The Real Story Of Charles Manson

Charles Manson led the Manson Family in a deadly spree. The mob brutally murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and other Hollywood residents. Manson got the death penalty in 1971, which was reduced to life in prison in 1972. Approximately 35 killings are attributed to him. Manson died naturally in jail in 2017, after his 83rd birthday.

Charles Milles Maddox, aka Charles Manson, was born in Cincinnati on November 12, 1934, to Kathleen Maddox, a 16-year-old sex worker with drug addiction concerns. Kathleen married William Manson, but the marriage failed shortly, and Charles was put in a boys' school aged 12.

After being rejected by his mother, Charles ended himself homeless and doing small crimes. Manson was caught and imprisoned in 1951 as a youngster. He spent half of his first 32 years in prison. Manson alternated between foster homes and reform schools while not in prison.

He was dangerous until discovering the rewards of being a “model” prisoner. Probation records portrayed Manson, who was just 5 feet 2 inches tall, as having a “marked degree of rejection, instability, and psychic trauma” and “constantly striving for status and securing some kind of love.” Other descriptors were “unpredictable” and “safe only under supervision.”

Pimping, automobile theft, and check fraud were his crimes. For breaking probation, he was sent to McNeil Island jail in Washington State for 10 years in 1961. Manson learnt guitar and music reading in prison.

He was freed from jail and relocated to San Francisco on March 21, 1967. He became a hippie cult leader, leading the Manson Family. He lived with 23-year-old Berkeley library worker Mary Brunner, his first disciple, before adding teenage runaway Lynette Fromme.

The Manson Family cult included at least 35 verified adherents, mostly vulnerable females. They shared Manson's unusual lifestyle and LSD and magic mushroom usage. The Family moved from San Francisco to a remote San Fernando Valley property in 1967.

When a tiny, hard-core group came to embrace Manson's claims that he was Jesus and his racial war predictions, the commune changed.

Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys picked up two hitchhiking Family members before Manson's murder spree. He hosted Manson and other Family members at his house.

This connection allowed Manson, a musician, to audition for Terry Melcher, the son of Doris Day, a Beach Boys friend and producer. Director Roman Polanski housed Melcher. The producer declined to work with Manson.

Manson supposedly recorded songs in Dennis' brother Brian Wilson's home studio. Manson wrote “Cease to Exist” (renamed “Never Learn Not to Love”), which the Beach Boys released as a B-side on their 1969 album 20/20.

Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys picked up two hitchhiking Family members before Manson's murder spree. He hosted Manson and other Family members at his house.

This connection allowed Manson, a musician, to audition for Terry Melcher, the son of Doris Day, a Beach Boys friend and producer. Director Roman Polanski housed Melcher. The producer declined to work with Manson.

Manson supposedly recorded songs in Dennis' brother Brian Wilson's home studio. Manson wrote “Cease to Exist” (renamed “Never Learn Not to Love”), which the Beach Boys released as a B-side on their 1969 album 20/20.

Manson and his young, faithful followers likely committed 35 killings, but most of their cases were never prosecuted due to lack of evidence. After brutally murdering seven people, including actress Sharon Tate and rich supermarket businessman Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary, on two nights in August 1969, the principal culprits were sentenced to life in prison.

On August 9, 1969, Manson and his followers massacred Hollywood's elite and “beautiful people.” At 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, north of Beverly Hills, Roman Polanski's leased house was where Manson's first victim was slain. Polanski was in London filming, and four victims were assaulted after returning home after supper.

Manson sent four of his most devoted followers—Charles “Tex” Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian—to the address and ordered them to murder everyone. One Family member said that the Polanski family was targeted because it symbolized the entertainment industry that rejected Manson.

Steven Parent was the Manson Family's first victim while visiting a friend. He was shot and killed by intruders as he drove out from the residence in the dark early morning. Kasabian stayed outside to observe the 18-year-old's shooting, appalled. Kasabian was the getaway driver and was the main trial witness.

After breaking into the home, the other three tied up Sharon Tate, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, and Jay Sebring in the living room. Sebring was shot and savagely stomped while defending eight-month-pregnant Tate. Frykowski and Folger fled the home during the horrifying assault, but were hunted and stabbed to death.

Kasabian testified that she was frightened when she saw Frykowski staggered out of the home covered in blood. Although she said she was “sorry,” her assailant continued to bash her. Folger fled the home with horrible injuries but was captured on the front yard and stabbed 28 times.

Tate, married to Polanski, begged for her unborn child's life. Atkins brutally stabbed her stomach. Atkins told Tate, “Look, bitch, I have no mercy for you,” before stabbing her. You'll die, so prepare.” Tate's blood was used to write “pig” on the front door by Atkins. He blamed the murders for sloppiness rather than pathological Manson.

The next night, Manson brought Watson, Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten to Leno and Rosemary LaBianca's Los Feliz home and killed them in a similar manner.

Interestingly, Manson and his family were caught for vandalizing Death Valley National Park while hiding in the Mojave Desert, not for the Tate-LaBianca murders. The county sheriff arrested them in 1969 without knowing they committed the terrible killings. Susan Atkins' confession while in custody for murdering Gary Hinman in an unrelated incident convinced authorities that Manson and his followers were responsible.

Various reasons were evaluated throughout the study. Most likely was that Manson's pathological ego, psychosis, and Armageddon belief caused his devastation. He claimed he was the new Messiah and that concealing in the desert would preserve him and his followers after a “nuclear attack”.

According to his prophetic visions, the race conflict would end in a Black triumph, forcing Manson and his followers to teach the Black community, which would lack the expertise to rule the world. Manson instructed his followers to start the racial war because he and his family would benefit.

Defense witness and killer Leslie Van Houten said this was the main reason they killed the LaBiancas. Manson stole Rosemary LaBianca's wallet to put it in a Los Angeles neighborhood where a Black person may discover it, use it, and be accused of the murders.

Van Houten, who was 19 when she participated in the LaBianca murders, said in court that Manson had used her fragility and disdain for her mother, albeit she felt, like the other members, that he was a visionary. Van Houten told a parole board hearing 30 years later that she was shocked by her actions that night and wanted to rehabilitate herself.

In first admissions to other convicts, Susan Atkins said she planned to cut out Tate's unborn baby but didn't have time. She also said that additional high-profile Hollywood actors were intended to be slain and tortured. Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen, Tom Jones, and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were examples. Atkins said the Manson Family planned to shock the public and get attention by killing celebrities.

The Manson and Van Houten trial started in June 1970 with Ronald Hughes as their counsel. Hughes abandoned Manson as a client because he believed he could prove Van Houten was inspired by the cult leader. The maneuver may have killed him: Hughes vanished while camping later that year. His decomposing corpse was found months later. He may have been killed by the Manson Family in revenge.

Manson published the CD Lie to fund his defense. He enjoyed the media attention and appeared in court with an X on his forehead. After shaving their heads, several of his female followers sat outside the courtroom. X was eventually transformed into a swastika.

The murderers laughed and grimaced with Manson throughout the trial, displaying no remorse.

On January 25, 1971, Manson was convicted of first-degree murder for ordering the Tate-LaBianca homicides. His death sentence was reduced to life in prison when California's Supreme Court overturned all death sentences before 1972. Corcoran State Prison in California held him for 40 years.

Two more death sentences were remitted to life in prison: Atkins and Van Houten. Since 1969, Atkins remained in prison until her 2009 death. Van Houten was freed from jail in July 2023 after almost 50 years following many parole hearings. Kasabian's star witness testimony earned her amnesty.

Manson married 17-year-old hospital server Rosalie Jean Willis in 1955 between jail stints. The couple traveled to California and produced a son, Charles Manson Jr., who became Jay White and committed himself in the 1990s. Willis left Manson with their kid in 1956 to be with her new boyfriend and divorced him two years later.

In 1959, Manson married sex worker Leona Rae “Candy” Stevens, his second wife. He produced a second son, Charles Luther Manson, with Stevens, who became Jay Charles Warner over a decade later. Warner died in 2007 after Stevens divorced him in 1963. Manson and his first cult member, Mary Brunner, had Michael Brunner, his third kid, in 1968. The Manson Family killings occurred when he was 14 months old. His maternal grandparents adopted him.

In November 2013, Afton Burton, posing as Star, told Rolling Stone: “I'll tell you straight up, Charlie and I are going to get married.” The date is unknown. However, I take it seriously. Charlie's my spouse. Charlie instructed me to inform you.”

Star relocated from Illinois to Corcoran, California, aged 19 to be near Manson's jail and created various websites to free him. Star, 26, and Manson, 80, acquired a marriage license in November 2014. They lost their license in 2015, and writer Daniel Simone said in February that Star wanted to marry Manson to publicly exhibit his body for profit.

Star told Inside Edition in February 2015 that the wedding was still happening, but her mother disagreed. They never married.

Manson died naturally on November 19, 2017. His offenses landed the 83-year-old in jail for almost 46 years. Manson had been hospitalized in Bakersfield, California, days previously. For privacy and security, his medical condition and whereabouts were not divulged. The longterm prisoner was ill earlier this year.

Reference

https://www.biography.com/crime/charles-manson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manson_Family

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Manson