"Just because you're convicted in a court room doesn't mean you're guilty of something." Charles Manson
The horrific crime scene photos above show the sustained violence of a notorious group of mass-murdering 60's cult-followers known as the 'Manson Family.'
The founder of the family or cult-leader as we would call him today, was Charles Manson—born Charles Milles Manson on November 12, 1934.
Manson, by the way, has never 'directly' caused any harm to anyone.
A juvenile delinquent who seemed doomed from birth, Manson's mother was Kathleen Maddox, a down-and-out prostitute from Cincinnati, Ohio, who, when he was born, tried her best to give her son away to anyone who wanted him.
In and out of Juvenile halls, county jails and state prisons most of his life Manson ultimately became the veritable ring leader of one of the worst mass-murdering sprees of all time.
A juvenile delinquent who seemed doomed from birth, Manson's mother was Kathleen Maddox, a down-and-out prostitute from Cincinnati, Ohio, who, when he was born, tried her best to give her son away to anyone who wanted him.
In and out of Juvenile halls, county jails and state prisons most of his life Manson ultimately became the veritable ring leader of one of the worst mass-murdering sprees of all time.
Manson, after listening to, and becoming obsessed with, the Beatles 'White Album' which was released in late 1968, then stated to anyone who would listen that he believed that the world would end via a 'Racial War' - blacks against whites, one which he subsequently nicknamed 'Helter Skelter' after a song from the album.
With the help of drugs, sex and other manners of persuasion, Manson began getting groups of listeners. He also gained a group of disciple-like-followers who were mostly teenage-runaway-girls looking for a father figure: any father figure.
Manson then, on a hot August night in the California desert in last year of the 60's—with the Beatles White Album as his "Holy Bible" of sorts—did eventually convince a small group of extremists to go-off and break into the home of a nearby famous Hollywood director named Roman Polanski at Benedict Canyon.
Geographically speaking, it's a picturesque area west of Hollywood in the Santa Monica Mountains which overlooks Beverly Hills and Bel Air.
Manson then, on a hot August night in the California desert in last year of the 60's—with the Beatles White Album as his "Holy Bible" of sorts—did eventually convince a small group of extremists to go-off and break into the home of a nearby famous Hollywood director named Roman Polanski at Benedict Canyon.
Geographically speaking, it's a picturesque area west of Hollywood in the Santa Monica Mountains which overlooks Beverly Hills and Bel Air.
Polanski was not at home, but his pregnant wife and movie star Sharon Tate was there and greeted what would now be called a home invasion.
Tate was entertaining guests, namely millionaire-coffee-mogul, Abigail Folger, her boyfriend Wojciech Frykowski, hairstylist Jay Sebring, and an 18-year old man named Steven Parent.
What happened next was something right out of any of the worst Hollywood slasher films you can think of. The innocent victims were stripped bare, stabbed, shot, hung, and had their blood smeared and painted across the walls and appliances of their own home. Spelling out words such as "Pig" and "War" and of course, "Helter Skelter."
Although Manson was proven to have no part in any of it, he and followers, Susan Atkins, Charles "Tex" Watson, and Patricia Krenwinkel, were eventually convicted and given the death sentence.
However, on April 24, 1972, the Supreme Court of California abolished the death penalty. Manson and his followers were spared from execution and had their sentences commuted to life.
Manson, now in his late 70's, is incarcerated at Corcoran State Prison, located in Corcoran, California. He has been behind bars since the summer of '69, with no sign of ever getting out.
I'm @cagestokerblog on Twitter.
