Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson (born November 11, 1934) was convicted of murder in what became known as the Tate/La Bianca case.
On the night of August 9th 1969, members of the so-called "Manson Family" entered the home of actress Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant, and murdered her along with friend, Hollywood hairstylist Jay Sebring and houseguests Abigail Folger, the coffee heiress, and her lover Wojciech Frykowski (frequently misspelled as Voytek Frykowski). Before entering the house they had shot to death Steven Parent, an 18 year old youth who was leaving the property and had unwittingly seen the intruders. The following night in the Los Feliz suburb of Los Angeles, businessman Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary LaBianca were also murdered in their home, once again by members of the Family. There was no apparent connection between the victims of the murders, but the crimes were prosecuted by Los Angeles assistant district attorney Vincent Bugliosi in a single trial.
Manson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. When he was thirteen, his mother put him in a foster home, and, unable to find one, he ended up at a boys school. Within a year he ran away, back to his mother, who still wanted nothing to do with him. As a result he began living on the streets, supporting himself by stealing. In 1951, after a string of arrests and escapes Manson was sent to prison for driving a stolen car across state lines. By the end of 1952 he had eight assault charges against him. He was transferred to another facility where he became a model inmate, and was released in 1954. He was arrested again for driving stolen cars across state lines, this time receiving probation. This was revoked in 1956 when he missed a court date and he was back in prison until his parole in 1958. In 1959 he was arrested again for passing stolen checks, once again he was given probation which was revoked nine months later.
Manson had spent most of his adult life in jail, mostly for such offences as car theft and credit-card fraud. He also worked some time as a pimp. He was released in 1967. Manson moved to the San Francisco area in California and gathered a group of followers, which he referred to as "the family." He soon afterwards moved to Los Angeles, at first basing himself and his "family" in Pacific Palisades and then taking over an un-used ranch in the western San Fernando Valley formerly used to make western films, the Spahn Ranch." Inspired by the Beatles song "Helter Skelter"—a song actually about an amusement park ride—and other songs off the "White Album" he became convinced of an impending race war and nuclear attack, based on Biblical prophecy in the Book of Revelations.
The August 9, 1969 murders were undertaken by four Family members, Charles Watson (Tex), Patricia Krenwinkel, and Susan Atkins. They entered the house on Cielo Drive in Beverly Hills, California and killed Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of Roman Polanski, along with three of her friends - and Steven Parent. Fellow follower Linda Kasabian was look-out and later received immunity for submitting evidence against the group. The next night, Manson entered the house of Los Angeles residents Rosemary and Leno La Bianca, and telling the victims that they would not be hurt, he tied them up. He then sent Tex, Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten into the home where they murdered Rosemary and Leno. Members of the Manson Family had previously been responsible for the murder of Gary Hinman, a music teacher, in Topanga and were suspected of other murders.
Manson released an album titled Lie on March 6, 1970 to help finance his defense. One of his songs which was contained on this album, which was put out by ESP-Disk Records in New York City, had previously been recorded by the Beach Boys. Dennis Wilson had been a close associate of the Family.
Manson himself wasn't present at the killings, but he was convicted of murder on January 25, 1971 and on March 29 was sentenced to the death penalty. The death sentence was later automatically commuted to life in prison after the United States Supreme Court's Furman decision resulted in the invalidation of all death penalty laws in force in the United States prior to 1972. Manson remains imprisoned to this day; all of his applications for parole have been denied, most notably in 1986 when he appeared before the parole board with a swastika embossed on his forehead. Manson has in time in prison received more mail than any other prisoner in the United States prison system. He currently resides in California’s Corcoran State Prison.
On September 5, 1975, another member of his "family", Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate US President Gerald R. Ford.
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