The Murder Of Charles Manson In The 60's

In the 1960's many things were going on. Although Charles Manson and his cult were committing crimes before the 60's, this is when the most infamous murder occurred. Manson's cult, The Family, murdered actress Sharon Tate, who was nearly nine months pregnant, and her four friends. Though, Manson wasn't personally there when the crime happened, he sent them to do it. He even told them to make it as gruesome as possible. They stabbed each victim multiple times and wrote sayings on the wall in their blood. this is why "Manson has become a metaphor for evil" (Cannon 8). The murder of Sharon Tate and her friends showed how much influence Manson really had over his followers.
The Family was originally a christian based group. Manson’s followers
sometimes referred to him as “God or Satan” (Rothman 2). This alone shows how much power he had over these people. They all worshiped this man. The women more so than the men (Rothman 3). One of the Family members, Lynn Fromme, said “ He gave off a lot of magic” (Rothman 3). Lynn Fromme also attempted to assassinate president Gerald Ford (Rothman 3). Fromme wasn’t ordered by Manson to commit this crime, she did it on her own. She may have never even thought of committing this crime if she wasn't under the spell Manson seemed to have on the members of his cult. Many people couldn’t imagine trying to assassinate a president, that’s a pretty vulgar crime. Just the act in itself is crazy, but the consequences are way worse. Seventeen out of thirty-two years of his life were spent in jail (Cannon 8). That's more than half of his young life spent institutionalized. Manson was robbing places at gunpoint by the age of thirteen. So, to some it may not be surprising that he grew up to be a murderer. At the time no one suspected that he had anything to do with the Tate murder because, at the time Manson was in jail for grand theft auto (Cannon 8). Little did people know at the time that Manson had his cult working outside the prison walls for him.
Charles Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel were the people who Manson chose to commit the Tate murder (Charles 3). Tate and her friends weren’t even supposed to be the victim. Manson was after record producer, Polanski. He wasn’t home at the time, he was out filming a movie, Sharon Tate and her friends were residing inside when the attackers came into the home and they were then “slaughtered in a flurry of knife attacks, between 30-50 stab wounds per victim. Manson told the members "how to use a bayonet and kitchen knives to stab their victims numerous times" (Charles 3). "Police said that every room in the house showed signs of a struggle". "It seemed kind of ritualistic' said one of the officers at the scene" ("Nothing" 1). "Krenwinkel wrote 'Rise' and 'Death to Pigs' on the walls", Krenwinkel is still in prison and has been denied parole thirteen times. "Watson carved 'WAR' on Leno LaBianca's abdomen, and left him with fourteen puncture wounds". Watson is imprisoned for life and has been denied parole thirteen times (Charles 3). Manson told all family members involved that they were not allowed to plead insane (Rothman 3). They absolutely had to be insane to follow such gruesome orders, especially for a man who didn’t get his hands dirty much. Manson was more of the brains behind the crimes, he usually didn’t commit them, he just assigned certain members of the family to do them.
Some family members believed Manson was a "father figure" and "a lover".
They also said they watched him bring dead animals back to life (Rothman 3). This is a pretty intense accusation to make about someone, but considering these people worshiped the man & thought of him as a God nothing is entirely impossible. He used sex to control his people (Cannon 8).At one point in their lives, all of these people were just normal people, living their own lives. Once they came into contact with the monstrous Charles Manson it changed them forever. They were doing things they never would have thought of doing in their normal state of mind. They had them taking other people's lives and they had no feelings about it at all, That’s not normal human behavior, we aren’t made to brutally murder each other. He made these once innocent people into monsters like him, and even though Manson has been locked away for many years, He still has an influence on some of these people today. Not many people understand, but some things just aren’t meant to be understood. He was just a very manipulative individual. I mean, doesn't a person have to be to convince other human beings to brutally murder another? People believe his motive for the crime was to turn the whites against the blacks. He wanted people to believe there was a "violent black uprising" (Rothman
3).