Helter Skelter.">
Share

Charles Manson biography

1 photo

Quick Facts

Best Known For

Charles Manson is an American cult leader whose followers carried out several notorious murders in the late 1960s and inspired the book Helter Skelter.

Videos see all videos

Quiz

Think you know about Biography?

Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.

Play Now
Charles Manson - Early Life watch more videos (6)

The most inhumane killing had to be of Sharon Tate, who despite pleading for the life of her unborn child was mercilessly stabbed in the stomach by Susan Atkins. Kasabian told of Atkins' chilling words to Tate before she stabbed her.

"Look bitch,

I have no mercy for you. You're going to die and you'd better get used to it"

Atkins then used Tate's blood to write the word 'PIG' on the front door.

Instead of this brutal massacre sating the pathological Manson, he instead criticized the murderers for being sloppy. The following night on the August 10, 1969, he took Family members Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten to the Los Feliz district address of wealthy supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary.

Arrest and Trial

Ironically, Manson and his Family were arrested not on suspicion of the murders but simply on the belief that they had vandalized a portion of the Death Valley National Park while they were hiding out in the Mojave Desert. In 1969, the local county sheriff had them in custody not realizing that he had murder suspects on their hands. But it was the confessions of Susan Atkins, while held in detention on suspicion of murdering Gary Hinman, that led detectives to realize that Manson and his followers were involved in the Tate/La Bianca killings.

Various motivations were examined during the course of the trial. The most feasible being that Manson's pathological ego, insanity and belief in Armageddon were influences that led him to carry out a trail of destruction.

Manson believed that he was the new Messiah and that after a 'nuclear attack' he and his followers would be saved by hiding in a secret world under the desert. His prophetic visions included a belief that after the race war 'blacks' would triumph. Manson along with his 'Family' members would have to mentor the black community as they would 'lack experience' to run the planet.

As Manson and the Family were to be the beneficiaries of the race war, he told his followers that they had to help initiate it. According to defense witness and killer Van Houten, this was the primary reason why they murdered the LaBiancas. Manson had taken the wallet of murdered Rosemary Bianca with the intention that he would deposit it in a section of LA, where a person of ethnic origin might find it, use it and then possibly have the murders pinned on them.

 

Later in court Van Houten, who was just nineteen when she took part in the LaBianca killings, alleged that Manson had taken advantage of her vulnerability and dislike for her mother. She believed, like the other members, that he was a man of vision.

Thirty years later during a parole board she was to say that she was horrified by what she had done that night and desperately wanted to redeem herself. Van Houten was denied parole in 2006, and again in 2010.

Susan Atkins, possibly the most disturbed of all the killers, admitted in initial confessions to fellow prisoners that she had wanted to cut out Tate's unborn baby, but didn't have the time.

ADVERTISEMENT
9397912 9397912
profile id: 9397912
profile name: Charles Manson
profile occupation:
related profile id: 9397912
related profile name: Charles Manson
related profile occupation:
related profile img: /imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/M/Charles-Manson-9397912-2-402.jpg
related profile URL: /people/charles-manson-9397912
profile
pop
Your Connections

Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.

specific profile connection
See More Bio Connections
Your Friends' Connections
specific friend connection
Profile Connections
    Show More Connections
    Included In These Groups
      6 others

      Cult Leaders

      Combine a charismatic personality with fringe beliefs and an appetite for violence, and you get some of history's most notorious cult leaders. Charles Manson terrorized frightened Americans in the late 1960s, convincing his followers to commit heinous murders in his name. David Koresh led the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas, leading to a standoff with the federal government in 1993 that resulted in the death of Koresh and 75 of his believers. Learn about these leaders, and many more, who inspired hundreds to follow their unconventional philosophies—often with tragic results.

      View group

      Cult Leaders 9 people in this group

      9 others

      Manson Family

      Charles Manson's eerie ability to control his "family" of young hippies in California remains as mysterious and intriguing today as it did in 1969, when Manson orchestrated the infamous murders of Sharon Tate and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Many Manson Family members were sentenced to life in prison for participating in those murders, including Squeaky Fromme, Susan Watkins and Patricia Krenwinkel. Members Bobby Beausoleil and Steve Grogan, under Manson's bizarre influence, committed other murders. Examine our list of Manson Family members and find out about life on the Spahn Movie Ranch, Charles Manson's uncanny hold over his followers, and the random and brutal crimes that ensued.

      View group

      Manson Family 12 people in this group

      500 others

      Famous Scorpios

      View group

      Famous Scorpios 503 people in this group

    See all related groups

    Shop Bio
    Manson DVD
    DVD
    $15.99

    Buy Now
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Celebrity Connections

    Show More Connections
    Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!