Charles Manson Family: The Charles Manson Family
The Charles Manson Family
Introduction
Charles Manson is probably one of the most prolific serial killers in the United States and he and his “family” have become an icon of evil. Born in 1934 to a sixteen year old mom, Charles was often spent his youth in the homes of relatives or reform schools. When Charles was nine years old he had already started stealing and not long after he was committing burglaries and stealing cars. In 1954, after some time in jail, Manson was released on parole after a rare string of good behavior. A year later he married Rosalie Willis and together they had a son, Charles Manson Jr. During his marriage, Charles Manson would make extra money by stealing cars. In April 1956, Manson was sent to prison again. After …show more content…
a year of prison, Rosalie met someone else and divorced Manson in June of 1957.
One of Charles Manson’s many mug shots in his younger years.
In 1958, Manson was released from prison yet again. At this time, he began pimping, stealing money from mailboxes, and conning young women out of their money. He went on to marry a prostitute named Candy Steven, and with her had another son who they named Charles Luther Manson. Not long after, he was sent to prison again at McNeil Island Penitentiary off the coast of Washington. His wife quickly divorced.
Charles Manson spent six years in prison. During this time he befriended Alvin “Creeper” Karpis who was a former member of Ma Barker’s gang. Karpis taught Manson to play the steel guitar and from that point on, Charles became obsessed with making and playing music. In his six year prison sentence, he constantly practiced his guitar and singing skills and began to write a lot of original music. He thought that when he was released from prison that he would be a famous musician. In March of 1967, Manson was released from prison again. He moved to San Francisco and gained a following through the use of his guitar and his drugs. In 1968, Manson and several of his followers moved to Southern California. During this time, Charles was still hoping for a music career and was able to meet and hang out with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. In fact, the Beach Boys recorded one of Charles Manson’s songs that was named “Never Learn Not to Love” on their album titled 20/20. Through Dennis Wilson, Charles met Terry Melcher who he believed would help him to advance in his music career. Manson became very upset with Melcher when he did not become famous immediately. Shortly after, Charles and some of his followers moved into Spahn Ranch which had been a popular site for filming westerns in the 1940s and 1950s. Once Manson and his followers moved in, it became a cult compound for “the Family” (Rosenberg). An iconic image of the Manson family.
Goals
In 1968, the Beatles released their White Album. When Charles Manson heard the song “Helter Skelter” that was on the album he began to believe that the song predicted an impending race war (Rosenberg). The main goal of the Manson family was to precipitate the race war that was to come between the African Americans and white people at the time. By doing this, Charles Manson and his family wanted to wipe out groups like the Black Panthers. In order to precipitate the war, the Manson family wanted to create a brand new music album that would very subtly trigger the predicted chaos. Terry Melcher, a record producer who could have potentially made them famous, was supposed to show up at the Manson household to hear the Manson women sing but he never showed up. According to Manson, the African American people were likely to win the race war but would not be able to run the world without the white people. Charles Manson believed that he and a select few of others would arise from Death Valley and Charles would become the king of the world.
The family itself had no real goals. Charles Manson disliked individual thinking on the part of his followers and discouraged it. If any of the family members disagreed with Charles Manson’s viewpoints they were “dealt” with. This meant that they would even be killed.
One last goal of the Charles Manson family is that they wanted radical change. More specifically, they wanted fundamental transformation to take place in the United States.
Some of the Manson Family women.
Ideology
As previously stated, the initial beliefs of the cult were that the song “Helter Skelter” by the Beatles was predicting an Armageddon that would take place. The impending Armageddon they thought would occur would take place between African Americans and white people. He predicted that in the summer of 1969 that all of the African Americans would rise up and kill all of the white people. The Manson family believed that the African Americans would win the race war but would not be able to run the world without the help of white people, more specifically, Charles Manson and his family themselves. Basically, Charles thought that he would be the beneficiary of it and that he and his family had to “teach” the black people how to start the race war. When the race war was to occur, Charles Manson told his group of followers that they would retreat to an underground world that could be reached through a hole in the dessert to wait out the war in bliss and happiness. It was one of the main communal beliefs of the cult and the family even got as far to stock up on supplies and searched for the hole before any of the main crimes happened. Again, the members of the group were told to abandon their belief systems completely and to believe only what Charles Manson believed. They were supposed to be one with each other. They believed in co-habituating, co-bathing, co-sleeping, and pretty much just always being together at all times. Aerial photo of Spahn Ranch where the Manson family all lived together.
Leadership/Membership Needless to say, Charles Manson was obviously the leader of this cult. He was an extremely charismatic leader and his followers loved him. The group identified themselves as a family. Hippies were often drawn into the family through promises that they would have a safe place to stay, that they would be loved, fed, and more for free. During this time hippies were often outcast from society so these promises that Charles Manson made to them must have sounded very appealing. Charles Manson isolated the members of his family by making them all live on a ranch together. He would often have sex with various women of the group. Membership in the Manson family also included taking part in writing, singing, or something else for the coded album that was supposed to start the race war. Members of the group were often given different names so that they could leave their old identity behind. Essentially, being a member of the Manson family was about leaving your old self and becoming this new being that catered to the wants and needs of the leader, Charles Manson, and all of the other members of the …show more content…
family. Charles Manson ordered the killings of many people by his family members. The members involved with the murders were Bobby Beausoleil, Mary Brunner, Susan Atkins, “Tex” Watson, Linda Kasabian, Patricia Krenwinkle, Leslie Van Houten, and “Clem” Grogan. Some of the Manson family that committed the murders.
Organization/ Strategy Part of the organization of the Manson family to start the race war was to write the coded album that would trigger all of the chaos between African Americans and white people. Their strategy was to go to the underground world and rise up again once the African Americans had killed all of the white people. Once they rose up, Charles Manson believed that he would become the king of the world. Another one of the strategies of the family was to recruit other members into the group to participate in “peace, love, and harmony”; little did the new Manson family members know how dangerous that would be. The group would promise food, and shelter, and a loving place to be. Manson often gave his members drugs and they were highly isolated within the Spahn Ranch community. One last strategy of the Manson family was that all of the members would listen to and carry out the orders of Charles Manson himself. Charles Manson was often not responsible for doing anything other than overseeing Spahn Ranch, having sex with his female members, and laying around and getting high. Manson Family Members.
History of Law Enforcement
Interaction On August 8th, 1969, Charles Manson ordered the deaths of Sharon Tate (who was eight months pregnant at the time), Steven Parent, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Abigail Folger by four of his followers. Manson told his three followers to “totally destroy everyone in it, as gruesome as you can”. When the four members arrived at the house to perform the murders, one member, “Tex” Watson, allegedly said, “I’m the Devil, and I’m here to do the Devil’s business”. The next night, Charles Manson ordered two more murders. In another home, six members of the family killed Leon and Rosemary LaBianca. The members of the Manson family who committed the murders were convicted of a total of twenty-seven separate felony counts against them. Four of the members were sentenced to the death penalty. Charles Manson was convicted of nine counts of first degree murder for all nine deaths and was sentenced to life in prison.
This is a more recent photo of Charles Manson. It was taken in January of 2013 while he is serving his life sentence in prison.
Works Cited
Bardsley, M. (n.d.). Charles manson and the manson family.
CNN, L. (2013, October 13). Manson family murders fast facts.
Deborah K. Fillmer, Forensic science and the Charles Manson murders.
Rosenberg, J. (n.d.). Charles manson.
Religious , T. (2008, April 7). The family (charles manson).
Introduction
Charles Manson is probably one of the most prolific serial killers in the United States and he and his “family” have become an icon of evil. Born in 1934 to a sixteen year old mom, Charles was often spent his youth in the homes of relatives or reform schools. When Charles was nine years old he had already started stealing and not long after he was committing burglaries and stealing cars. In 1954, after some time in jail, Manson was released on parole after a rare string of good behavior. A year later he married Rosalie Willis and together they had a son, Charles Manson Jr. During his marriage, Charles Manson would make extra money by stealing cars. In April 1956, Manson was sent to prison again. After …show more content…
a year of prison, Rosalie met someone else and divorced Manson in June of 1957.
One of Charles Manson’s many mug shots in his younger years.
In 1958, Manson was released from prison yet again. At this time, he began pimping, stealing money from mailboxes, and conning young women out of their money. He went on to marry a prostitute named Candy Steven, and with her had another son who they named Charles Luther Manson. Not long after, he was sent to prison again at McNeil Island Penitentiary off the coast of Washington. His wife quickly divorced.
Charles Manson spent six years in prison. During this time he befriended Alvin “Creeper” Karpis who was a former member of Ma Barker’s gang. Karpis taught Manson to play the steel guitar and from that point on, Charles became obsessed with making and playing music. In his six year prison sentence, he constantly practiced his guitar and singing skills and began to write a lot of original music. He thought that when he was released from prison that he would be a famous musician. In March of 1967, Manson was released from prison again. He moved to San Francisco and gained a following through the use of his guitar and his drugs. In 1968, Manson and several of his followers moved to Southern California. During this time, Charles was still hoping for a music career and was able to meet and hang out with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. In fact, the Beach Boys recorded one of Charles Manson’s songs that was named “Never Learn Not to Love” on their album titled 20/20. Through Dennis Wilson, Charles met Terry Melcher who he believed would help him to advance in his music career. Manson became very upset with Melcher when he did not become famous immediately. Shortly after, Charles and some of his followers moved into Spahn Ranch which had been a popular site for filming westerns in the 1940s and 1950s. Once Manson and his followers moved in, it became a cult compound for “the Family” (Rosenberg). An iconic image of the Manson family.
Goals
In 1968, the Beatles released their White Album. When Charles Manson heard the song “Helter Skelter” that was on the album he began to believe that the song predicted an impending race war (Rosenberg). The main goal of the Manson family was to precipitate the race war that was to come between the African Americans and white people at the time. By doing this, Charles Manson and his family wanted to wipe out groups like the Black Panthers. In order to precipitate the war, the Manson family wanted to create a brand new music album that would very subtly trigger the predicted chaos. Terry Melcher, a record producer who could have potentially made them famous, was supposed to show up at the Manson household to hear the Manson women sing but he never showed up. According to Manson, the African American people were likely to win the race war but would not be able to run the world without the white people. Charles Manson believed that he and a select few of others would arise from Death Valley and Charles would become the king of the world.
The family itself had no real goals. Charles Manson disliked individual thinking on the part of his followers and discouraged it. If any of the family members disagreed with Charles Manson’s viewpoints they were “dealt” with. This meant that they would even be killed.
One last goal of the Charles Manson family is that they wanted radical change. More specifically, they wanted fundamental transformation to take place in the United States.
Some of the Manson Family women.
Ideology
As previously stated, the initial beliefs of the cult were that the song “Helter Skelter” by the Beatles was predicting an Armageddon that would take place. The impending Armageddon they thought would occur would take place between African Americans and white people. He predicted that in the summer of 1969 that all of the African Americans would rise up and kill all of the white people. The Manson family believed that the African Americans would win the race war but would not be able to run the world without the help of white people, more specifically, Charles Manson and his family themselves. Basically, Charles thought that he would be the beneficiary of it and that he and his family had to “teach” the black people how to start the race war. When the race war was to occur, Charles Manson told his group of followers that they would retreat to an underground world that could be reached through a hole in the dessert to wait out the war in bliss and happiness. It was one of the main communal beliefs of the cult and the family even got as far to stock up on supplies and searched for the hole before any of the main crimes happened. Again, the members of the group were told to abandon their belief systems completely and to believe only what Charles Manson believed. They were supposed to be one with each other. They believed in co-habituating, co-bathing, co-sleeping, and pretty much just always being together at all times. Aerial photo of Spahn Ranch where the Manson family all lived together.
Leadership/Membership Needless to say, Charles Manson was obviously the leader of this cult. He was an extremely charismatic leader and his followers loved him. The group identified themselves as a family. Hippies were often drawn into the family through promises that they would have a safe place to stay, that they would be loved, fed, and more for free. During this time hippies were often outcast from society so these promises that Charles Manson made to them must have sounded very appealing. Charles Manson isolated the members of his family by making them all live on a ranch together. He would often have sex with various women of the group. Membership in the Manson family also included taking part in writing, singing, or something else for the coded album that was supposed to start the race war. Members of the group were often given different names so that they could leave their old identity behind. Essentially, being a member of the Manson family was about leaving your old self and becoming this new being that catered to the wants and needs of the leader, Charles Manson, and all of the other members of the …show more content…
family. Charles Manson ordered the killings of many people by his family members. The members involved with the murders were Bobby Beausoleil, Mary Brunner, Susan Atkins, “Tex” Watson, Linda Kasabian, Patricia Krenwinkle, Leslie Van Houten, and “Clem” Grogan. Some of the Manson family that committed the murders.
Organization/ Strategy Part of the organization of the Manson family to start the race war was to write the coded album that would trigger all of the chaos between African Americans and white people. Their strategy was to go to the underground world and rise up again once the African Americans had killed all of the white people. Once they rose up, Charles Manson believed that he would become the king of the world. Another one of the strategies of the family was to recruit other members into the group to participate in “peace, love, and harmony”; little did the new Manson family members know how dangerous that would be. The group would promise food, and shelter, and a loving place to be. Manson often gave his members drugs and they were highly isolated within the Spahn Ranch community. One last strategy of the Manson family was that all of the members would listen to and carry out the orders of Charles Manson himself. Charles Manson was often not responsible for doing anything other than overseeing Spahn Ranch, having sex with his female members, and laying around and getting high. Manson Family Members.
History of Law Enforcement
Interaction On August 8th, 1969, Charles Manson ordered the deaths of Sharon Tate (who was eight months pregnant at the time), Steven Parent, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Abigail Folger by four of his followers. Manson told his three followers to “totally destroy everyone in it, as gruesome as you can”. When the four members arrived at the house to perform the murders, one member, “Tex” Watson, allegedly said, “I’m the Devil, and I’m here to do the Devil’s business”. The next night, Charles Manson ordered two more murders. In another home, six members of the family killed Leon and Rosemary LaBianca. The members of the Manson family who committed the murders were convicted of a total of twenty-seven separate felony counts against them. Four of the members were sentenced to the death penalty. Charles Manson was convicted of nine counts of first degree murder for all nine deaths and was sentenced to life in prison.
This is a more recent photo of Charles Manson. It was taken in January of 2013 while he is serving his life sentence in prison.
Works Cited
Bardsley, M. (n.d.). Charles manson and the manson family.
CNN, L. (2013, October 13). Manson family murders fast facts.
Deborah K. Fillmer, Forensic science and the Charles Manson murders.
Rosenberg, J. (n.d.). Charles manson.
Religious , T. (2008, April 7). The family (charles manson).