Mary Theresa Brunner (born December 17, 1943)[1] is an American criminal and former member of the "Manson Family" who was present during the 1969 murder of Gary Hinman, a California musician and Ph.D.

[2] She was arrested for numerous offenses, including credit card theft and armed robbery and served a prison sentence at the California Institution for Women before being paroled in 1977.

[citation needed] Brunner became pregnant by Manson during the summer of 1967 and she gave birth to a son on April 15, 1968, whom she named Valentine Michael, nicknamed "Pooh Bear".

[4] Brunner and Manson met 18-year-old Lynette Fromme in Venice, California, and the three began living together in a rented house at 636 Cole Street in San Francisco.

[citation needed] Manson ostensibly based his commune on principles of freedom and love, but he exerted dictatorial control, ordering the women to have sex with Spahn and others.

[5] On April 21, 1968, Brunner and Family members Manson, Susan Atkins, Ella Jo Bailey, Dianne Elizabeth Lake, Nancy Laura Pitman, Bruce Van Hall, Marcus John Arneson and Suzanne Scott were arrested near Little Sycamore Canyon, in southern Ventura County, California.

Brunner was booked on endangering the life and health of a child, after her one-week-old son, Valentine, was found by deputies improperly dressed and shivering.

[9] Bobby Beausoleil left Spahn Ranch on July 25, 1969, accompanied by Brunner and Susan Atkins to visit Gary Allen Hinman in Topanga Canyon.

[11] Brunner and Family member Sandra Good were arrested in San Fernando, California on August 8 at a Sears store for purchasing items with a stolen credit card.

They were charged with violating Section 459 (burglary)[12] and 484e (grand theft by fraudulent use of credit card)[13] of the California Penal Code and booked into the Sybil Brand Institute Reception Center later that evening.

[14] On the night of August 9, Family members Charles "Tex" Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel went to 10050 Cielo Drive and murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and her guests Wojciech Frykowski, Jay Sebring, and Abigail Folger, as well as 18-year-old Steven Parent who was visiting William Garretson, who was house-sitting in the guesthouse normally occupied by Tate's landlord.

[10] In October 1969, police raided the Family's new residence at Barker Ranch near Death Valley, California, holding most of the group in custody on charges of automobile theft.

Called to the stand to testify, Brunner eventually repudiated her previous testimony and insisted that she had said Beausoleil stabbed Hinman to death in her attempt to absolve Charles Manson of any participation in the crime.

[19] Various former Family members such as Ella Jo Bailey contradicted this testimony and testified that Manson confessed to them that he in fact was present at the Hinman house and that he fully participated in the murder.

Separate trials were held for the murders of Gary Hinman and Spahn Ranch worker Donald "Shorty" Shea, for Family members Davis, Charles Manson, and Steve "Clem" Grogan.

[22] Brunner drove a white van to a Hawthorne, California Western Surplus Store on August 21, 1971, accompanied by Family members Catherine "Gypsy" Share, Dennis Rice, Charles Lovett, Larry Bailey, and Kenneth Como.

[23] Police alleged that the group's plan was to hijack a Boeing 747 and threaten to kill one passenger every hour until Manson and fellow Family members were released from prison.

She was sent to the California Institution for Women where Leslie Van Houten, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel were serving their sentences for their participation in the Tate-LaBianca murders.