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Charles Manson

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Charles Manson.

Charles Milles Manson (born November 12, 1934) is an American convict and career criminal, most famous for his actions in the late 1960s. He has spent most of his adult life in prison, initially for offenses such as car theft, forgery and credit card fraud. He also worked some time as a pimp. In the late 1960s, he became the leader of a group known as "The Family", and masterminded several brutal murders, most notably that of movie actress Sharon Tate (wife of movie director Roman Polanski), who was eight and a half months pregnant at the time. He was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in what came to be known as the "Tate-La Bianca case", named after the victims, although he was not accused of committing the murders in person. He is serving a life sentence in California's Corcoran State Prison, and is up for parole in 2007. Manson has always maintained his innocence of the crimes.

Since his trial and conviction, Manson's name and image have been integrated into American pop culture generally as a symbol of ultimate evil. Both have been used by many artists (mostly musicians) including Marilyn Manson who derived his last name from Charles Manson. He is also mentioned in the hit single "Natural Born Killaz" in which Ice Cube states "..So fuck Charlie Manson, I'll snatch him out of his truck, hit 'em with a brick, and I'm dancin". He was also friends with several notable musicians before the murders were committed, including Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys, and is a marginally successful musician himself whose songs have been covered by many artists.

Life

Charles Manson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States in 1934 to an unmarried, impoverished 16-year-old girl named Kathleen Maddox. His birth certificate reads "Charles Milles Maddox". Soon after his birth, his mother married William Manson, who provided the last name by which he is now known.

In 1939, his mother and his uncle, Luther Maddox, were convicted of sexual assault. Luther served five years in Moundsville prison, dying there in 1949.

As a child, Manson attended Walnut Hills High School. When he was thirteen, his mother (who had become an alcoholic and a prostitute) attempted to put him in a foster home. When she was unable to find one for him, he ended up at Gibault School for Boys, a reform school in Terre Haute, Indiana. Within a year he ran away and back to his mother, who rejected him. He began living on the streets, supporting himself by petty theft. His crimes quickly escalated to major offenses. Prior to the Tate-LaBianca murders, Manson had spent more than half his life (approximately 17 years) in Federal prison — at one point in 1967 asking not to be released.

In 1951, after a string of arrests and escapes, Manson was sent to federal prison for driving a stolen car across state lines. By the end of 1952, he had eight assault charges against him. He was transferred to another facility where he became a model inmate, and was released in 1954.

In January of 1955, Manson married 17-year-old Rosalie Jean Willis, and decided to move to California. Soon after the wedding, Manson stole a car and was arrested. Willis became pregnant in April. Manson's parole was revoked in 1956 when he missed a court date. Soon after his arrest, Willis gave birth to their son, Charles M. Manson, Jr., who committed suicide in 1993. She then left town with a truck driver and their son.

Manson's prison and probation reports showed a consistent theme:

(1950-52) "Tries to give the impression of trying hard although actually not putting forth any effort ...marked degree of rejection, instability and psychic trauma ... constantly striving for status ... a fairly slick institutionalized youth who has not given up in terms of securing some kind of love and affection from the world ... dangerous ... should not be trusted across the street ... homosexual and assaultive tendencies ... safe only under supervision ... unpredictable ... in spite of his age he is criminally sophisticated and grossly unsuited for retention in an open reformatory type institution"; (1958-59) "Almost without exception [he] will let down anyone who went to bat for him ... an almost classic case of correctional institutional inmate ... a very difficult case and it is almost impossible to predict his future adjustment ... a very shaky probationer and it seems just a matter of time before he gets into further trouble".

Manson was paroled in 1958 after serving two years of a 3-year sentence. In 1959, he was arrested again for passing stolen checks. Once again, he was given probation, which was revoked nine months later.

On June 1, 1960, Manson was arrested for solicitation of prostitution. He was ordered to serve his 10-year suspended sentence for passing stolen checks at the federal prison on McNeil Island in Washington state. Soon after his arrest, Leona (a girl he met during his probation) gave birth to his second son, Charles Luther Manson. While at McNeil, Manson was a cellmate of notorious 1930s bank robber Alvin Karpis who taught Manson to read music and to play the guitar. It is interesting what Karpis wrote about Manson in his memoirs "On the Rock: Twenty-five Years at Alcatraz" (written with Robert Livesey, published in 1980):

"This kid approaches me to request music lessons. He wants to learn guitar and become a music star. 'Little Charlie' is so lazy and shiftless, I doubt if he'll put the time required to learn. The youngster has been in institutions all of his life--first orphanages, then reformatories, and finally federal prison. His mother, a prostitute, was never around to look after him. I decide it's time someone did something for him, and to my surprise, he learns quickly. He has a pleasant voice and a pleasing personality, although he's unusually meek and mild for a convict. He never has a harsh word to say and is never involved in even an argument."

After Manson had actually become somewhat proficient on the guitar, he asked Karpis for help in getting a job playing in Las Vegas as Karpis had contacts with nightclub and casino owners there. Manson even told him he would be bigger than the Beatles, but in the end Karpis decided to leave Manson on his own regarding his music career. Manson was moved to a Los Angeles facility in 1967, which proved to be one of the most ominous prison transfers ever. Later Karpis added "The history of crime in the United States might have been considerably altered if 'Little Charlie' had been given the opportunity to find fame and fortune in the music industry."

Manson was finally released March 21, 1967, against his own expressed wish to remain in prison. While either in prison or on probation, he had, among other things, raped another inmate at razor point, stolen cars, pimped inmates, and forged federal checks. His prison reports continued with the same message:

(1961-62) "He hides his resentment and hostility behind a mask of superficial ingratiation ... even his cries for help represent a desire for attention with only superficial meaning"; (1964) "Pattern of instability continues ... intense need to call attention to himself ... fanatical interests"; then finally, (1966) "Manson is about to complete his ten-year term. He has a pattern of criminal behavior and confinement that dates to his teen years ... little can be expected in the way of change."

Philosophy

Manson summed up his personal philosophy with the acronym ATWA, meaning 'Air-Trees-Water-Animals' as well as "All The Way Alive." Sharing concepts with Animism (that all living beings and the natural systems that support them are miracles and therefore deserving of respect and dignity), Buddhism (that there is only One Life, One Mind, One Soul, One Peace), and other Spiritual movements, it could be said that Manson was possibly one of the first proponents of the now emerging Deep Ecology movement. However, unlike these other movements, Manson's philosophy was militaristic, and the use of violence was condoned, as long as it was done in the name of ATWA, in the name of love.

"The Family"

After his release from prison in 1967, Manson moved to the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco, California. He gathered a group of younger followers, which Tate-LaBianca prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi referred to as "The Family". (It should be noted that Manson denies any active "recruiting" for members of his "Family" and some believe that this type of selective wording was used by prosecutors in his day, and continued through to modern day, to fuel the public perception that his group was a cult.) Despite standing just 5'5 tall and not possessing a physically imposing stature Manson thoroughly controlled his followers through rhetoric and psychological manipulation.

Manson left Haight-Ashbury and took over an unused ranch in the western San Fernando Valley formerly used to make western movies, the Spahn Ranch, owned by George Spahn, who was elderly and legally blind and thus, more or less, oblivious to Manson's activities. The Family also later resided at Barker Ranch in Death Valley, which was owned by Family member Catherine Gillies' grandmother. Allegedly, Gillies was once dispatched by Manson to murder her grandmother and thus hasten her inheritance of the ranch property, but the plot was foiled by a flat tire.

According to the Tate-LaBianca prosecution's theory and the testimony of former "Family" members like Paul Watkins, Manson, inspired by the Beatles' song "Helter Skelter" and other songs from the White Album, became convinced of an impending race and nuclear war, based on Biblical prophecy in the Book of Revelation. It is not clear if Manson himself actually believed these notions or if he was simply using them as a way to motivate his followers.

According to many former members of the group, Manson implied to his followers that he was Jesus, saying he had died before, some 2,000 years ago. When asked about this in court, Manson stated, "I may have implied to different people on different occasions that I may be Jesus Christ, but I haven't yet decided who or what I am." Around the time the Family was formed, Manson is said to have begun calling himself by a slightly different name, Charles Willis Manson (his real name was "Charles Milles Maddox" AKA Manson), allegedly because it could be read symbolically as "Charles' Will Is Man's Son", though Willis was the last name of his first wife. While in prison, Manson had also been very interested in Scientology, although this seems to have been short lived. Once released from prison, it is speculated that Manson became interested in, and investigated, some of the new religious movements that were flourishing during that era, such as the Process Church (also known as the Church of the Final Judgment), the Circe Order of Dog Blood and the Four Pi Movement [1].

Although only a few members of "the Family" came to national attention, the Family itself was estimated to consist of up to 100 people of varying degrees of involvement beyond a "hard core" of around 30.

The Killings

The Manson Family was responsible for several murders, known collectively as the Tate-LaBianca murders.

The Tate murders

On the night of August 8, 1969, Manson directed some members of the Family, including Charles "Tex" Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Susan Atkins, and Linda Kasabian to go to the former residence of an acquaintance, record producer Terry Melcher, and kill whoever was on the premises. It was stated at trial that others, including Catherine Gillies (aka "Cappy" or "Capistrano"), wanted to go as well, but didn't because there "was no room in the car." There is no proof that they were under influence of drugs or that any of them challenged Manson’s wishes. They left their Spahn Ranch compound and arrived at midnight at the grounds of the Beverly Hills home of the film director Roman Polanski and his wife Sharon Tate. Polanski, highly acclaimed for his recent hit Rosemary's Baby, was in London working on his next film and had asked friends to stay with Tate, who was eight and a half months pregnant. Before entering the house, they shot dead Steven Parent, an 18-year-old friend of Tate’s gardener, who was leaving the property and had unwittingly seen the intruders. Kasabian, who was acting as the getaway driver, expressed horror at the murder of Parent and was told to remain outside and keep watch while the others entered the house. The quotation, "I am the devil, and I have come to do the devil's work" has been attributed to Watson when he was challenged by the occupants when entering the house. They assembled the four occupants of the house into the living room where they were tied together. Jay Sebring, a noted hairstylist and friend of the Polanskis was visiting, and when he attempted to defend Tate, he was shot by Watson, who then kicked him several times in the face. Wojciech Frykowski and Abigail Folger (heir to the Folgers coffee company), who were staying in the house until Polanski's return from London, were able to escape from the living room and were each pursued as they ran onto the front lawn. Quickly overtaken by the attackers, Frykowski was stabbed fifty-one times, shot twice, and pistol-whipped 13 times in the head; Folger was stabbed twenty-eight times. Tate remained in the living room and begged for the life of her unborn baby. Susan Atkins later testified that she had replied, "Look bitch, I don't care about you. I don't care if you are having a baby. You are going to die and I don't feel a thing about it", before stabbing her to death. Before leaving the house Atkins used a towel to soak up some of Sharon Tate's blood and then used it to write "PIG" on the front door. This was allegedly inspired by the Beatles song Piggies.

Linda Kasabian later received immunity for submitting evidence against the group. She told Manson, "I'm not like you, I can't kill," and evinced shock and horror at finally seeing the pictures of the killings in court.

The LaBianca murders

Main article: Leno LaBianca

The following night in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles, California, wealthy supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary were killed in their home, once again by members of the Family (Watson, Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten). On this occasion, Manson apparently went along to "show them how to do it" with less tumult, and pacified the victims, tying them up before returning to the car to tell his followers to commit the killings. Watson apparently killed Mr. LaBianca, and Krenwinkel and Van Houten took turns stabbing Mrs. LaBianca when she began to struggle. Between them, the two girls stabbed Mrs. LaBianca 41 times, including more than 20 stab wounds made after the woman was dead. Krenwinkel then added to the butchery, using a carving fork to cut the word "WAR" into Mr. LaBianca's stomach. She then left the fork embedded in his stomach, soaking up some blood on a piece of paper and writing the phrases "RISE" and "DEATH TO PIGS" on the walls, as well as the misspelled "HEALTER SKELTER" on the refrigerator.

The crimes were prosecuted by Los Angeles assistant district attorney Vincent Bugliosi in a single trial, which seems natural due to the strong link between the crimes - which include motive , the instigator (Manson), the two main assassins ( Watson and Krenwinkel), and many of the witnesses such as police, medical and scientific witnesses, and civilian witnesses.

Other murders

Members of the Manson Family had previously been responsible for the death of Gary Hinman, a high school music teacher in nearby Topanga Canyon. Manson ordered the killing of Hinman after he denied the Manson Family money that Charlie claimed Hinman owed them. Bobby Beausoleil was arrested for Hinman's murder a few days before the Tate slaying; later Susan Atkins confessed her part in the plot.

On August 16, 1969, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies descended upon Spahn Ranch and arrested Manson and most of the Family members on suspicion of auto theft (the Family were not, as yet, suspected of the Tate or LaBianca killings). Ranch hand Donald "Shorty" Shea offered to tell the deputies what he knew about the Family's activities, but disappeared before he could give them a statement. It is believed that on August 25 or 26, after the Family members were released due to lack of evidence, Manson directed Family members, including Steve "Clem Tufts" Grogan, to kill Shea. One of the enduring Family myths, presumably used to frighten members into submission, was that Shea was dismembered and his body parts buried in different places around the ranch. In 1977, the incarcerated and extremely remorseful Grogan directed law enforcement officials to Shea's body, and it was found in one piece, contrary to the horror story passed down through the Family. Grogan, who was paroled in 1985, is still the only former Family member to have been paroled after being convicted of a Manson-ordered murder.

They claimed a total of some 35 killings, but most were not tried either for lack of evidence or because the perpetrators were already sentenced to life for the Tate/La Bianca killings.

Capture

Barker Ranch, in California's Mojave Desert, is known as the last hideout of Manson and "the Family" after the gruesome Los Angeles murder spree. The local county sheriff's department and National Park Service officers had arrested Manson and his group in 1969 on suspicion of trespassing and vandalism. At the time of the Manson arrests, the officers were unaware of other criminal actions by those they had in custody. They wanted to apprehend and prosecute the persons responsible for vandalizing road repair equipment in Death Valley National Park farther north, not knowing that they had a serial murderer and his followers. Manson was ultimately discovered hiding beneath a sink in the Barker Ranch bathroom.

Possible motives

The murders initially seemed random, but some key motives were later identified:

  • Manson was hostile towards society; Manson got a "kick" out of death and control. During the trial, one witness commented that "he [Manson] doesn't know about love... love is not his trip. Death is his trip".
  • Manson had been rejected by the music industry and wanted revenge. In the spring of 1968, Manson was introduced to record producer Terry Melcher, son of actress Doris Day, by Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, who had picked up a couple of the Family members as they were hitchhiking. Manson and the Family moved into Wilson's house, where they lived for a year, and the Beach Boys recorded a song Manson wrote, calling it 'Never Learn Not To Love'. At the time, Melcher and his girlfriend, actress Candice Bergen, were living at the Tate house, and it was there Manson met him. Manson auditioned for Melcher, but Melcher decided not to sign him to a contract. Although Manson knew that Melcher and Bergen had moved to Malibu, Bugliosi suggested that he targeted the house because it represented his rejection by the show business community he wanted to enter, and that it was of no interest to him who his actual victims would be. It has also been rumored that Manson unsuccessfully auditioned for the Monkees, but this is an urban legend as he was in prison at the time of the auditions in 1965-66.
  • The killers were attempting to clear the blame from Bobby Beausoleil, who had been arrested a few days earlier as a suspect in the Gary Hinman murder. This was a motive stated by the killers during interviews with them, featured in a 1972 Manson film documentary. They claimed that the motive for the murders was to clear fellow Family member Bobby Beausoleil, whom they described as a brother to them. Stating that they were willing to sacrifice their lives, (meaning the death penalty) to clear his name, they committed copycat murders to cast doubt on Beausoleil's guilt. This motive was substantially discredited during the penalty phase of the trial, where it became apparent that the "free Beausoleil" motive was contradicted by other testimony of the killers. Additionally, despite declaring they would die for Manson, the other accused claim to have waited until the main trial was over and the death penalty was being discussed, and then only on redirect examination, to introduce this as a motive. It was dismissed by the prosecution as an attempt to clear Manson by means of the other defendants taking the blame.
  • Manson had come to believe Armageddon was imminent, in the form of a global race war, and believed he was destined to be the ultimate beneficiary of it. Manson viewed race war as imminent, describing it as Helter Skelter, "all the wars that have ever been fought, piled on top of each other". He told his followers that this was imminent, but that there was a secret underground world reached by a hole underneath the desert, where they would wait out the war in bliss. He described this many times, and it was a part of their communal belief, so much so that they stocked up supplies and searched for the hole prior to the crimes. Blacks would win the war, but be unfit to run the world, and the Family would therefore emerge and run it for them as a benevolent autocracy, with Manson at the head of this new world order. The war would be triggered by "some black people coming out of the ghetto and doing atrocious crimes... killings... writing things in blood." However, by summer 1969, Manson was heard to say that the blacks did not know how to start their role in this war, so he would have to show them.

Although all four were possible motives, in the trial the prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi, placed the latter as the main motive, despite its unusual nature.

Investigation and trial

The two cases were not well investigated by police, principally due to rivalries between the Tate team (older) and the La Bianca team (younger): the Tate team were not open to suggestions that the two cases were connected. As a result of this, Bugliosi himself played a significant and active role in gathering the evidence needed to convict.

Ronald Hughes, a young lawyer with an extensive knowledge of 1960s counterculture but no trial experience, was the final state-appointed attorney for defendants Manson and Van Houten (several other attorneys were appointed and then dismissed during the trial). He suggested to Manson that he should obtain a different attorney for himself, Irving Kanarek, and continued to defend Van Houten, apparently feeling that he could defend Van Houten more effectively. He hoped to show that Van Houten was acting under the influence of Manson, and to portray Manson as controlling her actions. This may have cost Hughes his life. In late November 1970, Hughes went camping near Sespe Hot Springs. He disappeared, and his decomposed body was discovered four months later. It is thought that other members of the Family killed him in reprisal for impugning Manson in court; one member of the Family described this as "the first of the retaliation killings".


During the trial, Manson and his followers courted media attention. Manson appeared at the trial with an "X" he had carved into his forehead with a knife. This was copied by his followers the next day. The pattern was modified several times and copied by his followers each time. Eventually the pattern was turned into a swastika and is now a permanent scar. At one point during the trial, Manson shaved his head, his followers again mimicking. The defendants, acting in concert with each other, deliberately disrupted the proceedings to the point where Judge Charles Older had to have them removed from the courtroom on several occasions. A monitor system was rigged up in the lockup so that the defendants could follow the proceedings. On several occasions, Manson verbally threatened both the judge and prosecutor Bugliosi in court, and at one point attempted to physically attack the judge. The defendants eventually became so disruptive that Judge Older banned them from the courtroom altogether.

Manson's followers tried to dissuade an estranged follower, Barbara Hoyt, from testifying against Manson at the trial by giving her a free trip to Hawaii - and a hamburger laced with LSD once she arrived there (the conspirators were under the mistaken belief that an LSD overdose was fatal). Hoyt was found in a drugged semi-stupor on a street near a Honolulu beach, hospitalized, and identified herself as a witness in the Tate-LaBianca trial once she recovered from her LSD trip. The involuntary overdose ultimately made Hoyt an even stronger witness for the prosecution, and she testified about followers' discussions about the murders.

Although Manson himself was not present at the Tate/La Bianca killings, he was convicted on seven counts of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder on January 25, 1971, for ordering and directing them, and on March 29, 1971 was sentenced to death. Atkins and Krenwinkel were convicted on the same counts, as was Watson (who was tried separately from the others due to extradition problems), and Van Houten was convicted of two counts of murder and one count of conspiracy. Some members of Manson's "Family" have claimed that the killers tried to implicate Manson in order to appear less guilty themselves. The death sentence was later automatically commuted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court's People v. Anderson decision resulted in the invalidation of all death sentences imposed in California prior to 1972. The killers, giggling in court, were asked if they felt remorse, and gave answers that indicated they did not.

Aftermath

On March 6, 1970, Manson released an album titled Lie: The Love & Terror Cult to help finance his defense. The album was put out by ESP Records and included the song that had previously been recorded by the Beach Boys.

The Family survived the incarceration of Manson. After his arrest, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, one of Manson's shrewdest, toughest and most obedient followers, effectively took command of the management of the Family in his absence. With a handful of other followers, mostly women, she perched on the steps of the Los Angeles courthouse during the trial, shaved her head to protest his conviction and, copying Manson, gouged an X into her forehead as a sign of loyalty. She later explained: "We have X'ed ourselves out of this world."

On November 13, 1972, Michael Monfort, James Craig, Priscilla Cooper, Nancy Laura Pitman and Lynnette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme were held for the murder of James T. Willett and his wife.

By 1974, the original Manson "family" had dwindled to only Fromme and Sandra Good. Motivated by Manson's new ideology, they sent a series of threatening letters to heads of corporations, making threats unless they stopped polluting the environment.

On September 5, 1975, Fromme unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald R. Ford in Sacramento [2]. It appears that, although she managed to get close to Ford, by mistake the chamber of her Colt .45 pistol was empty. She was heard to say, "It didn't go off. Can you believe it? It didn't go off!" She stated she had committed the crime so that Manson would appear as a witness at her trial, and thus have a worldwide platform from which to talk about his apocalyptic vision. She escaped prison in December 1987, apparently to try to reach Manson, but was recaptured two days later.

Manson gave two notable interviews in the 1980s: the first on June 13, 1981 at California Medical Facility by Tom Snyder for NBC's The Tomorrow Show, and the second at San Quentin Prison by Charlie Rose for CBS News Nightwatch (aired March 7, 1986). Rose's interview won the national news Emmy Award for "Best Interview" in 1987. [3]

Manson remains imprisoned, currently incarcerated in California's Corcoran State Prison. All of his applications for parole have been denied, most notably in 1986 when he appeared before the parole board with a swastika evident on his forehead. He is known for his theatrics when given the opportunity to appear in the media, and in one taped parole hearing said he wanted to go to the moon. He has been overheard in conversations with at least one of his former "Family" members saying that it doesn't matter what he says or does because he knows he will be kept in prison for the rest of his life, implying that at least some of his fanatical behavior is deliberate. During his imprisonment, Manson has received more mail than any other prisoner in the United States prison system. It is said that he gets over 60,000 pieces of mail a year, much of it fan mail from young people hoping to join the Family.

In 2000-01, Manson was publishing messages on a now-defunct website run by Manson followers St. George and Sandra Good.

News cuttings and other material related to the Manson family and the activities of its members from 1969 - 2005 here.

Media influence

Manson himself was involved in the production of several music albums including his Lie: The Love & Terror Cult (Performance 1970). One of the first artists to reference Manson was noise music innovator and occult specialist Boyd Rice, a native of California, who had included many references to Manson in his early live performances in the mid-late 1970s. He later visited Manson in jail in the late 1980s and caused a stir when he was searched on one such visit and was found to be in possession of a single gun bullet, although he claimed it was a good luck talisman. However, the authorities thought that there was a plan to get Manson out of jail. Boyd Rice was also a consultant and editor to the book "The Manson File" (hence the prison visits to Manson). Brian Warner (aka Marilyn Manson deriving his last name from Charles), probably the most notable artist interested in Manson and the Family, has composed several songs related to Manson. Manson's first album, Portrait of an American Family, was partly recorded in the former Tate residence.

Hundreds of musicians have recorded songs related to Manson. These include: Sonic Youth's Death Valley '69;Neil Young's "Revolution Blues" (likely the best known, perhaps because he knew Manson); Klaatu's "Mister Manson" (which continued their contrived Beatles image), The Flaming Lips's Charlie Manson Blues, The Ramones's "Glad To See You Go", the opening track of their 1977 album Ramones Leave Home. The Boards of Canada Song 1969 may be a reference to the Manson Murders since the murders took place in the year 1969.

In 1976, Throbbing Gristle, the avant-garde noise group and former performance artists who were based in London, made a film entitled "After Cease To Exist", inspired by a Manson song title, which they used as a backdrop in some live performances, they also referenced a Manson lyric on the cover of their 1980 album "Heathen Earth" and also made reference to a Manson lyric from his song "Sick City" on the same album. They had also used a photograph of Manson as a teenager, on one of their flyers to promote one of their performances. Psychic TV, the group formed by ex-Throbbing Gristle members included the Manson song "Always Is Always Forever" on their "Dreams Less Sweet" album from 1983.

Devo have been accused of plagiarizing portions of Manson's song "Mechanical Man" for their song of the same name. In 1982, Boston hardcore punk band Negative FX featured a picture of Charles Manson, with their logo digitally "carved" into his head, on their self-titled LP. It also featured pictures of Manson family members on the back. This caused much controversy at the time. In 1985, experimental rock band Sonic Youth released the song "Death Valley '69" which was inspired by the Manson murders. In cooperation with director Richard Kern they produced a video clip for the song in which some of the band members were involved in gory scenes.

UK underground electronic music pioneers, Cabaret Voltaire, used Manson's voice from various radio interviews, which they used in their tracks "Hell's Home", "Kickback" and "Golden Halos" featured on their album "The Covenant, The Sword And The Arm Of The Lord" released in 1985. The London group 400 Blows used a Manson U.S. radio interview as the basis of their track "For Jackie M", which is on their 1985 album "If I Kissed Her, I'd Have To Kill Her First", the title being a quote from serial killer Ed Kemper.

White Zombie attempted to incorporate samples from Manson's Geraldo Rivera interview on their La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1 album track "Warp Asylum", but were denied permission to use them, reportedly by Manson's lawyers.

System of a Down wrote the song "ATWA" on their Toxicity album about the media's viewpoints on Manson. (ATWA is an acronym used by Manson, meaning both "Air-Trees-Water-Animals" and "all the way alive."). Daron Malakian from System of a Down has admitted to having a fascination with Charles Manson.

Ozzy Osbourne recorded "Bloodbath in Paradise" on his No Rest for the Wicked album about the California murders.

The music video, "Gave Up" by Nine Inch Nails was shot entirely at 10050 Cielo Drive in the summer of 1993 while its lead singer, Trent Reznor, leased the property in Benedict Canyon from Rudi Altobelli. The video shoot was done in the living room of the main house and also includes some exterior shots of the house and grounds. Also in the video is a young Marilyn Manson, who also shot a video at Cielo. Incidentally, while Reznor claimed to have no knowledge of the slaughter that took place at the house, he did dub the studio "Le Pig" and recorded the album The Downward Spiral there, on which two of the tracks were named "Piggy" and "March of the Pigs". Also, upon close inspection, one can observe that a set of lawn furniture had been placed in the same spot as in 1969 and an American Flag was hung in the living room. It was demolished in 1994 and a huge mansion called the "Villa Bella" has been built on the site. Only the front door survives, because Trent Reznor took it with him and installed it at his record label, Nothing Records, based in New Orleans.

Transgressive punk rock performance artist GG Allin covered Manson's song "Garbage Dump" on his 1987 album You Give Love A Bad Name. Allin can be seen wearing a Charles Manson T-shirt on the cover of the album. In 1969, months prior to the Tate-LaBianca murders, The Beach Boys covered "Cease to Exist", retitling it "Never Learn Not to Love" and releasing it on the album 20/20 (with sole songwriting credit given to Dennis Wilson). Redd Kross and The Lemonheads have also covered "Cease To Exist". Guns N' Roses drew the most notice when they recorded "Look At Your Game Girl" which is a hidden track after the last song on The Spaghetti Incident?, authored by Manson. This move was made by Axl Rose (who often wore t-shirts with a black and white image of Manson's face on the front and the phrase 'Charlie Don't Surf' on the back) after meeting the shock rocker Brian Warner who told him about Manson's Lie album and explained how he sampled one of his songs "Mechanical Man" using some lyrics which he reworked into the track "My Monkey" on his first album. The track can be found on Portrait of an American Family. Part of the profits would have gone to him but legal action diverted them to victim Frykowski's son, instead. Industrial band Skinny Puppy also used samples in the song "Worlock" pairing them with samples from the The Beatles song "Helter Skelter". He also appears on the album cover for "Rabies" featuring the song. The Los Angeles electronic-industrial music group "Spahn Ranch," active from 1992-2000, took its name from the compound the Manson family inhabited at the time of the Tate murders.

The original "Charlie Don't Surf" t-shirt was the creation of two Dallas-born brothers, Dan and Richard Lemmons who attended W. T. White High School. In the early 1980's they were famous for the "Get Off Your High Horse" polo shirts which depicted a polo player falling off the horse. These shirts were even sold via multi-level marketing on college campuses by students. Geraldo Rivera interviewed Dan and Richard Lemmons on his show about the "Charlie Don't Surf" shirt in about 1993 when the issue was in the news about criminals profiting from their image. The Lemmons brothers had to pay Charlie Manson 10 cents per shirt sold.

Alkaline Trio have also recorded a song called "Sadie" relating to Manson and the Family. It appears on both their BYO Records split with the band One Man Army and on their 2005 CD "Crimson".

Florida death metal band Deicide recorded a song in which Manson is the primary subject, entitled "Lunatic of God's Creation". Another death metal band to refererence Manson is Poland's Decapitated, who on their album Organic Hallucinosis titled their opening track "A Poem About an Old Prison Man" after a poem written by Manson at the California Medical Facility in 1984, and used the lyrics of the poem as the lyrics for their song. English doom metal band Paradise Lost refer to Manson (unsympathetically) on their album "Draconican Times". On the track "Forever Failure" a sample of Charles Manson's voice is used from the British television documentary "Charles Manson - The Man Who Killed The Sixties". Necrophagia (a cult death metal band which at one point included Phil Anselmo from Pantera) includes a "Charles Manson meditation film" on their DVD "Through the Eyes of the Dead." Another English band from Leicester, Kasabian, take their name from the family member.

Manson is often referred to in rap music as well, most notably by Ice Cube in the title track of the N.W.A. album Straight Outta Compton ("Here's a murder rap to keep you dancin'/With a crime record like Charles Manson.") Also he is mentioned in another Ice Cube song with Dr Dre in Natural Born Killaz ("So fuck Charlie Manson, I'll snatch him out of his truck, Hit 'em with a brick then I'm dancin'") and the long-rumored Ice Cube/Dr. Dre collaborative effort was supposed to be titled Helter Skelter.

A Portuguese band, Mão Morta, has a song named Charles Manson. Of the many rumors of David Allan Coe, one of them is that he taught Manson how to play guitar in prison. On U2's album, "Rattle and Hum", the song "Helter Skelter" begins with Bono saying: "This is a song Charles Manson stole from The Beatles. We're stealing it back.". John Moran The Manson Family: An Opera with Iggy Pop; produced by Philip Glass.

The Flaming Lips debut album Hear It Is includes a track titled "Charlie Manson Blues".

The Tate-La Bianca Murders have been dramatized in movies several times, most notably in 1976's Helter Skelter, starring Steve Railsback as Manson, and its 2004 TV movie remake, which starred Jeremy Davies as Manson, Bruno Kirby as Bugliosi, and Clea DuVall as Kasabian.

J.G. Thirlwell, aka Foetus, recorded the song "Di-1-9026" about Manson and the murders for his 1985 Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel album Nail. The title is a reference to the phone number at Spahn Ranch.

Brian Jonestown Massacre does a slightly reworked cover of "Arkansas" (called "Arkansas Revisited") on their 1999 album Bringing It All Back Home Again. The band's leader, Anton Newcombe, has expressed interest in Manson's songwriting. In the deleted scenes of the 2004 documentary film DiG!, he can be seen holding a photograph of Charles Manson and several "family" members, singing along to "Garbage Dump". Newcombe then explains that he had the opportunity to record a song with Manson in prison, though his friend and former bandmate Joel Gion doubts the veracity of this claim.

Charles Manson also appeared as a cartoon character in a South Park episode, "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!".

Over the course of several years, Jim Van Bebber created his own largely self-financed film about Manson and his family, named Charlie's Family (later retitled The Manson Family for theatrical and video release).

Heavy metal musician and horror movie director Rob Zombie is fascinated by Manson. So much so that the cover art for many of his solo albums and White Zombie albums contain a zombified, gothic caricature of himself as Manson.

Iowa based nu-metal group Slipknot used a Manson quote for their intro track "742617000027" on their self titled album. On the track Manson's words "The whole thing i think is sick" are repeated and distorted.

Rock band Mushroomhead, in their song "Bwomp" (on their XX album), state "If it was up to me, I'd free Charles Manson."

In 2005, London-based hardcore band SIX FT DITCH put a 3 minute 29 seconds rare speech of Charles Manson on their (serial killer-themed) album "Unlicensed Cemetery". The track is entitled "A reflection of you". Also the track "Cielo Drive" (which can be found on the same album) is about the murder of Sharon Tate.

UK Cult underground Avant-garde collective Meshes of the Afternoon recently included one of Mansons' famous parole speeches in their track "What about the others? ...Fuck them". The track features a disturbing juxtaposition of children playing with babies crying coupled with haunted voices and looped guitar melody.

Heavy metal band Nothingface uses two quotes from Manson as samples in their song "Let It Burn": "Believe me, if I started murdering people, there'd be none of you left;" and "Maybe I should have killed four-five hundred people, then I would have felt better. Then I would have felt like I really offered society something."

Dan Bern wrote the song Krautmeyer speculating about what would have happened if Charles Manson's birth name had been Charles Krautmeyer. (Note: Manson's birth name was Maddox, not Krautmeyer as this song might lead you to believe).

On the TV show Futurama one of the characters talks about an attempt by mechanics to build an evil car by using "the most evil parts of the most evil cars in the world", one of those parts was the left turn signal from Charles Manson's Volkswagen.

The Portuguese band Mão Morta, have a song called "Charles Manson" and some parts of the lyrics talk about him. The song is one of their main hits.

Parole hearings

In 2000, a judge ordered the parole board to justify Leslie Van Houten's continued incarceration, citing that in effect sentencing her to life without parole was not an authorized sentence. An appeal court found that the seriousness of the crime had been appropriately weighed by the parole board, and upheld the denial of parole on that occasion. The 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that the state Board of Prison Terms had made a "serious, deliberate and thoughtful" decision in June of 2000 when it denied Van Houten parole for the 12th time. The appeals court said that the board had used the correct standard when it found that the seriousness of Van Houten's crime, which she committed when she was 19, outweighed her rehabilitation behind bars. "We find ample evidence that the crime was of such a heinous, atrocious and cruel character that this factor alone justified the board's determination that Van Houten was unsuitable for parole," the court said.

Fromme, eligible for parole since 1985 following the 1975 incident, has consistently waived her right to a hearing, presumably to show solidarity with Manson.

Manson was last entitled to a parole hearing in 2002, and was denied early release, in particular due to a "litany" of offenses ranging from drug trafficking to arson to assaulting guards. He is next eligible for parole in 2007

References and further reading

Books

Films

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