Charles Manson and "The Family"

Charles Manson was an unplanned and illegitimate child born to Kathleen Maddox on November 23, 1934, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Kathleen was a promiscuous sixteen-year-old who drank too much alcohol and as a result, got into a lot of trouble.

Two years after Charles was born, Kathleen filed a suit against Colonel Scott of Ashland, Kentucky, for child support. She was awarded the right to receive support but never received a dime. Kathleen was married to William Manson for a very brief period of time. During that time frame, William gave her son his name.

Charles's mother was too busy partying and getting into trouble to worry about taking care of him. As a result of this, he spent his youth at the homes of various relatives, special reform schools and boys homes. By the tender age of 9 years old, Charles Manson had already started stealing on a regular basis and quickly moved onto burglary and stealing cars. He was always in trouble and spent quite a bit of time in and out of jail.

Manson Gets Married

In 1954, at the age of nineteen, Charles Manson was released on parole after an unusual period of good behavior. The very next year, he married Rosalie Willis, a waitress at a local diner. At the age of 21, Charles became a father. His son, Charles Manson, Jr. was born in March of 1956. Manson now had a family to support so he continued to make extra money by stealing cars. In April of 1956, just one month after his son was born, he was caught and again sent to prison. After he had been in prison for a year, his wife found a new lover and divorced him in June of 1957.

Manson the Con Man

Manson was once again a free man in 1958. He had served the time for the crime he had committed. Once he was released from prison, it was not long before he began pimping, stealing checks from mailboxes and conning young women out of money. He found a second wife named Leona, and fathered a second son, Charles Luther Manson. In June of 1960, Manson was arrested again; this time he was sent to the McNeil Island Penitentiary off of the coast of Washington. It was not too long after he was sent away that his second wife divorced him.

Music in Prison

The next six years of Charles Manson's life were spent behind steel bars in prison. During the time that he was locked up, he befriended the infamous Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, former member of Ma Barker's gang. Karpis taught Manson how to play the steel guitar and he became obsessed with making music. He practiced constantly and wrote dozens of original songs. He also started singing. He believed that once he was released from prison, he could be a famous musician.

Manson Gets a Following

Manson was once again given the opportunity to be a 'free' man. On March 21, 1967, he was once again released from prison. This time he headed to San Francisco where all he had was his guitar and drugs. He slowly started to get a following and in 1968, he and several of his followers drove to Southern California.

His followers, many of whom were very young women with troubled emotional lives who were rebelling against their parents and society in general. He battered down their inhibitions and questioned the validity of their notions of what is considered good and evil. For the most part, Charlie's followers were weak-willed people who were naïve, gullible and easy to lead. He used drugs like LSD and amphetamines in order to alter their personalities to his needs.

Charles Manson was still very hopeful of a successful music career. Through an acquaintance, Manson did get the opportunity to meet and hang out with Dennis Wilson from the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys did record one of Manson's songs. This song appears on the B-side of their 20/20 album and is titled “Never Learn Not to Love”. Manson also had the opportunity to meet Terry Melcher who is Doris Day's son. This meet and greet was set up by Dennis Wilson. Manson believed that Melcher was going to help him advance his music career and when nothing happened, he was very upset and angry.

During this time, Charles Manson and some of his followers moved into the Spahn Ranch which is located in the northwest of San Fernando Valley. During the 1940's and 1950's, the Spahn Ranch had been a popular location where they filmed westerns. Once “The Family” moved into the ranch, it quickly became the cult's compound.

Helter Skelter

However, when the Armageddon that Manson had predicted did not occur, he said he and his followers must show the blacks how to do it.

Charles was a master at manipulating people for his own benefit. He took pieces from various religions to form his own religious philosophy. In 1968, when the Beatles released their White Album, he was convinced that their song titled “Helter Skelter” was a tell-tale sign of an upcoming race war.

Manson believed that this war was going to occur in the summer of 1969. He proclaimed to his followers that the blacks were going to rise up and slaughter all of the white people. He told his people that they would be saved because the would go underground and travel to a city of gold located in Death Valley.

When the slaughter that Charles had predicted did not happen, he told his followers that they must show the blacks how to do it.

Manson Orders the Murders

Manson targeted Terry Melcher as his victim and ordered four of his followers to go to 10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles. He told them to kill all of the people inside, to leave no survivors. This house at one time, belonged to Terry Melcher, the man who had not helped Manson with his music career.

However, Melcher no longer lived at this residence. Movie actress, Sharon Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski were currently renting the house. Manson was unaware of these details and on August 9, 1969, four of Manson's followers brutally slaughtered Tate, her unborn baby, and four others who were visiting her. Her husband was in Europe for work and had no knowledge of the tragedy. The murder spree continued the following evening with the brutal murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their home.

Manson's Trial

It took the police several months to determine who was responsible. In December 1969, Manson and several of his followers were arrested. The trial began on July 24, 1970. On January 25, Manson was found guilty of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. On March 29, 1971, Manson was sentenced to death.

Police officials were baffled and the grisly murders and it took them several months to figure out who was responsible. In December 1969, Manson and several of his followers were arrested. Manson spent several months behind bars before his trial began. On July 24, 1970, his trial began and continued on for several months.

The jurors finally came to a decision on January 25, 1970 and found Manson guilty of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Eight months later, on March 29, 1971, he was sentenced to be put to death. I personally find that a fitting punishment for his acts of horror!

Life in Prison

Time was on Manson's side however and it 1972, he was reprieved from the death penalty when the California Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty. Charles is currently serving a lifetime sentence and periodically comes up for parole, but, has not been approved yet. He has been in prison for over three decades and has received more mail than any other prisoner in the United States. He is currently housed at Corcoran Prison in California.