (Chuck laughs)
- (indistinct)

155
00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,690
- (car rumbling)
- (crow squawking)

156
00:08:09,690 --> 00:08:12,070
The controversial drug
rehabilitation center

157
00:08:12,110 --> 00:08:13,450
is arming itself

158
00:08:13,490 --> 00:08:17,280
with $63,000 worth of
guns and ammunition

159
00:08:17,370 --> 00:08:20,290
for a 150-person security force.

160
00:08:20,330 --> 00:08:22,210
♪♪

161
00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,920
Federal and state authorities
say the arms purchase

162
00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:27,000
is not illegal,

163
00:08:27,090 --> 00:08:28,880
but authorities do
wanna make sure

164
00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,800
that Synanon is operating
within the law.

165
00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:34,470
(crow squawking)

166
00:08:34,510 --> 00:08:36,930
Bob Navarro: The weapons
purchase was meant as a warning.

167
00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,270
Because it was publicized.
We didn't do this in secret.

168
00:08:41,310 --> 00:08:43,390
We publicized it.

169
00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,860
The whole idea was to tell
people, "Hey, we're serious.

170
00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:49,860
Leave us alone."

171
00:08:49,940 --> 00:08:51,990
You know,
I'm not a violent person.

172
00:08:52,030 --> 00:08:54,450
I could never think
about killing anybody.

173
00:08:54,490 --> 00:08:56,320
I can't think
about hitting people.

174
00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,240
That's alien to me.

175
00:09:00,410 --> 00:09:02,500
But what's not alien
is when you have

176
00:09:02,580 --> 00:09:04,750
these legal cases coming,
one after another,

177
00:09:04,830 --> 00:09:08,210
and all of these newspapers,
the television...

178
00:09:08,290 --> 00:09:09,500
Officials plan to meet
next week.

179
00:09:09,590 --> 00:09:12,260
...it feels like
you're in a war.

180
00:09:12,340 --> 00:09:14,300
(indistinct chatter)

181
00:09:14,340 --> 00:09:16,720
(gunshots)

182
00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,850
- Chuck: I'll load it, Frank.
- Frank: You wanna load it? Alright, that's fine.

183
00:09:21,930 --> 00:09:23,560
See, it's supposed to stop
in that position.

184
00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:25,350
(laughing)

185
00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,060
♪♪

186
00:09:27,150 --> 00:09:28,770
Rod: Here's a nonprofit
organization

187
00:09:28,860 --> 00:09:31,480
that's supposed to be
helping people

188
00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:33,610
arming itself.

189
00:09:34,740 --> 00:09:37,530
Everybody outside of Synanon
knew we were crazy.

190
00:09:37,610 --> 00:09:39,450
(birds chirping)

191
00:09:39,530 --> 00:09:42,120
But, most of the people
in Synanon

192
00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:43,910
opened wide and swallowed.

193
00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:45,040
(gunshot)

194
00:09:45,500 --> 00:09:46,960
(gunshot)

195
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,540
There were all these things
that, "We're under attack,

196
00:09:50,590 --> 00:09:53,130
"so everybody, you know,
sleep with your clothes

197
00:09:53,210 --> 00:09:55,840
"right beside your bed, so you
can jump into your clothes

198
00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:59,220
and immediately respond
to the attack that's coming."

199
00:09:59,300 --> 00:10:00,140
(gunshot)

200
00:10:00,180 --> 00:10:02,220
And people did it! I did it!

201
00:10:02,310 --> 00:10:06,230
Uh... uh... you know...

202
00:10:06,310 --> 00:10:09,230
(sighs) It was insane.

203
00:10:12,650 --> 00:10:14,030
Bob:
All of this is happening.

204
00:10:14,070 --> 00:10:16,490
There's investigations
in Synanon

205
00:10:16,530 --> 00:10:18,950
from the attorney general
here in California

206
00:10:19,030 --> 00:10:21,870
over the child abuse incidents.

207
00:10:21,910 --> 00:10:23,950
Um, and...

208
00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:25,330
they take off.

209
00:10:25,410 --> 00:10:28,000
Chuck, members of the board,

210
00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,790
Chuck's daughter, Jady,
and they go on a trip.

211
00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,090
- (wind humming)
- ("Formia" playing)

212
00:10:37,130 --> 00:10:40,300
♪ I've heard all the stories ♪

213
00:10:40,390 --> 00:10:42,140
♪ Of all of the glory ♪

214
00:10:42,220 --> 00:10:43,680
♪ Across the sea ♪

215
00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,270
And then,
they finally ended up in

216
00:10:46,310 --> 00:10:49,390
this little coast town
in Italy called Formia.

217
00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:50,850
(singing continues)

218
00:10:50,940 --> 00:10:52,810
And they settled there for,
I don't know how long.

219
00:10:52,900 --> 00:10:55,110
It was a couple of months
or something like that.

220
00:10:55,900 --> 00:10:58,950
♪ There's something
happening there ♪

221
00:10:59,780 --> 00:11:01,950
♪ Formia ♪

222
00:11:02,030 --> 00:11:05,120
- ♪ For you-a, for us all ♪
- (seagulls cawing)

223
00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:07,290
- (song ends)
- (gentle splashing)

224
00:11:08,500 --> 00:11:09,960
Rod:
Chuck and the leadership

225
00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,290
were in Formia
and running Synanon

226
00:11:13,340 --> 00:11:15,380
in exile, so to speak,

227
00:11:15,420 --> 00:11:18,170
and, uh,
and Chuck started drinking.

228
00:11:18,260 --> 00:11:20,340
(ice rattling in glass)

229
00:11:21,890 --> 00:11:25,310
It didn't take him long
before he was right back

230
00:11:25,390 --> 00:11:28,480
probably where he had been
30 or 40 years before.

231
00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,350
(crowd chatter)

232
00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,230
He was done.
He was done being sober.

233
00:11:37,530 --> 00:11:40,320
He had totally relapsed.

234
00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:42,320
Somewhere after that,

235
00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:44,820
I had a drink because
that's what I was told to do,

236
00:11:44,870 --> 00:11:46,790
you know,
and that's what was happening.

237
00:11:46,830 --> 00:11:49,370
That's what we did.

238
00:11:51,330 --> 00:11:53,670
People who were close to me
that were on the board,

239
00:11:53,710 --> 00:11:55,250
that were alcoholics,

240
00:11:55,340 --> 00:11:58,800
I guess they wanted to drink.
I don't know.

241
00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:00,300
I guess we all did

242
00:12:00,340 --> 00:12:04,010
because we weren't willing
to say, well, what are we doing?

243
00:12:04,050 --> 00:12:05,800
We don't drink.
We're not drinking.

244
00:12:07,220 --> 00:12:10,770
But we couldn't.

245
00:12:10,850 --> 00:12:14,150
Formia was a very
intense period of time.

246
00:12:15,060 --> 00:12:17,650
I felt very bad for Chuck

247
00:12:17,690 --> 00:12:19,360
'cause I adored him.

248
00:12:20,780 --> 00:12:22,070
I mean,
he felt like a father to me,

249
00:12:22,150 --> 00:12:23,700
and it was awful
to see your father

250
00:12:23,780 --> 00:12:26,030
in that kind of state of mind.

251
00:12:26,070 --> 00:12:27,120
♪♪

252
00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:29,660
He would, uh,
drink all the time,

253
00:12:29,700 --> 00:12:32,960
and, uh, sometimes
end up in a stupor.

254
00:12:34,420 --> 00:12:38,340
It's unclear when he actually
started drinking.

255
00:12:38,380 --> 00:12:40,840
(somber music playing)

256
00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:45,090
I think one of our friends
was bringing him vodka,

257
00:12:45,550 --> 00:12:47,890
you know, secretly, way before

258
00:12:47,930 --> 00:12:50,970
anybody knew that
he was drinking.

259
00:12:53,020 --> 00:12:55,900
Ron: I later learned that he
started just before Betty died,

260
00:12:55,980 --> 00:12:58,230
when she was sick,
and nobody knew it.

261
00:13:03,900 --> 00:13:05,990
So, the essence of Synanon,
speak your truth,

262
00:13:06,070 --> 00:13:08,410
the openness,
and all that stuff.

263
00:13:20,460 --> 00:13:22,960
Speaker: Nothing. (laughs)

264
00:13:28,850 --> 00:13:30,350
Speaker: Yeah.

265
00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:34,270
Speaker: Yeah.

266
00:13:40,860 --> 00:13:42,820
Speaker: Yeah.

267
00:13:55,330 --> 00:13:57,080
Speaker: Right.

268
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,260
- (birds chirping)
- (leaves rustling)

269
00:14:05,380 --> 00:14:08,130
Ron:
When we came back from Italy,

270
00:14:08,220 --> 00:14:11,300
everybody was trying to figure
out what to do with him.

271
00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:17,560
The board was set up in order
to protect the foundation

272
00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:20,400
from any kind of incursions,

273
00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:24,150
but, mostly, it was dominated
by Chuck and his family.

274
00:14:24,190 --> 00:14:25,650
♪♪

275
00:14:26,780 --> 00:14:30,450
Jady Dederich Montgomery: There
were no outside board members anymore.

276
00:14:30,910 --> 00:14:33,330
My dad was both
the chairman and the CEO.

277
00:14:33,410 --> 00:14:36,120
He was not accountable
to the board.

278
00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:38,870
If anything, the board
was accountable to him.

279
00:14:40,330 --> 00:14:43,000
Ron:
Nobody would publicly say

280
00:14:43,090 --> 00:14:46,630
Chuck is in no position
to lead this organization.

281
00:14:47,340 --> 00:14:49,800
But, at times,
he was not very coherent.

282
00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:52,350
Rod: We tried to
convince people,

283
00:14:52,430 --> 00:14:55,520
buy him a ranch someplace
and get him on it,

284
00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,230
give him some people
to take care of him,

285
00:14:58,310 --> 00:14:59,890
and get him the hell outta here.

286
00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:01,770
But no one would listen.

287
00:15:01,860 --> 00:15:03,900
(birds chirping)

288
00:15:03,980 --> 00:15:07,400
Elena Broslovsky: Chuck was
having his own mental health problems.

289
00:15:08,700 --> 00:15:12,870
He was a wounded wildebeest

290
00:15:12,910 --> 00:15:14,580
is the way I've described it,

291
00:15:14,660 --> 00:15:16,910
with people closing in on him

292
00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:18,870
in the community
and out of the community.

293
00:15:19,540 --> 00:15:23,920
Things began to deteriorate
in every, every aspect.

294
00:15:43,060 --> 00:15:45,440
Rod: Chuck, when
he was a drinking guy,

295
00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:49,360
like many serious alcoholics,
destroyed his family.

296
00:15:49,940 --> 00:15:52,200
He destroyed
everything around him.

297
00:15:53,620 --> 00:15:56,910
After Italy,
when he started drinking again,

298
00:15:56,990 --> 00:15:58,410
he just did the same thing.

299
00:15:58,450 --> 00:16:01,370
He just had a much larger family
to destroy.

300
00:16:02,830 --> 00:16:04,580
He had lost whatever
made him happy,

301
00:16:04,670 --> 00:16:08,960
and, by God, you were gonna
lose everything that made you happy.

302
00:16:09,050 --> 00:16:11,680
I remember him
saying on the Wire,

303
00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:12,760
"I'm gonna ruin the place,

304
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:14,930
"and I'ma ruin
all of you with it.

305
00:16:15,390 --> 00:16:18,180
So strap yourself to the mast."

306
00:16:18,260 --> 00:16:20,680
I mean, it was intentional.

307
00:16:20,770 --> 00:16:24,440
(ominous music playing)

308
00:16:34,110 --> 00:16:38,030
After Paul Morantz got
Frances Winn out of Synanon,

309
00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,750
Paul and the Winns sued Synanon.

310
00:16:41,540 --> 00:16:43,330
Connie Chung:
A judge today ordered Synanon,

311
00:16:43,420 --> 00:16:45,580
the alcohol and drug
rehabilitation center,

312
00:16:45,630 --> 00:16:50,300
to pay Frances and Edward Winn
of Los Angeles $300,000.

313
00:16:50,340 --> 00:16:52,970
Frances Winn claims
she was brainwashed, tortured,

314
00:16:53,010 --> 00:16:55,640
and held against her will
by Synanon.

315
00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,390
Phil Bourdette: I mean, I know
that Chuck was not happy.

316
00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,060
He was ranting
about Paul Morantz

317
00:17:05,150 --> 00:17:07,770
and that something
should be done.

318
00:17:18,530 --> 00:17:20,740
(whirring)

319
00:17:29,420 --> 00:17:31,800
♪♪

320
00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:34,590
I, at this time, received, uh,

321
00:17:34,670 --> 00:17:36,800
regularly, for about
the past two weeks,

322
00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,850
phone calls with hangups,
sometimes three, four in a row.

323
00:17:39,890 --> 00:17:42,180
Quite often,
they're at midnight.

324
00:17:42,220 --> 00:17:45,560
There are Synanon people
who have gone to my friends,

325
00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:47,060
members of my family,

326
00:17:47,150 --> 00:17:51,570
going to restaurants
that I, uh, that I go to.

327
00:17:51,650 --> 00:17:54,990
Newscaster: Jack Hurst was a
member of Synanon for 17 years.

328
00:17:55,030 --> 00:17:57,320
This is what he told
NBC's Rick Davis.

329
00:17:57,360 --> 00:18:00,530
We have proof positive that
for the last five weeks,

330
00:18:00,580 --> 00:18:03,870
over the Synanon Wire,
that the loudspeaker system,

331
00:18:03,910 --> 00:18:05,790
uh, Paul Morantz's name,
his address,

332
00:18:05,870 --> 00:18:08,790
his telephone number has
been announced over the Wire,

333
00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:12,050
and the pleading was, why
doesn't somebody go out there

334
00:18:12,130 --> 00:18:14,550
and teach Paul Morantz a lesson?

335
00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,810
Narda: Paul went to the Los
Angeles Police Department

336
00:18:22,890 --> 00:18:25,100
and the attorney
general's office

337
00:18:25,180 --> 00:18:27,560
to report the threats
against him.

338
00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:31,020
The California attorney
general interviewed him

339
00:18:31,060 --> 00:18:32,980
on October 10th of 1978.

340
00:18:33,070 --> 00:18:35,900
He left that interview.

341
00:18:35,940 --> 00:18:38,740
(TV chatter)

342
00:18:38,820 --> 00:18:41,030
He goes home.

343
00:18:41,070 --> 00:18:42,990
He goes and gets a drink,

344
00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:45,200
puts on the first game

345
00:18:45,250 --> 00:18:48,420
of the Yankees-Dodgers
World Series,

346
00:18:48,460 --> 00:18:51,580
and then, he decides
to get his mail.

347
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:55,420
It was one of these mailboxes
that has an opening

348
00:18:55,460 --> 00:18:57,420
in the outside of your house,

349
00:18:57,510 --> 00:19:00,220
and you get the mail
from inside your house.

350
00:19:01,050 --> 00:19:03,930
So, he opened up the mailbox,

351
00:19:04,010 --> 00:19:05,680
and he saw something in there,

352
00:19:05,770 --> 00:19:07,100
but it was dark

353
00:19:07,140 --> 00:19:09,230
and he couldn't
really see what it was.

354
00:19:09,270 --> 00:19:11,100
And he put his hand in.

355
00:19:11,150 --> 00:19:14,400
(tense music building)

356
00:19:17,820 --> 00:19:20,660
And a rattlesnake bit him.

357
00:19:20,740 --> 00:19:22,030
(siren wailing)

358
00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:24,450
Newscaster 1: Details of the
story now of the attempted murder

359
00:19:24,490 --> 00:19:26,410
of attorney Paul Morantz.

360
00:19:26,450 --> 00:19:29,160
Newscaster 2: Neighbors say they
saw two men put something in the mailbox

361
00:19:29,250 --> 00:19:31,620
at the home of Paul Morantz.

362
00:19:31,710 --> 00:19:35,170
When Morantz reached inside,
he was bitten by a rattlesnake.

363
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,470
The snake was a little
over four feet long.

364
00:19:38,510 --> 00:19:40,470
The rattles had been removed,
apparently,

365
00:19:40,510 --> 00:19:41,800
so there would be no warning.

366
00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:43,890
(camera shutters snapping)

367
00:19:43,970 --> 00:19:46,720
Narda: Paul ran out
the door, yelling for help.

368
00:19:46,810 --> 00:19:49,770
He's on the lawn.
He's screaming in pain.

369
00:19:49,810 --> 00:19:52,900
He said, "Synanon got me.
Tell them Synanon got me."

370
00:19:53,690 --> 00:19:54,810
And then he said,

371
00:19:54,860 --> 00:19:57,400
"Somebody call Narda
Zacchino at the 'LA Times'

372
00:19:57,480 --> 00:19:58,990
and tell her she's next."

373
00:19:59,070 --> 00:20:00,820
(siren wailing)

374
00:20:00,860 --> 00:20:02,320
I raced to the hospital.

375
00:20:02,410 --> 00:20:04,700
I thought Paul was gonna die.

376
00:20:06,330 --> 00:20:08,080
I went up to this nurse,
and I said,

377
00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:10,460
"I need to see Paul.
Paul Morantz."

378
00:20:10,500 --> 00:20:12,540
And she said,
"Are you next of kin?"

379
00:20:12,620 --> 00:20:16,500
And I lied. Immediately I said,
"Yes, I'm his sister."

380
00:20:16,590 --> 00:20:18,510
(beeping)

381
00:20:18,590 --> 00:20:21,760
So, I walked in,
and his whole arm

382
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,050
was wrapped
in this huge bandage.

383
00:20:25,470 --> 00:20:27,640
Paul had this big grin
on his face,

384
00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:29,220
and I bent down and kissed him
on the cheek,

385
00:20:29,310 --> 00:20:30,770
like his sister would do,

386
00:20:30,850 --> 00:20:33,100
and he said,
"I knew you'd get in here."

387
00:20:33,190 --> 00:20:34,190
(laughs)

388
00:20:34,230 --> 00:20:36,480
(somber music playing)

389
00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:38,360
They had the anti-venom
there at that hospital,

390
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:40,690
which is what saved his life.

391
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:46,320
- (shutters snapping)
- (indistinct chatter)

392
00:20:47,780 --> 00:20:49,330
Newscaster:
Paul Morantz is recovering

393
00:20:49,370 --> 00:20:50,660
from the bite of the rattlesnake

394
00:20:50,700 --> 00:20:53,330
that someone placed
in his mailbox.

395
00:20:53,370 --> 00:20:55,670
The lawyer said he had
received reports of threats

396
00:20:55,710 --> 00:20:58,040
made against him
by the Synanon organization.

397
00:20:58,130 --> 00:21:00,460
Though Morantz
did not name Synanon

398
00:21:00,550 --> 00:21:03,470
as being responsible
for the attempt on his life,

399
00:21:03,550 --> 00:21:05,890
he did say they had a motive.

400
00:21:06,390 --> 00:21:09,640
Those people who put
the snake in my mailbox

401
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,430
do not think of themselves
as criminals, I'm sure,

402
00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,730
but believe themselves
to be serving a higher purpose.

403
00:21:15,770 --> 00:21:17,150
(shutters snapping)

404
00:21:17,230 --> 00:21:20,400
Newscaster: Morantz is recovering
from the rattlesnake venom.

405
00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:22,780
Doctors say there will be
no lasting effects.

406
00:21:24,860 --> 00:21:28,780
Narda: Before this, Paul
had told all of his neighbors

407
00:21:28,870 --> 00:21:30,870
that his life
was being threatened.

408
00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:33,160
So, luckily,

409
00:21:33,250 --> 00:21:35,710
one neighbor saw a car

410
00:21:35,750 --> 00:21:37,460
and wrote down
the license number.

411
00:21:37,540 --> 00:21:39,420
Police quickly traced the car

412
00:21:39,500 --> 00:21:41,550
that neighbors saw
in front of the Morantz home.

413
00:21:41,590 --> 00:21:43,590
It was registered to Synanon,

414
00:21:43,670 --> 00:21:46,010
and police
are taking into custody

415
00:21:46,090 --> 00:21:48,220
and charging with
attempted murder

416
00:21:48,260 --> 00:21:49,430
Lance Kenton,

417
00:21:49,510 --> 00:21:52,770
a Synanon member
and a son of Stan Kenton.

418
00:21:54,810 --> 00:21:58,940
You know, I got a phone call
from my father,

419
00:21:59,020 --> 00:22:01,780
who was watching NBC news.

420
00:22:01,820 --> 00:22:03,570
"They're looking
for Lance Kenton,

421
00:22:03,610 --> 00:22:06,650
who is at large,
armed, and dangerous."

422
00:22:06,740 --> 00:22:09,370
And my father immediately
called up there and said,

423
00:22:09,450 --> 00:22:10,580
"What the fuck is going on?"

424
00:22:10,950 --> 00:22:13,450
And he said,
"I wouldn't run if I were you."

425
00:22:13,500 --> 00:22:16,870
I go,
"Run? Where am I gonna go?"

426
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,380
Newscaster: Two men were
arrested at the Synanon compound

427
00:22:19,460 --> 00:22:20,710
near Badger, California,

428
00:22:20,790 --> 00:22:23,250
and brought to Los Angeles
early this morning.

429
00:22:23,300 --> 00:22:26,340
Police believe that
Joseph Musico, age 28,

430
00:22:26,420 --> 00:22:28,470
and Lance Kenton, age 20,

431
00:22:28,550 --> 00:22:30,470
were responsible
for putting a rattlesnake

432
00:22:30,510 --> 00:22:32,970
in the mailbox of lawyer
Paul Morantz.

433
00:22:34,470 --> 00:22:36,230
Bob:
We saw it on the news.

434
00:22:36,310 --> 00:22:37,690
That was the first hint

435
00:22:37,770 --> 00:22:39,980
I had of the rattlesnake attack.

436
00:22:40,060 --> 00:22:42,440
It looked like something

437
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,740
that could be existential
for Synanon.

438
00:22:47,030 --> 00:22:49,910
I was wondering, is this gonna
bring the whole edifice

439
00:22:49,990 --> 00:22:53,240
crashing down on us,
and everybody with it

440
00:22:53,330 --> 00:22:55,580
who had nothing to do with this?

441
00:22:57,830 --> 00:23:01,670
Miriam Bourdette: Undoubtedly,
a couple of Synanon residents

442
00:23:01,750 --> 00:23:06,590
placed a rattlesnake
in Paul Morantz's mailbox.

443
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:13,180
Joe Musico definitely (laughs)

444
00:23:13,220 --> 00:23:14,560
Was one of them,

445
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,560
and I know that
because he told me that.

446
00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,600
He told me that
before he was arrested

447
00:23:20,690 --> 00:23:24,860
and before everybody arrived
on our property.

448
00:23:24,940 --> 00:23:27,740
The "Los Angeles Times" reports
that a ranch operated by Synanon

449
00:23:27,820 --> 00:23:30,360
in a remote area of
Tulare County, California,

450
00:23:30,450 --> 00:23:32,620
was raided yesterday
by two dozen investigators

451
00:23:32,700 --> 00:23:35,330
armed with search warrants.

452
00:23:35,370 --> 00:23:36,700
They were looking for all tapes

453
00:23:36,750 --> 00:23:40,370
making reference to Los Angeles
attorney Paul Morantz.

454
00:23:40,460 --> 00:23:42,540
Miriam:
They found some tapes.

455
00:23:43,380 --> 00:23:45,340
Disastrous tapes.

456
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:47,920
Crucial tape recording
was played today

457
00:23:48,010 --> 00:23:49,630
in a Visalia courtroom.

458
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:53,090
They were played over
and over again

459
00:23:53,890 --> 00:23:55,560
for all to hear.

460
00:24:25,590 --> 00:24:29,510
I do remember hearing Chuck
say these words.

461
00:24:29,590 --> 00:24:33,430
I was the person that recorded
them and made a label,

462
00:24:33,470 --> 00:24:36,300
and I did not take
that literally.

463
00:24:36,390 --> 00:24:37,930
I thought
that's his dream language.

464
00:24:37,970 --> 00:24:40,520
This is a man
who feels threatened

465
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,810
by people closing in on him.

466
00:24:42,890 --> 00:24:47,020
I never for a minute
thought that that was real,

467
00:24:47,110 --> 00:24:48,270
but apparently it was.

468
00:24:49,030 --> 00:24:50,740
Chuck (on tape):
I wanna crack some bones.

469
00:24:50,780 --> 00:24:52,740
Not too many.
You don't have to.

470
00:24:53,860 --> 00:24:56,780
Bob: With all of
the law enforcement scrutiny

471
00:24:56,870 --> 00:25:01,870
on Synanon over this,
Chuck disappeared again.

472
00:25:02,620 --> 00:25:04,420
This time into Arizona,

473
00:25:04,460 --> 00:25:07,500
where we had some properties.

474
00:25:10,630 --> 00:25:13,510
Ron:
In Lake Havasu, Arizona,

475
00:25:13,590 --> 00:25:15,930
I lived in
the apartment building.

476
00:25:15,970 --> 00:25:18,970
Chuck was living
in a little house in the back.

477
00:25:20,310 --> 00:25:23,230
One day, I got a call.

478
00:25:23,310 --> 00:25:24,350
I put on flip-flops,

479
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,940
and I walked back to the house.

480
00:25:28,570 --> 00:25:31,990
There was about...
looked like a, uh,

481
00:25:32,030 --> 00:25:34,320
SWAT team of people

482
00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:36,660
with all their rifles
pointed at me.

483
00:25:36,700 --> 00:25:38,320
(helicopter whirring)

484
00:25:38,370 --> 00:25:40,790
Newscaster: Synanon founder
Charles "Chuck" Dederich was arrested

485
00:25:40,830 --> 00:25:43,200
and charged with conspiracy
to commit murder.

486
00:25:43,290 --> 00:25:45,620
(somber music playing)

487
00:25:45,670 --> 00:25:46,960
Ron:
So I went into his house.

488
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:48,880
He was on an ambulance gurney.

489
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,510
He couldn't walk.
He was that bad with alcohol.

490
00:25:52,590 --> 00:25:55,010
(police radio chatter)

491
00:25:55,090 --> 00:25:58,970
And he looked up at me.
He says, "Oh.

492
00:25:59,510 --> 00:26:02,140
Everything's fine now.
Cook's here."

493
00:26:03,310 --> 00:26:04,930
I felt terrible.

494
00:26:06,230 --> 00:26:08,900
I truly loved the man.

495
00:26:08,980 --> 00:26:10,610
I went over and held his hand

496
00:26:10,690 --> 00:26:12,360
and said,
"Everything will be okay."

497
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,650
And he says, "Oh, thank God
you're here. I feel better."

498
00:26:17,450 --> 00:26:19,820
(quiet street noise)

499
00:26:23,370 --> 00:26:25,580
Newscaster: Dederich
was arraigned in a room

500
00:26:25,660 --> 00:26:27,250
inside this hospital
in Kingman, Arizona,

501
00:26:27,330 --> 00:26:30,880
after his doctors said he was
too sick to appear in court.

502
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,710
The judge who presided said
Dederich seemed unconscious

503
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:35,090
throughout the proceedings.

504
00:26:35,170 --> 00:26:37,880
His eyes was closed. He was
laying flat on his back.

505
00:26:37,930 --> 00:26:40,550
I do not know if he knew
what was going on or not.

506
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:42,640
He does have a mental problem

507
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:47,480
and I understood that alcohol
is also a problem.

508
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:51,400
Jady: He was later
diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

509
00:26:53,190 --> 00:26:55,070
Now, we didn't know that.
He didn't know that.

510
00:26:55,110 --> 00:26:59,200
So, he was suffering
his whole life

511
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:04,200
in a way that was not yet
really defined or understood.

512
00:27:05,660 --> 00:27:08,290
And he was self-medicating
with alcohol.

513
00:27:10,630 --> 00:27:13,250
I, I never noticed
cycling before,

514
00:27:14,170 --> 00:27:17,760
between the-the depressive part
and the manic part,

515
00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,510
but that probably
was there all along.

516
00:27:20,590 --> 00:27:22,680
The restlessness,
the needing to move,

517
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:24,930
the constant need
to change things.

518
00:27:26,020 --> 00:27:28,940
Chuck: I am
surrounded by people

519
00:27:29,020 --> 00:27:30,520
that I'm just nuts about,

520
00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:32,980
and-and-and,
and just about all of them,

521
00:27:33,060 --> 00:27:36,440
I-I think, are-are
nuts about me.

522
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,950
Rod: Charismatic leaders
are inherently unstable.

523
00:27:41,030 --> 00:27:43,280
It's part of their personality.

524
00:27:44,620 --> 00:27:48,500
And whether they're
mentally ill or-or not,

525
00:27:48,580 --> 00:27:51,540
they just are unstable people.

526
00:27:51,620 --> 00:27:53,540
(applause, cheering)

527
00:27:53,630 --> 00:27:56,840
These kinds of leaders
always crash.

528
00:27:58,590 --> 00:28:01,300
They're good for a while,

529
00:28:01,340 --> 00:28:03,350
20 years or so,

530
00:28:03,430 --> 00:28:04,800
and then they all crash.

531
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:09,810
Jady:
As we sit here today,

532
00:28:09,890 --> 00:28:13,690
my father,
who is a 65-year-old man

533
00:28:13,770 --> 00:28:16,320
who has dedicated his life

534
00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:19,070
for the last 20 years

535
00:28:19,150 --> 00:28:21,320
to saving people

536
00:28:21,360 --> 00:28:25,240
that no one wanted
to have anything to do with,

537
00:28:25,330 --> 00:28:27,910
is dying in a jail cell

538
00:28:27,990 --> 00:28:31,160
in the Kingman County Hospital
in Arizona!

539
00:28:31,210 --> 00:28:33,290
(muffled chatter)

540
00:28:33,330 --> 00:28:35,040
Rod: With the
rattlesnake in the mailbox,

541
00:28:35,130 --> 00:28:37,250
Synanon wanted to make sure

542
00:28:37,340 --> 00:28:42,180
that Lance and Joe
got all of the heat

543
00:28:42,260 --> 00:28:45,930
and nobody above them
who directed them got any heat.

544
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,890
Lance was such
a promising young man.

545
00:28:51,230 --> 00:28:52,890
He was very kind.

546
00:28:52,980 --> 00:28:55,810
He was very
enthusiastic and funny.

547
00:28:58,940 --> 00:29:01,950
Lance: At one point,
before the trial,

548
00:29:02,030 --> 00:29:04,820
I was requested
to go see Phil Bourdette.

549
00:29:04,860 --> 00:29:06,780
And Phil said,
"Lance, sit down."

550
00:29:06,870 --> 00:29:08,910
He had a whole set of documents
in front of me.

551
00:29:08,990 --> 00:29:10,370
Said,
"I want you to sign these."

552
00:29:10,410 --> 00:29:11,580
Said, "What are they?"

553
00:29:11,660 --> 00:29:13,870
And he said, "Basically,
it's a declaration that Chuck

554
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,710
never inspired you
or told you to do anything."

555
00:29:17,750 --> 00:29:21,670
And I said, um,
"Why am I signing this now?"

556
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:23,550
He goes, "We just want it.
We want it in the file.

557
00:29:23,630 --> 00:29:25,050
"We want you to sign this.

558
00:29:25,090 --> 00:29:26,930
You can sign it, Lance."
I'm like, "No.

559
00:29:27,010 --> 00:29:28,430
I'm not gonna sign it."

560
00:29:30,140 --> 00:29:32,980
I never trusted Phil Bourdette
again after that.

561
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:37,690
Well, I-I did not talk...

562
00:29:37,730 --> 00:29:41,400
Lance Kenton and, um, Joe Musico

563
00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:45,450
were the other two people
charged in the criminal case,

564
00:29:45,530 --> 00:29:47,570
and they had their own lawyers.

565
00:29:47,660 --> 00:29:49,200
I never talked to them.

566
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:51,160
I-I don't know

567
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,210
how that...
how they got involved

568
00:29:54,250 --> 00:29:56,460
in putting the rattlesnake
in the mailbox.

569
00:29:56,540 --> 00:29:58,750
I was wounded.
No, I was wounded.

570
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,170
I felt really assaulted.

571
00:30:03,050 --> 00:30:04,970
And then, when my father died,

572
00:30:06,130 --> 00:30:07,300
he left me a little
insurance money.

573
00:30:07,390 --> 00:30:09,430
It was like
$25,000 life insurance.

574
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:13,180
Ron Cook, he said to me,
"Now, Lance." He goes, "Normally,

575
00:30:13,270 --> 00:30:15,270
"when people inherit money
in Synanon,

576
00:30:15,350 --> 00:30:17,900
"they donate most
of it to Synanon,

577
00:30:17,940 --> 00:30:20,320
"and they keep a little bit
to play with, you know.

578
00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:22,780
"So why don't you
put 20,000 into Synanon,

579
00:30:22,820 --> 00:30:24,440
"and keep 5,000
and play with the stocks

580
00:30:24,490 --> 00:30:27,660
or whatever of your own?"
And I turned to him.

581
00:30:27,740 --> 00:30:29,620
I said, "Are you out
of your fucking mind?"

582
00:30:29,700 --> 00:30:32,450
I said, "I'm under criminal
indictment in Los Angeles,

583
00:30:32,490 --> 00:30:35,460
"and any minute, I'm gonna have
to defend myself at my own cost.

584
00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:38,830
"And you want me to take every
penny I own and give it to you?

585
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:40,290
You're outta your fucking mind!"

586
00:30:40,340 --> 00:30:43,130
And I left and didn't
talk to him ever again.

587
00:30:43,170 --> 00:30:46,630
I felt like all of these people,
in which I was trying my best

588
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,640
to protect, um, my whole life,

589
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:50,930
in being there,

590
00:30:50,970 --> 00:30:53,810
that they were willing
to turn on me on a dime

591
00:30:53,890 --> 00:30:56,140
and throw me out as bait.
You know?

592
00:30:57,350 --> 00:30:59,650
Cast me aside to protect Chuck.

593
00:31:00,190 --> 00:31:02,690
But, um,
I don't believe Chuck had

594
00:31:02,770 --> 00:31:05,320
that kind of deviousness

595
00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:09,160
to directly ask me
to sacrifice myself.

596
00:31:10,030 --> 00:31:12,830
I think these people
were acting on his behalf,

597
00:31:12,870 --> 00:31:14,290
but it wasn't
under his direction,

598
00:31:14,330 --> 00:31:16,290
and I don't think
he would've done it.

599
00:31:16,750 --> 00:31:19,370
He was a very moral man,
you know?

600
00:31:28,430 --> 00:31:30,090
Basically, one day,
the DA came in and said,

601
00:31:30,180 --> 00:31:32,010
"Man, we're sick
of this fucking case."

602
00:31:32,510 --> 00:31:36,180
And, uh, my lawyer, he said,
"Well, then drop charges."

603
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:38,230
The DA said, "Tell you what.

604
00:31:38,310 --> 00:31:41,100
"If your clients
will plead no contest,

605
00:31:41,190 --> 00:31:43,060
we'll let 'em go
with time served."

606
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:46,480
And so I said,
"So what does Chuck wanna do?"

607
00:31:46,530 --> 00:31:49,200
And he said,
"Chuck says he'll do anything

608
00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:50,950
as long as he doesn't
have to go back to court."

609
00:31:51,030 --> 00:31:53,030
I said,
"Well, tell 'em I'll plead."

610
00:31:55,870 --> 00:31:57,700
At that age,
he was failing anyway,

611
00:31:57,790 --> 00:32:00,420
and, you know, to have to get
up every day and go to court,

612
00:32:00,500 --> 00:32:03,500
and then, of course, sit there
with Morantz, who he despised.

613
00:32:04,250 --> 00:32:07,010
He deserved not to have
to go through that, you know.

614
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:12,390
And so we go to court,

615
00:32:12,430 --> 00:32:14,390
and I remember my lawyers
in chambers

616
00:32:14,470 --> 00:32:15,890
having a conversation
with the judge.

617
00:32:15,930 --> 00:32:17,600
And when he comes back,

618
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:20,480
he won't look me in the eye.

619
00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:22,060
And I thought,

620
00:32:22,150 --> 00:32:23,690
oh, man, this is not good.

621
00:32:23,730 --> 00:32:26,780
(tense music playing)

622
00:32:27,730 --> 00:32:30,740
Newscaster: 22-year-old Lance
Kenton and 30-year-old Joseph Musico

623
00:32:30,820 --> 00:32:32,280
pleaded no contest to charges

624
00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:33,990
of conspiracy to commit murder.

625
00:32:34,070 --> 00:32:36,080
Judge William Hogoboom

626
00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:37,700
sentenced both Kenton and Musico

627
00:32:37,740 --> 00:32:40,790
to three years' probation,
the first year to be spent

628
00:32:40,870 --> 00:32:42,420
in the LA County Jail.

629
00:32:42,500 --> 00:32:44,380
♪♪

630
00:32:44,420 --> 00:32:47,800
Lance: Apparently, the judge
was very conscious of his role

631
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:49,170
in a high-publicity case,

632
00:32:49,260 --> 00:32:50,760
and he thought there would be
a public outcry

633
00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:53,390
if we got off
without serving time.

634
00:32:54,430 --> 00:32:56,430
Newscaster: Hogoboom argued
that while he was not convinced

635
00:32:56,470 --> 00:32:58,720
the two meant to kill,
he was convinced

636
00:32:58,770 --> 00:33:00,770
they meant to do
serious violence.

637
00:33:00,810 --> 00:33:03,190
Paul Morantz, the man
bitten by the rattlesnake,

638
00:33:03,270 --> 00:33:04,730
reacted favorably
to the sentence,

639
00:33:04,770 --> 00:33:06,400
if not the reasoning.

640
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:09,940
There's speculation as to
what one was intending,

641
00:33:10,030 --> 00:33:11,780
however, uh,

642
00:33:12,650 --> 00:33:15,120
the rattles were removed.
Why remove the rattles

643
00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:17,490
if it was only to scare me
or intimidate me?

644
00:33:17,580 --> 00:33:19,950
- (shutters snapping)
- (overlapping chatter)

645
00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:21,960
- Don't push.
- Get to the car, please.

646
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:23,330
Get your hands off me.

647
00:33:23,420 --> 00:33:25,170
Tom Brokaw:
Charles Dederich,

648
00:33:25,250 --> 00:33:27,290
the man who founded
and led Synanon,

649
00:33:27,340 --> 00:33:30,170
today was sentenced to five
years' probation for his part

650
00:33:30,260 --> 00:33:33,630
in a plot to kill a lawyer
with a rattlesnake.

651
00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:34,970
(chatter continues)

652
00:33:35,010 --> 00:33:36,640
In sentencing Dederich
to probation,

653
00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,970
the judge praised
his early Synanon work.

654
00:33:40,020 --> 00:33:41,600
He then concluded
that he was sorry

655
00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:43,480
the program had degenerated.

656
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:45,480
(shutters snapping)

657
00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:48,270
Very good, gentlemen.
Thank you. Thank you very much.

658
00:33:48,310 --> 00:33:51,150
(chatter gradually fades out)

659
00:33:51,190 --> 00:33:54,570
I went straight
from Synanon to prison.

660
00:33:54,650 --> 00:33:57,660
♪♪

661
00:33:59,370 --> 00:34:02,080
I left everyone who as a kid
I grew up with

662
00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:03,660
since the fifth grade.

663
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:06,000
You know, to live in a loving,

664
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:09,840
genuinely friendly
family environment

665
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,590
and to go from that,
in 24 hours,

666
00:34:12,670 --> 00:34:16,510
to incarceration
and solitary confinement.

667
00:34:18,180 --> 00:34:19,970
In hindsight, yeah,
you do things,

668
00:34:20,010 --> 00:34:21,220
I would do things differently.

669
00:34:21,310 --> 00:34:22,970
(shutters snapping)

670
00:34:23,020 --> 00:34:24,850
I would not have gone to jail.

671
00:34:24,930 --> 00:34:27,400
I would not have allowed

672
00:34:27,850 --> 00:34:30,520
other people to get off
scot-free.

673
00:34:31,860 --> 00:34:34,360
(Rory Kennedy speaking)

674
00:34:34,860 --> 00:34:38,200
You know, that's an answer
that I've never discussed

675
00:34:38,240 --> 00:34:42,040
with anybody. My involvement
and whether or not I did it,

676
00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:43,750
I took responsibility for it.

677
00:34:43,830 --> 00:34:45,500
(shutters snapping)

678
00:34:45,540 --> 00:34:48,710
So it doesn't matter
what I say, you know?

679
00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:51,750
It's something that
I keep with inside me,

680
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:53,880
and I don't talk about it, so...

681
00:34:57,380 --> 00:35:00,720
Once Lance and Joe were in jail,

682
00:35:01,550 --> 00:35:05,060
uh, my wife Naya and I
left within a week.

683
00:35:05,140 --> 00:35:07,020
If anybody had any doubts

684
00:35:07,060 --> 00:35:10,150
that we had lost
contact with reality

685
00:35:10,230 --> 00:35:12,770
and-and lost complete contact

686
00:35:12,860 --> 00:35:14,900
with our original mission,

687
00:35:14,980 --> 00:35:16,780
that did it.

688
00:35:19,410 --> 00:35:22,280
And, you know,
when people ask me,

689
00:35:22,370 --> 00:35:24,450
"Well, why'd you leave Synanon?"
I said,

690
00:35:24,540 --> 00:35:27,120
well, I physically left,
but, honestly,

691
00:35:27,210 --> 00:35:28,710
Synanon left me.

692
00:35:30,250 --> 00:35:33,210
I still believed
what I believed when I joined.

693
00:35:33,250 --> 00:35:35,420
But Synanon no longer

694
00:35:35,460 --> 00:35:37,720
represented any of those things.

695
00:35:41,590 --> 00:35:44,810
Judi: Chuck did not serve
time for the rattlesnake case.

696
00:35:45,770 --> 00:35:48,100
He was placed on five-year
probation as a result

697
00:35:48,180 --> 00:35:50,230
and paid a $5,000 fine.

698
00:35:50,270 --> 00:35:52,480
And during probation,
and thereafter,

699
00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:55,780
he was not allowed to ever have
any kind of managerial position

700
00:35:55,860 --> 00:35:57,320
in Synanon again.

701
00:35:59,240 --> 00:36:01,530
Chuck was pissed off.

702
00:36:01,610 --> 00:36:03,240
♪♪

703
00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:06,790
I think he felt somewhat
victimized by all of this,

704
00:36:06,870 --> 00:36:09,330
but he put Jady in charge.

705
00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:12,790
Jady:
I was anointed as chairman

706
00:36:13,460 --> 00:36:15,880
to get my dad
out of the line of fire.

707
00:36:16,130 --> 00:36:18,800
I felt like, like my whole being

708
00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:21,800
just kind of went down
into the center of the earth.

709
00:36:24,260 --> 00:36:28,310
It was playing a role.
I was playing a role.

710
00:36:29,310 --> 00:36:31,310
I was the chairman,

711
00:36:31,350 --> 00:36:34,190
but my dad was in control.

712
00:36:35,650 --> 00:36:38,320
You know,
when he wasn't inebriated,

713
00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:40,360
and even sometimes when he was,

714
00:36:41,070 --> 00:36:43,320
he was in charge.

715
00:36:43,410 --> 00:36:46,620
Chuck: We've got a problem
now with that dunce Helen.

716
00:36:46,660 --> 00:36:49,950
Now, she wants to live
in one of our guest houses,

717
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:51,830
you know, and so on...
Bullshit!

718
00:36:51,870 --> 00:36:56,090
And, and my kid doesn't know
how to handle it

719
00:36:56,670 --> 00:36:58,920
and she's going to come up
with a counterproposal.

720
00:36:59,010 --> 00:37:02,680
I don't want any fucking
counterproposal! No, no, no!

721
00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:05,300
Member: Jady, why are you
mumbling under your breath?

722
00:37:05,350 --> 00:37:07,010
- That is what you said.
- That's what you said!

723
00:37:07,060 --> 00:37:09,180
- Member: That's the essence...
- That's what you said!

724
00:37:09,220 --> 00:37:11,180
You do that all the time!

725
00:37:11,270 --> 00:37:13,940
You can't be definite!
You can't say no!

726
00:37:14,020 --> 00:37:16,360
I'm not in the business
of entertaining counter...

727
00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:19,360
Bob: By that point, the
Game became a sort of

728
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:21,530
laboratory for...

729
00:37:22,450 --> 00:37:23,780
fucking with people.

730
00:37:23,860 --> 00:37:26,450
- You're dead wrong.
- It matters to me!

731
00:37:26,530 --> 00:37:28,580
Bob: He had lights
and video cameras,

732
00:37:28,660 --> 00:37:33,080
and that would be broadcast
to a big screen in the lodge,

733
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:34,960
and people would watch it.

734
00:37:36,790 --> 00:37:39,210
It was sort of
Roman spectacle-like.

735
00:37:39,300 --> 00:37:40,880
Hyperbole, distortion...

736
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:43,550
Marshall Carder: Chuck
and the executives would sit

737
00:37:43,630 --> 00:37:46,050
around their table
in the other room,

738
00:37:46,090 --> 00:37:48,470
and they would have a box,

739
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:50,970
and they'd be patching in
and directing the Game.

740
00:37:51,060 --> 00:37:54,890
- If we ran customer service, okay, Dennis? Uh...
- (phone beeps)

741
00:37:54,980 --> 00:37:59,230
Chuck (on speakerphone): Be careful
you don't turn this Synanon Game

742
00:37:59,270 --> 00:38:02,030
into a business meeting.

743
00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:04,700
Marshall: But you weren't
allowed to talk back to the box.

744
00:38:05,740 --> 00:38:07,950
They were making
these people fight.

745
00:38:08,030 --> 00:38:11,160
It was just like the ultimate
of manipulating the people

746
00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:12,750
through the game.

747
00:38:12,790 --> 00:38:14,120
(indistinct yelling)

748
00:38:14,210 --> 00:38:16,790
The Synanon Game
was a thing that tied

749
00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:18,420
all of Synanon together.

750
00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:22,420
From the beginning, it was
the basic core of Synanon.

751
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:26,930
Never really talk to people,
like, just like people-people.

752
00:38:26,970 --> 00:38:30,720
- Do you see what I mean? Do you understand?
- I do. Yeah.

753
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:32,600
And then, you know, at the end,
I hated the Game.

754
00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:34,930
Wait, wait, wait!
Let me just say this...

755
00:38:34,980 --> 00:38:36,480
Every other part of the whole...

756
00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:38,440
It's in the nature
of man to fight...

757
00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:42,730
(overlapping yelling)

758
00:38:44,030 --> 00:38:47,490
- (Game chatter fades out)
- (birds chirping)

759
00:38:53,240 --> 00:38:55,620
- (splashing)
- (pool chatter)

760
00:38:55,660 --> 00:38:58,790
Bill Goodson: Chuck
drinking, I think, I heard,

761
00:38:58,830 --> 00:39:01,210
not so much that
Chuck started drinking,

762
00:39:01,290 --> 00:39:04,300
but I heard
they started drinking.

763
00:39:04,380 --> 00:39:07,180
(party chatter)

764
00:39:07,260 --> 00:39:09,640
I remember we had
a high school reunion,

765
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:14,140
and we were allowed
to return to the property.

766
00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:17,190
And this was at Badger.

767
00:39:17,270 --> 00:39:19,440
We had the most incredible time,

768
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:22,650
but the oddest thing was,
in the evenings,

769
00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:26,190
there would be,
like, an open bar.

770
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:27,900
(shrill whistle)

771
00:39:27,990 --> 00:39:30,160
Bar closes in two minutes!

772
00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:31,370
Two minutes!

773
00:39:31,450 --> 00:39:33,330
(bar chatter)

774
00:39:33,370 --> 00:39:35,290
Bill:
People started drinking

775
00:39:35,330 --> 00:39:37,790
and getting drunk and messy.

776
00:39:37,830 --> 00:39:42,500
And that was a very,
very bizarre moment,

777
00:39:42,540 --> 00:39:44,590
to think that Synanon

778
00:39:44,670 --> 00:39:45,960
had somehow come to this.

779
00:39:46,010 --> 00:39:49,090
We're here at
the Badger Home Place Lodge

780
00:39:49,180 --> 00:39:53,930
for the 179th consecutive
sellout Saturday night party.

781
00:39:54,010 --> 00:39:56,680
They do love their parties
here in Badger.

782
00:39:56,770 --> 00:39:59,270
Bill:
That the fundamental pillars

783
00:39:59,350 --> 00:40:01,100
that founded the place,

784
00:40:01,190 --> 00:40:02,980
no drugs, no alcohol,

785
00:40:03,020 --> 00:40:06,280
no physical violence,
no threat of physical violence.

786
00:40:06,570 --> 00:40:10,410
Those principles were
thrown out the window.

787
00:40:12,370 --> 00:40:14,530
Judi:
I had spent so many years

788
00:40:14,580 --> 00:40:17,290
defending and defending
and defending and defending

789
00:40:17,370 --> 00:40:19,660
Synanon in the legal department.

790
00:40:20,460 --> 00:40:23,500
I had a lot of resentment
within myself.

791
00:40:23,540 --> 00:40:25,340
These were my 20s,
and this was time

792
00:40:25,380 --> 00:40:27,550
when I should've
been out having fun.

793
00:40:29,510 --> 00:40:32,140
I felt like Synanon had
run its course.

794
00:40:33,010 --> 00:40:35,010
But I was so undecided.

795
00:40:35,060 --> 00:40:36,390
(somber music playing)

796
00:40:36,430 --> 00:40:39,230
Jady came up to me and said,
"You're leaving.

797
00:40:39,310 --> 00:40:41,440
"You need to go.
Go live your life

798
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:43,060
and tell me what it's like."

799
00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:45,900
She wanted to live vicariously.

800
00:40:45,980 --> 00:40:48,280
I think she just, you know,
she had her own thoughts

801
00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:51,240
that she could not verbalize.
I mean, Jady was the chairman.

802
00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:52,360
Jady was Jady.

803
00:40:52,410 --> 00:40:54,450
Her commitment to Synanon

804
00:40:54,530 --> 00:40:56,240
could not be questioned.

805
00:40:56,990 --> 00:40:59,660
I understand it better now
but, you know, at the time,

806
00:40:59,750 --> 00:41:02,540
I remember being
sort of flabbergasted.

807
00:41:02,580 --> 00:41:04,210
But I did what she said.

808
00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:09,170
I rented a car, and I drove it
down to Los Angeles.

809
00:41:10,170 --> 00:41:12,180
And I, I left.

810
00:41:14,390 --> 00:41:18,100
(birds chirping)

811
00:41:18,140 --> 00:41:21,180
(wind blowing, trees rustling)

812
00:41:22,310 --> 00:41:24,690
(bikes rattling)

813
00:41:27,570 --> 00:41:30,780
During the '80s, AdGap,
selling advertising gifts,

814
00:41:30,820 --> 00:41:34,530
was still making millions
for Synanon.

815
00:41:34,820 --> 00:41:36,660
Reporter: The business
is providing companies

816
00:41:36,740 --> 00:41:39,580
with promotional items bearing
their corporate symbols.

817
00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:42,290
Rebekah Crawford:
They wanted all hands on deck,

818
00:41:42,370 --> 00:41:44,500
doing sales and making money.

819
00:41:44,580 --> 00:41:46,840
So, they made the decision

820
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:49,710
that the Synanon school
would no longer exist.

821
00:41:50,130 --> 00:41:54,220
I think it was taking up
too many man-hours.

822
00:41:54,840 --> 00:41:57,470
They cut loose
all of the teachers,

823
00:41:57,510 --> 00:42:01,180
and, for the kids,
we were all just, like,

824
00:42:01,270 --> 00:42:02,980
beside ourselves with joy.

825
00:42:03,020 --> 00:42:06,400
("Just Like Heaven"
by The Cure playing)

826
00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:09,400
(student chatter)

827
00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:12,110
♪♪

828
00:42:15,740 --> 00:42:18,740
- (cheering)
- I was now finally gonna go

829
00:42:18,830 --> 00:42:22,700
to a normal public high school,

830
00:42:22,790 --> 00:42:25,080
the kind I saw in movies.

831
00:42:25,170 --> 00:42:27,210
We dusted off an old bus

832
00:42:27,670 --> 00:42:30,500
and 17 of us, you know,
loaded up in there

833
00:42:30,590 --> 00:42:32,840
on our first day of
normal school. (sighs)

834
00:42:34,470 --> 00:42:37,220
♪ Spinning on that dizzy edge ♪

835
00:42:37,300 --> 00:42:40,640
♪ Kissed her face
and kissed her head ♪

836
00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:43,220
Rebekah:
It was my sophomore year.

837
00:42:43,310 --> 00:42:44,600
(inaudible)

838
00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:46,900
We didn't have
the right clothes,

839
00:42:46,980 --> 00:42:48,810
we didn't have the right hair,
you know?

840
00:42:48,860 --> 00:42:51,940
But none of us were shy
about participating.

841
00:42:52,530 --> 00:42:54,610
We were very good students.

842
00:42:54,690 --> 00:42:57,200
All playing sports.
We made friends.

843
00:42:57,240 --> 00:42:59,320
We did really well.

844
00:43:01,370 --> 00:43:03,700
There was a guidance
counselor, and she said,

845
00:43:03,790 --> 00:43:05,790
"You have two years left,

846
00:43:05,870 --> 00:43:08,710
"and if you take these classes,

847
00:43:08,750 --> 00:43:10,630
then you can go to college."

848
00:43:10,710 --> 00:43:13,550
And that was my ticket out.

849
00:43:13,590 --> 00:43:16,680
♪ You, lost and lonely, you ♪

850
00:43:16,720 --> 00:43:19,220
♪ Just like Heaven ♪

851
00:43:19,300 --> 00:43:21,010
(song ends)

852
00:43:21,050 --> 00:43:23,390
But, when you're in high school,

853
00:43:23,470 --> 00:43:25,730
what do teenagers do?

854
00:43:25,810 --> 00:43:28,650
They drink and they smoke.

855
00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:32,860
Eventually,
there was a group of us

856
00:43:32,900 --> 00:43:34,820
that were going out
on Friday nights

857
00:43:34,900 --> 00:43:37,280
and, you know,
drinking and smoking

858
00:43:37,360 --> 00:43:38,780
with the kids from the Valley.

859
00:43:38,860 --> 00:43:41,740
(laughter, chatter)

860
00:43:42,080 --> 00:43:44,950
I don't even know what
tipped off the adults,

861
00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:48,580
but I drove us home from school,

862
00:43:48,620 --> 00:43:50,670
parked, came back,
and it was just like,

863
00:43:50,750 --> 00:43:54,090
okay,
something very bad has happened.

864
00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:57,800
We go up to the Game.

865
00:43:57,880 --> 00:43:59,800
They didn't let us sleep.

866
00:43:59,880 --> 00:44:02,800
And then, we were up,
I think three or four days.

867
00:44:02,890 --> 00:44:05,220
(hair clippers buzzing)

868
00:44:05,270 --> 00:44:06,930
We got our heads shaved.

869
00:44:06,980 --> 00:44:08,480
And then, we were, you know,

870
00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:10,980
every morning,
up at, like, 5:30

871
00:44:11,060 --> 00:44:14,820
to run a couple miles,
then eat silent breakfast.

872
00:44:14,900 --> 00:44:16,280
(footsteps running)

873
00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:19,610
We left school in
the same way we came in.

874
00:44:19,650 --> 00:44:21,570
In the middle of the year,
just evaporated.

875
00:44:21,610 --> 00:44:22,820
Never went back.

876
00:44:22,910 --> 00:44:26,790
It was... That was really
a very tough moment for me

877
00:44:26,870 --> 00:44:29,000
just because I was so close.

878
00:44:30,460 --> 00:44:31,500
(sighs)

879
00:44:31,580 --> 00:44:33,590
But no.

880
00:44:33,630 --> 00:44:35,880
♪♪

881
00:44:37,260 --> 00:44:40,340
Then we went to work
in the factory,

882
00:44:40,430 --> 00:44:43,300
just boxing pens for AdGap.

883
00:44:43,350 --> 00:44:45,260
I think they really,
legitimately thought

884
00:44:45,310 --> 00:44:47,850
that we would
just stay in Synanon.

885
00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:51,140
Even as Chuck was unraveling.

886
00:44:53,480 --> 00:44:55,770
(ominous music playing)

887
00:44:55,820 --> 00:44:59,490
Miriam: At this point,
Chuck was drinking vodka.

888
00:45:01,740 --> 00:45:04,450
And we're mixing more
and more water into it.

889
00:45:04,490 --> 00:45:06,160
(cymbal rolls)

890
00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:09,790
One day, I was sitting
by the pool

891
00:45:09,830 --> 00:45:13,250
at the Home Place with Chuck.

892
00:45:13,330 --> 00:45:16,130
I heard him talking,

893
00:45:16,170 --> 00:45:19,670
and he was talking to
his brother, who was dead.

894
00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:21,630
(indistinct shouting)

895
00:45:21,680 --> 00:45:25,260
He was having
an active conversation.

896
00:45:26,180 --> 00:45:29,470
A hallucination, a delusion,
whatever they're called.

897
00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:33,560
- (tense music playing)
- (indistinct shouting continues)

898
00:45:33,650 --> 00:45:37,020
The doctors diagnosed him

899
00:45:37,070 --> 00:45:40,280
as being in a psychotic state

900
00:45:40,360 --> 00:45:43,360
of bipolar disorder.

901
00:45:45,030 --> 00:45:48,870
Certainly, the alcohol
did not help.

902
00:45:50,500 --> 00:45:52,750
I don't know at what point

903
00:45:52,830 --> 00:45:56,380
you could say
it became psychosis.

904
00:45:57,090 --> 00:46:00,210
I think it was hard
for all of us

905
00:46:00,260 --> 00:46:04,050
to accept the fact
that this man we loved...

906
00:46:04,090 --> 00:46:07,890
I mean, he was
my second father figure.

907
00:46:07,970 --> 00:46:10,810
He really was psychotic.

908
00:46:12,100 --> 00:46:15,900
- (insects chirping)
- (leaves rustling)

909
00:46:17,060 --> 00:46:20,110
Bob: One night, it
was around midnight,

910
00:46:21,610 --> 00:46:23,570
I'd gone to bed

911
00:46:23,650 --> 00:46:26,070
but there was a knocking
on the door,

912
00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:28,280
which was kind of unusual.

913
00:46:28,370 --> 00:46:29,240
And somebody was saying,

914
00:46:29,330 --> 00:46:31,410
"Everybody,
everybody has to come down.

915
00:46:31,450 --> 00:46:33,160
There's a general meeting."

916
00:46:33,250 --> 00:46:36,210
- (tense music playing)
- (insects chirping)

917
00:46:36,250 --> 00:46:37,630
So we went down.

918
00:46:37,710 --> 00:46:39,500
(soft chatter)

919
00:46:39,590 --> 00:46:42,800
Everybody, uh, was nervous.

920
00:46:44,720 --> 00:46:48,140
Chuck patched in over the Wire,

921
00:46:49,260 --> 00:46:50,930
and he starts off.

922
00:46:51,010 --> 00:46:53,060
Chuck (on PA): How come
I'm the only full-grown man

923
00:46:53,100 --> 00:46:55,310
in this whole fucking joint?!

924
00:46:55,390 --> 00:46:59,150
Bob: He says, "When I sat
down at my desk this evening,

925
00:46:59,230 --> 00:47:02,780
"as I do all the time,
and I reached for my glasses,

926
00:47:02,860 --> 00:47:05,950
"which I keep in a certain spot
all the time,

927
00:47:06,030 --> 00:47:09,620
"and they're not there.
And so, I'm looking around,

928
00:47:09,700 --> 00:47:13,450
"and I see that the glasses are
on the other side of the desk,

929
00:47:13,540 --> 00:47:14,910
where I never keep them."

930
00:47:15,370 --> 00:47:18,120
So then he says, "Well, you know
what this means, don't you?

931
00:47:18,210 --> 00:47:22,130
"That somebody would come in,
move my things around on my desk

932
00:47:22,210 --> 00:47:25,300
without my permission."
He says,

933
00:47:25,970 --> 00:47:30,050
"That means
that I, I have been violated."

934
00:47:30,930 --> 00:47:33,310
He says,
"I have been so violated

935
00:47:33,390 --> 00:47:36,730
"in a way
I've never been violated before.

936
00:47:36,810 --> 00:47:39,440
I can say
that I have been raped."

937
00:47:39,480 --> 00:47:42,520
(dramatic music playing)

938
00:47:44,730 --> 00:47:48,070
Rebekah: The kids, we
were all just in disbelief

939
00:47:48,150 --> 00:47:49,820
'cause you could hear Chuck
on the Wire.

940
00:47:49,910 --> 00:47:52,030
"There's a rapist!

941
00:47:52,120 --> 00:47:54,370
Who stole my glasses!"

942
00:47:54,450 --> 00:47:58,370
You know, and just going out,
like batshit crazy.

943
00:47:58,460 --> 00:48:01,000
And so, we're kind of
looking at each other,

944
00:48:01,080 --> 00:48:03,800
just like, when are these
people going to notice?

945
00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:05,670
♪♪

946
00:48:05,760 --> 00:48:08,090
This is the ravings
of a lunatic.

947
00:48:08,170 --> 00:48:11,850
- (tense music playing)
- (indistinct Wire chatter)

948
00:48:11,930 --> 00:48:15,220
Chuck started getting women
who had been raped

949
00:48:15,310 --> 00:48:18,850
to talk about... You know,
really pressuring people,

950
00:48:18,940 --> 00:48:21,600
"Get it off your chest
if you were raped."

951
00:48:21,690 --> 00:48:27,190
They began this long,
long gaming situation.

952
00:48:27,240 --> 00:48:30,490
(overlapping Game shouting)

953
00:48:33,530 --> 00:48:36,120
Rebekah: I think, at
around 4:00 in the morning,

954
00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:38,410
they told us, the kids,

955
00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:41,170
that we could leave
and go to bed.

956
00:48:41,210 --> 00:48:44,250
And so, we all ran out
of that shed, just laughing.

957
00:48:44,340 --> 00:48:47,550
You know, like, oh, my God,
the emperor has no clothes.

958
00:48:47,630 --> 00:48:50,130
Chuck (on Wire): ...hoping all
the time that he would get up

959
00:48:50,220 --> 00:48:52,050
and get the fuck
out of my house!

960
00:48:52,140 --> 00:48:53,680
Bob: You don't command
people to come down

961
00:48:53,720 --> 00:48:57,890
and run their most traumatic,
intimate stories.

962
00:48:57,930 --> 00:49:00,390
(Chuck continues indistinctly)

963
00:49:01,140 --> 00:49:05,020
It was, it was a profound
breach of decency.

964
00:49:05,070 --> 00:49:09,280
(indistinct Wire chatter)

965
00:49:10,450 --> 00:49:13,780
That's when people
really got it.

966
00:49:13,870 --> 00:49:16,080
The old man is...
(muttering)

967
00:49:16,160 --> 00:49:18,080
The old man is, uh...

968
00:49:18,750 --> 00:49:20,660
He's crazy.

969
00:49:20,750 --> 00:49:24,000
Chuck (on Wire): One of the
smartest people in Synanon.

970
00:49:24,080 --> 00:49:25,960
I may be the smartest person
in Synanon.

971
00:49:26,040 --> 00:49:27,590
I probably am
about this business.

972
00:49:28,090 --> 00:49:31,050
Chuck Dederich Jr.: He was outta
control. So, I went under his building

973
00:49:31,090 --> 00:49:34,220
and cut the wires loose.

974
00:49:34,260 --> 00:49:36,100
(static)

975
00:49:40,020 --> 00:49:42,230
Rebekah:
The writing was on the wall.

976
00:49:42,270 --> 00:49:44,100
This was just becoming madness.

977
00:49:44,150 --> 00:49:46,560
(ominous tone playing)

978
00:49:46,610 --> 00:49:47,980
And there was no way in hell

979
00:49:48,070 --> 00:49:49,730
that I was not gonna
go to college.

980
00:49:51,700 --> 00:49:53,700
I wanted hair,

981
00:49:53,780 --> 00:49:55,780
I wanted an education,

982
00:49:55,820 --> 00:50:00,290
and I really, really, really
wanted, like, a normal life.

983
00:50:00,540 --> 00:50:03,290
But, I could not go
to any college

984
00:50:03,330 --> 00:50:05,670
with my lack of education.

985
00:50:06,210 --> 00:50:09,380
The Synanon school
was not accredited

986
00:50:09,460 --> 00:50:13,380
so that doesn't hold any muster
in the real world.

987
00:50:13,470 --> 00:50:15,470
That's like saying
you don't go to school.

988
00:50:15,970 --> 00:50:18,430
♪ Doctors have come ♪

989
00:50:18,470 --> 00:50:20,810
Lewis Yablonsky,
who had written a book

990
00:50:20,850 --> 00:50:22,390
about Synanon in the early days,

991
00:50:22,480 --> 00:50:25,650
was still teaching
at Cal State Northridge.

992
00:50:26,480 --> 00:50:29,690
I wrote him a letter
explaining my situation,

993
00:50:29,770 --> 00:50:31,320
and he got me in.

994
00:50:31,400 --> 00:50:35,110
♪ They say I must be
one of the wonders ♪

995
00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:37,570
♪ God's own creation ♪

996
00:50:38,910 --> 00:50:42,660
I bought a Volkswagen Bug
and drove on July 4th weekend

997
00:50:42,700 --> 00:50:44,830
to Los Angeles.

998
00:50:44,870 --> 00:50:46,830
♪♪

999
00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:48,540
I started at Cal State
Northridge,

1000
00:50:48,630 --> 00:50:51,000
and then I transferred
to Barnard in New York

1001
00:50:51,090 --> 00:50:53,380
and graduated from Barnard.

1002
00:50:53,470 --> 00:50:56,180
And my hair
was even almost long.

1003
00:50:56,220 --> 00:51:00,180
♪ She'll make her way ♪

1004
00:51:00,220 --> 00:51:02,180
♪ Hey hey hey ♪

1005
00:51:04,730 --> 00:51:07,270
♪ She'll make her way ♪

1006
00:51:07,350 --> 00:51:09,520
I was so happy.
I was so happy.

1007
00:51:09,610 --> 00:51:12,860
- (song fades out)
- (birds chirping)

1008
00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:17,700
Tom Brokaw: On special
segment tonight,

1009
00:51:17,740 --> 00:51:19,950
Synanon means many things
to many people.

1010
00:51:20,030 --> 00:51:22,080
(office chatter)

1011
00:51:22,160 --> 00:51:26,120
It means big business,
and some say big scams.

1012
00:51:28,540 --> 00:51:30,540
Steve Delaney: Companies that
donate to Synanon and companies

1013
00:51:30,590 --> 00:51:32,880
that do business with
Synanon do it, they say,

1014
00:51:32,920 --> 00:51:35,170
because they believe
they are helping alcoholics

1015
00:51:35,220 --> 00:51:38,050
drug addicts,
and other people in need.

1016
00:51:38,130 --> 00:51:40,050
That may have been true
in the beginning,

1017
00:51:40,140 --> 00:51:42,560
but Synanon is a long way
from its beginnings.

1018
00:51:46,180 --> 00:51:47,600
Synanon's actions contributed

1019
00:51:47,690 --> 00:51:49,230
to the loss of tax-exempt status

1020
00:51:49,310 --> 00:51:53,190
for its church and federal
liens of $55.6 million

1021
00:51:53,270 --> 00:51:56,900
in back taxes and penalties
against the organization.

1022
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:01,870
Bob: The IRS was
asking for millions.

1023
00:52:01,910 --> 00:52:04,160
And so, the question was,

1024
00:52:04,240 --> 00:52:06,620
to the extent that it
even was a question,

1025
00:52:06,710 --> 00:52:10,630
whether Synanon would be able
to continue to exist

1026
00:52:10,710 --> 00:52:14,920
after meeting
this court obligation.

1027
00:52:16,550 --> 00:52:18,220
Newscaster: Synanon bills
this little shindig

1028
00:52:18,260 --> 00:52:20,890
as its first
and last annual auction,

1029
00:52:20,930 --> 00:52:22,850
subtitle
"Bye-bye, San Francisco."

1030
00:52:23,510 --> 00:52:25,770
There's everything from
furniture to office supplies,

1031
00:52:25,850 --> 00:52:28,640
from appliances to books.

1032
00:52:28,730 --> 00:52:32,610
We had, at one time,
the Oakland Athletic Club,

1033
00:52:32,690 --> 00:52:35,030
and that was sold.

1034
00:52:35,570 --> 00:52:37,780
And then, we had the Del Mar
Club, and that was sold,

1035
00:52:37,820 --> 00:52:41,160
and we had a bunch of apartment
buildings that were sold.

1036
00:52:41,240 --> 00:52:43,450
I mean, it was very depressing.

1037
00:52:43,530 --> 00:52:46,160
It was not wind in your face,

1038
00:52:46,240 --> 00:52:49,540
and look at all the excitement
and the laughter.

1039
00:52:50,290 --> 00:52:53,710
And at that point,
Chuck was a broken man.

1040
00:52:53,790 --> 00:52:56,460
(quiet room chatter)

1041
00:52:58,840 --> 00:53:00,760
Chuck Jr.: The place was
a wreck after a while.

1042
00:53:00,800 --> 00:53:01,970
It didn't have any...

1043
00:53:02,050 --> 00:53:03,640
It wasn't,
it wasn't Synanon anymore.

1044
00:53:03,680 --> 00:53:06,220
It was just a bunch of people
kinda figuring out

1045
00:53:06,310 --> 00:53:08,520
what to do next, really.

1046
00:53:10,390 --> 00:53:14,230
We couldn't fix the culture
after a certain point.

1047
00:53:15,480 --> 00:53:17,150
We didn't have his touch.

1048
00:53:17,190 --> 00:53:19,030
He knew how to fix cultures.

1049
00:53:19,110 --> 00:53:21,650
(soft music playing)

1050
00:53:23,620 --> 00:53:25,660
Bob:
Synanon had lasted 33 years.

1051
00:53:27,160 --> 00:53:29,000
And I thought, well, you know,

1052
00:53:29,040 --> 00:53:32,290
that may be the lifespan of a...

1053
00:53:37,000 --> 00:53:39,670
(sniffles, sighs)

1054
00:53:42,760 --> 00:53:44,390
Of... (clears throat)

1055
00:53:44,470 --> 00:53:47,810
Of that particular experiment.

1056
00:53:47,850 --> 00:53:51,560
(tools scraping)

1057
00:53:51,640 --> 00:53:53,810
Miriam:
We decided to leave.

1058
00:53:53,850 --> 00:53:57,610
I said, "This is not
what I wanna do."

1059
00:53:58,270 --> 00:54:00,610
And Phil did not wanna
do it either.

1060
00:54:00,690 --> 00:54:03,660
We talked about it, and I said,
"I just don't think

1061
00:54:03,700 --> 00:54:06,530
Synanon is here
for me anymore."

1062
00:54:07,490 --> 00:54:12,000
Bunch of us started moving down
the hill here to Visalia.

1063
00:54:14,710 --> 00:54:17,710
(birds chirping)

1064
00:54:20,550 --> 00:54:23,840
Elena:
Eventually, Chuck and Ginny,

1065
00:54:23,880 --> 00:54:25,550
they moved to Visalia, too.

1066
00:54:26,680 --> 00:54:30,020
They lived in a trailer park.

1067
00:54:31,430 --> 00:54:35,560
And then, he was in
a small care facility.

1068
00:54:35,600 --> 00:54:37,860
And I-I went to visit him.

1069
00:54:39,230 --> 00:54:41,280
He had no idea
who I was at that point.

1070
00:54:41,360 --> 00:54:44,610
And he said, "Why are you
visiting the old fart?"

1071
00:54:44,700 --> 00:54:47,200
I said,
"Well, I love the old fart."

1072
00:54:47,240 --> 00:54:49,910
"Oh." And then, he said,

1073
00:54:50,700 --> 00:54:53,040
"Well, when you,
when you get to be my age,

1074
00:54:53,120 --> 00:54:55,250
you're gonna really
laugh at things."

1075
00:54:55,290 --> 00:54:57,000
I said, "At what?" He said,

1076
00:54:57,080 --> 00:54:59,090
"Just the human condition.

1077
00:54:59,170 --> 00:55:00,920
It's very, very funny."

1078
00:55:02,300 --> 00:55:04,260
That was the last time
I saw him.

1079
00:55:04,340 --> 00:55:06,760
(somber music playing)

1080
00:55:06,800 --> 00:55:08,470
Phil:
It was in the '90s sometime

1081
00:55:08,550 --> 00:55:11,600
and his wife Ginny called me.

1082
00:55:11,970 --> 00:55:14,020
Told me he'd passed away.

1083
00:55:15,940 --> 00:55:17,400
(applause)

1084
00:55:17,440 --> 00:55:19,690
That he was gone.

1085
00:55:25,820 --> 00:55:27,450
(applause fades out)

1086
00:55:29,410 --> 00:55:32,990
(mysterious music playing)

1087
00:55:33,080 --> 00:55:37,620
(indistinct Game chatter)

1088
00:55:38,080 --> 00:55:39,500
Bob:
I believe that Synanon

1089
00:55:39,580 --> 00:55:42,800
is a promising message

1090
00:55:42,880 --> 00:55:44,420
and a cautionary tale.

1091
00:55:44,460 --> 00:55:46,760
(quiet street noise)

1092
00:55:46,800 --> 00:55:49,590
It started out as a way
to address addiction

1093
00:55:49,640 --> 00:55:52,470
and alienation
in the United States.

1094
00:55:55,100 --> 00:55:57,600
Chuck: We've come
from all over the earth.

1095
00:55:57,640 --> 00:56:00,480
People who got off of drugs

1096
00:56:00,520 --> 00:56:03,780
and built a kind of
life for themselves.

1097
00:56:05,400 --> 00:56:07,610
I still love the old man.

1098
00:56:07,650 --> 00:56:09,530
Without him and his crooked face

1099
00:56:09,610 --> 00:56:12,660
and his loud noises, right?

1100
00:56:13,490 --> 00:56:14,950
I wouldn't be here.

1101
00:56:16,910 --> 00:56:18,120
He helped save my life.

1102
00:56:18,160 --> 00:56:19,830
♪♪

1103
00:56:20,960 --> 00:56:23,250
Mike Gimbel: There's no
doubt in my mind I'd be dead

1104
00:56:23,340 --> 00:56:25,050
if I didn't go to Synanon.

1105
00:56:27,300 --> 00:56:29,180
Synanon saved my life.

1106
00:56:29,550 --> 00:56:31,340
But, at the same time,

1107
00:56:31,430 --> 00:56:34,010
you know, it screwed it up, too.

1108
00:56:35,520 --> 00:56:39,190
Whether it's brainwashed
or committed or dedicated,

1109
00:56:40,350 --> 00:56:43,440
we were so into Synanon

1110
00:56:43,520 --> 00:56:45,730
where we never
questioned anything.

1111
00:56:46,610 --> 00:56:49,530
We did what we were told.
We were good soldiers.

1112
00:56:49,570 --> 00:56:51,870
(military chanting)

1113
00:56:51,950 --> 00:56:53,530
Marshall: There's always
this thing in life

1114
00:56:53,580 --> 00:56:57,000
where there's everything
is a mixed bag.

1115
00:56:58,120 --> 00:57:00,580
And there's just so many good
things that came out of Synanon

1116
00:57:00,670 --> 00:57:02,540
and so many good people

1117
00:57:02,630 --> 00:57:05,340
and so many great relationships
that we all have.

1118
00:57:05,880 --> 00:57:08,670
But that doesn't mean
that a lot of really dark stuff

1119
00:57:08,720 --> 00:57:11,380
didn't happen.
And it did.

1120
00:57:11,430 --> 00:57:13,220
♪♪

1121
00:57:13,800 --> 00:57:17,310
For me, the thing that makes
me cry is the other people,

1122
00:57:17,390 --> 00:57:20,190
because a lot of people
got messed up.

1123
00:57:21,020 --> 00:57:22,810
And, I mean...

1124
00:57:22,900 --> 00:57:24,400
(sighs) Yeah,

1125
00:57:24,480 --> 00:57:27,110
that's the shit that'll
make you sad, you know?

1126
00:57:32,570 --> 00:57:34,320
Rod: The excuses
you make in your head.

1127
00:57:34,370 --> 00:57:36,450
"Well, this is just one thing.
It doesn't...

1128
00:57:36,530 --> 00:57:38,080
"I don't like this,

1129
00:57:38,160 --> 00:57:40,620
but I-I'm okay with
about 90% of what's going on."

1130
00:57:40,710 --> 00:57:42,540
And then another thing happens,

1131
00:57:42,580 --> 00:57:46,000
and you rationalize that,
and another thing happens.

1132
00:57:46,090 --> 00:57:48,710
"But all my friends are here
and my family is here,

1133
00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:51,050
and I love these people."

1134
00:57:52,260 --> 00:57:54,590
There are so many forces

1135
00:57:54,680 --> 00:57:57,720
to kinda keep you going
along with it.

1136
00:57:58,310 --> 00:58:00,770
But it's very,
very hard to leave.

1137
00:58:03,940 --> 00:58:08,190
Bob: I have felt this
sense of loss about...

1138
00:58:09,360 --> 00:58:13,530
Synanon
since Synanon ceased to be.

1139
00:58:13,610 --> 00:58:17,450
There's many things
that I regret

1140
00:58:17,490 --> 00:58:19,040
that I may have done

1141
00:58:19,120 --> 00:58:21,620
or didn't do
while I was in Synanon.

1142
00:58:21,660 --> 00:58:23,750
But, overall, I don't...
(clears throat)

1143
00:58:23,790 --> 00:58:25,750
I don't regret
having been there.

1144
00:58:27,460 --> 00:58:29,880
Because community
is so difficult,

1145
00:58:29,960 --> 00:58:33,800
and the bonds
created in community

1146
00:58:33,880 --> 00:58:35,680
are powerful.

1147
00:58:37,260 --> 00:58:39,140
(sighs) And lasting.

1148
00:58:41,270 --> 00:58:44,850
Why did people do it? I think
I know why, a large part.

1149
00:58:44,940 --> 00:58:46,980
♪♪

1150
00:58:47,610 --> 00:58:50,440
I talked with people,
and I asked them,

1151
00:58:50,480 --> 00:58:51,990
"Why did you stay?"
You know?

1152
00:58:52,530 --> 00:58:54,610
And they said, unapologetically,

1153
00:58:54,650 --> 00:58:56,740
you know,
"I needed that community.

1154
00:58:56,820 --> 00:58:59,280
"It just filled
such a hole in me.

1155
00:58:59,330 --> 00:59:02,000
"I was so lonely.

1156
00:59:03,330 --> 00:59:06,210
I was so lonely."

1157
00:59:06,290 --> 00:59:09,130
So it was always about that.

1158
00:59:09,170 --> 00:59:10,340
It's about community.

1159
00:59:10,420 --> 00:59:14,010
(hopeful music playing)

1160
00:59:14,090 --> 00:59:15,930
♪♪

1161
00:59:20,560 --> 00:59:24,100
- (seabirds chirping)
- (sea breeze blowing)

1162
00:59:24,180 --> 00:59:25,100
(shutter snaps)

1163
00:59:28,100 --> 00:59:30,150
(sea breeze fades out)

1164
00:59:30,610 --> 00:59:33,860
♪♪