Biography
Charles Manson was born on November 12, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His sixteen year old mother, Kathleen Maddox, was unmarried and not ready for the responsibility of raising a child. Manson never met his father. In his adult life, Manson said, “The only thing my mother taught me was that everything she said was a lie, and I learned never to believe anyone about anything.” When Charles was five years old, his mother was sent to prison for committing armed robbery, and Charles moved to West Virginia to live with his aunt and uncle. He lived a rather normal life while he was in West Virginia; his aunt and uncle were religious and very “straight” compared to Charles’ mother. When Charles’ mother had served her sentence, she reclaimed him. By the age of 13, Charles had committed his first armed robbery, and he was sent to a boys’ school in Indiana, where he claimed he was repeatedly beaten and raped. Manson spent his teenage years being raised on and off in an assortment of juvenile correctional facilities, and he spent almost seven years in prison for violating parole. When he was released, he headed for San Francisco, California.

In San Francisco, Charles began to gather followers. He held a great amount of power over them and was a very influential speaker. They became “The Family” and they mainly consisted of young women who were very vulnerable and a few young men. Among the members of the family were Charles “Tex” Watson, Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme. The Family moved to several different places during the years that they were together. Most of the time, they lived in very secluded areas where Manson could isolate them and disconnect them from reality so that he could program his ideas into their minds. He used drugs and sex to gain more and more power over the Family, and they would do anything that he told them to do. And that meant anything.

Murder
In the late hours of Saturday, August 9, 1969, Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Voytek Frykowski, Jay Sebring, and Steve Parent were murdered at the Tate household in Los Angeles. Sharon Tate had had Abigail Folger, Voytek Frywoski, and Jay Sebring at her house that night as house guests. Sharon’s husband, Roman Polanski, had been in Europe directing a film. Steve Parent had been at the Tate estate to visit the caretaker. Sharon, eight months pregnant at the time, was stabbed repeatedly as were Abigail, Voytek, and Jay. Steve was shot and so were Jay and Voytek. Across the inside of the front door of the house was the word “pig” written in blood.

The next night, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered in their own house. Like the victims at the Tate household, the LaBiancas were stabbed to death. Carved into Mr. LaBianca’s flesh was the word “war”. Written throughout the house in the victims’ blood were the words “Helter Skelter”, “Death to Pigs”, and “Rise”.

Some of the members of the Family were arrested after the deaths for a much lesser crime. But while in prison, Susan Atkins bragged to Virginia Graham, a fellow inmate, that she had helped to kill the LaBiancas and those murdered at the Tate house. Graham told the police, which eventually led to the investigation and arrest of Susan Atkins, Charles Manson, Leslie Van Houten, and Patricia Krenwinkel. Linda Kasabian was given immunity in exchange for her testimony against the other Family members that were arrested. Manson continued to control the Family, even while he was in prison.

Trial
Although he was denied the right to represent himself as a defense attorney, Charles still commanded the entire defense team. Leslie Van Houten had numerous lawyers, because they were constantly being fired. One of them, Ronald Hughes, disappeared after a disagreement with Manson, and he was later discovered wedged between two boulders. Atkins, Van Houten, and Krenwinkel were all tried together, and Charlie had them stand up in the middle of the courtroom and begin chanting odd phrases. He would have them sing joyful songs on the way to trial. Despite Manson’s efforts, he could not control the jury. On January 24, 1971, Charlie, along with Atkins, Van Houten, and Krenwinkel, were all found guilty. The entire Family shaved their heads in protest to the verdict. Then, on March 29, 1971, all four defendants were given the death penalty. However, in 1972, the California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty, and the four defendants’ sentencings were changed to life in prison.