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The Strange Death of Joel Pugh
His throat slit twice, slash marks on both wrists — was Joel really a suicide, or another murder by the Manson Family?
If you follow stories about the Manson Family, you’ll notice that one of the (still) most ardent members is Sandra ‘Sandy’ Good aka ‘Blue’. Sandy not only supported Charles Manson during his trials, she has never wavered in her support that the Family was only doing exactly what they should have been doing: waging war against the establishment, including the military-industrial complex.
Sandra joined the Family in late March 1968, when she was 23-years old.
Originally from San Diego, Sandra Collins Good was the eldest of four sisters, born to a wealthy stockbroker and his society wife. Sandy was an intelligent, sensitive girl who suffered from severe respiratory infections as a child. She had numerous scars on her throat from early surgeries. An exceptional high school student, Good then matriculated first to the University of Oregon and later, San Francisco State College.
When Sandra met Charles Manson and his Family, she was visiting the Los Angeles area with her boyfriend, Joel Pugh.
Joel, almost four years older than his girlfriend (born June 7, 1940) was a lab technician at the University of San Francisco who also had served a stint in the U.S. Army. Originally from Minnesota, he also held a degree in zoology. Joel was offbeat and quirky and had a rather protective nature when it came to the high-strung Sandy. He defended her to his friends who did not understand the attraction. In fact, many of his peers disliked Sandra Good. But Joel loved her — she was…
