Manson Murders
The Manson Murders refer to a series of horrific killings orchestrated by Charles Manson and his followers, known as the "Family," in 1969. Manson, a former convict, had gained significant influence over his group through his charismatic leadership and manipulation, promoting a belief in an impending apocalyptic race war he termed "Helter Skelter." On August 8, 1969, Manson directed his followers to murder actress Sharon Tate, who was pregnant, and four others at her home, followed by a second night of killings at the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. The brutality of these murders shocked the nation and sent waves of fear through Hollywood. Following their arrest, Manson and several Family members were tried and convicted of first-degree murder. Their sentences were initially death, but were later commuted to life imprisonment after California abolished the death penalty in 1972. The Manson Murders have since permeated popular culture through various books, films, and documentaries, engaging public interest and sparking discussions on themes of manipulation, violence, and societal fears associated with the counterculture movement of the 1960s. The legacy of these events continues to resonate, highlighting the complex interplay between crime, media, and public perception.
Manson Murders
Date: August 8–9, 1969
Perhaps the most gruesome, sensational murders of the 1960s. The bizarre and brutal nature of the slayings and the perpetrators’ haunting lack of remorse shocked the people of Los Angeles and the rest of the country.
Origins and History
Charles Manson, thirty-three years old, was the ex-convict leader of a nomadic group called the Family that originated in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. Through carefully orchestrated sexual orgies, organized drug use, and his own religious and mystical teachings, Manson exercised considerable power over his followers, who believed him to be the Messiah and obediently followed his commands.
The Murders
On the night of August 8, 1969, Manson dispatched five Family members, Patricia Krenwinkle, Susan Atkins, Charles “Tex” Watson, Leslie Van Houten, and Linda Kasabian, to an estate in the Hollywood Hills rented by film director Roman Polanski and his wife, actor Sharon Tate. After shooting visitor Steve Parent in the driveway, all but Kasabian entered the house, where, under Manson’s orders, they savagely murdered its four occupants. Tate, eight months pregnant, was stabbed sixteen times. Jay Sebring, a celebrity hair stylist, was stabbed seven times and shot once. Abigail Folger, heiress to the Folger coffee fortune, was stabbed twenty-eight times, and her boyfriend, Voytek Frykowski, was stabbed fifty-one times, shot twice, and bludgeoned over the head thirteen times. The word “PIG” was printed in Tate’s blood on the door of the house.
The following night, August 9, Manson again ordered his followers to murder, though this time he accompanied them to their destination, the home of grocery-chain owner Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary. Manson entered the house and bound his victims, then instructed Watson, Van Houten, and Krenwinkle to kill the couple. Leno was strangled and stabbed twenty-six times; Rosemary was stabbed forty-one times. The words “RISE,” “DEATH TO PIGS,” and “HEALTER SKELTER” (sic) were written in the victims’ blood on the walls and refrigerator.
The group was charged with the murders several months later after Atkins, in jail on a separate charge, confessed to a cellmate. Following a lengthy and bizarre trial that included the murder of defense attorney Ronald Hughes, Manson, Krenwinkle, Van Houten, and Atkins were found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder; Watson was tried separately and similarly convicted. All were sentenced to death, but upon the California Supreme Court’s abolishment of the death penalty in 1972, their sentences were commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole. While Atkins died in prison in 2009 and Manson died in prison in 2017, Van Houten was ultimately released on parole, after twenty failed attempts, in 2023.
Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi’s search for a motive eventually led him to Manson’s professed belief in the coming of Helter Skelter, an apocalyptic race war that would ultimately conclude in Manson’s ascendance to world leadership. The Tate-LaBianca murders were apparently intended to incite Helter Skelter.
In Popular Culture
In the years following the Manson murders, the events were depicted in a number of books, films, and television shows. Several nonfiction books were written about the murders and the Manson family—including The Family: The Story of Charles Manson’s Dune Buggy Attack Battalion (1971) by Ed Sanders, My Life With Charles Manson (1979) by Paul Watkins, and The Manson Women and Me (2018) by Nikki Meredith—as well as a number of documentaries like Manson (1973). A complete account of the murders, titled Helter Skelter (1974), was published by Bugliosi and Curt Gentry, and was later adapted into two films of the same name, in 1976 and 2004. Other films based on fictionalized versions of the murders, or that were inspired by the murders, include The Book of Manson (1989), The Manson Family (2003), The Strangers (2008), Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), and Manson’s Lost Girls (2016). In 2018, the Quentin Tarantino–directed Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood, a comedy about a fading actor during the end of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969, reignited public interest in the Manson murders. The film's main character lives next door to Tate and it features members from the Manson family.
Impact
The savage brutality of the murders sent a shockwave of fear through the ranks of Hollywood’s elite, many of whom relocated temporarily. Aspects of the Family’s appearance, lifestyle, and antiestablishment politics affiliated them with hippie culture, causing a detectable backlash against hippies throughout the country.
Bibliography
Chappell, Bill. "A Former Manson Family Member Is Free, after Her Parole Was Reversed 5 Times." NPR, 12 July 2023, www.npr.org/2023/07/12/1187225790/leslie-van-houten-manson-murder-freed-prison-parole. Accessed 14 Aug. 2023.
Fox, Margalit. "Charles Manson Dies at 83; Wild-Eyed Leader of a Murderous Crew." The New York Times, 20 Nov. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/11/20/obituaries/charles-manson-dead.html. Accessed 4 Dec. 2017.
Guin, Jeff. Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson. Simon, 2013.
Hedegaard, Erik. "Charles Manson Today: The Final Confessions of a Psychopath." Rolling Stone, 21 Nov. 2013, www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/charles-manson-today-the-final-confessions-of-a-psychopath-20131121. Accessed 4 Dec. 2017.
"Manson Family Murders Fast Facts." CNN, 3 Dec. 2017, www.cnn.com/2013/09/30/us/manson-family-murders-fast-facts/index.html. Accessed 4 Dec. 2017.
Vargas, Theresa. "Brutally Killed by Charles Manson's Followers, Sharon Tate Became the Face of Victims' Rights." The Washington Post, 20 Nov. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/11/20/brutally-killed-by-charles-mansons-followers-sharon-tate-became-the-face-of-victims-rights/?utm‗term=.f7db22ac6022. Accessed 4 Dec. 2017.
Woollett, Laura Elizabeth. "A Pop Culture Guide to Charles Manson: The Movies, Books, TV Shows, and Podcasts You Should Know." Vulture, 24 July 2019,www.vulture.com/2019/07/a-pop-culture-guide-to-charles-manson.html. Accessed 11 Sept. 2019.