View source for Charles Manson

{{Short description|American criminal and cult leader (1934–2017)}}
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Duplicate citations|date=November 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox criminal
| image             = Manson1968.jpg
| caption           = Manson's 1968 mugshot
| birth_name        = Charles Milles Maddox
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1934|11|12}}
| birth_place       = [[Cincinnati|Cincinnati, Ohio]] U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2017|11|19|1934|11|12}}
| death_place       = [[Bakersfield, California]], U.S.
| criminal_status   = Deceased
| occupation        = 
| motive            = [[Controlling behavior in relationships|Control]], personal ideology
| other_names       = 
| known_for         = [[Manson Family murders]]
| conviction        = {{plainlist|
* [[Murder in California law|First degree murder]] (7 counts)
* [[Conspiracy to commit murder]]
}}
| penalty           = [[Capital punishment in California|Death]]; [[Commutation (law)|commuted]] to [[Life imprisonment in the United States|life imprisonment]]
| spouse            = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Rosalie Willis|1955|1958|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Leona Stevens|1959|1963|end=div}}
}}
| children          = 3<ref>{{cite web |title=Where Are Charles Manson's Children Now? Inside the Lives of the Late Cult Leader's 3 Known Sons |url=https://people.com/where-are-charles-manson-children-now-8747165 |website=people.com|date=March 10, 2025}}</ref>
| partners          = Members of the [[Manson Family]], including [[Susan Atkins]], [[Mary Brunner]], and [[Tex Watson]]
| height            = 
| imprisoned        = 
| signature         = Charles Manson signature2.svg
| victims           = 9+ [[Proxy murder|murdered by proxy]]
| alt               = Black-and-white headshot photo of a crazy-eyed man with a dark mop of hair and beard
}}

'''Charles Milles Manson''' ({{ne|'''Maddox'''}}; November 12, 1934 – November 19, 2017) was an American criminal, [[cult]] leader, and musician who led the [[Manson Family]], a cult based in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s.<ref name="Juschka 2023">{{cite book |author-last=Juschka |author-first=Darlene M. |year=2023 |chapter=Chapter 4: Space Aliens and Deities Compared |editor1-last=Freudenberg |editor1-first=Maren |editor2-last=Elwert |editor2-first=Frederik |editor3-last=Karis |editor3-first=Tim |editor4-last=Radermacher |editor4-first=Martin |editor5-last=Schlamelcher |editor5-first=Jens |title=Stepping Back and Looking Ahead: Twelve Years of Studying Religious Contact at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg Bochum |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Dynamics in the History of Religions |volume=13 |doi=10.1163/9789004549319_006 |doi-access=free |isbn=978-90-04-54931-9 |issn=1878-8106 |pages=124–145}}</ref> Some cult members committed a [[Manson Family#Crimes|series of at least nine murders]] at four locations in July and August 1969. In 1971, Manson was convicted of [[Murder in California law|first-degree murder]] and [[conspiracy to commit murder]] for the [[Tate–LaBianca murders|deaths of seven people]], including the film actress [[Sharon Tate]]. The prosecution contended that, while Manson never directly ordered the murders, his ideology constituted an overt [[Criminal conspiracy|act of conspiracy]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/61/102.html|title=People v. Manson|website=Justia Law|language=en|access-date=May 11, 2019|archive-date=May 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520054853/https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/61/102.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Before the murders, Manson had spent more than half of his life in [[correctional institutions]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-07 |title="Chaos: The Manson Murders" Explores Conspiracy Linking Charles Manson's Cult with the CIA |url=https://www.biography.com/crime/charles-manson |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Biography |language=en-US}}</ref> While gathering his cult following, he was a singer-songwriter on the fringe of the Los Angeles music industry, chiefly through a chance association with [[Dennis Wilson]] of [[the Beach Boys]], who introduced Manson to record producer [[Terry Melcher]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-15 |title=How a Music Producer Was Tied to Charles Manson — and Possibly Evaded His Own Murder |url=https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/how-music-producer-terry-melcher-was-tied-to-charles-manson |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Oxygen |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1968, the Beach Boys recorded Manson's song "Cease to Exist", renamed "[[Never Learn Not to Love]]" as a single [[B-side]], but Manson was uncredited.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-26 |title=The horrific true story behind the 1969 Manson Family murders that changed America forever |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/horrific-true-story-behind-1969-174510489.html |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}}</ref> Afterward, he attempted to secure a record contract through Melcher, but was unsuccessful.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-19 |title=Charles Manson's random ties to musicians, actors in Hollywood |url=https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/charles-manson-random-ties-musicians-actors-hollywood |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=FOX TV Digital Team |language=en-US}}</ref> 

Manson would often talk about [[the Beatles]], including their [[The Beatles (album)|eponymous 1968 album]]. According to [[Los Angeles County District Attorney]] [[Vincent Bugliosi]], Manson felt guided by his interpretation of the Beatles' lyrics and adopted the term "[[Helter Skelter (scenario)|Helter Skelter]]" to describe an impending [[Apocalypticism|apocalyptic]] [[race war]].<ref name="Juschka 2023"/> During his trial, Bugliosi argued that Manson had intended to start a race war, although Manson and others disputed this.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Waxman |first=Olivia B. |date=2019-07-26 |title=Why Did the Manson Family Kill Sharon Tate? Here's the Story Charles Manson Told the Last Man Who Interviewed Him |url=https://time.com/5633973/last-manson-interview/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-19 |title=Charles Manson Denies "Helter Skelter" Theory: "That Was a F-cking Game" |url=https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/charles-manson-denies-helter-skelter-theory-cult-murder |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Oxygen |language=en-US}}</ref> Contemporary interviews and trial witness testimony insisted that the Tate–LaBianca murders were [[copycat crime]]s intended to exonerate Manson's friend [[Bobby Beausoleil]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cielodrive.com/manson-murders-motive-copycat.php|title=Manson Murders Motive {{!}} Copycat Motive|website=www.cielodrive.com|access-date=May 11, 2019|archive-date=May 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511010512/http://www.cielodrive.com/manson-murders-motive-copycat.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite AV media|people=James Buddy Day (Director)|date=2017|title=Charles Manson: The Final Words|publisher=Pyramid Productions}}</ref> Manson denied having ordered any murders. He [[Life imprisonment|served his time in prison]] and died from complications from [[colon cancer]] in 2017.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Vulliamy |first1=Ed |last2=Vulliamy |first2=By Ed |date=1999-03-07 |title=Manson set to defend himself, 30 years on |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/mar/07/edvulliamy.theobserver1 |access-date=2025-04-25 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Griggs |first=Steve Almasy,Brandon |date=2017-11-20 |title=Charles Manson, leader of murderous cult, dead at 83 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/20/us/charles-manson-dead/index.html |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>

== 1934–1967: Early life ==
=== Childhood ===
Charles Milles Maddox was born on November 12, 1934, to 16-year-old Ada Kathleen Maddox of [[Ashland, Kentucky]], in Cincinnati General Hospital, now the [[University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center]], in [[Cincinnati]], Ohio.<ref name=":3">{{Citation |last=Ohio |first=Butler County Department of Health |title=English: This is a faithful digital scan of the official birth certificate of Charles Milles Manson (listed on birth certificate only as "Manson"), issued by the Butler County Department of Health on March 31, 2025. Certified by local county registrar, Kathy Ripley. |date=1934-12-03 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Milles_Manson_-_Original_birth_certificate.jpg |access-date=2025-04-15}}</ref>{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–137}}<ref>Reitwiesner, William Addams. [http://www.wargs.com/other/manson.html Provisional ancestry of Charles Manson] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010208/http://www.wargs.com/other/manson.html |date=March 5, 2016}}; retrieved April 26, 2007.</ref> Manson's Ohio birth certificate simply lists his name as "Manson."<ref name=":3" /> His biological father appears to have been Colonel Walker Henderson Scott Sr.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.accuracyproject.org/cbe-Manson,Charles.html |title=''Internet Accuracy Project: Charles Manson'' |website=AccuracyProject.org |access-date=October 28, 2012 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224141140/https://www.accuracyproject.org/cbe-Manson,Charles.html |url-status=live }}</ref> of [[Catlettsburg, Kentucky]], against whom Maddox filed a [[Paternity (law)|paternity]] suit that resulted in an [[stipulated judgment|agreed judgment]] in 1937.<ref name="mom">{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Dave |title=Mother Tells Life of Manson as Boy |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 26, 1971 }}</ref> Scott worked intermittently in local mills, and had a local reputation as a [[con artist]]. He allowed Maddox to believe that he was an army colonel, although "Colonel" was merely his given name. When Maddox told Scott that she was pregnant, he informed her that he had been called away on army business. After several months, she realized he had no intention of returning.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=22}} Manson never knew his biological father.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Neill |first=Tom |title=What Was Charles Manson's Life Like Before He Formed 'The Family' Cult? |url=https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/charles-manson-early-life-before-the-family-cult |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=A&E |date=June 25, 2019 |language=en |ref=none}}</ref>

In August 1934, before Manson's birth, Maddox married William Eugene Manson (1909–1961), a laborer at a [[dry cleaning]] business. Maddox often went on drinking sprees with her brother Luther Elbert Maddox (1916–1950), leaving Charles with babysitters. On April 30, 1937, Maddox and her husband divorced, after William alleged "gross neglect of duty" by Maddox. Charles retained William's last name of Manson.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=23}} On August 1, 1939, Kathleen and Luther were arrested for assault and robbery, and sentenced to five and ten years of imprisonment, respectively.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=27}}

Manson was placed in the home of an aunt and uncle in [[McMechen, West Virginia]].<ref name="ketchup">{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/books/a-new-look-at-charles-manson-by-jeff-guinn.html |title = Long Before Little Charlie Became the Face of Evil |date = August 7, 2013 |work = [[The New York Times]] |access-date = January 7, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150930225705/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/books/a-new-look-at-charles-manson-by-jeff-guinn.html |archive-date = September 30, 2015 |df = mdy-all }}</ref> His mother was paroled in 1942. Manson later characterized the first weeks after she returned from prison as the happiest time in his life.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=36}} Weeks after her release, Manson's family moved to [[Charleston, West Virginia]],{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=38}} where he continually played [[truancy|truant]] and his mother spent her evenings drinking.<ref name="Medium">{{cite web|first=H. Allegra|last=Lansing|url=https://medium.com/@themansonfamily_mtts/son-of-man-the-early-life-of-charles-manson-c89d41d03bf8|title=Son of Man: The Early Life of Charles Manson|website=[[Medium (website)|Medium]]|publisher=A Medium Corporation|location=Boston, Massachusetts|date=July 11, 2019|access-date=August 17, 2020|archive-date=February 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228032216/https://themansonfamily-mtts.medium.com/son-of-man-the-early-life-of-charles-manson-c89d41d03bf8|url-status=live}}</ref> She was arrested for [[grand larceny]], but not convicted.<ref>{{cite news|first=Janet|last=Maslin|author-link=Janet Maslin|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/books/a-new-look-at-charles-manson-by-jeff-guinn.html|title=Long Before Little Charlie Became the Face of Evil|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|location=New York City|date=August 6, 2013|access-date=August 17, 2020|archive-date=September 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930225705/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/books/a-new-look-at-charles-manson-by-jeff-guinn.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The family later moved to [[Indianapolis]], where Maddox met alcoholic Lewis Woodson Cavender Jr. (1916–1979) through [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] meetings, and married him in August 1943.<ref name="Medium"/>

=== First offenses ===
In an interview with [[Diane Sawyer]], Manson stated that when he was aged 9, he [[Arson|set his school on fire]].<ref>"Charles Manson – Diane Sawyer Documentary.</ref> He also got repeatedly in trouble for truancy and petty theft. In 1947, although there was a lack of foster home placements, at age 13, Manson was placed in the [[Gibault School for Boys]] in [[Terre Haute, Indiana]], a school for male delinquents run by [[Catholicism|Catholic]] priests.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=43}} Gibault was a strict school, where punishment for even the smallest infraction included beatings with either a wooden paddle or a leather strap. Manson ran away from Gibault and slept in the woods, under bridges and wherever else he could find shelter.<ref name=":2">{{cite news| first=Al |last=Hunter |title=Charles Manson – Hoosier Juvenile Dilenquent |newspaper=The Weekly View |date=January 22, 2015 |url=https://weeklyview.net/2015/01/22/charles-manson-hoosier-juvenile-delinquent/ |access-date=4 January 2025 }}</ref>

Manson fled home to his mother and spent Christmas 1947 at his aunt and uncle's house in West Virginia.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|pp=37–42}} His mother returned him to Gibault. Ten months later, he ran away to Indianapolis.<ref>{{cite news|first=Dawn|last=Mitchell|url=https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2014/01/14/charles-manson/4471927/|title=Retro Indy: Charles Manson, mass murderer and cult leader, spent time in Indiana|newspaper=[[The Indianapolis Star]]|date=January 14, 2014|access-date=August 17, 2020|archive-date=September 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919163018/https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2014/01/14/charles-manson/4471927/|url-status=live}}</ref> It was there, in 1948, Manson committed his first documented crime by robbing a grocery store, at first to simply find something to eat. Manson found a cigar box containing just over a hundred dollars, which he used to rent a room on Indianapolis's Skid Row and to buy food.<ref>{{cite web|first=David|last=Mercer|date=November 20, 2017|access-date=August 17, 2020|url=https://news.sky.com/story/charles-mansons-life-and-crimes-a-timeline-11135463|title=Charles Manson's life and crimes: a timeline|website=[[Sky News]]|archive-date=October 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024201551/https://news.sky.com/story/charles-mansons-life-and-crimes-a-timeline-11135463|url-status=live}}</ref>

For a time, Manson had a job delivering messages for [[Western Union]] in an attempt to live honestly. He quickly began to supplement his wages through theft.<ref name=":2" /> He was eventually caught, and in 1949 a sympathetic judge sent him to [[Boys Town (organization)|Boys Town]], a juvenile facility in [[Omaha, Nebraska]].<ref name=SawyerInterview>Charles Manson – Diane Sawyer Interview.</ref> After four days at Boys Town, he and fellow student Blackie Nielson obtained a gun and stole a car. They used it to commit two armed robberies on their way to the home of Nielson's uncle in [[Peoria, Illinois]].{{sfn|Guinn|2013|pp=42–43}}{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}} Nielson's uncle was a professional thief, and when the boys arrived he allegedly took them on as apprentices.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=43}} Manson was arrested two weeks later during a nighttime raid on a Peoria store. In the investigation that followed, he was linked to his two earlier armed robberies. He was sent to the [[Plainfield Juvenile Correctional Facility|Indiana Boys School]], a strict reform school outside of [[Plainfield, Indiana]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Richard|last=Ray|url=https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/in-indiana-charles-manson-was-once-a-14-year-old-lost-little-kid-report/28532/#:~:text=In%20Indiana%2C%20Charles%20Manson%20Was%20Once%20a%20%E2%80%98Lost,the%20Gibault%20School%20for%20Boys%20in%20Terre%20Haute.|title=In Indiana, Charles Manson Was Once a 'Lost Little Kid': Report|website=NBC Chicago|date=November 20, 2017|access-date=August 17, 2020|archive-date=October 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025203413/https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/in-indiana-charles-manson-was-once-a-14-year-old-lost-little-kid-report/28532/#:~:text=In%20Indiana%2C%20Charles%20Manson%20Was%20Once%20a%20%E2%80%98Lost,the%20Gibault%20School%20for%20Boys%20in%20Terre%20Haute.|url-status=live}}</ref>

At the Indiana Boys School, other students allegedly raped Manson with the encouragement of a staff member, and he was repeatedly beaten. He ran away from the school eighteen times.<ref name=SawyerInterview/> Manson developed a self-defense technique he later called the "insane game", in which he would screech, grimace and wave his arms to convince stronger aggressors that he was insane. In February 1951, after a number of failed attempts, he escaped with two other boys.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=45}}{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}} The three escapees robbed filling stations while attempting to drive to California in stolen cars, until they were arrested in [[Utah]]. For the federal crime of driving a stolen car across state lines, Manson was sent to Washington, D.C.'s [[National Training School for Boys]].{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=137–146}} On arrival he was given aptitude tests which determined that he was illiterate, but had an above-average [[IQ]] of 109. His case worker deemed him aggressively [[Antisocial personality disorder|antisocial]].{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=45}}{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}}

=== First imprisonment ===
In October 1951, on a psychiatrist's recommendation, Manson was transferred to Natural Bridge Honor Camp, a minimum security institution in [[Virginia]].{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}} His aunt visited him and told administrators she would let him stay at her house and help him find work. Manson had a parole hearing scheduled for February 1952. In January, he was caught [[Rape|raping]] a boy at [[Coercion|knifepoint]]. Manson was transferred to the [[Federal Correctional Complex, Petersburg|Federal Reformatory]] in [[Petersburg, Virginia]], where he committed a further "eight serious disciplinary offenses, three involving homosexual acts". He was then moved to a maximum security [[Chillicothe Correctional Institution|reformatory]] at [[Chillicothe, Ohio]], where he was expected to remain until his release on his 21st birthday in November 1955. Good behavior led to an early release in May 1954, to live with his aunt and uncle in West Virginia.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=52}}

[[File:Charles Manson mugshot FCI Terminal Island California 1956-05-02 3845-CAL.png|thumb|Manson, aged 21. Booking photo, Federal Correctional Institute Terminal Island, May 2, 1956.]]
In January 1955, Manson married a hospital waitress named Rosalie "Rosie" Jean Willis (January 28, 1939 – August 21, 2009). Around October, about three months after he and his pregnant wife arrived in Los Angeles in a car he had stolen in Ohio, Manson was again charged with a federal crime for taking the vehicle across state lines. After a psychiatric evaluation, he was given five years' [[probation]]. Manson's failure to appear at a Los Angeles hearing on an identical charge filed in Florida resulted in his March 1956 arrest in Indianapolis. His probation was revoked, and he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island|Terminal Island]] in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}}

While Manson was in prison, Rosalie gave birth to their son, Charles Manson Jr. (April 10, 1956 – June 29, 1993). During his first year at Terminal Island, Manson received visits from Rosalie and his mother, who were now living together in Los Angeles. In March 1957, when the visits from his wife ceased, his mother informed him Rosalie was living with another man. Less than two weeks before a scheduled parole hearing, Manson tried to escape by stealing a car. He was given five years' probation and his parole was denied.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}}

=== Second imprisonment ===
In September 1958, Manson received five years' parole, the same year in which Rosalie received a decree of divorce. By November, he was [[pimp]]ing a 16-year-old girl and receiving additional support from a girl with wealthy parents. In September 1959, he pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to cash a forged [[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury]] check, which he claimed to have stolen from a mailbox; the latter charge was later dropped. He received a ten-year [[suspended sentence]] and probation after a young woman named Leona Rae "Candy" Stevens, who had an arrest record for prostitution, made a "tearful plea" before the court that she and Manson were "deeply in love&nbsp;... and would marry if Charlie were freed".{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}} Before the year's end, Stevens married Manson. [[Vincent Bugliosi]], the prosecutor who later secured Manson's murder conviction, believed the marriage may have been so she [[Spousal privilege|could not be required]] to testify against Manson.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}}

Manson took Leona and another woman to [[New Mexico]] for purposes of prostitution, resulting in him being held and questioned for violating the [[Mann Act]]. Though he was released, Manson correctly suspected that the investigation had not ended. When he disappeared in violation of his probation, a [[Arrest warrant#Bench warrant|bench warrant]] was issued. In April 1960, an indictment for violation of the Mann Act followed.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}} Following the arrest of one of the women for prostitution, Manson was arrested in June in [[Laredo, Texas]], and was returned to Los Angeles. For violating his probation on the check-cashing charge, he was ordered to serve his ten-year sentence.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}}

Manson spent a year trying unsuccessfully to appeal the revocation of his probation. In July 1961, he was transferred from the [[Los Angeles County Jail]] to [[McNeil Island Corrections Center|the United States Penitentiary]] at [[McNeil Island]], Washington. There, he took guitar lessons from [[Barker–Karpis gang]] leader [[Alvin Karpis#Imprisonment|Alvin "Creepy" Karpis]], and obtained from another inmate the contact information of [[Phil Kaufman (producer)|Phil Kaufman]], a producer at [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]].<ref>{{cite web |access-date=July 2, 2012 |url=http://www.lostinthegrooves.com/short-bits-2-charles-manson-and-the-beach-boys |work=Lost in the Grooves |title=Short Bits 2 – Charles Manson and the Beach Boys |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718010206/http://www.lostinthegrooves.com/short-bits-2-charles-manson-and-the-beach-boys |archive-date=July 18, 2012 |date=April 13, 2006 }}</ref> Among Manson's fellow prisoners during this time was future actor [[Danny Trejo]]; the two participated in several [[hypnosis]] sessions together.<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 7, 2021|title=Danny Trejo Says Charles Manson Once Hypnotized Him in Jail|url=https://www.mediaite.com/entertainment/danny-trejo-says-charles-manson-once-hypnotized-him-in-jail/|access-date=July 7, 2021|website=Mediaite|language=en|archive-date=July 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707202624/https://www.mediaite.com/entertainment/danny-trejo-says-charles-manson-once-hypnotized-him-in-jail/|url-status=live}}</ref> Manson's mother moved to Washington State to be closer to him during his McNeil Island incarceration, working nearby as a waitress.<ref name="Rule/Guinn">{{cite magazine |last=Rule |first=Ann |title=There Will Be Blood |journal=The New York Times Book Review |date=August 18, 2013 |page=14 }}</ref>

Although the Mann Act charge had been dropped, the attempt to cash the Treasury check was still a federal offense. Manson's September 1961 annual review noted he had a "tremendous drive to call attention to himself", an observation echoed in September 1964.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}} In 1963, Leona was granted a divorce. During the process, she alleged that she and Manson had a son, Charles Luther Manson.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}} According to a popular [[urban legend]], Manson auditioned unsuccessfully for [[the Monkees]] in late 1965. This is refuted by the fact that Manson was still incarcerated at McNeil Island at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/monkees.asp |title=Did Charles Manson Audition for The Monkees? |website=snopes.com |date=September 25, 1995 |access-date=July 5, 2018}}</ref>

In June 1966, Manson was sent for the second time to Terminal Island in preparation for early release. By the time of his release day on March 21, 1967, he had spent more than half of his thirty-two years in prisons and other institutions. This was mainly because he had broken [[federal law]]s. Federal sentences were, and remain, much more severe than state sentences for many of the same offenses. Telling the authorities that prison had become his home, he requested permission to stay.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=136–146}}

== 1967–1968: San Francisco and cult formation==
=== Parolee and patient ===
Less than a month after his 1967 release, Manson moved to [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] from Los Angeles,<ref name="Guinn, p. 94">{{harvnb|Guinn|2013|p=94}}</ref> which could have been a probation violation. Instead, after calling the San Francisco probation office upon his arrival, he was transferred to the supervision of [[criminology]] doctoral researcher and federal probation officer Roger Smith.{{sfn|O'Neill|2019|p=237}} Until the spring of 1968, Smith worked at the [[Haight Ashbury Free Clinics|Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic]] (HAFMC), which Manson and his family came to frequent.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=David E |last2=Luce |first2=John |date=1971 |title=Love Needs Care: A History of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic and Its Pioneer Role Treating Drug-abuse Problems |publisher=Boston, Little, Brown |url=https://archive.org/details/loveneedscarehis00smit/ |access-date=April 30, 2021}} p. 52</ref> Roger Smith, as well as the HAFMC's founder David Smith, received funding from the [[National Institutes of Health]], and reportedly the [[CIA]], to study the effects of drugs like [[LSD]] and [[methamphetamine]] on the [[Counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture movement]] in San Francisco's [[Haight–Ashbury]] District.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neill|2019|p=251}}</ref> The patients at the HAFMC became subjects of their research, including Manson and his expanding group of mostly female followers, who came to see Roger Smith regularly.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neill|2019|p=266}}</ref>

Manson received permission from Roger Smith to move from Berkeley to the Haight-Ashbury District. He first took LSD and would use it frequently during his time there.<ref name="Guinn, p. 94"/> David Smith, who had studied the effects of LSD and amphetamines in rodents,<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neill|2019|p=260}}</ref> wrote that the change in Manson's personality during this time "was the most abrupt Roger Smith had observed in his entire professional career."<ref>Smith, p. 257</ref> Manson also read the book ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'', a science fiction novel by [[Robert Heinlein]].<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neill|2019|p=237}}</ref> 

Inspired by the burgeoning [[free love]] philosophy in Haight–Ashbury during the [[Summer of Love]], Manson began preaching his own philosophy based on a mixture of ''Stranger in a Strange Land'', the Bible, [[Scientology]], [[Dale Carnegie]] and [[the Beatles]], which quickly earned him a following.<ref>{{harvnb|Guinn|2013|p=95}}</ref> He may have also borrowed some of his philosophy from the [[Process Church of the Final Judgment]], whose members believed [[Satan]] would become reconciled to Jesus and they would come together at the [[Eschatology|end of the world]] to judge humanity.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Account |first=LEH IT Admin |date=2017-03-08 |title=Sinister Scenesters |url=https://64parishes.org/sinister-scenesters |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=64 Parishes |language=en}}</ref>

=== Involvement with Scientology ===
Manson began studying Scientology while incarcerated with the help of fellow inmate Lanier Rayner, and in July 1961 listed Scientology as his religion.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|p=260}} A September 1961 prison report argues that Manson "appears to have developed a certain amount of insight into his problems through his study of this discipline".{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|p=144}} Another prison report in August 1966 stated that Manson was no longer an advocate of Scientology.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|p=146}} Upon his release in 1967, Manson traveled to Los Angeles where he reportedly "met local Scientologists and attended several parties for movie stars".<ref name="mallia1998">{{Cite news |last=Mallia |first=Joseph |title=Inside the Church of Scientology&nbsp;– Church wields celebrity clout |work=[[Boston Herald]] |page=30 |date=March 5, 1998}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |first=Steven V. |last=Roberts |title=Charlie Manson, Nomadic Guru, Flirted With Crime in a Turbulent Childhood |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=84 |date=December 7, 1969}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Goodsell |first=Greg |title=Manson once proclaimed Scientology |work=Catholic Online |publisher=www.catholic.org |date=February 23, 2010 |url=http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=35505 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227053826/http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=35505 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 27, 2010 |access-date=February 24, 2010 }}</ref> Manson completed 150 hours of [[Auditing (Scientology)|auditing]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/cooper/scandal_behind_scandal.html|title=The Scandal Behind the "Scandal of Scientology"|last=Cooper|first=Paulette|website=www.cs.cmu.edu|access-date=November 8, 2019|archive-date=November 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112220005/http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/cooper/scandal_behind_scandal.html|url-status=live}}</ref> His "right hand man", [[Bruce M. Davis|Bruce Davis]], worked at the [[Church of Scientology]] headquarters in London from November 1968 to April 1969.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sanders |first=Ed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20n2VPmoiQoC |title=The Family |date=January 1, 2002 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=1560253967 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022013344/http://books.google.com/books?id=20n2VPmoiQoC |archive-date=October 22, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== San Francisco followers ===
{{see also|Manson Family}}
Shortly after relocating to San Francisco, Manson became acquainted with [[Mary Brunner]], a 23-year-old graduate of [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]]. Brunner was working as a library assistant at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], and Manson, until that point making his living by [[begging|panhandling]], moved in with her. Manson then met teenaged [[runaway (dependent)|runaway]] [[Squeaky Fromme|Lynette Fromme]], later nicknamed "Squeaky", and convinced her to live with him and Brunner.<ref>{{harvnb|Guinn|2013|p=97}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Angela|last=Serratore|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/manson-family-murders-what-need-to-know-180972655/|title=The True Story of the Manson Family|magazine=[[Smithsonian Magazine]]|location=Washington, D.C.|date=July 25, 2019|access-date=August 18, 2020|archive-date=August 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818185908/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/manson-family-murders-what-need-to-know-180972655/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to a second-hand account, Manson overcame Brunner's initial resistance to him bringing other women in to live with them. Before long, they were sharing Brunner's residence with eighteen other women.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|163–174}} Manson targeted individuals for manipulation who were emotionally insecure and social outcasts.<ref name="Smith, p. 259">Smith, p. 259</ref>

Manson established himself as a [[guru]] in Haight-Ashbury which, during the Summer of Love, was emerging as the signature [[hippie]] locale. Manson soon had the first of his groups of followers, most of them female. They were later dubbed as the "Manson Family" by Los Angeles prosecutor [[Vincent Bugliosi]] and the media.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|137–146}} Manson allegedly taught his followers that they were the [[reincarnation]] of the [[Early Christianity|original Christians]], and that [[The Establishment]] could be characterized as the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Trevor Hughes and Trevor |title=Charles Manson and the Manson family: What to know about the murderous cult leader |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/11/20/charles-manson-and-manson-family-murderous-cult-leader/880220001/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>

Sometime around 1967, Manson began using the alias "Charles Willis Manson".<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|315}} Before the end of summer, he and some of his followers began traveling in an old [[school bus]] they had adapted, putting colored rugs and pillows in place of the many seats they had removed. They eventually settled in the Los Angeles areas of [[Topanga, California|Topanga Canyon]], [[Malibu, California|Malibu]] and [[Venice, Los Angeles|Venice]] along the coast.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|163–174}}<ref name="Sanders">{{cite book|last=Sanders|first=Ed|author-link=Ed Sanders|date=2002|title=The Family|location=New York City|publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press|isbn=1-56025-396-7}}</ref>{{rp|13–20}} 

In 1967, Brunner became pregnant by Manson. On April 15, 1968, she gave birth to their son, whom she named Valentine Michael, in a condemned house where they were living in Topanga Canyon. She was assisted by several of the young women from the fledgling Family. Brunner, like most members of the group, acquired a number of [[Pseudonym|aliases]] and nicknames, including: "Marioche", "Och", "Mother Mary", "Mary Manson", "Linda Dee Manson" and "Christine Marie Euchts".<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|xv}}

In his book ''Love Needs Care'' about his time at the HAFMC, David Smith claimed that Manson attempted to reprogram his followers' minds to "submit totally to his will" through the use of "LSD and&nbsp;... unconventional sexual practices" that would turn his followers into "empty vessels that would accept anything he poured".<ref name="Smith, p. 259"/> Manson Family member [[Paul Watkins (Manson Family)|Paul Watkins]] testified that Manson would encourage group LSD trips and take lower doses himself to "keep his wits about him".<ref>{{harvnb|Guinn|2013|p=139}}</ref> Watkins stated that "Charlie's trip was to program us all to submit."<ref>{{cite book |last=Melnick |first=Jeffrey Paul |date=2018 |title=Creepy Crawling: Charles Manson and the Many Lives of America's Most Infamous Family |publisher=Arcade |isbn=978-1628728934}} p. 16</ref> By the end of his stay in the Haight in April 1968, Manson had attracted twenty or so followers, all under the supervision of Roger Smith and many of the staff at the HAFMC.<ref name="Smith, p. 260">Smith, p. 260</ref> The core members of Manson's following eventually included: Brunner; [[Tex Watson|Charles "Tex" Watson]], a musician and former actor; [[Bobby Beausoleil]], a former musician and  actor; [[Susan Atkins]]; [[Patricia Krenwinkel]]; and [[Leslie Van Houten]].<ref name="InsideFamily">{{cite web |title=Charles Manson's Son Says He Wishes He'd Gotten to Know Him Before His Death |url=https://www.insideedition.com/charles-mansons-son-says-he-wishes-hed-gotten-know-him-his-death-54566 |website=insideedition.com |date=July 18, 2019 |publisher=Inside Edition Inc, CBS Interactive |access-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824173448/https://www.insideedition.com/charles-mansons-son-says-he-wishes-hed-gotten-know-him-his-death-54566 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ViceBob">{{cite web |last1=Kovac |first1=Adam |title=We Spoke to Charles Manson's Guitarist About Making Art While Serving Time for Murder |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/we-spoke-to-charles-mansons-guitarist-about-his-life-making-art-and-music-while-serving-time-for-murder-298/ |website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |date=April 8, 2015 |publisher=[[Vice Media]] |location=New York City |access-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-date=May 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526142449/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bn5wwd/we-spoke-to-charles-mansons-guitarist-about-his-life-making-art-and-music-while-serving-time-for-murder-298 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Milne |first1=Andrew |title=Meet Bobby Beausoleil: The Haight-Ashbury Hippie Who Became A Manson Family Murderer |url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/bobby-beausoleil |website=allthatsinteresting.com |date=July 6, 2019 |publisher=PBH Network |access-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824173444/https://allthatsinteresting.com/bobby-beausoleil |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Subsequent arrests ===
Supervised by his ostensible parole officer Roger Smith, Manson grew his family through drug use and prostitution<ref name="Smith, p. 260"/> without interference from the authorities. Manson was arrested on July 31, 1967, for attempting to prevent the arrest of one of his followers, [[Ruth Ann Moorehouse]]. Instead of Manson being sent back to prison, the charge was reduced to a [[misdemeanor]] and Manson was given three additional years of probation.<ref name="O'Neill, p. 242">{{harvnb|O'Neill|2019|p=242}}</ref> He avoided prosecution again in July 1968, when he and the family were arrested while moving to Los Angeles,<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neill|2019|p=244}}</ref> after his bus crashed into a ditch. Manson and members of his family, including Brunner and Manson's newborn baby, were found sleeping naked by police.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neill|2019|p=246}}</ref> Afterwards, he was again arrested and released only a few days later, this time on a drug charge.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neill|2019|p=248}}</ref><ref name="O'Neill, p. 242"/>

=== Involvement with the Beach Boys ===
{{See also|Never Learn Not to Love|The Beach Boys bootleg recordings#Manson sessions}}
On April 6, 1968, [[Dennis Wilson]] of the [[Beach Boys]] was driving through Malibu when he noticed two female hitchhikers, Krenwinkel and Ella Jo Bailey. He picked them up and dropped them off at their destination.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=216}} On April 11, Wilson noticed the same two girls hitchhiking again and this time took them to his home at 14400 [[Sunset Boulevard]].{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=216}}<ref name=WebbGuardian2003>{{cite news|last1=Webb|first1=Adam|title=A profile of Dennis Wilson: the lonely one|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/dec/14/popandrock|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=December 14, 2003|access-date=December 14, 2016|archive-date=November 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107123033/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/dec/14/popandrock|url-status=live}}</ref> Wilson later recalled that he "told [the girls] about our involvement with [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|the Maharishi]] and they told me they too had a guru, a guy named Charlie [Manson] who'd recently come out of jail after twelve years."<ref name="RM68">{{cite magazine|last1=Griffiths|first1=David|title=Dennis Wilson: "I Live With 17 Girls"|magazine=[[Record Mirror]]|date=December 21, 1968|url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/dennis-wilson-i-live-with-17-girls|url-access=subscription|access-date=December 4, 2020|archive-date=January 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120003836/https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/dennis-wilson-i-live-with-17-girls|url-status=live}}</ref> 

Wilson then went to a recording session. When he returned later that night, he was met in his driveway by Manson, and when Wilson walked into his home, about a dozen people were occupying the premises, most of them young women.<ref name=WebbGuardian2003 /> By Manson's own account, he had met Wilson on at least one prior occasion: at a friend's San Francisco house where Manson had gone to obtain [[marijuana]]. Manson claimed that Wilson invited him to visit his home when Manson came to Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite book|last=Emmons|first=Nuel|title=Manson in His Own Words|publisher=Grove Press|year=1988|isbn=0-8021-3024-0}}</ref>

Wilson was initially fascinated by Manson and his followers, referring to him as "the Wizard" in a ''Rave'' magazine article at the time.{{sfn|Stebbins|2000|p=130}} The two struck a friendship, and over the next few months members of the Manson Family – mostly women who were treated as servants – were housed in Wilson's residence.<ref name=WebbGuardian2003 /> This arrangement persisted for about six months.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=224–225}}<ref name="RM68"/>

Wilson introduced Manson to a few friends in the music business, including [[the Byrds]]' producer [[Terry Melcher]]. Manson recorded numerous songs at [[Brian Wilson]]'s [[Brian Wilson's home studio|home studio]], although the recordings remain unheard by the public.<ref name="DoeUnreleased">{{cite web|last1=Doe|first1=Andrew Grayham|title=Unreleased Albums|url=http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/unreleased.html|website=Bellagio 10452|publisher=Endless Summer Quarterly|access-date=October 16, 2015|archive-date=October 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025151137/http://esquarterly.com/bellagio/unreleased.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Band engineer [[Stephen Desper]] said that the Manson sessions were done "for Dennis [Wilson] and Terry Melcher".{{sfn|O'Neill|2019}} In September 1968, Wilson recorded a Manson song for the Beach Boys, originally titled "Cease to Exist", but reworked as "[[Never Learn Not to Love]]", as a single B-side released the following December. The writing was credited solely to Wilson.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Barlass|first1=Tyler|title=Song Stories – "Never Learn Not To Love" (1968)|url=http://www.justpressplay.net/articles/39-news/3713-song-stories-qnever-learn-not-to-loveq-1968.html|date=July 16, 2008|access-date=July 6, 2016|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305141845/http://www.justpressplay.net/articles/39-news/3713-song-stories-qnever-learn-not-to-loveq-1968.html|url-status=live}}</ref> When asked why Manson was not credited, Wilson explained that Manson relinquished his publishing rights in favor of "about a hundred thousand dollars' worth of stuff".{{sfn|Stebbins|2000|p=137}}<ref name="Nolan2">{{cite magazine |last=Nolan |first=Tom |title=Beach Boys: A California Saga, Part II |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beach-boys-a-california-saga-part-ii-19711111 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=November 11, 1971 |access-date=June 25, 2018 |archive-date=August 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816014717/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beach-boys-a-california-saga-part-ii-19711111 |url-status=live }}</ref>  Around this time, the Family destroyed two of Wilson's luxury cars.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=223–224}}

Wilson eventually distanced himself from Manson and moved out of the Sunset Boulevard house, leaving the Family there, and took residence at a basement apartment in [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]].{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=224}} Virtually all of Wilson's household possessions were stolen by the Family. The members were [[eviction|evicted]] from his home three weeks before the lease was scheduled to expire.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=224}} When Manson sought further contact, he left a bullet with Wilson's housekeeper to be delivered with a threatening message.<ref name=WebbGuardian2003 /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Holdship|first1=Bill|title=Heroes and Villains|url=http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=2371.25|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=April 6, 2000|access-date=April 7, 2015|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235253/http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=2371.25|url-status=live}}</ref>

Band manager [[Nick Grillo]] recalled that Wilson became concerned after Manson had got "into a much heavier drug situation ... taking a tremendous amount of acid and Dennis wouldn't tolerate it and asked him to leave. It was difficult for Dennis because he was afraid of Charlie."{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=224–225}} Writing in his [[Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy|2016 memoir]], [[Mike Love]] recalled Wilson saying he had witnessed Manson shooting a black man "in half" with an [[M16 rifle]] and hiding the body inside a well.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/beach-boy-mike-love-claims-bandmate-charles-manson-kill-man-article-1.2773092|title=Beach Boy Mike Love alleges bandmate watched Charles Manson carry out murder|first=Nicole|last=Bitette|website=[[New York Daily News]]|date=August 31, 2016 |access-date=February 12, 2021|archive-date=July 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722104419/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/beach-boy-mike-love-claims-bandmate-charles-manson-kill-man-article-1.2773092|url-status=live}}</ref> Melcher said that Wilson had been aware that the Family "were killing people" and had been "so freaked out he just didn't want to live anymore. He was afraid, and he thought he should have gone to the authorities, but he didn't, and the rest of it happened."{{sfn|O'Neill|2019}}

=== Spahn Ranch ===
Manson established a base for the Family at the [[Spahn Ranch]] in August 1968, after their eviction from Wilson's residence.<ref>[http://la.curbed.com/2014/10/22/10032594/the-story-of-the-abandoned-movie-ranch-where-the-manson-family The Story of the Abandoned Movie Ranch Where the Manson Family Launched Helter Skelter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160709124920/http://la.curbed.com/2014/10/22/10032594/the-story-of-the-abandoned-movie-ranch-where-the-manson-family |date=July 9, 2016 }}. Retrieved March 10, 2016.</ref> The ranch had been a television and movie set for [[Western (genre)|Westerns]], but the buildings had deteriorated by the late-1960s. The ranch then derived revenue primarily from selling horseback rides.<ref name="NME">{{cite news|url=https://www.nme.com/news/bryan-cranston-had-run-in-with-charles-manson-2161985|title=Bryan Cranston had a very close run-in with Charles Manson in the 1960s|last=Reilly|first=Nick|date=November 21, 2017|work=[[NME]]|accessdate=October 17, 2022}}</ref> Female Family members did chores around the ranch and, occasionally, had sex on Manson's orders with the nearly blind 80-year-old owner, [[George Spahn]]; the women also acted as guides for him. In exchange, Spahn allowed Manson and his group to live at the ranch for free.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|99–113}}

=== Doomsday beliefs ===
{{See also|Manson Family#Possible murder motives|Helter Skelter (scenario)}}
The Manson Family evolved into a [[doomsday cult]] when Manson became fixated on the idea of an imminent apocalyptic [[ethnic conflict|race war]] between America's Black minority and the larger White population. A [[White supremacy|white supremacist]],<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Lauren|last=Gill|url=https://www.newsweek.com/charles-manson-was-white-supremacist-lets-not-forget-713915|title=Remember, Charles Manson Was a White Supremacist|magazine=[[Newsweek]]|date=November 16, 2017|access-date=August 17, 2020|archive-date=August 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804074518/https://www.newsweek.com/charles-manson-was-white-supremacist-lets-not-forget-713915|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Desire|last=Thompson|url=https://www.vibe.com/2017/11/charles-manson-his-obsession-with-black-people|title=Charles Manson & His Obsession with Black People|magazine=[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]|location=New York City|date=November 20, 2017|access-date=August 18, 2020|archive-date=August 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813000715/https://www.vibe.com/2017/11/charles-manson-his-obsession-with-black-people|url-status=live}}</ref> Manson told some of the Family that Black people would rise up and kill the entire White population except for Manson and his followers, but they were not intelligent enough to survive on their own. They needed a white man to lead them, and so they would serve Manson as their "master".<ref>{{cite web|first=John W.|last=Whitehead|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/helter-skelter-racism-and_b_669109|title=Helter Skelter: Racism and Murder|website=[[HuffPost]]|date=August 3, 2010|access-date=August 17, 2020|archive-date=October 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030204544/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/helter-skelter-racism-and_b_669109|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Jim|last=Beckerman|url=https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2019/08/09/charles-manson-murders-still-relevant-racism-50-years-later/1955164001/|title=Charles Manson: 50 years later, murders have racist link to recent mass-killings|newspaper=[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]|date=August 9, 2019|access-date=August 17, 2020|archive-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124221103/https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2019/08/09/charles-manson-murders-still-relevant-racism-50-years-later/1955164001/|url-status=live}}</ref> In late-1968, Manson adopted the term "[[Helter Skelter (scenario)|Helter Skelter]]", taken from [[Helter Skelter (song)|a song]] on [[the Beatles]]' recently released ''[[The Beatles (album)|White Album]]'', to refer to this upcoming war.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=244}}

=== Tate encounter ===
On March 23, 1969,<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|228–233}} Manson entered the grounds of [[10050 Cielo Drive]], which he had known as Melcher's residence. He was not invited.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|155–161}} As he approached the main house, Manson was met by Shahrokh Hatami, an Iranian photographer who had befriended film director [[Roman Polanski]] and his wife [[Sharon Tate]] during the making of the documentary ''[[Mia and Roman]]''. Hatami was there to photograph Tate before she departed for [[Rome]] the following day. Seeing Manson approach, Hatami went onto the front porch to ask him what he wanted.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|228–233}} 

Manson said that he was looking for Melcher, whose name Hatami did not recognize.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|228–233}} Hatami told him the place was the Polanski residence and then advised him to try the path to the guest house beyond the main house. Tate appeared behind Hatami in the house's front door and asked him who was calling. Hatami and Tate maintained their positions while Manson went back to the guest house without a word, returned to the front a minute or two later and left.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|228–233}}

That evening, Manson returned to the property and again went to the guest house. He entered the enclosed porch and spoke with Altobelli, the owner, who had just come out of the shower. Manson asked for Melcher, but Altobelli felt that Manson was instead looking for him. It was later discovered that Manson had apparently been to the property on earlier occasions after Melcher left.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|228–233, 369–377}} Altobelli told Manson through the screen door that Melcher had moved to Malibu and said that he did not know his new address, although he did.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|226}}

Altobelli told Manson he was leaving the country the next day, and Manson said he would like to speak with him upon his return. Altobelli said that he would be gone for more than a year.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|228–233}} Manson said that he had been directed to the guest house by the persons in the main house; Altobelli asked Manson not to disturb his tenants.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|228–233}} Altobelli and Tate flew together to Rome the next day. Tate asked him whether "that creepy-looking guy" had gone to see him at the guest house the day before.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|228–233}}

==1969–1971: Crimes and trial==
{{See also|Tate–LaBianca murders|Manson Family#Crimes}}
=== Crowe shooting ===
Tex Watson became involved in [[drug dealing]]<ref name="Waxman"/> and robbed a 22-year-old rival named Bernard "Lotsapoppa" Crowe. Crowe allegedly responded with a threat to kill everyone at Spahn Ranch. In response, Manson shot Crowe on July 1, 1969, at Manson's Hollywood apartment.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|91–96,99–113}}<ref name="Sanders"/>{{rp|147–149}}<ref name="watson12">{{Cite book|title=Will You Die For Me?|last=Watson|first=Charles|date=1978|publisher=F.H. Revell|isbn=0800709128}}</ref> Manson's belief that he had killed Crowe was seemingly confirmed by a news report of the discovery of the dumped body of a [[Black Panther Party|Black Panther]] in Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Waxman |first=Olivia B. |date=2019-07-26 |title=Why Did the Manson Family Kill Sharon Tate? Here's the Story Charles Manson Told the Last Man Who Interviewed Him |url=https://time.com/5633973/last-manson-interview/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-16 |title=Down the Manson Rabbit Hole |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/down-the-manson-rabbit-hole/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Los Angeles Review of Books}}</ref>

Although Crowe was not a member of the Black Panthers, Manson concluded he had been and expected retaliation from the Panthers. He turned Spahn Ranch into a defensive camp, establishing night patrols by armed guards.<ref name="watson12"/><ref name="Sanders"/>{{rp|151}} Watson would later write, "Blackie was trying to get at the chosen ones."<ref name="watson12"/> Manson brought in members of the Straight Satans Motorcycle Club to act as security.<ref name="Waxman">{{cite web|last=Waxman|first=Olivia B.|url=https://time.com/5633973/last-manson-interview/|title=Why Did the Manson Family Kill Sharon Tate? Here's the Story Charles Manson Told the Last Man Who Interviewed Him|work=[[Time magazine]]|date=July 26, 2019|access-date=March 5, 2022|archive-date=September 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924061655/https://time.com/5633973/last-manson-interview/|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{clear}}

=== Hinman murder ===
34-year-old Gary Alan Hinman, a music teacher and graduate student at [[UCLA]], had previously befriended members of the Family and allowed some to occasionally stay at his home in Topanga Canyon. According to Atkins, Manson believed Hinman was wealthy and sent her, Brunner, and Beausoleil to Hinman's home to convince him to join the Family and turn over the assets Manson thought Hinman had inherited.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{Rp|75–77}}<ref name="watson12"/><ref name="atkins">{{cite book|title=Child of Satan, Child of God|publisher=Plainfield, NJ: Logos International | year=1977 | isbn=0-88270-276-9 | pages=94–120 | last1=Atkins|first1= Susan|last2= Slosser|first2= Bob}}</ref> The three held Hinman hostage for two days in late July 1969, as he denied having any money. During this time, Manson arrived with a sword and slashed his face and ear. After that, Beausoleil stabbed Hinman to death, allegedly on Manson's instruction. Before leaving the residence, Beausoleil or one of the women used Hinman's blood to write "political piggy"<!--"Piggy", not "Piggie"; photo is in Bugliosi 1994, between pages 142 and 143--> on the wall and to draw a panther paw, a Black Panther symbol.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{Rp|33, 91–96, 99–113}}<ref name="Sanders"/>{{rp|184}}

According to Beausoleil,<ref name="seconds">{{cite web|work=beausoleil.net|url=http://www.beausoleil.net/mminterview.html|title=Beausoleil ''Seconds'' interviews|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607180026/http://www.beausoleil.net/mminterview.html|archive-date=June 7, 2007}}</ref> he came to Hinman's house to recover money paid to Hinman for [[mescaline]] provided to the Straight Satans, that had supposedly been bad.<ref name="Waxman"/> Beausoleil added that Brunner and Atkins, unaware of his intent, went along to visit Hinman. Atkins, in her 1977 autobiography, wrote that Manson directed Beausoleil, Brunner and her to go to Hinman's and get the supposed inheritance of $21,000. She said that two days earlier Manson had told her privately that, if she wanted to "do something important", she could kill Hinman and get his money.<ref name="atkins"/> Beausoleil was arrested on August 6, 1969, after he was caught driving Hinman's car. Police found the murder weapon in the tire well.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{Rp|28–38}}
{{clear}}

===Tate murders===
On the night of August 8, 1969, Watson took Atkins, Krenwinkel and [[Linda Kasabian]] to 10050 Cielo Drive. Watson later claimed that Manson had instructed him to go to the house and "totally destroy" everyone in it, and to do it "as gruesome as you can".<ref name="bugliosi">Bugliosi, Vincent with Gentry, Curt. ''Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders 25th Anniversary Edition'', W. W. Norton & Company, 1994. {{ISBN|0-393-08700-X}}. {{oclc|15164618}}.</ref>{{rp|463–468}}<ref name="watson14">{{cite web |url=http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/wydfm/wydfm-014.php |title=Watson, Ch. 14 |publisher=Aboundinglove.org |access-date=November 28, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119075221/http://aboundinglove.org/sensational/wydfm/wydfm-014.php |archive-date=November 19, 2010}}</ref> Manson told the women to do as Watson instructed them.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|176–184, 258–269}}

The occupants of the Cielo Drive house that evening were Tate, aged 26, who was 8{{fraction|1|2}} months pregnant; her friend and former lover 35-year-old [[Jay Sebring]], a noted celebrity hairstylist; Polanski's friend 32-year-old Wojciech Frykowski; and Frykowski's 25-year-old girlfriend Abigail Anne Folger, heiress to the [[Folgers]] coffee fortune and daughter of [[Peter Folger]].<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|28–38}} Also present on the property were 19-year-old caretaker William Garretson and his friend, 18-year-old Steven Earl Parent. Polanski was in Europe working on a film. Music producer [[Quincy Jones]] was a friend of Sebring who had planned to join him that evening before changing his mind.<ref>{{cite magazine  |url=https://www.gq.com/story/quincy-jones-has-a-story |title=Quincy Jones Has a Story About That |magazine=GQ |access-date=October 18, 2022}}</ref>

Watson and the three women arrived at Cielo Drive just past midnight on August 9. Watson climbed a telephone pole near the entrance gate and cut the phone line to the house.<ref name="watson9">{{cite web |work=aboundinglove.org |url=http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/wydfm/wydfm-009.php |author=Watson, Charles as told to Ray Hoekstra |title=Will You Die for Me? |access-date=May 3, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405004745/http://aboundinglove.org/sensational/wydfm/wydfm-009.php |archive-date=April 5, 2007}}</ref> The group then backed their car to the bottom of the hill that led to the estate before walking back up to the house. Thinking that the gate might be electrified or equipped with an alarm, they climbed a brushy embankment to the right of the gate and entered the grounds.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|176–184}} 

Headlights approached the group from within the property, and Watson ordered the women to lie in the bushes. He stepped out and ordered the approaching driver, Parent, to halt. Watson leveled a [[.22 caliber]] [[revolver]] at Parent, who begged him not to hurt him, claiming that he would not say anything. Watson lunged at Parent with a knife, giving him a [[defensive wound|defensive slash wound]] on the palm of his hand that severed tendons and tore the boy's watch off his wrist, then shot him four times in the chest and abdomen, killing him in the front seat of his white 1965 [[AMC Ambassador]] coupe. Watson ordered the women to help push the car up the driveway.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|22–25}}<ref name="watson14"/>

Watson next cut the screen of a window, then told Kasabian to keep watch down by the gate; she walked over to Parent's car and waited.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|258–269}}<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|176–184}}<ref name="watson14"/> Watson removed the screen, entered through the window and let Atkins and Krenwinkel in through the front door.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|176–184}} He whispered to Atkins and awoke Frykowski, who was sleeping on the living room couch. Watson kicked him in the head,<ref name="watson14"/> and Frykowski asked him who he was and what he was doing there. Watson replied, "I'm the devil, and I'm here to do the devil's business."<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|176–184}}<ref name="watson14"/>

On Watson's direction, Atkins found the house's three other occupants with Krenwinkel's help<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|176–184, 297–300}} and forced them to the living room. Watson began to tie Tate and Sebring together by their necks with a long nylon rope which he had brought, then slung it over one of the living room's ceiling beams. Sebring protested the rough treatment of the pregnant Tate, so Watson shot him. Folger was taken momentarily back to her bedroom for her purse, and she gave the murderers $70. Watson then stabbed Sebring seven times.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|28–38}}<ref name="watson14"/> Frykowski's hands had been bound with a towel, but he freed himself and began struggling with Atkins, who stabbed at his legs with a knife.<ref name="watson14"/> He fought his way out the front door and onto the porch, but Watson caught up with him, struck him over the head with the gun multiple times, stabbed him repeatedly and shot him twice.<ref name="watson14"/>

Kasabian had heard "horrifying sounds" and moved toward the house from her position in the driveway. She told Atkins that someone was coming in an attempt to stop the murders.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|258–269}}<ref name="watson14"/> Inside the house, Folger escaped from Krenwinkel and fled out a bedroom door to the pool area.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|341–344, 356–361}} Krenwinkel pursued her and caught her on the front lawn, where she stabbed her and tackled her to the ground. Watson then helped kill her; her assailants stabbed her a total of twenty-eight times.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|28–38}}<ref name="watson14"/> Frykowski struggled across the lawn, but Watson continued to stab him, killing him. Frykowski suffered fifty-one stab wounds, and had also been struck thirteen times in the head with the butt of Watson's gun, that bent the barrel and broke off one side of the gun grip, which was recovered at the scene.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|28–38, 258–269}}<ref name="watson14"/>

In the house, Tate pleaded to be allowed to live long enough to give birth and offered herself as a hostage in an attempt to save the life of her unborn child. Instead both Atkins and Watson stabbed Tate sixteen times, killing her. The [[coroner's inquest]] found that Tate was still alive when she was hanged with the nylon rope, although the cause of her death was determined as a "[[massive hemorrhage]]",<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1970/08/22/archives/coroner-details-the-tate-killing-says-actress-was-stabbed-16-times.html CORONER DETAILS THE TATE KILLING]</ref> while in Sebring's murder it was found that he was hanged lifeless.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|28–38}}

According to Watson, Manson had told the women to "leave a sign—something witchy".<ref name="watson14"/> Atkins wrote "pig" on the front door in Tate's blood.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|84–90, 176–184}}<ref name="watson14"/> Atkins claims she did this to copycat the Hinman murder scene to get Beausoleil out of jail, who was in custody for that murder.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|426–435}}

=== LaBianca murders ===
The four murderers plus Manson, Leslie Van Houten and [[Clem Grogan]] went for a drive the following night. Manson was allegedly displeased with the previous night's murders, so he told Kasabian to drive to a house at 3301 Waverly Drive in the [[Los Feliz, Los Angeles|Los Feliz]] section of Los Angeles. Located next door to a home where Manson and Family members had attended a party the previous year,<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|176–184, 204–210}} it belonged to 44-year-old supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his 43-year-old wife, Rosemary LaBianca, co-owner of a dress shop.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|22–25, 42–48}}

According to Atkins and Kasabian, Manson disappeared up the driveway and returned to say that he had tied up the house's occupants. Watson, Krenwinkel and Van Houten entered the property.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|176–184, 258–269}} Watson claims in his autobiography that Manson went up alone, then returned to take him up to the house with him. Manson pointed out a sleeping man through a window, and the two entered through the unlocked back door.<ref name="watson19">{{cite web|url=http://www.aboundinglove.org/main/books/will-you-die-for-me|title=Will You Die For Me?, Ch. 19|last=Watson|first=Charles|website=Abounding Love Ministries|access-date=July 13, 2019|archive-date=April 5, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405004745/http://www.aboundinglove.org/main/books/will-you-die-for-me|url-status=dead}}</ref> Watson claims Manson roused the sleeping Leno LaBianca from the couch at gunpoint and had Watson bind his hands with a leather thong. Rosemary was brought into the living room from the bedroom, and Watson covered the couple's heads with pillowcases which he bound in place with lamp cords. Manson left, and Krenwinkel and Van Houten entered the house.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|176–184, 258–269}}

Watson had complained to Manson earlier of the inadequacy of the previous night's weapons.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|258–269}} Watson sent the women from the kitchen to the bedroom, where Rosemary LaBianca had been returned, while he went to the living room and began stabbing Leno LaBianca with a chrome-plated bayonet. The first thrust went into his throat. Watson heard a scuffle in the bedroom and went in there to discover Rosemary LaBianca keeping the women at bay by swinging the lamp tied to her neck. He stabbed her several times with the bayonet, then returned to the living room and resumed attacking Leno, whom he stabbed a total of twelve times. He then carved the word "WAR" into his abdomen.

Watson returned to the bedroom and found Krenwinkel stabbing Rosemary with a knife from the kitchen. Van Houten stabbed her approximately sixteen times in the back and the exposed buttocks.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|204–210, 297–300, 341–344}} Van Houten claimed at trial<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|433}} that Rosemary LaBianca was already dead during the stabbing. Evidence showed that many of the forty-one stab wounds had, in fact, been inflicted post-mortem.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|44, 206, 297, 341–42, 380, 404, 406–07, 433}} Watson then cleaned off the bayonet and showered, while Krenwinkel wrote "Rise" and "Death to pigs" on the walls and "[[Helter Skelter (scenario)|Healter [sic] Skelter]]" on the refrigerator door, all in LaBianca's blood. She gave Leno LaBianca fourteen puncture wounds with an ivory-handled, two-tined carving fork, which she left jutting out of his stomach. She also planted a steak knife in his throat.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|176–184, 258–269}}

Meanwhile, Manson drove the other three Family members who had departed Spahn with him that evening to the [[Venice, Los Angeles|Venice]] home of the Lebanese actor Saladin Nader. Manson left them there and drove back to Spahn Ranch, leaving them and the LaBianca killers to hitchhike home.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|176–184, 258–269}} According to Kasabian, Manson wanted his followers to murder Nader in his apartment, but Kasabian claims she thwarted this murder by deliberately knocking on the wrong apartment door and waking a stranger. The group abandoned the murder plan and left, but Atkins defecated in the stairwell on the way out.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|270–273}}

=== Shea murder ===
35-year-old [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] [[stuntman]] '''[[Donald Shea|Donald Jerome "Shorty" Shea]]''' was murdered on August 26, 1969,<ref name=GroganBio>{{cite web|title=Steve Grogan biography|url=http://www.biography.com/people/steve-grogan-20902805|website=www.biography.com|publisher=Bio.|access-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123043736/http://www.biography.com/people/steve-grogan-20902805|archive-date=November 23, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> more than two weeks after the [[Tate–LaBianca murders]], when Manson told Shea, Bruce Davis, [[Tex Watson]], and Steve Grogan to go on a ride to a nearby car parts yard on the Spahn Ranch. According to Davis, he sat in the back seat with Grogan, who then hit Shea with a pipe wrench and Watson stabbed him. They brought Shea down a hill behind the ranch and stabbed and brutally tortured him to death. Bruce Davis recalled at his parole hearings:

{{cquote|I was in the car when Steve Grogan hit Shorty with the pipe wrench. Charles Watson stabbed him. I was in the backseat with... with Grogan. They took Shorty out. They had to go down the hill to a place. I stayed in the car for quite a while but what... then I went down the hill later on and that's when I cut Shorty on the shoulder with the knife, after he was... well, I don't know... I... I don't know if he was dead or not. He didn't bleed when I cut him on the shoulder.

When I showed up, you know, he was... he was incapacitated. I don't know if... you asked if he was unconscious, I don't know. He may or may not have been. He didn't seem conscious. He wasn't moving or saying anything. And it started off Manson handed me a machete as if I was supposed to... I mean I know what he wanted. But you know I couldn't do that. And I... in fact, I did touch Shorty Shea with a machete on the back of his neck, didn't break the skin. I mean I just couldn't do it. And then I threw the knife... and he handed me a bayonet and it... I just reached over and... I don't know which side it was on but I cut him right about here on the shoulder just with the tip of the blade. Sort of like saying "Are you satisfied, Charlie?"

And I turned around and walked away. And I... I was sick for about two or three days. I mean I couldn't even think about what I... what I had done.<ref>{{cite web|title=SUBSEQUENT PAROLE CONSIDERATION HEARING STATE OF CALIFORNIA BOARD OF PAROLE HEARINGS In the matter of the Life Term Parole Consideration Hearing of: CHARLES WATSON CDC Number: B-37999|url=http://www.cielodrive.com/charles-tex-watson-parole-hearing-2011.php|access-date=22 November 2013}}</ref>}}

In December 1977, Shea's skeletal remains were discovered on an undistinguished hillside near Santa Susana Road next to [[Spahn Ranch]] after Grogan, one of those convicted of the murder, agreed to aid authorities in the recovery of Shea's body by drawing a map to its location.<ref name=MailTribune>{{cite web|url=https://mailtribune.com/news/top-stories/family-secrets-book-sheds-light-on-murder-by-manson/|work=[[Mail Tribune]]|title=Family secrets: Book sheds light on murder by Manson|first=Vickie|last=Aldous|date=June 9, 2019|access-date=July 2, 2023|archive-date=August 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801150425/https://www.mailtribune.com/news/top-stories/family-secrets-book-sheds-light-on-murder-by-manson/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wpxi.com/news/deep-viral/manson-family-murders-two-nights-of-brutality-that-terrorized-1969-los-angeles/974205161 |title=Manson family murders: Two nights of brutality that terrorized 1969 Los Angeles |first=Crystal |last=Bonvillian |date=August 12, 2019 |access-date=August 20, 2019 |work=[[WPXI]] |publisher=[[Cox Media Group]]}}</ref> According to the autopsy report, his body suffered multiple stab and chopping wounds to the chest, and blunt force trauma to the head.<ref name=SheaAutopsy>Shea, Donald Jerome. Autopsy report case no. 77-15110, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner, County of Los Angeles (December 16, 1977).</ref>

=== Suspected murders ===
{{See also|Manson Family#Suspected further murders}}
In total, Manson and his followers were convicted of nine counts of [[first-degree murder]]. However, the LAPD believes that the Family could have claimed up to twelve more victims.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tata|first1=Samantha|last2=Kovacik|first2=Robert|title=12 Unsolved Murders Have Possible Ties to Manson Family, LAPD Says|url=https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/charles-tex-watson-manson-lapd-lawyer-audio-tape-recordings-murders/1939554/|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=NBC Los Angeles|date=October 18, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Los Angeles Times">{{cite news|last1=Winton|first1=Richard|title=How many more did Manson family kill? LAPD investigating 12 unsolved murders|url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-08-07/charles-manson-unsolved-murders|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=August 8, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=12 Unsolved murders link to Charles Manson|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9622216/Unsolved-murders-link-to-Charles-Manson.html|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=October 20, 2012}}</ref> Cliff Shepard, a former LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division detective, said that Manson "repeatedly" claimed to have killed many others. Prosecutor Stephen Kay supported this assertion: "I know that Manson one time told one of his cellmates that he was responsible for 35 murders." Tate's younger sister, Debra Tate, has also claimed that investigators are "just scraping the surface" when it comes to the number of Manson's victims and has further elaborated on how Manson sent her a taunting map of the [[Panamint Range]], with crosses on it that she believed were meant to represent buried bodies. This has resulted in several excavations that have been undertaken at Manson's [[Barker Ranch]], but they have not resulted in any bodies being found.<ref>{{cite news|title=Did The Manson Family Have Other Victims?|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-the-manson-family-have-other-victims/|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=[[CBS News]]|date=March 16, 2008}}</ref> 
* '''Nancy Warren''', 64, and '''Clyda Dulaney''', 24, were both found near [[Ukiah, California]], at the antique store owned by Warren on October 13, 1968. They had both been beaten and strangled to death with thirty-six leather thongs.<ref>{{cite news|title=Seven-year-old child finds bodies; no clue to slayer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/1212658/|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=Ukiah Daily Journal|date=October 14, 1968}}</ref> After the Family members were arrested, they became suspects when it was discovered that members of the Family had been in the Ukiah area at the time of the murders. However, no one in the Family was ever charged with the murders and no arrests were ever made in the case.
* '''Marina Elizabeth Habe''', 17, was murdered on December 30, 1968. She was a student at the [[University of Hawaii]] home on vacation when she was murdered in Los Angeles.<ref>''More of Hollywood's Unsolved Mysteries'', John Austin, SP Books, 1992, p. 240.<!--ISSN/ISBN needed--></ref><ref name="The Family">Ed Sanders, ''The Family'', [[Avon Books]], May 1972, p. 132.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref> According to the autopsy report, Habe's throat had been slashed and she had received numerous knife wounds to the chest. She suffered multiple contusions to the face and throat, and had been garrotted. There was no evidence of rape.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.philropost.com/2015/02/suspects-and-suspicions.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415041135/http://www.philropost.com/2015/02/suspects-and-suspicions.html |archive-date=April 15, 2015 |title=SUSPECTS AND SUSPICIONS|website=philropost.com|date=February 2015}}</ref> Habe was abducted outside the home of her mother in [[West Hollywood]], 8962 Cynthia Avenue.<ref>"Police report progress of autopsy", ''Los Angeles Times'', January 3, 1969, pg. D1.</ref> A former Manson Family associate claimed members of the Family had known Habe and it was conjectured she had been one of their victims.<ref name="The Family"/><ref name=times>"Officials Reveal Coed, 17, Was Stabbed To Death", ''Los Angeles Times'', January 3, 1969, pg. SF1.</ref>
* '''Darwin Morell Scott''', 64, was the uncle of Manson and the brother of Manson's father, Colonel Scott. On May 27, 1969, Scott was found brutally stabbed to death in his [[Ashland, Kentucky]], apartment. His body was pinned to the kitchen floor with a butcher knife, and he had been stabbed nineteen times. After Manson's arrest, it was reported that local residents claimed to have seen a man resembling Manson using the alias, "Preacher", in the area at the time Darwin was murdered. Manson was on parole in California at the time of the murder, but the murder occurred when Manson was out of touch with his parole officers.<ref>{{cite news|title=Stabbing Evidence Still Out|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80979236/death-of-darwin-morell-scott-64-who/|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=The Dominion News|date=May 30, 1969}}</ref>
* '''Mark Walts''', 16, was an acquaintance of the Family members and was even known to associate with them at the Spahn Ranch. On July 17, 1969, Walts hitchhiked to the [[Santa Monica Pier]] so he could go fishing. His fishing pole was found abandoned at the pier, and his body was found the next day near [[Mulholland Drive]]. He had been shot three times in the chest. Though the Family was reportedly "shocked" by Walts's murder, his brother was convinced that Manson was responsible for his death and even called him to directly accuse him of his murder. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department investigated Spahn Ranch in regard to Walts's murder, but no links were found, and the murder was never solved.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Romano|first1=Aja|title=The Manson Family murders, and their complicated legacy, explained|url=https://www.vox.com/2019/8/7/20695284/charles-manson-family-what-is-helter-skelter-explained|accessdate=June 2, 2022|work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]|date=August 7, 2019}}</ref>
* '''John Philip Haught''', 22, was an [[Ohio]] native who had moved to California and met Manson in the summer of 1969. He joined the Manson Family and was amongst the group who was arrested in the October raid of the clan for the [[Tate-LaBianca murders]]; Manson suspected him of being an informant. On November 5, 1969, Haught was associating with some members of the Family. According to all present, Haught suddenly found a gun in the room, picked it up, and promptly shot himself while attempting a game of [[Russian roulette]]. However, when police investigated the death, they found that the gun, rather than having zero bullets and one spent shell casing, instead contained seven bullets and one spent shell. Moreover, the gun had been wiped free of prints. Additionally, a male witness who had held Haught's head after the shooting told Cohen he had entered the room to find a female Manson follower with the gun in her hand.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Romano|first1=Aja|title=The Manson Family murders, and their complicated legacy, explained|url=https://www.vox.com/2019/8/7/20695284/charles-manson-family-what-is-helter-skelter-explained|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]|date=August 7, 2019}}</ref> Despite this, police concluded Haught had killed himself.
* '''James Sharp''', 15, and '''Doreen Gaul''', 19, were both found stabbed to death in an alley in Los Angeles on November 7, 1969. The murder of the two young [[Scientologists]] involved both being stabbed between fifty and sixty times. Police immediately noted the similarities to these murders and those of the [[Tate-LaBianca murders]];<ref>{{cite news|last1=Pelisek|first1=Christine|title=Did Charles Manson Have 4 More Victims? 'There's an Answer There Somewhere,' Says LAPD Detective|url=https://people.com/crime/did-charles-manson-have-4-more-victims-people-magazine-investigates/?did=344169-20190222&cid=344169&mid=18790762691|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=February 22, 2019}}</ref> the killings of Sharp and Gaul happened close to where the Labianca's lived. In ''[[Helter Skelter (book)|Helter Skelter]]'', author Vincent Bugliosi wrote that Gaul was rumoured to be a former girlfriend of Manson Family member [[Bruce M. Davis|Bruce Davis]]—Davis had lived at the same housing complex as Gaul, but in a police interview he denied knowing her.
* '''[[Reet Jurvetson]]''', 19, was a young woman found stabbed to death on November 16, 1969.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Siemaszko|first1=Corky|title=Reet Jurvetson, Killed in 1969, Could Be a Manson Family Murder Victim|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/reet-jurvetson-killed-1969-could-be-manson-family-murder-victim-n564106|access-date=September 7, 2016|publisher=[[NBC]]|date=April 28, 2016}}</ref> Her body was found with over one hundred and fifty stab wounds from a penknife to her neck and upper body, along with defensive wounds on her hands and arms. She had been disposed of along [[Mulholland Drive]] in Los Angeles, California.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://people.com/crime/lapd-seeks-to-identify-two-men-in-connection-with-murder-of-reet-jurvetson/ |title=L.A. Cops Search for Two in 1969 Unsolved Murder of Reet Jurvetson; Say No Charles Manson Connection |newspaper=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=September 8, 2016 |access-date=March 29, 2017}}</ref> Some witnesses claimed to have seen a woman named "Sherry" who matched Jurvetson's description among members of the Manson Family, but it turned out that this individual was alive. Manson himself denied any involvement in killing Jurvetson. Detectives within the Los Angeles Police Department have noted "striking similarities" between the method of murder of both Jurvetson and Habe, but no firm connection between both murders has ever been established.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/reet-jurvetson-other-cases-1.3857691 |title=Could Canadian's Brutal 1969 Stabbing Death Be Connected to Another L.A. Cold Case? |access-date=September 3, 2017 |newspaper=CBC News |date=November 20, 2016}}</ref>
* '''Joel Pugh''', 29, was found dead in the Talgarth Hotel in London, England, on December 1, 1969. His wrists had been cut and his throat was slit twice. British authorities listed the death a drug-induced suicide, saying Pugh had been depressed. Pugh was a Family member who was married to another member of the Family, [[Sandra Good]]. Stephen Kay and others claim Manson hated Pugh. "He had no reason to commit suicide, and Manson was very unhappy that Sandy was with Pugh", Kay has said. Pugh's death occurred when a number of Manson Family members were being arrested for the [[Tate-LaBianca murders]]. Manson follower [[Bruce M. Davis|Bruce Davis]] was in London at the time Pugh died.<ref name="Los Angeles Times"/>
* '''[[Ronald Hughes]]''', 35, was an American attorney who represented [[Leslie Van Houten]], a member of the Manson Family. Hughes disappeared while on a camping trip during a ten-day recess from the [[#Trial|Tate-LaBianca murder trial]] in November 1970. The badly decomposed body of Hughes was found in March 1971 wedged between two boulders in [[Ventura County, California|Ventura County]].<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|457}} It was rumoured, although never proven, that Hughes was murdered by the Family, possibly because he had stood up to Manson and refused to allow Van Houten to take the stand and absolve Manson of the crimes,<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|387, 394, 481}} though he might have perished in flooding.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|393–394, 481}}<ref name="Sanders"/>{{rp|436–438}} Attorney Stephen Kay has stated that while he is "on the fence" about the Family's involvement in Hughes' death, Manson had open contempt for Hughes during the trial. Kay added, "The last thing Manson said to him [Hughes] was, 'I don't want to see you in the courtroom again,' and he was never seen again alive."<ref name="latimes">{{cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/01/local/la-me-manson-tapes-20120601/2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603205301/http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/01/local/la-me-manson-tapes-20120601/2|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 3, 2012|title=Manson follower's tapes may yield new clues, LAPD says|last=Becerra|first=Hector|author2=Winton, Richard |date=June 1, 2012|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|page=2|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> Family member [[Sandra Good]] stated that Hughes was "the first of the retaliation murders".<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|481–482, 625}}
* On November 8, 1972, the body of 26-year-old Vietnam Marine combat veteran '''James Lambert Willett''' was found by a hiker near [[Guerneville, California]].<ref name=SuspectInKilling /> Months earlier, he had been forced to dig his own grave, and then was shot and poorly buried. His [[station wagon]] was found outside a house in [[Stockton, California|Stockton]] where several Manson followers were living, including Priscilla Cooper, Lynette Fromme, and Nancy Pitman. Police forced their way into the house and arrested several of the people there. The body of Willett's 19-year-old wife '''Lauren Chavelle Willett'''<ref name=posed>"Two men and three women charged with murder of 19-year-old girl",  [[Reuters]] News Service, 1972.</ref> was found buried in the basement.<ref name=SuspectInKilling>[http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/9/suspectinkillingnov1419.jpg Manson Family Suspect in Killing] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618170246/http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/9/suspectinkillingnov1419.jpg |date=June 18, 2012}}, ''The Times Standard'', November 14, 1972.</ref> She had been killed very recently by a gunshot to the head, in what the Family members initially claimed was an accident. It was later suggested that she was killed out of fear that she would reveal who killed her husband. Michael Monfort pleaded guilty to murdering Lauren and Priscilla Cooper, James Craig, and Nancy Pitman pleaded guilty as accessories after the fact. Monfort and William Goucher later pleaded guilty to the murder of James, and James Craig pleaded guilty as an accessory after the fact. The group had been living in the house with the Willetts while committing various robberies. Shortly after killing Willett, Monfort had used Willett's identification papers to pose as Willett after being arrested for an armed robbery of a liquor store. Willett was not involved in the robberies<ref>[http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/2748/exconsmanosngirlscharge.jpg "Ex-cons, Manson Girls Charged"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618170315/http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/2748/exconsmanosngirlscharge.jpg |date=June 18, 2012}}, ''The Billings Gazette'', November 15, 1972.</ref> and wanted to move away, but was presumably killed out of fear that he would talk to police.
* '''[[Laurence Merrick]]''', 50, was an American film director and author. He is best known for co-directing the Oscar nominated documentary [[Manson (film)|Manson]] in 1973.  [[Sharon Tate]] was a former student at Merrick's Academy of Dramatic Arts.<ref>{{cite web|last=Eugene Oregon Register-Guard |title=Producer of movie on Manson 'family' slain in Hollywood |url=http://www.thezodiacmansonconnection.com/crockett_merrick.html |access-date=May 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719231830/http://www.thezodiacmansonconnection.com/crockett_merrick.html |archive-date=July 19, 2012 }}</ref> Merrick was killed by a gunman on January 26, 1977. He was shot in the back in the parking lot of his acting school. Merrick's murder went unsolved until October 1981 when 35-year-old Dennis Mignano confessed to police. At his subsequent trial, Mignano was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a mental hospital. Mignano was an unemployed would-be actor and singer with a long history of psychiatric problems and a possible prior relationship with the Manson clan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/30388705/|title=Valley News from Van Nuys, California on September 30, 1977 · Page 64|website=Newspapers.com|date=September 30, 1977 |access-date=July 20, 2018}}</ref>
* Six months after the murder of Merrick, Mignano's sister '''Michele Mignano''', 21, a topless dancer, was also murdered. Her body was found on June 13, 1977, 350&nbsp;ft into a Western Pacific railroad tunnel in Niles Canyon. Authorities referred to her death as an "execution-style slaying" with her dying from exsanguination due to multiple gunshot wounds. A number of bullet cartridges were found near her body. She was shoeless yet fully clothed with jewelry so sexual assault and robbery were both ruled out as motives. Her murder has never been solved.<ref>[https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPT9cYtggMEPcAr7svJKiEqZYIZ8BHDhLLwOPjTM-9lnjahUZ0jVYBC5voN_G5wTe7gD7AxMx5qLWe7eM1CBWd2dNpSa-wGCrlfav6-ws-DJlsmG_yvDDyQaEesRYPUnyIg8mtHQev-8zP/s1600/Dennis+Mignano+sister+1.png Identity of dead woman a mystery] The Argus Fremont, June 14, 1977</ref><ref>[https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirAXZnHxJdqPQIPo0g6Q8TtIFlLicYNrBTJGUkCBAHBmt5vVui1Cnr3gQe6mRGV4k31x6RwpLljDmRBBIorQp6xt0wJcXN87z0HCVpxmNwlwoS9Az9zE4-k9_LmA9UZpSh9rNwWCUqJfe2/s1600/Dennis+Mignano+sister+3.png Woman's murder not a sex crime] The Argus Fremont, June 22, 1977</ref>

=== Investigation ===
The Tate murders became national news on August 9, 1969, after the Polanskis' housekeeper, Winifred Chapman, arrived for work that morning.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|5–6, 11–15}} On August 10, detectives of the [[Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department]], which had jurisdiction in the Hinman case, informed [[Los Angeles Police Department]] detectives assigned to the Tate case of the bloody writing at the Hinman house. According to [[Vincent Bugliosi]], because detectives believed the Tate murders were a consequence of a drug transaction, the Tate team initially ignored this and other evidence of similarities between the crimes.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|28–38}}<ref name="Sanders"/>{{rp|243–244}}

During the Tate autopsies, detectives working on the Hinman case noticed similarities in the weapons used, the stab wounds, and the writing in blood on the walls. They brought the information to detectives working on the Tate murders. According to Detective Charlie Guenther, "Vince [Bugliosi] didn't want anything to do with the Hinman case. Hinman was a nothing case. Vince didn't want to prosecute it."<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|28–38}}<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|28–38}}

Held briefly as a Tate suspect, Garretson told police he had neither seen nor heard anything on the murder night. He was released on August 11, 1969, after undergoing a [[polygraph]] examination that indicated he had not been involved in the crimes.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|28–38, 42–48}} The LaBianca crime scene was discovered at 10:30&nbsp;p.m. on August 10, approximately nineteen hours after the murders were committed, when 15-year-old Frank Struthers, Rosemary's son from a prior marriage and Leno's stepson, returned from a camping trip.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|38}}

On August 12, 1969, the LAPD told the press it had ruled out any connection between the Tate and LaBianca homicides.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|42–48}} On August 16, the sheriff's office raided Spahn Ranch and arrested Manson and twenty-five others, as "suspects in a major auto theft ring" that had been stealing [[Volkswagen Beetle]]s and converting them into [[Dune buggy|dune buggies]]. Weapons were seized, but because the search warrant had been misdated, the group was released a few days later.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|56}} In a report at the end of August, the LaBianca detectives noted a possible connection between the bloody writings at the LaBianca house and "the singing group the Beatles' most recent album."<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|65}}

Still working separately from the Tate team, the LaBianca team checked with the sheriff's office in mid-October about possible similar crimes. They learned of the Hinman case and also learned that the Hinman detectives had spoken with Beausoleil's girlfriend, Kitty Lutesinger. She had been arrested a few days earlier with members of the Manson Family.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|75–77}}

The arrests, for car thefts, had taken place at the desert ranches to which the Family had moved.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|228–233}}<ref name="watson12"/> A joint force of [[National Park Service Ranger]]s and officers from the [[California Highway Patrol]] and the [[Inyo County, California|Inyo County]] Sheriff's Office: federal, state, and county personnel, had raided both the Myers and Barker ranches after following evidence left when Family members had burned an [[Heavy equipment|earthmover]] owned by [[Death Valley National Park|Death Valley National Monument]].<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|125–127}}<ref name="Sanders"/>{{rp|282–283}} The raiders had found stolen dune buggies and other vehicles, and arrested two dozen people, including Manson. A Highway Patrol officer found Manson hiding in a cabinet beneath Barker's bathroom sink.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|75–77, 125–127}}

Following up leads a month after they had spoken with Lutesinger, LaBianca detectives contacted members of a motorcycle gang Manson tried to recruit as bodyguards while the Family was at Spahn Ranch.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|75–77}}<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|84–90, 99–113}} Meanwhile, a dormitory mate of [[Susan Atkins]] informed LAPD of the Family's involvement in the crimes.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|99–113}} Atkins was booked for the Hinman murder after she told sheriff's detectives that she had been involved in it.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|75–77}}<ref>Report on questioning of Katherine Lutesinger and Susan Atkins October 13, 1969, by Los Angeles Sheriff's officers Paul Whiteley and Charles Guenther.</ref> Transferred to [[Sybil Brand Institute]], a detention center in [[Monterey Park, California]], she had begun talking to bunkmates Ronnie Howard and Virginia Graham, to whom she gave accounts of the events in which she had been involved.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|91–96}}

=== Apprehension ===
On December 1, 1969, the LAPD announced warrants for the arrest of Watson, Krenwinkel, and Kasabian in the Tate case; the suspects' involvement in the LaBianca murders was noted. Manson and Atkins, already in custody, were not mentioned. The connection between the LaBianca case and Van Houten, who was also among those arrested near Death Valley, had not yet been recognized.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|125–127, 155–161, 176–184}} Watson and Krenwinkel were already under arrest, with authorities in [[McKinney, Texas]], and [[Mobile, Alabama]], having picked them up on notice from LAPD.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|155–161}} Informed that a warrant was out for her arrest, Kasabian voluntarily surrendered to authorities in [[Concord, New Hampshire]] on December 2.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|155–161}}

Physical evidence such as Krenwinkel's and Watson's fingerprints, which had been collected by LAPD at Cielo Drive,<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|15, 156, 273, and photographs between 340–41}} was augmented by evidence recovered by the public. On September 1, 1969, the distinctive .22-caliber Hi Standard "Buntline Special" revolver Watson used on Parent, Sebring, and Frykowski had been found and given to the police by Steven Weiss, a 10-year-old who lived near the Tate residence.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|66}} In mid-December, when the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' published a crime account based on information Susan Atkins had given her attorney,<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|160,193}} Weiss's father made several phone calls which finally prompted LAPD to locate the gun in its evidence file and connect it with the murders via ballistics tests.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|198–199}}

Acting on that same newspaper account, a local [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television crew quickly located and recovered the bloody clothing discarded by the Tate killers.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|197–198}} The knives discarded en route from the Tate residence were never recovered, despite a search by some of the same crewmen and by LAPD.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|198, 273}}  A knife found behind the cushion of a chair in the Tate living room was apparently that of Susan Atkins, who lost her knife in the course of the attack.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|17, 180, 262}}<ref name="atkins"/>{{rp|141}}

The trial began on June 15, 1970.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|297–300}} The prosecution's main witness was Kasabian, who, along with Manson, Atkins, and Krenwinkel, had been charged with seven counts of murder and one of [[Conspiracy (criminal)|conspiracy]].<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|185–188}} Since Kasabian, by all accounts, had not participated in the killings, she was granted [[Qualified immunity|immunity]] in exchange for testimony that detailed the nights of the crimes.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|214–219, 250–253, 330–332}} Originally, a deal had been made with Atkins in which the prosecution agreed not to seek the death penalty against her in exchange for her grand jury testimony on which the indictments were secured; once Atkins repudiated that testimony, the deal was withdrawn.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|169, 173–184, 188, 292}} Because Van Houten had participated only in the LaBianca killings, she was charged with two counts of murder and one of conspiracy.

Originally, Judge [[William B. Keene|William Keene]] had reluctantly granted Manson permission to [[Pro se legal representation in the United States|act as his own attorney]]. Due to Manson's conduct, including violations of a [[gag order]] and submission of "outlandish" and "nonsensical" [[motion (legal)|pretrial motions]], the permission was withdrawn before the trial's start.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|200–202, 265}} Manson filed an affidavit of prejudice against Keene, who was replaced by Judge [[Charles Older]].<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|290}} On Friday, July 24, the first day of testimony, Manson appeared in court with an X carved into his forehead. He issued a statement that he was "considered inadequate and incompetent to speak or defend [him]self"—and had "X'd [him]self from [the establishment's] world."<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|310}}<ref name="Sanders"/>{{rp|388}} Over the following weekend, the female defendants duplicated the mark on their own foreheads, as did most Family members within another day or so.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|316}}

The prosecution argued the triggering of "Helter Skelter" was Manson's main motive.<ref name="bugliosi"/> The crime scene's bloody White Album reference, "helter skelter" and the writing of "pigs" was correlated with testimony about Manson predictions that the murders Black people would commit at the outset of Helter Skelter would involve the writing of "pigs" on walls in victims' blood.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|244–247, 450–457}} The defendants testified that the writing in blood on the walls was to copy that of the Hinman murder scene, not an apocalyptic race war.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|426–435}} According to Bugliosi, Manson directed Kasabian to hide a wallet taken from the scene in the women's restroom of a service station near a Black neighborhood.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|176–184, 190–191, 258–269, 369–377}} However, as co-prosecutor Stephen Kay later pointed out the wallet was left about twenty miles away in a predominantly White neighborhood, [[Sylmar]].<ref>{{cite AV media|last=Day|first=Buddy|author-link=James Buddy Day|url=https://www.amazon.com/Charles-Manson-Final-Words/dp/B07YCDVCHX|title=Charles Manson: The Final Words|publisher=[[Pyramid Productions]]: via–[[Amazon Prime]]|date=December 3, 2017|access-date=August 9, 2021|time=1:14:00-1:15:00|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

=== Ongoing disruptions ===
During the trial, Family members loitered near the entrances and corridors of the courthouse. To keep them out of the courtroom proper, the prosecution [[subpoena]]ed them as prospective witnesses, who would not be able to enter while others were testifying.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|309}} When the group established itself in vigil on the sidewalk, some members wore sheathed hunting knives that, although in plain view, were carried legally. Each of them was also identifiable by the X on their forehead.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|339}}

Some Family members attempted to dissuade witnesses from testifying. Prosecution witnesses [[Paul Watkins (Manson Family)|Paul Watkins]] and Juan Flynn were both threatened;<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|280, 332–335}} Watkins was badly burned in a suspicious fire in his van.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|280}} Former Family member Barbara Hoyt, who had overheard [[Susan Atkins]] describing the Tate murders to Family member [[Ruth Ann Moorehouse]], agreed to accompany the latter to Hawaii. There, Moorehouse allegedly gave her a hamburger spiked with several doses of [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]]. Found sprawled on a [[Honolulu]] curb in a drugged semi-stupor, Hoyt was taken to the hospital, where she did her best to identify herself as a witness in the Tate–LaBianca murder trial. Before the incident, Hoyt had been a reluctant witness. After the attempt to silence her, her reticence disappeared.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|348–350, 361}}

On August 4, despite precautions taken by the court, Manson flashed the jury a ''Los Angeles Times'' front page whose headline was "Manson Guilty, Nixon Declares". This was a reference to a statement made the previous day when U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] had decried what he saw as the media's glamorization of Manson. [[Voir dire]]d by Judge Charles Older, the jurors contended that the headline had not influenced them. The next day, the female defendants stood up and said in unison that, in light of Nixon's remark, there was no point in going on with the trial.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|323–238}}

On October 5, Manson was denied the court's permission to question a prosecution witness whom defense attorneys had declined to [[cross-examination|cross-examine]]. Leaping over the defense table, Manson attempted to attack the judge. Wrestled to the ground by bailiffs, he was removed from the courtroom with the female defendants, who had subsequently risen and begun chanting in Latin.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|369–377}} Thereafter, Older allegedly began wearing a revolver under his robes.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|369–377}}

=== Defense rests ===
On November 16, the prosecution rested its case. Three days later, after arguing standard dismissal motions, the defense stunned the court by resting as well, without calling a single witness. Shouting their disapproval, Atkins, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten demanded their right to testify.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|382–388}}

In chambers, the women's lawyers told the judge their clients wanted to testify that they had planned and committed the crimes and that Manson had not been involved.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|382–388}} By resting their case, the defense lawyers had tried to stop this. Van Houten's attorney, [[Ronald Hughes]], vehemently stated that he would not "push a client out the window". In the prosecutor's view, it was Manson who was advising the women to testify in this way as a means of saving himself.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|382–388}} Speaking about the trial in a 1987 documentary, Krenwinkel said, "The entire proceedings were scripted—by Charlie."<ref>''[[Biography (TV series)|Biography]]''—"Charles Manson." [[A&E (TV channel)|A&E Network]].</ref>

The next day, Manson testified. The jury was removed from the courtroom. According to [[Vincent Bugliosi]] it was to make sure Manson's address did not violate the [[Supreme Court of California|California Supreme Court]]'s decision in ''People v. Aranda'' by making statements implicating his co-defendants.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|134}} However, Bugliosi argued Manson would use his hypnotic powers to unfairly influence the jury.<ref>{{cite AV media|last=Schreck|author-link=Nikolas Schreck|first=Nikolas|url=https://archive.org/details/Charles_Manson_SuperStar|title=Charles Manson: Superstar|time=46:00–47:00|date=1988|access-date=July 25, 2021}}</ref> Speaking for more than an hour, Manson said, among other things, that "the music is telling the youth to rise up against the establishment." He said, "Why blame it on me? I didn't write the music." "To be honest with you," Manson also stated, "I don't recall ever saying 'Get a knife and a change of clothes and go do what Tex says.{{'"}}<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|388–392}}

As the body of the trial concluded and with the closing arguments impending, defense attorney Hughes disappeared during a weekend trip.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|393–398}} When Maxwell Keith was appointed to represent Van Houten in Hughes' absence, a delay of more than two weeks was required to permit Keith to familiarize himself with the voluminous trial transcripts.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|393–398}} No sooner had the trial resumed, just before Christmas, than disruptions of the prosecution's closing argument by the defendants led Older to ban the four defendants from the courtroom for the remainder of the [[bifurcation (law)|guilt phase]]. This may have occurred because the defendants were acting in collusion with each other and were simply putting on a performance, which Older said was becoming obvious.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|399–407}}

=== Conviction and penalty phase ===
On January 25, 1971, the jury returned guilty verdicts against the four defendants on each of the twenty-seven separate counts against them.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|411–419}} Not far into the trial's [[bifurcation (law)|penalty phase]], the jurors saw the defense that Manson—in the prosecution's view—had planned to present.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|455}}  Atkins, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten testified the murders had been conceived as "copycat" versions of the Hinman murder, for which Atkins now took credit. The killings, they said, were intended to draw suspicion away from Bobby Beausoleil by resembling the crime for which he had been jailed. This plan had supposedly been the work of, and carried out under the guidance of, not Manson, but someone allegedly in love with Beausoleil—[[Linda Kasabian]].<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|424–433}} Among the narrative's weak points was the inability of Atkins to explain why, as she was maintaining, she had written "political piggy" at the Hinman house in the first place.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|424–433, 450–457}}

Midway through the penalty phase, Manson shaved his head and trimmed his beard to a fork; he told the press, "I am the Devil, and the Devil always has a bald head."<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|439}} In what the prosecution regarded as belated recognition on their part that imitation of Manson only proved his domination, the female defendants refrained from shaving their heads until the jurors retired to weigh the state's request for the death penalty.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|439, 455}} The effort to exonerate Manson via the "copycat" scenario failed. On March 29, 1971, the jury returned verdicts of death against all four defendants on all counts.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|450–457}} On April 19, 1971, Judge Older sentenced the four to death.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|458–459}}

== 1971–2017: Third imprisonment ==
=== 1970s–1980s ===
[[File:Charles Manson 1971.jpg|thumb|upright|150 px|alt=Manson's|Manson's 1971 mugshot.]]
Manson was admitted to state prison from Los Angeles County on April 22, 1971, for seven counts of [[Murder|first-degree murder]] and one count of [[Conspiracy to murder|conspiracy to commit murder]] for the deaths of Abigail Ann Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Earl Parent, Sharon Tate Polanski, Jay Sebring, and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Khokhobashvili |first=Krissi |date=2017-11-19 |title=Inmate Charles Manson Dies of Natural Causes |url=https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/news/2017/11/19/inmate-charles-manson-dies-of-natural-causes/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=News Releases |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1972, the [[Supreme Court of California|California Supreme Court]] ruled that the state's death penalty statutes was unconstitutional, and subsequently Manson was re-sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. His initial death sentence was modified to life on February&nbsp;2, 1977.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Little |first=Becky |date=2017-11-20 |title=Charles Manson Was Sentenced to Death. Why Wasn't He Executed? |url=https://www.history.com/articles/charles-manson-was-sentenced-to-death-why-wasnt-he-executed |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Manson Family murders: Key players in the Tate-LaBianca killings |url=https://abc7.com/manson-family-murders-charles-sharon-tate-tex-watson/782755/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=ABC7 Los Angeles |date=June 16, 2015 |language=en}}</ref>

On December 13, 1971, Manson was convicted of first-degree murder in Los Angeles County Court for the July 25, 1969, death of musician Gary Hinman. He was also convicted of first-degree murder for the August 1969 death of Donald Shea. Following the 1972 decision of ''[[People v. Anderson|California v. Anderson]]'', California's [[Capital punishment in California|death sentences]] were ruled unconstitutional and that "any prisoner now under a sentence of death ... may file a petition for writ of ''[[habeas corpus]]'' in the superior court inviting that court to modify its judgment to provide for the appropriate alternative punishment of life imprisonment or life imprisonment without possibility of parole specified by statute for the crime for which he was sentenced to death."<ref>{{Cite web |title=People v. Anderson – 6 Cal.3d 628 – Fri, 02/18/1972 {{!}} California Supreme Court Resources |url=https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/people-v-anderson-22750 |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=scocal.stanford.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=People v. Anderson |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/6/628.html |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Justia Law |language=en}}</ref> Manson was thus eligible to apply for parole after seven years' incarceration.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=488–491}} His first parole hearing took place on November 16, 1978, at California Medical Facility in [[Vacaville, California|Vacaville]], where his petition was rejected.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=497–498}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Manson Family and Sharon Tate-Labianca Murders – Cielodrive.com |url=http://www.cielodrive.com/charles-manson-denied-parole.php |access-date=April 24, 2012 |archive-date=May 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501212420/http://cielodrive.com/charles-manson-denied-parole.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Gerald Ford assassination attempt====
{{Main|Gerald Ford assassination attempt in Sacramento}}
On September 5, 1975, the Family returned to national attention when [[Lynette Fromme|Squeaky Fromme]] attempted to assassinate U.S. President [[Gerald Ford]].<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|502–511}} The attempt took place in [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], to which she and fellow Manson follower [[Sandra Good]] had moved so that they could be near Manson while he was incarcerated at [[Folsom State Prison]]. A subsequent search of the apartment shared by Fromme, Good, and another Family recruit turned up evidence that, coupled with later actions on the part of Good, resulted in Good's conviction for conspiring to send threatening communications through the United States mail service and for transmitting death threats by way of interstate commerce. The threats involved corporate executives and U.S. government officials vis-à-vis supposed environmental dereliction on their part.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|502–511}}

Fromme was sentenced to 15 years to life, becoming the first person sentenced under [[United States Code]] Title 18, chapter 84 (1965),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1751-|title=18 U.S.C. §&nbsp;1751|website=Law.cornell.edu|date=June 28, 2010|access-date=November 28, 2010|archive-date=July 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720042349/https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1751|url-status=live}}</ref> which made it a federal crime to attempt to assassinate the President of the United States. In December 1987, Fromme, serving a life sentence for the assassination attempt, escaped briefly from [[Federal Prison Camp, Alderson]] in [[West Virginia]]. She was trying to reach Manson because she heard that he had [[testicular cancer]]; she was apprehended within days.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|502–511}} She was released on parole from [[Federal Medical Center, Carswell]] on August 14, 2009.<ref name="abc">{{cite news|title=Would-Be Assassin 'Squeaky' Fromme Released from Prison|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/MansonMurders/story?id=8327414&page=1|publisher=[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]|date=August 14, 2009|access-date=August 14, 2009|archive-date=August 16, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090816201405/http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/MansonMurders/story?id=8327414&page=1|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 1980s–1990s ===
[[File:FolsomStatePrison.jpg|thumb|right|200 px|[[Folsom State Prison]], where Manson spent time imprisoned.]]
In the 1980s, Manson gave four interviews to the mainstream media. The first, recorded at [[California Medical Facility]] and aired on June 13, 1981, was by [[Tom Snyder]] for [[NBC]]'s ''[[Tomorrow Coast to Coast|The Tomorrow Show]]''. The second, recorded at [[San Quentin State Prison]] and aired on March 7, 1986, was by [[Charlie Rose]] for ''CBS News Nightwatch'', and it won the national news [[Emmy Award]] for Best Interview in 1987.<ref name="Diary of a Mad Saloon Owner">{{Cite web |title=Nathans Restaurant in Georgetown, Washington DC |url=http://www.nathanslunch.com/diary_aprilmay_2005.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625104129/http://www.nathanslunch.com/diary_aprilmay_2005.htm |archive-date=June 25, 2018 |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=www.nathanslunch.com |url-status=live }}</ref> The third, with [[Geraldo Rivera]] in 1988, was part of the journalist's prime-time special on [[Satanism]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Rivera's 'Devil Worship' was TV at its Worst|author-link=Tom Shales|first=Tom|last=Shales|newspaper=[[The Mercury News|San Jose Mercury News]]|date=October 31, 1988}}</ref> At least as early as the Snyder interview, Manson's forehead bore a [[swastika]] in the spot where the X carved during his trial had been.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hearts and Souls Dissected, in 12 Minutes or Less |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/arts/television/31tomo.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 31, 2007 |access-date=October 31, 2009 |quote=Appraisal of Tom Snyder, upon his death. Includes photograph of Manson with swastika on forehead during 1981 interview. |first=Dave |last=Itzkoff |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111234610/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/arts/television/31tomo.html |archive-date=January 11, 2012 }}</ref> [[Nikolas Schreck]] conducted an interview with Manson for his documentary ''[[Charles Manson Superstar]]''. Schreck concluded Manson was not insane, but merely acting that way out of frustration.<ref>{{cite AV media|title=Charles Manson Superstar|date=1989}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media|work=Interano Radio|title=Interview with Nikolas Schreck|date=August 1988}}</ref>

On September 25, 1984, Manson was imprisoned in the [[California Medical Facility]] at [[Vacaville, California|Vacaville]] when inmate Jan Holmstrom poured [[paint thinner]] on him and set him on fire, causing second and third degree burns on over 20&nbsp;percent of his body. Holmstrom explained that Manson had objected to his [[Hare Krishna (mantra)|Hare Krishna]] chants and verbally threatened him.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ap |date=1984-09-26 |title=AROUND THE NATION; Manson Is Set Ablaze By Inmate in California |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/26/us/around-the-nation-manson-is-set-ablaze-by-inmate-in-california.html |access-date=2025-04-26 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> After 1989, Manson was housed in the Protective Housing Unit at California State Prison, Corcoran, in Kings County.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-19 |title=How Charles Manson Became One Of The Most Notorious Cult Leaders - CBS Sacramento |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/how-charles-manson-became-one-of-the-most-notorious-cult-leaders/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The unit housed inmates whose safety would be endangered by general-population housing. He had also been housed at San Quentin State Prison,<ref name="Diary of a Mad Saloon Owner" /> California Medical Facility in Vacaville, Folsom State Prison and Pelican Bay State Prison.<ref name="Sun Journal" />
In June 1997, a prison disciplinary committee found that Manson had been trafficking drugs.<ref name="Sun Journal">{{cite news |title=Manson moved to a tougher prison after drug charge |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=z1IpAAAAIBAJ&pg=5539%2C3207462 |access-date=January 16, 2013 |newspaper=Sun Journal |date=August 22, 1997 |agency=AP |location=Lewiston, Maine |page=7A |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507124620/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=z1IpAAAAIBAJ&pg=5539%2C3207462 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was moved from Corcoran State Prison to [[Pelican Bay State Prison]] a month later.<ref name="Sun Journal" />

=== 2000s–2017 ===
[[File:Manson-June-2011.jpg|thumb|upright|Manson, age 76, June 2011.]]

On September 5, 2007, [[MSNBC]] aired ''The Mind of Manson'', a complete version of a 1987 interview at California's [[San Quentin State Prison]]. The footage of the "unshackled, unapologetic, and unruly" Manson had been considered "so unbelievable" that only seven minutes of it had originally been broadcast on ''[[Today (American TV program)|Today]]'', for which it had been recorded.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-09-06 |title='MSNBC Live' for Sept. 5 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna20623572 |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=New prison photo of Charles Manson released |work=[[CNN]]|date=March 20, 2009 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/19/california.manson.photo/index.html |access-date=July 21, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090729031627/http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/19/california.manson.photo/index.html |archive-date=July 29, 2009 }}</ref>

In 2009, Los Angeles disc jockey Matthew Roberts released correspondence and other evidence indicating that he might be Manson's biological son. Roberts' biological mother claims that she was a member of the Manson Family who left in mid-1967 after being raped by Manson. She returned to her parents' home to complete the pregnancy, gave birth on March 22, 1968, and put Roberts up for adoption. CNN conducted a DNA test between Matthew Roberts and Manson's known biological grandson Jason Freeman in 2012, showing that Roberts and Freeman did not share DNA.<ref name="specter">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/04/23/us/ohio-manson-grandson/index.html|title=Two men relate to same haunting specter – Charles Manson|last=Marquez|first=Miguel|work=[[CNN]]|date=April 24, 2012|access-date=May 14, 2019|archive-date=May 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514211921/https://www.cnn.com/2012/04/23/us/ohio-manson-grandson/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Roberts subsequently attempted to establish that Manson was his father through a direct DNA test which proved definitively that Roberts and Manson were not related.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/charles-mansons-body-is-on-ice-under-a-fake-name-10|title=The Battle Over Charles Manson's Corpse|first=Kate|last=Briquelet|date=March 8, 2018|website=[[The Daily Beast]]|access-date=May 14, 2019|archive-date=June 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626225804/https://www.thedailybeast.com/charles-mansons-body-is-on-ice-under-a-fake-name-10|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2010, the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that Manson was caught with a cell phone in 2009 and had contacted people in California, New Jersey, Florida and British Columbia. A spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections stated that it was not known if Manson had used the phone for criminal purposes.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=Greg |url=http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/weird/Cell-Phone-Charles-Manson-Busted-with-a-Mobile-111256244.html?dr |title='Cell' Phone: Charles Manson Busted with a Mobile |publisher=NBC Los Angeles |date=December 3, 2010 |access-date=October 28, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019214923/http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/weird/Cell-Phone-Charles-Manson-Busted-with-a-Mobile-111256244.html?dr |archive-date=October 19, 2012 }}</ref> Manson also recorded an album of acoustic pop songs with additional production by [[Henry Rollins]], titled ''Completion''. Only five copies were pressed: two belong to Rollins, while the other three are presumed to have been with Manson. The album remains unreleased.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Michaels |first1=Sean |title=Henry Rollins produced Charles Manson album |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/15/henry-rollins-charles-manson |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=December 15, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029173114/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/15/henry-rollins-charles-manson |archive-date=October 29, 2017 }}</ref>

In 2013, Manson stated that he was [[bisexuality|bisexual]], saying "Sex to me is like going to the toilet. Whether it's a girl or not. It doesn't matter. I don't play that girl-guy shit. I'm not hung up in that game."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Hedegaard |first=Erik |title=Charles Manson Today: The Final Confessions of a Psychopath |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/charles-manson-today-the-final-confessions-of-a-psychopath-58782/ |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=November 21, 2013 }}</ref> In 2014, the imprisoned Manson became engaged to 26-year-old Afton Elaine Burton and obtained a marriage license on November 7.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Feeney |first=Nolan |date=2014-11-18 |title=5 Things to Know About the Woman Charles Manson Might Marry |url=https://time.com/3590836/charles-manson-marriage-afton-elaine-burton-star/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref> Manson gave Burton the nickname "Star". She had been visiting him in prison for at least nine years and maintained several websites that proclaimed his innocence.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Deutsch |first1=Linda |author-link=Linda Deutsch |title=Charles Manson Gets Marriage License |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-exclusive-charles-manson-marriage-license-26978380 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141117232054/https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-exclusive-charles-manson-marriage-license-26978380 |archive-date=November 17, 2014 |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|agency=Associated Press |access-date=November 17, 2014 }}</ref> The wedding license expired on February 5, 2015, without a marriage ceremony taking place.<ref name=post /> 

Journalist Daniel Simone reported that the wedding was canceled after Manson discovered that Burton wanted to marry him only so that she and friend Craig Hammond could use his corpse as a tourist attraction after his death.<ref name="post">{{cite news |url=https://nypost.com/2015/02/08/charles-mansons-fiancee-wanted-to-marry-him-for-his-corpse-source/ |title=Charles Manson's fiancee wanted to marry him for his corpse: Source |work=[[New York Post]] |date=February 8, 2015 |access-date=February 2, 2015 |last=Sanderson|first=Bill |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208164216/http://nypost.com/2015/02/08/charles-mansons-fiancee-wanted-to-marry-him-for-his-corpse-source/ |archive-date=February 8, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="independent corpse">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/charles-manson-wedding-off-after-it-emerges-that-girlfriend-afton-elaine-burton-just-wanted-his-corpse-for-display-10034793.html |title=Charles Manson wedding off after it emerges that fiancee Afton Elaine Burton 'just wanted his corpse for display' |work=[[The Independent]] |date=February 9, 2015 |access-date=February 11, 2015 |last=Hooton|first=Christopher |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210220731/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/charles-manson-wedding-off-after-it-emerges-that-girlfriend-afton-elaine-burton-just-wanted-his-corpse-for-display-10034793.html |archive-date=February 10, 2015 }}</ref> According to Simone, Manson believed that he would never die and may simply have used the possibility of marriage as a way to encourage Burton and Hammond to continue visiting him and bringing him gifts. Burton said on her website that the reason that the marriage did not take place was merely logistical. Manson had an infection and had been in a prison medical facility for two months and could not receive visitors. She said that she still hoped that the marriage license would be renewed and the marriage would take place.<ref name=post />

== Psychology ==
On April 11, 2012, Manson was denied release at his twelfth parole hearing, which he did not attend. After his March 27, 1997, parole hearing, Manson refused to attend any of his later hearings. The panel at that hearing noted that Manson had a "history of [[Abusive power and control|controlling behavior]]" and "mental health issues" including [[schizophrenia]] and [[Paranoia#Paranoid social cognition|paranoid delusional disorder]], and was too great a danger to be released.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/charles-manson-quickly-denied-parole.html |title=Charles Manson Quickly Denied Parole |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=April 11, 2012 |access-date=April 11, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411181326/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/charles-manson-quickly-denied-parole.html |archive-date=April 11, 2012 }}</ref> The panel noted that Manson had received 108 rules violation reports, had no indication of remorse, no insight into the causative factors of the crimes, lacked understanding of the magnitude of the crimes, had an exceptional, callous disregard for human suffering and had no parole plans.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cielodrive.com/charles-manson-parole-hearing-2012.php |title=Parole Hearing: Charles Manson 2012 |website=cielodrive.com |access-date=November 4, 2017 |archive-date=August 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807112149/http://www.cielodrive.com/charles-manson-parole-hearing-2012.php |url-status=live }}</ref> 

At the April 11, 2012, parole hearing, it was determined that Manson would not be reconsidered for parole for another fifteen years, not before 2027, at which time he would have been 92.<ref>{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Kiki |url=http://www.kionrightnow.com/story/17385763/charles-manson-denied-parole |title=Murderer Charles Manson Denied Parole – Central Coast News KION/KCBA |publisher=Kionrightnow.com |date=April 11, 2012 |access-date=August 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413172109/http://www.kionrightnow.com/story/17385763/charles-manson-denied-parole |archive-date=April 13, 2012 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.pressherald.com/2012/04/11/manson-skips-12th-parole-hearing-may-be-his-last/ |title=Mass murderer Charles Manson denied parole |access-date=November 18, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118190205/http://www.pressherald.com/2012/04/11/manson-skips-12th-parole-hearing-may-be-his-last/ |archive-date=November 18, 2015 |date=April 11, 2012}}</ref> In a 2023 re-analysis of Manson's psychological state, researchers suggest that he may have been misdiagnosed with schizophrenia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 20, 2023 |title=Why did Charles Manson order killings? NU psychologist, other experts offer a new take |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/1/20/23559781/charles-manson-sharon-tate-psychological-study-andrew-friedman-northwestern-university |access-date=April 18, 2023 |website=Chicago Sun-Times |language=en}}</ref> They propose that Manson had [[bipolar disorder]] and [[psychopathy]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Roy |first1=Tod A. |last2=Mihura |first2=Joni L. |last3=Friedman |first3=Alan F. |last4=Nichols |first4=David S. |last5=Meloy |first5=J. Reid |title=The last psychological evaluation of Charles Manson: Implications for personality, psychopathology, and ideology |journal=Journal of Threat Assessment and Management |date=2023 |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=127–150 |doi=10.1037/tam0000197  |url=https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2023-30761-001  }}</ref>

== Illness and death ==
On January 1, 2017, Manson was being held at [[California State Prison, Corcoran|Corcoran Prison]], when he was rushed to Mercy Hospital in downtown Bakersfield, because he had [[gastrointestinal bleeding]]. A source told the ''Los Angeles Times'' that Manson was very ill,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Winton |first1=Richard |last2=Hamilton |first2=Matt |last3=Branson-Potts |first3=Hailey |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-manson-bleeding-20170104-story.html |title=Killer Charles Manson's failing health renews focus on cult murder saga |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 4, 2017 |access-date=January 4, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105032947/http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-manson-bleeding-20170104-story.html |archive-date=January 5, 2017 }}</ref> and TMZ reported that his doctors considered him "too weak" for surgery that normally would be performed in cases such as his.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0107/843268-charles-manson/ |title=US killer Manson 'too weak' for surgery |publisher=RTÉ |date=January 7, 2017 |access-date=January 7, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108100259/http://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0107/843268-charles-manson/ |archive-date=January 8, 2017 }}</ref> He was returned to prison on January 6, and the nature of his treatment was not disclosed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Winton |first1=Richard |last2=Christensen |first2=Kim |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-manson-returned-to-prison20170106-story.html |title=Charles Manson is returned to prison after stay at Bakersfield hospital |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 7, 2017 |access-date=January 7, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107085511/http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-manson-returned-to-prison20170106-story.html |archive-date=January 7, 2017 }}</ref> On November 15, 2017, an unauthorized source said that Manson had returned to a hospital in Bakersfield,<ref>{{cite news |last=Tchekmedyian |first=Alene |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-charles-manson-hospitalized-20171115-story.html |title=Charles Manson hospitalized in Bakersfield; severity of illness unclear |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=November 15, 2017 |access-date=October 8, 2021 |archive-date=October 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008142014/https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-charles-manson-hospitalized-20171115-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> but the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did not confirm this in conformity with state and federal medical privacy laws.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc15.com/news/national/charles-manson-s-condition-still-unannounced |title=Charles Manson's condition still unannounced |agency=Scripps National Desk |date=November 17, 2017 |publisher=ABC 15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118211630/http://www.abc15.com/news/national/charles-manson-s-condition-still-unannounced |archive-date=November 18, 2017 |access-date=November 18, 2017 }}</ref> He died from cardiac arrest resulting from [[respiratory failure]], brought on by [[colon cancer]], at the hospital on November 19.<ref name=death>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/charles-manson-dead-at-83-w458873 |title=Charles Manson Dead at 83 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120192522/http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/charles-manson-dead-at-83-w458873 |archive-date=November 20, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.tmz.com/2017/11/19/charles-manson-dead-at-83/ |title=Charles Manson Dead at 83 |work=[[TMZ]] |date=November 19, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120061831/http://www.tmz.com/2017/11/19/charles-manson-dead-at-83/ |archive-date=November 20, 2017 |access-date=February 21, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.cdcr.ca.gov/news-releases/2017/11/19/inmate-charles-manson-dies-of-natural-causes/ |title=Inmate Charles Manson Dies of Natural Causes |publisher=[[California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120064948/https://news.cdcr.ca.gov/news-releases/2017/11/19/inmate-charles-manson-dies-of-natural-causes/ |archive-date=November 20, 2017 |date=November 19, 2017 |access-date=November 20, 2017 }}</ref>

Three people stated their intention to claim Manson's estate and body.<ref name="nydailynews-2017-11-24">{{cite news |last1=Dillon |first1=Nancy |title=Battle erupts over control of Charles Manson's remains, estate |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/battle-erupts-control-charles-manson-remains-estate-article-1.3654743 |work=[[New York Daily News]] |date=November 24, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171127013510/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/battle-erupts-control-charles-manson-remains-estate-article-1.3654743 |archive-date=November 27, 2017 }}</ref><ref name="nydailynews-2017-11-28">{{cite news |last1=Feldman |first1=Kate |title=Charles Manson's secret prison pen pal Michael Channels wants murderer's body |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/charles-manson-prison-pen-pal-michael-channels-remains-article-1.3663746 |work=[[New York Daily News]] |date=November 28, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205194620/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/charles-manson-prison-pen-pal-michael-channels-remains-article-1.3663746 |archive-date=December 5, 2017 }}</ref><ref name="nypost-2017-11-28">{{cite news |last1=Perez |first1=Chris |title=Manson's pen pal files will and testament to get his body |url=https://nypost.com/2017/11/28/mansons-pen-pal-files-will-and-testament-to-get-his-body/ |work=[[New York Post]] |date=November 28, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205093047/https://nypost.com/2017/11/28/mansons-pen-pal-files-will-and-testament-to-get-his-body/ |archive-date=December 5, 2017 }}</ref> Manson's grandson Jason Freeman stated his intent to take possession of Manson's remains and personal effects.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rubenstein |first1=Steve |title=Manson's grandson hopes to claim remains, bring them to Florida |url=http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Manson-s-grandson-hopes-to-claim-remains-bring-12375963.php |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=November 21, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122032844/http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Manson-s-grandson-hopes-to-claim-remains-bring-12375963.php |archive-date=November 22, 2017 |access-date=November 22, 2017 }}</ref> Manson's pen-pal Michael Channels claimed to have a Manson [[Will and testament|will]] dated February 14, 2002, which left Manson's entire estate and Manson's body to Channels.<ref name="TMZ 2017-11-24">{{cite news |title=Charles Manson Will Surfaces Pen Pal Gets Everything |url=https://www.tmz.com/2017/11/24/charles-manson-will-entire-estate-body-left-to-friend/ |work=TMZ.com |date=November 24, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171126050555/http://www.tmz.com/2017/11/24/charles-manson-will-entire-estate-body-left-to-friend/ |archive-date=November 26, 2017 |access-date=February 21, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Charles Manson's Pen Pal, Grandson Battle For His Body |url=https://www.tmz.com/2017/11/29/charles-manson-cremation-halted-body-sought-by-two-people/ |work=TMZ.com |date=November 29, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129195609/http://www.tmz.com/2017/11/29/charles-manson-cremation-halted-body-sought-by-two-people/ |archive-date=November 29, 2017 |access-date=February 21, 2020 }}</ref> Manson's friend Ben Gurecki claimed to have a Manson will dated January 2017 which gives the estate and Manson's body to Matthew Roberts, another alleged son of Manson.<ref name="nydailynews-2017-11-24" /><ref name="nydailynews-2017-11-28" /> 

In 2012, CNN ran a DNA match to see if Freeman and Roberts were related to each other and found that they were not. According to CNN, two prior attempts to DNA-match Roberts with genetic material from Manson failed, but the results were reportedly contaminated.<ref name="specter"/> On March 12, 2018, the Kern County Superior Court in California decided in favor of Freeman in regard to Manson's body.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/man-who-claims-hes-infamous-criminals-grandson-appeals-dna-order/2306001/ |title= Man Who Claims He's Infamous Criminal's Grandson Appeals DNA Order|publisher=City News Service|via=[[NBC Los Angeles]]|language=en-US|url-status= live|date= February 7, 2020 |access-date=January 5, 2025 |archive-date= February 18, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200218225202/https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/man-who-claims-hes-infamous-criminals-grandson-appeals-dna-order/2306001/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Melley |first1=Brian |title=Grandson wins bizarre battle over body of Charles Manson |url=https://apnews.com/article/354f5ab40e954ea187253f87fce9f276|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|url-status=live|date=March 12, 2018|archive-date=October 6, 2020|access-date=January 5, 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201006000427/https://apnews.com/article/354f5ab40e954ea187253f87fce9f276}}</ref> A funeral service was held for Manson on March 17, 2018, after which Freeman had his remains cremated and scattered on a California hillside.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/20/us/charles-manson-cremated-funeral/index.html|title=Four months after his death, Charles Manson is buried|author=Becker, Stephanie|publisher=[[CNN]]|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=March 21, 2018|access-date=January 5, 2025|archive-date=January 5, 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250105234806/https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/20/us/charles-manson-cremated-funeral/index.html}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
=== Cultural impact ===
In June 1970, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' made Manson their cover story.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/charles-manson-the-incredible-story-of-the-most-dangerous-man-alive-19700625|title=Charles Manson: The Incredible Story of the Most Dangerous Man Alive|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808142504/http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/charles-manson-the-incredible-story-of-the-most-dangerous-man-alive-19700625|date=August 8, 2017|access-date=May 30, 2015|archive-date=August 8, 2017}}</ref> [[Bernardine Dohrn]] of the [[Weather Underground]] reportedly said of the Tate murders: "Dig it, first they killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them, then they even shoved a fork into the pig Tate's stomach! Wild!"<ref name=seeds>{{cite news|work=[[The New York Times]]|page=5 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/22/magazine/the-seeds-of-terror.html |title=The Seeds of Terror |access-date=February 2, 2014 |date=November 22, 1981 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309015156/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/22/magazine/the-seeds-of-terror.html |archive-date=March 9, 2014 }}</ref> Manson fanatic [[James Mason (neo-Nazi)|James Mason]] claimed to be acting on a suggestion from Charles Manson based on his interpretation of something Manson said in a televised interview, when Mason founded the Universal Order, a [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] group that has influenced other movements such as the terrorist group the [[Atomwaffen Division]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Lusher |first=Adam |date=November 20, 2017 |title=Charles Manson: Neo-Nazis hail serial killer a visionary and try to resurrect fascist movement created on his orders |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/charles-manson-death-dead-serial-killer-neo-nazis-resurrect-fascist-movement-cult-family-universal-order-awd-a8065781.html |work=[[The Independent]] |location=London, United Kingdom |access-date=February 28, 2022 |archive-date=December 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222081540/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/charles-manson-death-dead-serial-killer-neo-nazis-resurrect-fascist-movement-cult-family-universal-order-awd-a8065781.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Bugliosi quoted a BBC employee's assertion that a "neo-Manson cult" existed in Europe, represented by approximately 70 rock bands playing songs by Manson and "songs in support of him".{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=488–491}}

The names of the ''[[Star Wars]]'' characters [[Luke Skywalker]] and his father [[Anakin Skywalker]] were influenced by Manson's reputation. Written between January 1973 and March 1976, screenplays for ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' (1977) had used the names Luke and Annikin Starkiller,<ref name="ASCbehind1">{{cite magazine |author=Staff |title=A young, enthusiastic crew employs far-out technology to put a rollicking intergalactic fantasy onto the screen |url=http://www.theasc.com/magazine/starwars/articles/starwars/behind/pg1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001221045/http://www.theasc.com/magazine/starwars/articles/starwars/behind/pg1.htm |archive-date=October 1, 2016 |access-date=June 7, 2025 |magazine=[[American Cinematographer]] |publisher=[[American Society of Cinematographers]] |page=1}}</ref><ref name="ArchivedScripts">{{cite web |title=Starkiller |url=http://starwarz.com/starkiller/scripts.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628065925/http://www.starwarz.com/starkiller/scripts.htm |archive-date=June 28, 2006 |access-date=June 7, 2025 |work=starwarz.com |publisher=Jedi Bendu}}</ref> but after production of the movie began, [[George Lucas]] changed the surname to Skywalker. In 2007, Lucas explained "[he] felt a lot of people [on set] were confusing him with someone like Charles Manson. It had very unpleasant connotations." — Starkiller could be misconstrued as "celebrity killer" in a time when coverage on Manson was renewed following [[attempted assassination of Gerald Ford in Sacramento|Fromme's attempted assassination of Gerald Ford]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hedash |first=Kara |date=2020-02-18 |title=Star Wars: Here's Why George Lucas Changed Luke Skywalker's Original Name |url=https://screenrant.com/star-wars-george-lucas-luke-starkiller-skywalker-name-change/ |access-date=June 7, 2025 |website=ScreenRant |language=en |archive-date=November 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105023320/https://screenrant.com/star-wars-george-lucas-luke-starkiller-skywalker-name-change/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Satran |first1=Joe |title=The Hero Of 'Star Wars' Almost Wasn't Named Luke Skywalker |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/luke-skywalker-name-change-starkiller_n_563121a8e4b0631799109b32 |access-date=June 7, 2025 |work=[[HuffPost]] |date=Oct 28, 2015 |quote=Why George Lucas changed it from "Luke Starkiller" at the last minute.}}</ref> and Hollywood productions incorporated increased themes of sexual violence and gore following the sensationalizing of the [[Tate–LaBianca murders]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Morse |first=Erik |date=September 2019 |title=The Beautiful and the Damned: The Cinematic Afterlife of Sharon Tate |journal=Sight and Sound |volume=29 |issue=9 |pages=27–29 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cooper |first=Ian |title=The Manson Family on Film and Television |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2018 |isbn=978-1476670430}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Romano |first=Aja |title=The Manson Family murders, and their complicated legacy, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/2019/8/7/20695284/charles-manson-family-what-is-helter-skelter-explained |access-date=June 7, 2025 |website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |date=August 7, 2019}}</ref>

=== Music ===
{{See also|Charles Manson discography|List of covers of Charles Manson songs}}

Manson was a struggling pop musician, seeking to make it big in Hollywood between 1967 and 1969. The [[Beach Boys]] recorded one of his songs. Other songs were publicly released only after the trial for the Tate murders started. On March 6, 1970, ''[[Lie: The Love and Terror Cult|LIE]]'', an album of Manson music, was released.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|p=258-269}}<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000005X1J ''Lie: The Love And Terror Cult''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228180319/http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000005X1J |date=February 28, 2008}}. ASIN: B000005X1J. Amazon.com. Access date: November 23, 2007.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-10-27 |title=Tales of the Ancient Rocker – Hustling Charles Manson |url=http://geocities.com/theancientrocker/manson.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027093515/http://geocities.com/theancientrocker/manson.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-10-27 |access-date=2025-04-25 }}</ref> This included "Cease to Exist", a Manson song the Beach Boys had recorded with modified lyrics and the title "[[Never Learn Not to Love]]".<ref>[http://www.cinetropic.com/blacktop/circus.html Dennis Wilson interview] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215054300/http://www.cinetropic.com/blacktop/circus.html |date=December 15, 2007}} ''Circus'' magazine, October 26, 1976. Retrieved December 1, 2007.</ref> Over the next couple of months only about 300 of the album's 2,000 copies sold.<ref name="RSstory">''Rolling Stone'' story on Manson, June 1970: {{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/coverwall/1970 |title=Coverwall – Rolling Stone |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=August 25, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223060301/http://www.rollingstone.com/coverwall/1970 |archive-date=December 23, 2016 }}</ref>

There have been several other releases of Manson recordings – both musical and spoken. One of these, ''[[The Family Jams (Manson Family album)|The Family Jams]]'', includes two compact discs of Manson's songs recorded by the Family in 1970, after Manson and the others had been arrested. Guitar and lead vocals are supplied by Steve Grogan;{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=125–127}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Manson Family |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/294476-The-Manson-Family |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Discogs |language=en}}</ref> additional vocals are supplied by [[Lynette Fromme]], Sandra Good, Catherine Share, and others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charles Manson Sings |url=http://www.espdisk.com/2003.html |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=www.espdisk.com |language=en}}</ref> ''One Mind'', an album of music, poetry, and spoken word, new at the time of its release, in April 2005, was put out under a [[Creative Commons license]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-07-10 |title=Charles Manson Issues Album Under Creative Commons – News and Analysis by PC Magazine |url=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2281577,00.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710115248/http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2281577,00.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-07-10 |access-date=2025-04-25 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=LimeWire Music Blog – Yes its CC! |url=http://blog.limewire.com/posts/1679 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227054309/http://blog.limewire.com/posts/1679 |archive-date=December 27, 2008 |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=blog.limewire.com |url-status=dead }}</ref><!--Footnote-link to blog is used only because it provides photograph that verifies statement.-->

American rock band [[Guns N' Roses]] recorded Manson's "[[Look at Your Game, Girl]]", included as an unlisted 13th track on their 1993 album ''[["The Spaghetti Incident?"]]''{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=488–491}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hochman |first=Steve |date=1993-11-21 |title=It's No Illusion: Guns N' Roses Does Charles Manson |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-21-ca-59128-story.html |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=The Spaghetti Incident? – Guns N' Roses {{!}} Album {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-spaghetti-incident--mw0000105038 |access-date=2025-04-25 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-03 |title=Rakhoi – Trực Tiếp Bóng Đá Chất Lượng Nhất Năm 2024 |url=https://www.themusichype.com |access-date=2025-04-25 |language=vi}}</ref> "My Monkey", which appears on ''[[Portrait of an American Family]]'' by the American rock band [[Marilyn Manson (band)|Marilyn Manson]], includes the lyrics "I had a little monkey / I sent him to the country and I fed him on gingerbread / Along came a choo-choo / Knocked my monkey cuckoo / And now my monkey's dead." These lyrics are from Manson's "Mechanical Man",<ref>Lyrics of "Mechanical Man" {{cite web |url=http://www.lyricsmania.com/mechanical_man_lyrics_charles_manson.html |title=Charles Manson – Mechanical Man Lyrics |access-date=November 18, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118220240/http://www.lyricsmania.com/mechanical_man_lyrics_charles_manson.html |archive-date=November 18, 2015 }}</ref> which is heard on ''[[Lie: The Love and Terror Cult|LIE]]''. [[Crispin Glover]] covered "Never Say 'Never' to Always" on his album ''The Big Problem ≠ The Solution. The Solution=Let It Be'' released in 1989.

Musical performers such as [[Kasabian]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ukula.com/TorontoArticle.aspx?SectionID=2&ObjectID=1465&CityID=3 |title=Ukula Music :: speaking with Kasabian on their first trip to America |work=[[Ukula]] |first=Graeme |last=Maclean |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310145534/http://www.ukula.com/TorontoArticle.aspx?SectionID=2&ObjectID=1465&CityID=3 |archive-date=March 10, 2007 |access-date=August 8, 2013}}</ref> [[Spahn Ranch (band)|Spahn Ranch]],<ref name="SR-band">{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/2161440-2161440 |title=Charles Manson's musical connections |access-date=November 22, 2017 |work=NME |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171121161428/http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/2161440-2161440 |archive-date=November 21, 2017 |date=November 20, 2017}}</ref> and [[Marilyn Manson]]<ref name="longhard">{{cite book |title=The Long Hard Road out of Hell |last=Manson |first=Marilyn |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1998 |isbn=0-06-098746-4 |pages=85–87 }}</ref> derived their names from Manson and his lore.

=== Documentaries ===
* 1973: ''[[Manson (film)|Manson]]'', directed by [[Robert Hendrickson (director)|Robert Hendrickson]] and Laurence Merrick<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/watch-this-chilling-manson-documentary-from-1973-vgtrn/ |title=Watch This Chilling Manson Documentary from 1973 |website=vice.com |publisher=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|access-date=July 5, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705234026/https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/mb3dxy/watch-this-chilling-manson-documentary-from-1973-vgtrn |archive-date=July 5, 2018 |date=November 20, 2017}}</ref>
* 1989: ''[[Charles Manson Superstar]]'', directed by [[Nikolas Schreck]]
* 2014: ''[[Life After Manson]]'', directed by Olivia Klaus<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/opinion/my-life-after-manson.html |title=My Life After Manson |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=July 5, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706021027/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/opinion/my-life-after-manson.html |archive-date=July 6, 2018 |date=August 4, 2014 |last1=Klaus |first1=Olivia}}</ref>
* 2017: ''Manson: Inside the Mind of a Mad Man'', television documentary about [[Murder of Reet Jurvetson|Reet Jurvetsen]].
* 2017: ''Murder Made Me Famous'', ''Charles Manson: What Happened?''<ref>{{cite web|website=REELZ TV|url=https://www.reelz.com/event/?showid=483&date=02-02-2019|date=November 4, 2017|archive-date=February 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203085024/https://www.reelz.com/event/?showid=483&date=February|title=Charles Manson|access-date=February 3, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2017: ''Inside the Manson Cult: The Lost Tapes''<ref>{{cite news |last1=Turchiano |first1=Danielle |title=Fox Reveals First Look at 'Inside The Manson Cult: The Lost Tapes' |url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/inside-the-manson-cult-the-lost-tapes-trailer-exclusive-1202915373/ |access-date=November 18, 2018 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=August 27, 2018 |archive-date=November 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118081629/https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/inside-the-manson-cult-the-lost-tapes-trailer-exclusive-1202915373/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2017: ''Charles Manson: The Final Words'', narrated by [[Rob Zombie]], focuses on the Manson Family murders told from Manson's perspective, directed by [[James Buddy Day]].<ref>{{cite web|website=REELZ TV|url=https://www.reelz.com/charles-manson-final-words/|date=September 10, 2017|title=Charles Manson: The Final Words|access-date=January 27, 2019|archive-date=January 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128082851/https://www.reelz.com/charles-manson-final-words/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 2018: ''Inside the Manson Cult: The Lost Tapes'', narrated by [[Liev Schreiber]], looks inside the Manson Family.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/charles-manson-doc-new-fox-spahn-ranch-725047/ |title=New Manson Doc Goes Inside Spahn Ranch |first=Elizabeth |last=Yuko |date=September 17, 2018 |access-date=August 17, 2019 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]  |archive-date=March 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322161949/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/charles-manson-doc-new-fox-spahn-ranch-725047/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/tv/28-07-2019/review-manson-the-lost-tapes-the-story-of-americas-first-family-of-darkness/ |title=Review: Manson – The Lost Tapes, the story of America's first family of darkness |first=Jean |last=Sergent |date=July 28, 2019 |access-date=August 17, 2019 |magazine=[[The Spinoff]] |archive-date=August 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810102317/https://thespinoff.co.nz/tv/28-07-2019/review-manson-the-lost-tapes-the-story-of-americas-first-family-of-darkness/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2019: ''I Lived with a Killer: The Manson Family''. Dianne Lake discusses what she witnessed of Manson's "peace-and-love hippie philosophy" as it became "dark, dangerous and evil".<ref>{{cite web|website=REELZ TV|url=https://www.reelz.com/event/?showid=87172&date=02-02-2019|date=February 2, 2019|archive-date=February 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203085207/https://www.reelz.com/event/?showid=87172&date=February|title=The Manson Family|access-date=February 3, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2019: ''Charles Manson: The Funeral'', directed by James Buddy Day.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/man-who-says-hes-charles-mansons-grandson-films-infamous-cult-leaders-funeral-for-doc-this-is-my-story|title=Man who says he's Charles Manson's grandson films infamous cult leader's funeral for doc: 'This is my story'|last=Nolasco|first=Stephanie|date=April 12, 2019|website=[[Fox News]]|language=en-US|access-date=May 14, 2019|archive-date=May 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514154519/https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/man-who-says-hes-charles-mansons-grandson-films-infamous-cult-leaders-funeral-for-doc-this-is-my-story|url-status=live}}</ref>
*2019: ''Manson: The Women'', featuring [[Lynette Fromme|Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme]], [[Sandra Good|Sandra "Blue" Good]], [[Catherine Share|Catherine "Gypsy" Share]], and [[Dianne Lake|Dianne "Snake" Lake]], documentary special on [[Oxygen (TV network)|Oxygen]], directed by James Buddy Day.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Katie|last=Kilkenny|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/manson-women-followers-recall-leaders-manipulation-1230616|title=Former Manson Followers Debate Family's Culpability: "How Can You Point the Finger at Us?"|website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|language=en|date=August 10, 2019|access-date=August 11, 2019|archive-date=August 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813210823/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/manson-women-followers-recall-leaders-manipulation-1230616|url-status=live}}</ref>
*2020: ''Helter Skelter: An American Myth'', six part TV miniseries directed by [[Lesley Chilcott]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Fienberg |first=Daniel |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/helter-skelter-an-american-myth-review-1304197/ |title=''Helter Skelter: An American Myth'': TV Review |magazine=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=July 24, 2020 |access-date=March 23, 2023}}</ref>

=== Fiction inspired by Manson ===
* 1971: ''[[Sweet Savior]]'', an [[exploitation film]] inspired from the case, but set in New York City. First fictional work about the case.<ref>{{Cite book |last=VanBebber |first=Jim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-igcAQAAIAAJ&q=%22sweet+savior%22+movie+manson |title=Charlie's Family: An Illustrated Screenplay to the Film |date=1998 |publisher=Creation Books |isbn=978-1-871592-94-8 |pages=173 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bailey |first=Jason |date=2019-07-24 |title=The Manson Murders: What to Read, Watch and Listen To |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/24/movies/charles-manson-family.html |access-date=2024-05-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* 1976: [[Helter Skelter (1976 film)|''Helter Skelter'']], a television drama.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.warnerbros.com/tv/helter-skelter-tv-miniseries |title=Helter Skelter (TV Miniseries) |website=warnerbros.com |access-date=July 5, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705234916/https://www.warnerbros.com/tv/helter-skelter-tv-miniseries |archive-date=July 5, 2018 }}</ref>
* 1984: ''[[#Cultural impact|Manson Family Movies]]'', a film drama.<ref>{{cite book |first1=David|last1=Kerekes |first2=David|last2=Slater |title=Killing for Culture |year=1996 |publisher=Creation Books |isbn=1-871592-20-8 |pages=222–223, 225, 268 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9dkAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Manson+Family+Movies%22 |access-date=November 18, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503110005/https://books.google.com/books?id=o9dkAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Manson+Family+Movies%22 |archive-date=May 3, 2017 }}</ref>
* 1990: ''The Manson Family'', a musical opera by [[John Moran (composer)|John Moran]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/20-great-iggy-pop-collaborations-79224/john-moran-the-manson-family-an-opera-1990-30108/ |title=John Moran, 'The Manson Family: An Opera' (1990) |website=rollingstone.com |access-date=July 5, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705233756/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/20-great-iggy-pop-collaborations-79224/john-moran-the-manson-family-an-opera-1990-30108/ |archive-date=July 5, 2018 |date=March 17, 2016}}</ref>
* 1990: ''[[Assassins (musical)|Assassins]]'', a Broadway musical with references to Manson.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sondheim.com/shows/assassins/ |title=''Assassins'' |publisher=Sondheim.com |date=November 22, 1963 |access-date=November 28, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128163250/http://sondheim.com/shows/assassins/ |archive-date=November 28, 2010 }}</ref>
* 1992: ''[[The Ben Stiller Show]]'', a sketch series with Manson as a recurring character portrayed by [[Bob Odenkirk]].<ref>{{cite web| last=Roffman| first=Michael| url=https://consequence.net/2017/11/in-1992-bob-odenkirk-turned-charles-manson-into-lassie-and-its-still-funny/| title=In 1992, Bob Odenkirk Turned Charles Manson into Lassie and It's Still Hilarious| website=Consequence Of Sound| access-date=September 2, 2019| date=November 20, 2019| archive-date=September 3, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903041323/https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/11/in-1992-bob-odenkirk-turned-charles-manson-into-lassie-and-its-still-funny/| url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1998: "[[Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!]]", an episode of ''[[South Park]]'' centered around Manson.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/south-park-classic-spooky-fish-merry-christmas-c-1798174180 |title=South Park (Classic): "Spooky Fish"/"Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!" |website=The A.V. Club |date=September 16, 2012 |access-date=July 5, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109183956/http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/south-park-classic-spooky-fishmerry-christmas-char-84395 |archive-date=January 9, 2017 }}</ref>
* 2003: ''[[The Dead Circus]]'', a novel that includes the activities of the Manson Family as a major plot point.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/18/books/bad-vibrations.html |title=Bad Vibrations |first=Stephanie |last=Zacharek |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 18, 2002 |access-date=March 23, 2011 |archive-date=April 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429213306/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/18/books/bad-vibrations.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2003: ''[[The Manson Family (film)|The Manson Family]]'', a crime drama/horror film centered around the Manson Family.
* 2004: ''[[Helter Skelter (2004 film)|Helter Skelter]]'', a crime film about the Manson Family and about Linda Kasabian.
* 2006: ''[[Live Freaky! Die Freaky!]]'', a stop-motion animated film based on the murders.
* 2014: ''[[House of Manson]]'', a biographical feature film focusing on the life of Charles Manson from his childhood to his arrest.
* 2015: ''[[Manson Family Vacation]]'', an indie comedy inspired by Manson.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2015/03/sxsw-review-unexpected-charmer-manson-family-vacation-starring-jay-duplass-266106/ |title=SXSW Review: Unexpected Charmer 'Manson Family Vacation' Starring Jay Duplass |website=IndieWire|date=March 19, 2015 |access-date=July 5, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705233245/https://www.indiewire.com/2015/03/sxsw-review-unexpected-charmer-manson-family-vacation-starring-jay-duplass-266106/ |archive-date=July 5, 2018 }}</ref>
* 2015–16: ''[[Aquarius (American TV series)|Aquarius]]'', a television crime drama that includes storylines inspired by actual events which involved Manson.<ref>[http://www.nbc.com/aquarius Aquarius Official Website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924070419/http://www.nbc.com/aquarius |date=September 24, 2014}} NBC.</ref>
* 2016: ''[[The Girls (Cline novel)|The Girls]]'', a novel by [[Emma Cline]] loosely inspired by the Manson Family.
* 2016: ''[[Wolves at the Door]]'', a horror film directed by [[John R. Leonetti]] loosely based on the murder of Sharon Tate. 
* 2017: ''[[Mindhunter (TV series)|Mindhunter]]''; the first episode of season 1 used Manson as a case study. Manson is then featured in the second season.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/10/mindhunter-who-is-adt-killer-kansas-dennis-rader-season-2-wichita-park-city |title=How Netflix's Mindhunter Cleverly Set Up Season 2 and Beyond |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=October 17, 2017 |access-date=July 5, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213174602/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/10/mindhunter-who-is-adt-killer-kansas-dennis-rader-season-2-wichita-park-city |archive-date=February 13, 2018 }}</ref>
* 2017: ''[[American Horror Story: Cult]]'', the seventh season of the horror [[anthology series]] ''[[American Horror Story]]''.
* 2018: ''[[Charlie Says (2018 film)|Charlie Says]]'', a film centered around Manson and three of his followers.<ref>{{Cite news|title='Charlie Says' Review: Complicating Those Manson Family Values|first=Manohla|last=Dargis|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 9, 2019|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/movies/charlie-says-review.html|access-date=May 11, 2019|archive-date=February 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228032104/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/movies/charlie-says-review.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2019: ''[[The Haunting of Sharon Tate]]''; directed by Daniel Farrands, the film revolves around Sharon Tate during the last evening of her life.
* 2019: ''[[Once Upon a Time in Hollywood]]''; directed by [[Quentin Tarantino]], the film has a plot revolving around Manson and the Manson Family,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/quentin-tarantino-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-movie-everything-we-know-2018-3 |title=All the details of Quentin Tarantino's new movie, which stars Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie |website=[[Business Insider]]|access-date=July 5, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621215935/http://www.businessinsider.com/quentin-tarantino-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-movie-everything-we-know-2018-3 |archive-date=June 21, 2018 }}</ref> though Manson himself only appears briefly.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharf |first=Zack |date=2019-09-11 |title=Damon Herriman Says 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' Cut Manson Scene Is One of Tarantino's Best |url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/tarantino-cut-charles-manson-scene-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-1202172574/ |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}</ref>
* 2019: ''[[Zeroville (film)|Zeroville]]'', a film that starts in the aftermath of the Sharon Tate murders in Los Angeles, with the main character suspected of being involved. Manson is portrayed by [[Scott Haze]].<ref>{{cite web| last=Tallerico| first=Brian| title=Zeroville| date=September 20, 2019| url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/zeroville-movie-review-2019| access-date=August 9, 2020| archive-date=June 24, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200624184935/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/zeroville-movie-review-2019| url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2021: ''We Can Only Save Ourselves'', a novel by Alison Wisdom loosely inspired by the Manson Family.

== See also ==
* [[ATWA]], an acronym propounded by Manson and followers, for Air, Trees, Water, Animals and All The Way Alive

== References ==
;Citations
{{Reflist}}

;Works cited
* {{cite book |last=Badman |first=Keith |title=The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio |url=https://archive.org/details/beachboysdefinit0000badm |url-access=registration |year=2004 |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=978-0-87930-818-6 }}
* {{cite book|author-link=Vincent Bugliosi|author-link2=Curt Gentry|last1=Bugliosi|first1=Vincent|first2=Curt|last2=Gentry|title=Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders|publisher=Norton|date=1974|edition=1992|isbn=0-09-997500-9|title-link=Helter Skelter (book)}}
* {{cite book|last=Guinn|first=Jeff|title=Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|date=2013|isbn=978-1-4516-4516-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781451645163_0}}
* {{cite book |last=O'Neill |first=Tom |editor-last=Piepenbring |editor-first=Dan |date=2019 |title=CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-316-47755-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Stebbins |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Stebbins |title=Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy|url=https://archive.org/details/denniswilsonreal0000steb/ |year=2000 |publisher=ECW Press |isbn=978-1-55022-404-7 |url-access=registration}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|last1=George|first1=Edward|author-link2=Dary Matera|last2=Matera|first2=Dary|title=Taming the Beast: Charles Manson's Life Behind Bars|publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]]|date=1999|isbn=0-312-20970-3}}
* {{cite book|author-link=John Gilmore (writer)|last=Gilmore|first=John|title=Manson: The Unholy Trail of Charlie and the Family|publisher=Amok Books|date=2000|isbn=1-878923-13-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Gilmore|first=John|title=The Garbage People|publisher=Omega Press|date=1971}}
* {{cite book|last1=LeBlanc|first1=Jerry|first2=Ivor|last2=Davis|title=5 to Die|publisher=Holloway House Publishing|date=1971|isbn=0-87067-306-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Pellowski|first=Michael J.|title=The Charles Manson Murder Trial: A Headline Court Case|publisher=Enslow Publishers|date=2004|isbn=0-7660-2167-X}}
* {{cite book|last=Udo|first=Tommy|title=Charles Manson: Music, Mayhem, Murder|publisher=Sanctuary Records|date=2002|isbn=1-86074-388-9}}
* [[Paul Watkins (Manson Family)|Watkins, Paul]] with Guillermo Soledad (1979). ''My Life with Charles Manson''. Bantam. {{ISBN|0-553-12788-8}}.
* [[Charles "Tex" Watson|Watson, Charles]]. ''Will You Die for Me?'' (1978). F. H. Revell. {{ISBN|0-8007-0912-8}}.

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|collapsible=true|wikt=no|d=Q485508}}
* [http://vault.fbi.gov/Charles%20Manson FBI file on Charles Manson]
* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KiLdR7afoljKOlGMR5xizWTlC75Wvunm/view Cease to Exist: The Saga of Dennis Wilson & Charles Manson] – compendium of first-hand accounts edited by Jason Austin Penick

'''Legal documents'''
* [http://online.ceb.com/calcases/CA3/71CA3d1.htm Decision in appeal by Manson from Hinman-Shea conviction] ''People v. Manson'', 71 Cal. App. 3d 1 (California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division One, June 23, 1977).
* [http://online.ceb.com/calcases/CA3/61CA3d102.htm Decision in appeal by Manson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten from Tate-LaBianca convictions] ''People v. Manson'', 61 Cal. App. 3d 102 (California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division One, August 13, 1976). Retrieved June 19, 2007.

'''News articles'''
* {{cite web|last=Dalton|first=David|title=If Christ Came Back as a Con Man|url=http://www.gadflyonline.com/archive/october98/archive-manson.html|date=October 1998|website=gadflyonline.com|access-date=November 18, 2015|archive-date=October 11, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011161519/http://www.gadflyonline.com/archive/October98/archive-manson.html|url-status=dead}} – article by co-author of 1970 [[Rolling Stone]] story on Manson.
* Linder, Douglas. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070520113112/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/manson/manson.htm ''Famous Trials – The Trial of Charles Manson'']. University of Missouri at Kansas City Law School. 2002. April 7, 2007.
* {{cite web|last=Noe|first=Denise|url=http://crimemagazine.com/manson-myth-0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121075126/http://crimemagazine.com/manson-myth-0|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 21, 2010|title=The Manson Myth|website=CrimeMagazine.com|date=December 12, 2004}}
* {{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Manson-Family-members-haunted-3221121.php|title=Horrific past haunts former cult members|newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|date=August 12, 2009}}

{{Manson Family}}
{{The Beach Boys}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manson, Charles}}
[[Category:Charles Manson| ]]
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American criminals]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:20th-century American male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century apocalypticists]]
[[Category:American bisexual men]]
[[Category:American bisexual musicians]]
[[Category:American conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:American environmentalists]]
[[Category:American folk rock musicians]]
[[Category:American former Scientologists]]
[[Category:American founders]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ singers]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ songwriters]]
[[Category:American male criminals]]
[[Category:American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American mass murderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American people who died in prison custody]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to death]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:American rapists]]
[[Category:American white supremacists]]
[[Category:Anti-black racism in California]]
[[Category:Bisexual male musicians]]
[[Category:Bisexual male singers]]
[[Category:Bisexual songwriters]]
[[Category:Crime in California]]
[[Category:Criminals from California]]
[[Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer in California]]
[[Category:Deaths from respiratory failure in the United States]]
[[Category:Founders of new religious movements]]
[[Category:History of Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Inmates of San Quentin State Prison]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from California]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Ohio]]
[[Category:Manson Family]]
[[Category:American outsider musicians]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by California]]
[[Category:Criminals from Cincinnati]]
[[Category:People with antisocial personality disorder]]
[[Category:People with schizophrenia]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to death by California]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California]]
[[Category:Prisoners who died in California detention]]
[[Category:Self-declared messiahs]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Ohio]]
[[Category:Western Union people]]