Charles Manson

"If you're going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."

Charles Milles Manson was the leader of the Manson Family cult, which was responsible for a series of murders in the 1960s.

Background
Manson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1934. His mother was Kentucky-born runaway Kathleen Maddox, who was 16 years old at the time of his birth and didn't name him immediately (during his first weeks, he went by "no name Maddox"), is said to have been promiscuous and a drinker. According to family members, she once even sold Charles to a waitress for a pitcher of beer, though he was retrieved by an uncle shortly afterwards. In 1936, she filed for child support from a Colonel Scott from Kentucky and was awarded it, but never received any. She was briefly married to one William Manson, who was listed as Charles' birth father on the birth certificate and gave him his name. She would be gone for days or weeks at a time, during which he would be left with his aunt or grandmother. In 1939, Maddox and her brother went to prison for robbery and her son moved in with an aunt and uncle in West Virginia. Three years later, she was paroled and took him back. Growing up, Charles was a quiet loner who often moved to and from different temporary residences with his mother. At the age of nine, he was caught stealing and was sent to a reform school. The same thing happened again when he was 12. In 1947, Maddox tried to have him put in a foster home, but there was none that could take him. Instead, he was placed in the Gibault School for Boys in Indiana by the court, but ran away the next year and tried to return to his mother. After being rejected, he started living on his own, making money through burglaries, and spent time in several juvenile detention centers and childcare facilities in multiple states. During one of his last stays, he raped a fellow detainee while holding a razor blade to his throat. In 1952, Manson was placed in the Chillicothe Correctional Facility in Chillicothe, Ohio, where he became more cooperative to the keepers than he had been at his previous institutions and even became literate while there. An aptitude test estimated his IQ at 109 and said that he had average aptitude in everything but music.

In 1954, he was paroled and spent some time living with various family members. In 1955, he married a waitress who carried his son, Charles Jr., and made a living of low-wage jobs and car thefts. When the child was born, Manson was incarcerated in Los Angeles for auto theft (his wife had driven to the city in a car he had stolen to join him). Three years into his prison term, he and his wife divorced. In 1958, he was paroled, only to start pimping a 16-year-old prostitute in Pasadena. The following years he spent doing legal negotiations on a charges of white slavery and of forging a U.S. Treasury check. On March 21, 1967, he was released from the Federal Correction Institution on Terminal Island after less than a year there and moved to Berkeley, where he moved into an apartment with help from a friend from prison. He actually protested when he was due for release, saying he was happy with staying in prison and playing his guitar (a cellmate had taught him how to). He married a woman named Mary Brunner and moved in with her. Soon there were 18 additional women living in the same apartment. He began gathering more followers, male and female, to what became his "family" (see below) and moved in with them to the Spahn Ranch in the Santa Susana Mountains, a former set used for shooting the Western shows Bonanza and Gunsmoke. The owner, 80-year-old George Spahn, allowed the Family to stay if they helped work the grounds. Manson also made some female members have sex with Spahn. They later moved to the Barker Ranch in Death Valley. Manson told the owner that they were aspiring musicians. She allowed them to stay if they helped clean up, and he sealed the deal by giving her a copy of a Beach Boys gold record, which he had been given by band member Dennis Wilson during a brief stay at his house. During that stay, Manson had written a song for the band's album, but producer Terry Melcher, a music producer who did a lot of work with the band, didn't offer him a contract and it wasn't produced.

The Manson Family, Killings and Capture
Manson often preached about a racial holocaust that would start when the blacks began a rebellion against the whites. He named the event "Helter Skelter" after a song on the Beatles' White Album (the inspiration came from the lyrics "Look out helter skelter helter skelter helter skelter/She's coming down fast/ Yes she is/Yes she is"). In addition to the lyrics of other songs from the White Album, which he interpreted as a prophetic warning of Helter Skelter, he also cited chapters from the Book of Revelations, even drawing parallels between both and his own life and calling himself "Jesus Christ". He intended for the group to make another album filled with "hidden messages" about the impending racial Armageddon. Before long, they began a plan to start a racial war between blacks and whites by committing murders of either race and pinning it on the other, sparking retaliation from the former side, and repeating the process until a war broke out. While racist and non-racist whites fought amongst each other and brought themselves down, the Family would wait out the conflict in a "bottomless pit" (an alcove in Death Valley near the Barker Ranch) before bringing the blacks down and rising to power themselves. In addition to working on their album, the Family also planned an escape in the "pit" with maps and prepared vehicles.

One day in 1969, the Family members were told Terry Melcher would visit the compound, but he didn't come. On March 23, Manson went alone to the last address he'd known Melcher to live at, 10050 Cielo Drive. By that time, Melcher had moved and the house had two new tenants, director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant with his child. He met Shahrokh Hatami, a photographer and friend of Tate, and asked him for Rudi Altobelli, the landlord. Hatami said he didn't recognize the name and sent him to the guest house. When Manson came back later, Altobelli was there and told him that Melcher had moved to Malibu. On May 18, the Family's ranch was visited by Melcher, who came to hear the members sing. In July, the Family took its first murderous steps towards Helter Skelter. A member, "Tex" Watson, had scammed a black drug dealer named Bernard "Lotsapoppa" Crowe for a sum of money the Family intended to use for the Helter Skelter scheme. On July 1, after Crowe had threatened to strike back at the Family, Manson shot him in his apartment and fled. The next day, Manson heard a news report about a Black Panther member being killed in the area and assumed it was Crowe. In actuality, however, Crowe, who was not really a Black Panther, survived the shooting, but didn't report it. On July 25, Manson and a pack of Family members went to the home of Gary Hinman, an acquaintance, and tried to rob him of a sum of money Manson thought he had inherited. After being held hostage for a few days, Hinman was killed. On August 6, one of the involved Family members, Bobby Beausoleil, was caught driving Hinman's car with the murder weapon, a sword, in his possession and was arrested.

Two days later, Manson told the rest of the Family that it was time to officially begin the Helter Skelter and sent some followers to 10050 Cielo Drive with the instructions to kill everyone there. Just after midnight, they arrived at the house. The four people in the house were Sharon Tate (Polanski was in London at the time), hairstylist Jay Sebring, aspiring screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski, and Abigail Folger, heiress to Folger's Coffee and Frykowski's girlfriend. During the night, all four were murdered, after which the Family members drew in the victims' blood the phrases "DEATH TO PIGS" and "RISE" on two walls in the living room and "HEALTHER SKELTER" [sic] on the refrigerator door. Earlier in the night, they also stopped Steven Parent, an 18-year-old student who was giving William Garretson, the house's caretaker, a ride. Garretson lived in the guest house and didn't hear anything because his stereo was being played at a loud volume. Parent, on the other hand, was killed. The bodies were found in the morning when the maid came to work. The next evening, Manson sent the same pack, along with two more members, to 3301 Waverly Drive, the home of supermarket executive Leno LaBiance and his wife Rosemary, both of whom were stabbed to death in the night.

On August 12, 1969, the Manson Family was arrested as a "major auto theft ring", having stolen several cars and converted them into dune buggies, but they were released a few dates after due to a mistake with the warrant. On August 26, the Family killed Donald "Shorty" Shea, a farm hand at the Spahn Ranch, because Manson thought he was a "snitch". A dorm mate of Family member Susan Atkins told the police about her when she talked about the Hinman murder. In custody, she talked to her cellmates about the Family's other murders, in which she had been involved. More arrests followed and the Family members were connected to the murders with physical evidence, including fingerprints and the murder weapons. Linda Kasabian, who had been present during the murders but not committed any herself, was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony. In the end, all Family members involved in the killings were found guilty on multiple counts of first-degree murder. Initially, everyone was sentenced to death, but in 1972, the state of California revoked capital punishment and their sentences were reduced to life imprisonment. Manson himself was found guilty through the joint-responsibility rule, having directly ordered the murders, and is still serving his sentence at the Corcoran State Prison. Since 1978, he has been denied parole 11 times. On April 11, 2012, he was denied parole for the twelfth time and won't be eligible again for another 15 years, meaning he will never leave prison.

The Manson Family Members

 * Charles "Tex" Watson (b. December 2, 1945)
 * Shot three victims of the 10050 Cielo Drive massacre
 * Stabbed both of the LaBiancas
 * Involved in the murder of Donald Shea
 * Got married in 1979 while in prison and had four children with his wife
 * Divorced in 2002
 * Susan Atkins (May 7, 1948 - September 24, 2009)
 * Also went by the name "Sadie May Glutz"
 * Involved in the Hinman, Tate and LaBianca murders
 * Published an autobiography, Child of Satan, Child of God, in 1977
 * Died in prison from cancer in 2009
 * Linda Kasabian (b. June 21, 1949)
 * Accomplice
 * Testified against the other Family members in exchange for immunity
 * Bobby Beausoleil (b. November 6, 1947)
 * Aspiring musician and actor
 * Boyfriend of Leslie Van Houten
 * Had parts in a few softcore pornography movies
 * Was briefly a member of The Grass Roots (which later changed its name to Love) in 1965
 * Stabbed Gary Hinman to death
 * Leslie Van Houten (b. August 23, 1949)
 * Girlfriend of Bobby Beausoleil
 * Involved in the LaBianca murders
 * Has been denied parole on several occasions
 * Steve "Clem" Grogan (b. May 24, 1952)
 * Musician
 * Was kept under observation at a mental hospital for indecent exposure
 * Involved in the LaBianca murders and the Shea murder
 * Patricia Krenwinkel (b. December 3, 1947)
 * Involved in the Tate and LaBianca murders
 * Is reportedly a model prisoner, but was denied parole in 2011
 * Mary Brunner (b. December 17, 1943)
 * Lived with Manson when he first came to California
 * Bore one of Manson's children, Valentine Michael, in 1968
 * Was involved in the Hinman murder
 * Was in jail for attempting to use stolen credit cards along with Sandra Good during the Tate and LaBianca murders
 * Led an attempted hostage taking in Hawthorne, California in 1971
 * Was released in 1977. Has since changed her name, regained custody of her son and currently lives in the Midwest
 * Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme (b. October 22, 1948)
 * Was arrested on suspicion of involvement in an Aryan Brotherhood-related murder, but was released due to a lack of evidence
 * Attempted to murder President Gerald Ford on September 5, 1975
 * Paroled in 2009
 * Catherine Share (b. December 10, 1942)
 * Born in Paris the daughter of a Hungarian father and a German mother
 * Had a relationship with Bobby Beausoleil
 * Involved in the Brunner-led attempted hostage taking in Hawthorne, California in 1971
 * Was convicted of multiple counts of fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property
 * Sandra Good (b. February 20, 1944)
 * Off and on university student
 * Was in jail for attempting to use stolen credit cards along with Mary Brunner during the Tate and LaBianca murders
 * Was convicted of "conspiracy to send threatening letters through the mail" in 1975
 * Paroled in 1985
 * Is still devoted to Manson, but is forbidden from going to the state of California
 * Bruce Davis (b. 1942)
 * Involved in the murders of Hinman and Shea
 * Vaguely suspected of being the Zodiac Killer

Modus Operandi
Manson targeted people with whom he was directly or indirectly associated. They were all attacked in their residences. The only victim Manson is known to have attacked personally is Bernard Crowe, who was shot. The other victims were attacked by his followers and were usually viciously stabbed several times. A few were also shot with a .22 Hi Standard "Buntline Special" revolver.

Known Victims
Note: Apart from Crowe, all of the following victims were killed by members of the Manson Family on Manson's orders.
 * 1969:
 * July 1: Bernard "Lotsapoppa" Crowe
 * July 25: Gary Hinman
 * August 9: Five killed in the 10050 Cielo Drive massacre. The victims are:
 * Sharon Tate, 26
 * Jay Sebring, 35
 * Wojciech Frykowski, 32
 * Abigail Folger, 25
 * Steven Parent, 18
 * August 10: The LaBiancas
 * Leno LaBianca, 44
 * Rosemary LaBianca, 38
 * August 26: Donald "Shorty" Shea, 35

On Criminal Minds
Manson was referenced in The Tribe and The Popular Kids, in both of which episodes the BAU discussed cults. Additionally, in "The Tribe", the motives of Jackson Cally, the leader of a cult responsible for a series of murders, are very similar to those of Manson's in the sense that both planned to start a race war between Caucasians and an ethnic minority group (in Manson's case blacks, in Cally's case Native Americans). The kind of crime scenes Cally's cult leaves behind is also similar to those of the Manson Family, since both killed most of their victims by stabbing them. Both cults also resided in a desert.

In Somebody's Watching, JJ mentions that the media are calling the ongoing murders, in which people related to the movie industry are being killed, as the biggest celebrity homicide since the Manson Family's murder of Sharon Tate. Manson was mentioned in Won't Get Fooled Again when Reid mentions that Adrian Bale has gotten a similar cult following in prison. In Memoriam, Manson was brought up when it was stated that a man's corpse found in close proximity to the Barker Ranch in 2001 was assumed to be one of the Manson Family's victims upon discovery. During a lecture (which Reid is attending) in Outfoxed, neuroscientist James Fallon mentions Manson was one of five violent sociopaths (the others being Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez, John Wayne Gacy, and Dennis Rader) whose brain patterns he has studied. In ...A Thousand Words, Manson was mentioned as an example of serial killers who have children.

A notable reference to Manson was in The Performer when the team talks about music on the plane and Morgan mentions that Hotch's favorite album is the Beatles' White Album. Hotch argues "Just because Manson hijacked it doesn't have to ruin it for the rest of us", referring to how Manson named the Helter Skelter scenario after the Beatle song from the album. Another notable reference was in A Thin Line, when Reid compared him to Trevor Mills, the case at hand. Manson also seems to have served as some inspiration for both Trevor and his dominant partner Clark Preston; Trevor killed Caucasian families and pinned the familicides on people of ethnic minorities in hopes of starting a racial war like Manson tried to do, while Preston manipulated Trevor to carry out his orders like Manson did with his followers.