Case File: Charles Manson

Charles Manson had a troubled upbringing marked by family violence and instability. He spent time in juvenile institutions, and by his early 30s, he’d become a career criminal, serving jail stints for fraud, theft and pimping. Released from prison in 1967, he moved to San Francisco, the epicenter of the 1960s counterculture revolution. Drawing upon the era’s alternative lifestyles and beliefs, Manson quickly began attracting followers, primarily young women from troubled backgrounds, thanks to his intelligence and personal charisma. Manson exerted control over his followers using isolation, drugs and psychological manipulation.

 In 1968, the group, now numbering 30 members, moved to Southern California, where Manson, an aspiring musician, hoped to land a record deal. The group settled on Spahn Ranch, an old movie set outside of Los Angeles. Manson’s teachings took on an even darker tone. Combining apocalyptic biblical teachings with New Age mysticism, Manson warned his followers of a coming reckoning, a “race war,” that he said was foretold in the music of The Beatles, particularly the song “Helter Skelter.”

Manson managed to meet some music industry figures, including Beach Boy Dennis Wilson and producer Terry Melcher. Manson visited Melcher at his home on Los Angeles’s Cielo Drive and Melcher came to Spahn Ranch, but Melcher’s rejection of Manson’s musical aspirations sent Manson into a dark tailspin. While Manson and his followers had supported themselves by theft and other illegal activities, things soon turned more somber and paranoid. In July 1969, members of Manson’s “family” were involved in the drug-related shooting of Bernard “Lotsapoppa” Crowe and the fatal stabbing of Gary Hinman.

On the night of August 8, 1969, Manson sent a group of followers—Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles "Tex" Watson—to Melcher’s former home at 10050 Cielo Drive. Investigators remained uncertain whether Manson knew Melcher had moved out of the house, but were certain that, to Manson, the home represented his rejection by the music industry. 

The house was being rented by Polish film director Roman Polanski, who was away in Europe at the time. His eight-month pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was at the home with friends: hairstylist Jay Sebring, Folgers coffee heiress Abigail Folger and Folger’s boyfriend Wojciech Frykowski.

Upon arriving at the home, the group encountered Steven Parent, who was visiting the property’s caretaker. They stabbed Parent to death and entered the house, viciously killing everyone inside, including pregnant Tate. Following Manson’s orders, they left bloody clues that Manson believed would lead police to assume the murders were part of the “race war” he had long been predicting, including writing the word “PIG” on the wall in the victims’ blood. 

The following night, the group struck again. Manson drove with family members Watson, Krenwinkel, Kasabian and Leslie Van Houten to the upscale Los Feliz neighborhood. He selected the home of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary, although Manson had no previous knowledge of the couple. Manson tied up the victims and left, and his family members repeatedly stabbed the LaBiancas, once again leaving cryptic messages, including a misspelled “Healter Skelter,” in blood. 

Despite the similarities in the crimes, law enforcement did not initially make any connection between them, and the murders were investigated as unrelated incidents. Manson and his family remained at Spahn Ranch, and just a few weeks later, several “family” members, including Manson, were arrested as part of an auto-theft investigation. They were soon released on a technicality, with nobody linking them to the murders. They moved to an even more remote ranch in Death Valley, where Manson prepared them for his long-promised apocalyptic race war. 

The tide began to turn after the arrest of “family” member Bobby Beausoleil for his role in Hinman’s murder and another series of arrests of Manson followers at the Death Valley hideaway in October. A few weeks later, Susan Atkins, jailed on unrelated charges, confessed to cellmates about her role in the Tate murders, providing investigators with the crucial link to the crimes. In early December, several had been arrested, including Manson himself.

The first trial began in June 1970, with Manson, Atkins, Krenwinkel and Van Houten charged with first-degree murder. Linda Kassabian, who had acted as a lookout during both series of murders but did not kill anyone, served as a witness for the state and was granted immunity for her testimony. The trial became a media circus, with Manson’s followers regularly disrupting proceedings with bizarre behavior that showed they were still under his powerful sway. 

Los Angeles District Attorney Vincent Buglosi argued that the murders had not been random, but that Manson had used them to fulfill his warped prophecy of a “race war” by staging the crime scenes to look like the work of Black revolutionaries, sparking a violent uprising. Manson convinced his followers that they would be the few white people to survive this uprising, with Manson taking on the role of a new messiah. Buglosi also thought the murders at Melcher’s former home could be a form of payback for the producer’s rejection of Manson himself. In the decades since the trials, some researchers have discounted Buglosi’s concept for the motives, arguing that Manson may have had links to the CIA, or the crimes could have been the result of a drug deal gone wrong.

On January 25, 1971, all four defendants were found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to death, although Manson himself had not killed anyone. That August, Watson, who had fled to Texas after the Tate-LaBianca murders and was later extradited, went on trial in Los Angeles. He, too, was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to death. 

Mason and followers Steve “Clem” Grogan and Bruce Davis were later convicted of the murder of stuntman and Spahn Ranch hand Donald “Shorty” Shea, whose body was found eight years after his 1969 murder.

In 1972, all five death sentences were commuted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court temporarily abolished the death penalty. Atkins and Manson both died in prison. Beausolil, who was convicted for Hinman’s murder, Krenwinkel and Watson have been repeatedly denied parole. Van Houten was granted parole in 2023 after several attempts.

While much of Manson’s family dispersed after the murders, some remained loyal to him. In 1975, “family” member Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford to draw attention to Manson’s beliefs.

The Tate-LaBianca murders became front-page news around the world. The case was depicted in films, documentaries, music and books, including Oscar-nominated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Vincent Buglosi’s novel Helter Skelter, one of the best-selling true crime books of all time. However, many such portrayals have been criticized for sensationalizing the crimes or overlooking the victims' lives and legacies.

Behind bars, Manson became the object of continued fascination, appearing on T-shirts and posters, and remaining in the spotlight for years thanks to notorious print and TV interviews. 

The murders symbolized an end to the idealism of the 1960s, casting a light on cult behavior for perhaps the first time. The case was a stark warning of how charisma and ideology could manipulate individuals into committing unthinkable acts.