Charles Manson dead at 83
Charles Manson, the man who commanded a “family” of followers that carried out a string of murders in 1969, has died. He was 83 years old.
Born to a 16-year old mother in Cincinnati, Ohio, Manson would grow up “in the system,” from foster homes to juvenile detention centers and then to prisons. He was married to Rosalie Manson in the 1950s and they had a son, Charles Manson, Jr. Despite his mother following him around, with his wife and child, to the prisons he was sent to over the years, Manson never left the life of crime. After a short time his wife left him and got a divorce.
In the mid 1960s Manson moved from the state of Washington, where he had been incarcerated, to San Francisco, attracted by the counter culture forming there. A few years later he led some of his followers south to the Los Angeles area where he would set up the infamous “Manson Family.” While there Manson and his followers committed petty crimes for money and drugs
They eventually moved from the Hollywood Hills area to the Spahn Ranch, a western location facility that had been used by the film industry. It was there Manson planned the murders he and his followers would commit that would make them household names across America.
On August 9, 1969, several of Manson’s cult, led by Tex Watson, murdered actress Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant at the time, and four of her friends. She was married to Roman Polanski at the time, but was in Europe when the murders occurred. The next night Mansion and several of his followers murdered Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their home.
The murderers went undetected for months, until one of them, Susan Atkins, bragged about the murders while in jail for a different crime. Afterwards Manson and his followers were arrested.
The trial of Manson, Atkins, Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel began July 24, 1970 and ended with convictions — with death sentences — on January 25, 1971. During the trial the scene was circus, with Manson followers disrupting the trial from beginning to end. The trial of Manson and his four followers became a worldwide sensation, followed by nearly everyone with a television.
Since the he has become a cultural icon, with musicians naming themselves or their bands after Mansion or related trivia. Clothing inspired by Manson has been popular, with T-shirts bearing his likeness being sold for years.
In 1972 capital punishment was declared unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court and their sentences were commuted to life.
As of today, none of the murderers have been released on parole, although Leslie Van Houten has been recommended for parole. Susan Atkins died while incarcerated, from brain cancer. Manson, who had been incarcerated at Corcoran State Prison, died in a Bakersfield hospital.
Top photo is a YouTube screenshot
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