Superior Court Justice.  It was early in his career as a Los Angeles judge that he presided over the bizarre Charles Manson mass murder trial,  which lasted ten months during 1970 and 1971. At one point Manson tried to attack him, leaping from his seat at the defense table towards the Older, but was stopped by a deputy sheriff as Manson angrily snapped, “In the name of Christian justice, someone should cut your head off.” He managed to be fair and firm in spite of the almost daily disruptions put on by the defendants, ultimately banishing them from the courtroom where they had to watch the trial on a monitor system from jail cells. After the trial he sent a Times reporter to jail for contempt for refusing to reveal a source, a move that would result in a change in the California Constitution. Prior to getting his law degree he was a pilot in the Marine Corps Reserve, then joined the Army Air Forces. He obtained a law degree from the University of Southern California and was appointed a Superior Court Justice in 1967 by California Governor Ronald Reagan. He died of complications from a fall at age 88.  (bio by: Elizabeth Reed)