Mike Bradbury dishes on Charles Manson, muscle-wasting disease and 24 years as district attorney

After being helped on stage at the Museum of Ventura County, Mike Bradbury talked about the time he helped stop a plot to disgrace the Reagan White House.

In front of a packed house dotted with retired police chiefs, judges and prosecutors, the 81-year-old former district attorney told story after story – about the time Charles Manson was prosecuted in Ventura County before being accused of mass murder, the day Bradbury tried to “choke out” an accused rapist and about serving a record 24 years as Ventura County’s top prosecutor.

“No one else wanted the job,” joked Bradbury, once considered one of the most powerful and, at times, controversial leaders in Ventura County.

On May 3, he sat in a stool made at his Ojai ranch from a tractor’s seat, the cane used because of a muscle-deteriorating disease stowed off stage. He wore sneakers, jeans and a suitcoat in contrast to his co-host and friend, nattily attired current Ventura County DA Erik Nasarenko.

The two prosecutors talked on stage about Bradbury’s book, "Law & Disorder: Confessions of a District Attorney." The self-published title is filled with no-holds-barred stories spanning a career that started in 1967 when Bradbury  was hired as a law clerk for the district attorney’s office. He was paid $540 a month.

Bradbury, son of a police chief, quickly became a deputy prosecutor and was introduced to a staple of the job – autopsies.

“I remember walking in and seeing a headless body on the slab and a head in a pan on the floor,” Bradbury said.

Things were different then. Prosecutors were involved in every step of the investigation. Bradbury remembered the night in 1980 when he was called to a Ventura hillside home. Two of his friends, Charlene and Lyman Smith, had been bludgeoned to death with a fireplace log. Joseph James DeAngelo, the serial murder and rapist dubbed the Golden State Killer, pleaded guilty three years ago to the killings.

Even now, the memories trigger emotion in a prosecutor who has seen everything.

“It almost defies explanation,” he said. “You’re walking in and the detective tells you that you might know these people. They are people you know who have been brutally murdered.”

Attempt to tarnish the Ronald Reagan White House

He has friends everywhere. Pete Wilson, California’s governor for eight years, wrote the foreword to his book. Bradbury once toured the state with Pat Brown, a Democrat who served two terms as governor, debating the death penalty. Bradbury, a longtime Republican now registered as independent, still favors it though he is more selective than he once was.

“It should be reserved for the worse of the worse, but there are cases where it’s deserved,” he said.

He was close with Reagan too. They went on trail rides together as part of the Rancheros Visitadores group. When Reagan was elected president in 1980, he offered Bradbury a position with the U.S. Attorney General's Office. Bradbury turned down the job because he had just been elected as Ventura County district attorney and didn’t want to leave office.

About the same time, Bradbury said, he was contacted by another friend, California Attorney General John Van de Kamp who had been approached by powerful Democratic leaders after Reagan had been elected president. They wanted Van de Kamp to prosecute new administration members who were relocating from California but had not filed financial reports for money received to help with the move.

It was an effort to tarnish the newly elected president, Bradbury said. Van de Kamp, a Democrat with plans of running for governor, didn’t want to participate but also didn’t want to alienate power brokers. He asked Bradbury to contact the White House and tell the staff members they need to file their financial reports.

Bradbury said he traveled to D.C. and met with Bill Clark Jr., one of Reagan’s top advisers.

“He said simply, 'Thank you. We’ll take care of it,'” Bradbury said. The financial disclosures were made. Charges were never filed. The plan failed.

Prosecuting Charles Manson

In a display in the corner of the museum auditorium, a series of photos showed the former DA with comedian Bob Hope, actor Jimmy Stewart and former United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The image that overshadowed others was a poster-sized mug shot of Manson who once lived in Ventura County’s Box Canyon.

Bradbury helped prosecute Manson on charges of neglect involving children in 1968. He said Manson’s van was stopped again just after a court appearance because of a broken tail light. The officer said he pulled back a curtain in the vehicle to discover an orgy. He issued a warning for the vehicle violation and sent them on their way.

The negative from the neglect arrest mug shot was later stolen from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, Bradbury said. It appeared in publications across the globe after Manson was convicted of murder and conspiracy in the deaths of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate. It showed Manson’s crazed, wide-eyed stare and his long, untamed hair.

“That’s how he looked when he stood next to me,” Bradbury said. “He used that to intimidate (people).”

Mike Bradbury's muscle-wasting disease

During six, four-year terms as district attorney, Bradbury made news constantly — gaining praise and criticism for his aggressive prosecutions and his reluctance to accept plea deals. Friends filled the audience at the museum and talked about his empathy for victims.

Richard Simon, a senior deputy district attorney hired in 1984, remembered his former boss' knack for defusing tension. Staff members would come in a meeting upset over a perceived injustice. The mood would quickly change.

“You talk to Mike, and you’re not mad at all. The guy’s charisma is off the charts.” Simon said.

The prosecutor retired as district attorney in 2002 and entered private practice. Even before then, his legs had grown wobbly, the muscles in his thighs thinning.

He was diagnosed with a rare disease, sporadic inclusion body myositis. Inflammation attacks and destroys muscles in his body, especially his thighs and his hands.

“Muscle wasting is exactly what it is,” he said.

He needs help on stairs and when climbing on a stage. He was once a high school athlete who played football, baseball and track. As an adult, he rode horses nearly every day, participated in riding competitions and herded cattle.

“All of that is taken away,” said Heidi Bradbury, his wife of 32 years. He tried experimental medication in a clinical trial but it didn’t help. He rides a stationary bike and lifts weights several times a week.

The condition is worsening. But the progression hasn’t been nearly as steep as the Bradburys feared. Some 20 years after diagnosis, he can still walk, albeit with the help of cane.

“It means everything in the world for me,” he said of his mobility. “I was prepared to be in a wheelchair 10 years ago.”

He and Heidi live on an 8-acre ranch dubbed Hang ‘Em High with their three kids, ages 20 to 27. A sign that was posted at the gate once warned motorists to slow down because of children and pets. “Violators will be shot. Survivors will be prosecuted?” it read.

The message is gone now at his wife’s insistence.

“We didn’t get any visitors,” Bradbury joked.

He’s still active. He’s been on the Ventura County Fairgrounds Board of Directors for 18 years and also serves on the Community Memorial Healthcare board. He stopped practicing as a lawyer late last year.

He started writing the book eight years ago. The stories seemed cathartic, a way to deal with constant exposure to tragedy. He wrote it, let it sit for a couple of years and then read it again, letting the memories process.

“I’m able to sleep a little better at night,” he said.

Courtroom brawl

On stage at the museum, Bradbury talked about his role in bringing justice to victims. He focused on his decision as district attorney in 1983 to personally try a case against Paul Gregory Campbell of Oxnard. Campbell would be convicted of 50 counts of robbery and rape involving nine women, including a teacher raped in an elementary school classroom.

Newspaper accounts said that during the trial Bradbury helped break up a fight involving Campbell and another inmate in the holding area where detained suspects waited for courtroom appearances. That wasn't the real story, Bradbury said.

He said he was in an otherwise empty courtroom preparing for afternoon proceedings when the door to the holding cell opened in a malfunction. Campbell stepped into the courtroom and, upon seeing Bradbury, ran for the exit.

Bradbury said he chased after and locked the suspect in a stranglehold. He said he started to “choke him out,” thinking of what Campbell had done to his victims and how he destroyed lives.

A bailiff joined the fight and returned the suspect to custody. Campbell later claimed that Bradbury opened the cell door and tried to kill him, the retired prosecutor said.

“He was half right,” Bradbury said, noting he did not open the cell door.

Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.

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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Mike Bradbury tells stories from his years as Ventura County DA