CHARLES MANSION ,MURDERER BORN NOVEMBER 12,1934-NOVEMBER 19,2017
Birth date: November 12, 1934
Death date: November 19, 2017
Birth place: Cincinnati, Ohio
Birth name: Charles Milles Maddox
Father: Father's name unavailable publicly
Mother: Kathleen Maddox
Marriages: Rosalie Jean (Willis) Manson (1955-divorce date unknown); was also married to a woman named Leona in the early 1960s, whose last name is not publicly known.
Children: At least two: with Rosalie Jean (Willis) Manson: Charles M. Manson Jr. (1956-1993); with a woman whose name is not publicly known: Charles Luther Manson.
Other Facts:
Reportedly, during his childhood, Manson's mother sold him for a pitcher of beer to a woman who wanted to have children. His uncle had to find the woman so that he could get his nephew back.
He later took his stepfather William Manson's last name.
According to the California Parole Board, Manson had a history of manipulation, controlling behavior and mental illnesses which included schizophrenia and paranoid delusional behavior.
Timeline:
1947 - At age 12, Manson is sent to Gibault School for Boys in Terre Haute, Indiana, for stealing. Over the next twenty years, he is in and out of reform schools and prison for various crimes.
Charles Manson: The infamous inmate
Photos: Charles Manson: The infamous inmate
March 21, 1967 - Manson is released from prison. He tells the prison officials that he doesn't want to be released, "Oh, no, I can't go outside there...I knew that I couldn't adjust to that world, not after all my life had been spent locked up and where my mind was free." After his release, he moves to San Francisco.
1967-1968 - Manson meets Gary Hinman, a music teacher who introduces him to Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys.
-- Manson attracts a group of followers. The group moves to the Spahn Ranch, outside of Chatsworth, California.
-- Wilson introduces Manson to record producer Terry Melcher, the son of actress Doris Day. After initially showing interest in Manson's music, Melcher declines to work with him further.
-- Melcher later moves out of his home on Cielo Drive, and the house is then leased to film director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate.
July 1969 - Hinman is killed by Manson follower Bobby Beausoleil, accompanied by Manson Family members Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins. The murder is committed at the behest of Manson.
August 8-9, 1969 - At Manson's command, a small group of his most ardent followers brutally murder five people at the Benedict Canyon home of Polanski, near Hollywood. The victims are Polanski's pregnant wife, actress Tate, writer Wojciech Frykowski, coffee heiress Abigail Folger and celebrity hair stylist Jay Sebring. Also killed is Steven Parent, who was a friend of the family's gardener. The murders are committed by followers Atkins, Tex Watson, and Patricia Krenwinkel. Linda Kasabian accompanies them as a lookout.
August 9-10, 1969 - Manson, displeased at the sloppiness of the previous night's murders, accompanies a group of followers on a search for victims. In the car are: Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, Kasabian as well as Leslie van Houten and Steve "Clem" Grogan. After several hours, the group comes upon the house of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary. The couple are brutally murdered by Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel and Van Houten.
October 1969 - Manson and his followers are arrested at another remote location, called Barker Ranch, on suspicion of auto theft.
November 6, 1969 - Manson Family member Atkins, already charged in the murder of Hinman, tells inmate Virginia Castro that she killed Tate, "Because we wanted to do a crime that would shock the world, that the world would have to stand up and take notice."
November 12, 1969 - The LA Sheriff's detectives interview Al Springer, motorcycle gang member who had some association with Manson. Springer tells them that Manson told him about killing people days after the Tate murders.
November 16, 1969 - The LAPD interviews inmate Ronnie Howard about her conversation with Atkins concerning the Tate/LaBianca murders.
November 18, 1969 - Deputy District Attorney Vincent T. Bugliosi is assigned the case.
November 30, 1969 - Watson is apprehended in Texas. His lawyers fight extradition to California for nine months.
December 8, 1969 - Manson, Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel and Kasabian are indicted for the murders of Tate and her friends. The grand jury also indicts the five, plus Van Houten, for the LaBianca murders.
June 16, 1970 - Trial begins for Manson, Atkins, Krenwinkel and Van Houten.
-- Manson appears in court with an "X" carved into his forehead.
-- He defends himself in court with the help from attorney Irving Kanarek.
August 1970 - Kasabian is given immunity in exchange for her testimony against Manson and the others.
January 15, 1971 - After a seven-month trial, jury deliberations begin. The jury finds all the defendants guilty on January 25.
March 29, 1971 - Manson, Krenwinkel, Atkins and Van Houten receive the death penalty.
1971 - Watson is found guilty of the murders of seven people and is sentenced to death.
1972 - The death penalty is abolished in California. The sentences for all Manson Family members are commuted to life in prison.
April 11, 2012 - Manson is denied parole for the 12th time. According to the California Parole Board, he has accrued 108 serious disciplinary violations in prison since 1971 and has shown no remorse for the murders. Manson's next parole hearing is set for 2027, when he will be 92.
November 20, 2013 - A 25-year-old pen pal, who calls herself "Star," tells Rolling Stone magazine that she considers Manson her husband. The imprisoned cult leader says, however, that Star's story is "garbage." She began sending letters to Manson when she was in high school.
November 18, 2014 - Sources tell CNN that Manson and Star have, in fact, obtained a marriage license.
February 2015 - The wedding is called off, according to tabloid reports.
June 6, 2015 - Bugliosi, Manson's prosecutor and the author of the best-selling book, "Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders," dies in California.
November 19, 2017 - Two days after being transported to the hospital, Manson, 83, dies of natural causes.
March 13, 2018 - After a four-month fight over Manson's remains, a Kern County judge rules in favor of Jason Freeman who claims he is Manson's grandson.
Major Players ("Manson Family"):
Susan "Sadie" Denise Atkins:
September 24, 2009 - Dies in prison.
Bobby Beausoleil:
1969 - Convicted of the murder of Gary Hinman. He is serving a life sentence.
October 14, 2016 - Beausoleil is denied parole for the 18th time. He will eligible again for parole consideration in three years.
Bruce Davis:
April 21, 1972 - Convicted of the murders of Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald "Shorty" Shea. He is serving a life sentence.
February 1, 2017 - Is recommended for parole.
June 23, 2017 - Governor Jerry Brown denies parole for Davis. This is the fifth time a California governor has refused to release him.
Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme:
1975 - Attempts to shoot President Gerald Ford.
August 14, 2009 - Is released on parole after serving 34 years.
Steven "Clem" Grogan:
1985 - Grogan is released on parole after revealing the location of the body of ranch-hand Donald "Shorty" Shea, killed in 1969.
Patricia "Katie" Krenwinkel:
2014 - Krenwinkel provides an interview for the documentary "Life After Manson," her first on-camera appearance since 1994.
December 2016 - California parole board members delay their decision on freeing Krenwinkel after her attorney raises claims of abuse by Manson, or another member of the cult. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation issues a statement that the information presented at the hearing does elicit cause for an investigation.
June 22, 2017 - Krenwinkel is denied parole for the 14th time. She will be eligible again for consideration in five years.
Leslie Van Houten:
April 14, 2016 - A parole board panel recommends Van Houten's release, and the full Board of Parole Hearings will review the decision over the next four months.
September 6, 2017 - A two-person state commission panel grants Van Houten parole for the second time. The decision will go through a 120-day legal review before Brown will have 30-days to decide whether Van Houten will be granted parole and released.
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| (L-R) Leslie Van Houten, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel Charles Manson, Sharon Tate and the 1969 Murders: Films, Podcasts and Series You Should Stream
For decades, Hollywood has attempted to tell the story of Charles Manson and Sharon Tate -- all to varying degrees of success. Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, starring Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie as Tate, and the second season of the Netflix drama Mindhunter, which features Damon Herriman as Manson, are just two of the latest projects to revisit the cult of Manson and the 1969 murders of Tate and her friends. (Coincidentally, Herriman also briefly portrays Manson in Tarantino's film.) For those wanting to delve deeper into one of Hollywood's most notorious true crimes, ET has rounded up several notable films, podcasts and TV series to stream on the 50th anniversary of the tragedy.
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Aquarius (2015-2016)
The short-lived NBC series starring David Duchovny as a Los Angeles detective was a bold attempt to set a scripted crime drama in Hollywood during the rise of the Manson Family in season one, while revolving around the Tate murders and Helter Skelter, an attempted scenario provoked by Manson, in season two. While it premiered to mixed reviews, the series was one of the few projects about Manson to explore the issues of race, drugs and the Vietnam War that coincided with his growing cult following.
Charles Manson: The Final Words (2017)
This documentary revisits the events of 1969 through Manson’s perspective, using never-before-seen case files, photos and exclusive interviews with Manson from inside California State Prison. The disturbing conversations recount his decades behind bars and life leading up to the tragic murders. Filmmaker James Buddy Day was the last person he spoke to publicly on the record before Manson died on Nov. 19, 2017. While the film isn’t as easy to stream, their conversations have been converted into an upcoming book, Hippie Cult Leader: The Last Words of Charles Manson, coming Aug. 8, 2019. Day is also an executive producer on Oxygen’s upcoming special Manson: The Women, with Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, Sandra “Blue” Good, Catherine “Gypsy” Share and Dianne “Snake” Lake recounting their time on Spahn Ranch. (It premieres Aug. 10.)
Where to Stream: Reelz
Charlie Says (2019)
While Matt Smith portrays Manson in this compelling film, the focus -- a welcome fresh perspective -- is on three of his incarcerated followers: Leslie Van Houten (Hannah Murray), Patricia Krenwinkel (Sosie Bacon) and Susan Atkins (Marianne Rendon), who are visited by writer and researcher Karlene Faith (Merritt Wever) while they’re in prison. Faith believes they’re not just murderers but victims of Manson’s brutal cult, and attempts to help them see the reality of their actions.
The Haunting of Sharon Tate (2019)
While hardly a runaway success -- the film currently has a 15 percent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes -- The Haunting of Sharon Tate at least does what many projects before have not in telling the story from Tate’s perspective. In this film, the actress (portrayed here by Hilary Duff), who is often relegated to an unsuspecting victim of a violent act that either begins or ends Manson’s story, drives the narrative in an alternate reality take on the events leading up to the murders. Bonus points for that here, since there aren’t any other notable projects that dutifully tell her story.
Helter Skelter (1976)
Easily the most compelling scripted project about Manson, Helter Skelter is a two-part miniseries that originally aired on CBS, depicting the trial of Hollywood’s most notorious criminal and Los Angeles District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi’s attempt to convict him. While CBS produced a 2004 remake with a more notable cast, including Clea DuVall, Eric Dane and Mary Lynn Rajskub, it didn’t tap into the zeitgeist the same way the original did.
Manson's Lost Girls (2016)
Surprisingly, it took Lifetime 47 years to put its stamp on the Manson legacy, this time focusing on Linda Kasabian (MacKenzie Mauzy), a reluctant accomplice in the family’s murder spree who eventually left the group and testified against them in court. Premiering three years ahead of the 50th anniversary, it seems the network was more interested in tapping into the exploding true crime trend than anything else. While the movie doesn’t necessarily offer anything new, its focus on Kasabian fits right into the Lifetime model. Plus, the film has the lasting trivia factor of starring Eden Brolin, Greer Grammer and Christian Madsen, the respective offspring of stars Josh Brolin, Kelsey Grammer and Michael Madsen, a Tarantino regular. (Not to be outdone, Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood also features offspring of his past stars -- Maya Hawke, daughter of Uma Thurman, and Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce -- as well as Kevin Smith’s daughter, Haley Quinn.)
Truth and Lies: The Family Manson (2017)
A two-hour 20/20 special that first aired on ABC, this documentary attempted to explore the mind of a killer through never-before-seen videos as well as highly coveted on-camera interviews with people that knew Manson best, while recounting sex-fueled stories about being on the Spahn Ranch, how Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys got involved, the emotional trial that followed the murders, the revelations about Helter Skelter and conspiracy theories surrounding Manson.
Where to Stream: Hulu
You Must Remember Manson (2017)
Karina Longworth’s much-loved podcast You Must Remember This spent a season dedicated to Manson and his relationship to Hollywood, which was later repackaged as this standalone series. The 12-part investigation goes deep into Manson, his family and his famous friends. It also dedicates episodes to Tate, her rising acting career and her relationship with director Roman Polanski, to whom she was married at the time of her murder and who was the father of her unborn child.
Charles Manson was an American cult leader whose followers carried out several notorious murders in the late 1960s, resulting in his life imprisonment. He died in 2017 after spending more than four decades in prison.
Who Was Charles Manson?
Charles Manson was an American criminal who spearheaded a murderous campaign with his followers, the Manson Family cult, that would make him one of the most infamous figures in criminal history.
Notorious for his connection to the brutal slayings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and other Hollywood residents, Manson received the death penalty in 1971, a sentence that was commuted to life in prison the following year.
Early Life
Manson was born Charles Milles Maddox on November 12, 1934, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Kathleen Maddox, a 16-year-old girl who was both an alcoholic and a prostitute.
Kathleen later married William Manson, but the marriage ended quickly and Charles was placed in a boys school at age 12. Rejected in his attempts to return to his mother, Charles was soon living on the streets and getting by through petty crime.
Over the next 20 years, Manson spent time in and out of reform schools and prisons for various crimes. He was released from prison on March 21, 1967, and moved to San Francisco.
Former 'Manson family' member reveals details of her relationship with Charles Manson
Dianne Lake, the youngest member of the so-called "Manson family," is breaking her silence on her personal relationship with convicted mass murderer Charles Manson.
Lake, now 64, revealed that she had sex with Manson when she was 14 years old. She even described him as "attractive" and "loving."
"He made you feel like you were his one and only love, you know?" Lake told "Good Morning America" co-anchor Amy Robach. "And yes, there were other girls, but we all shared him. He made you feel really special, and specially loved."
Within hours, Lake said she and a 34-year-old Manson slept together.
"It seemed very natural and loving and kind of like a game," she added. "He was cute, impish. You know, fun."
In her new memoir, "Member of the Family," Lake talks about her years with Manson and how she said she became manipulated by the former cult leader.
"[A]s I found out, I needed love," Lake said. "I needed that--love and attention and affection. And he gave it to me."
In 1971, cult leader Charles Manson was sentenced to death for murdering two people and orchestrating the killings of seven others in August of 1969. But why, if he received the death penalty all those years ago, did he spend his life in jail, dying of natural causes in 2017?
It all has to do with a couple of court cases that suspended the death penalty the year after Manson was sentenced. These cases effectively struck down all methods of state execution in the U.S. for four years, leaving Manson and his followers with the next harshest sentence at the time in California—life with parole.
“At the time that Manson and his followers were sentenced to death, California did not have a life without parole sentence,” says Hadar Aviram, a law professor in California who is writing a book about the Manson Family parole hearings, titled Yesterday’s Monsters. So when the death penalty was taken away, Manson and his followers were bumped down to a sentence in which they would not only live, they would have a chance to walk free.
Ronald Reagan and the Death Penalty
Ronald Reagan, then-governor of California who was opposed to the abolition of the death penalty, seen being interviewed after the State Supreme Court decision that the death penalty is unconstitutional in 1972.
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
This series of events was kicked off in February of 1972 with the case of People v. Anderson, in which the California state Supreme Court struck down the death penalty, arguing that it constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Later that year, Californians voted to reinstate the death penalty with Proposition 17, but it didn’t have any effect—that summer, the U.S. Supreme Court had effectively halted all executions in the country.
This federal decision came from a case known as Furman v. Georgia, in which the court found that the Georgia’s death penalty system disproportionately executed people of color, gave juries no parameters for how to settle on a death sentence, and was riddled with other procedural issues.
“The Supreme Court therefore decided that the death penalty in that incarnation, given those procedural problems, violated the due process clause of the Constitution,” Aviram says. No other state at the time met the Supreme Court’s requirements, “so that meant that now states had to figure out how to get around these procedural problems and create a death penalty that would comply.”
Georgia became the first state to start executions again in 1976, but for four years there was no viable way to sentence someone to death in the United States. California didn’t begin an approved execution system until 1978, the same year that it developed a sentence of life without parole. Both of these developments in California were heavily tied to the fear that Manson and his cult members would one day walk free.
Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten of the Manson Family cult
Manson Family cult memebers Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, seen laughing as they walk to court for their sentencing in the Sharon Tate murder case, on March 29, 1971. They angrily shouted at the judge when they were in the courtroom and were ejected, along with Charles Manson, before the jury sentenced them to death.
AP Photo
The public had been horrified by the murder of the pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others at her Beverly Hills home on August 9, 1969. Manson hadn’t even known Tate lived there; he’d intended his followers to find the house’s former resident, a music producer who’d failed to get Manson a recording deal. The next day, his followers murdered a married couple, the LaBiancas, in their home. Manson believed that these murders would trigger an inevitable race war that he called “Helter Skelter,” after The Beatles’ song.
The murder scenes were particularly gruesome. The cult left their victims with multiple stab wounds, and Susan Atkins, one of the murderers, had written “pig” on the front door with Tate’s blood. These terrifying details captivated the public, making the very real possibility that Manson and his cult could get parole even more alarming.
“In the ‘70s, it was quite normal for someone convicted of murder to get out after 10, 15 years,” Aviram says. Like everyone serving a life sentence in California, the Manson cult members came up for parole after the first seven years of their sentences, “and there was real concern in the public that at least the women, if not everybody else, were going to get out fairly quickly.”
Charles Manson on trial
Charles Manson being led back into the courtroom to hear the penalty he and this three female followers must pay for the Tate-LaBianca murders of August 1969.
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Even though the introduction of these harsher sentences was meant to protect against future murderers getting out on parole, these new charges couldn’t be applied to Manson or his followers. Aviram says that although sentences can be retroactively reduced—like when Manson’s death sentence was commuted in 1972—they cannot be increased. Therefore, when California adopted a life sentence without parole and a new death sentence in 1978, Manson attended his first parole hearing; and he continued these parole hearings until the very end.
Aviram says the possibility of Manson gaining parole was never very likely because he didn’t take the hearings seriously (at the first one, he sang). During the 1980s, he developed serious health problems after an inmate set him on fire, which he could have used to pursue parole on medical grounds. But according to Aviram, he never did.
Deborah Tate, sister of the late Sharon Tate, has shown up to cult members’ parole hearings to protest their release since the very beginning. So far, none have been granted parole, but two have been recommended for it, and could conceivably be released in the future: 75-year-old Bruce Davis and 68-year-old Leslie Van Houten.
California Governor Jerry Brown already rejected Davis’s parole recommendation in June 2017, and has rejected a previous recommendation for Van Houten. But as of Manson’s death, Brown had yet to approve or reject Van Houten’s most recent recommendation for release.
TAGSCRIMESERIAL KILLERSCHARLES MANSON
BY BECKY LITTLE
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