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The Charles Manson Cult

Charles Manson was an infamous American criminal and cult leader who led a group of followers known as the Manson Family. He was responsible for orchestrating a series of brutal murders in California in 1969, which included the deaths of actress Sharon Tate and four other people.


Manson was born on November 12, 1934, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He had a troubled childhood and was frequently in and out of juvenile detention centers and prison. In the 1960s, he moved to California and began to gather a group of followers who shared his beliefs in a coming race war he called "Helter Skelter."


On August 8, 1969, Manson instructed four of his followers to go to the home of Sharon Tate, who was pregnant at the time, and kill everyone inside. The following night, he instructed his followers to kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. These brutal murders shocked the nation and Manson and his followers were eventually apprehended and convicted.


Manson was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison after California abolished the death penalty in 1972. He died in prison on November 19, 2017, at the age of 83.


Sources:

"Charles Manson Biography." Biography.com, A&E Television Networks, LLC, 27 May 2020, https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/charles-manson.

"Charles Manson and the Manson Family Murders." History.com, A&E Television Networks, LLC, 22 January 2020, https://www.history.com/topics/crime/charles-manson.

"Charles Manson: The Cult Leader and Master Manipulator Who Ordered His Followers to Kill." BBC News, BBC, 20 November 2017, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42032483.

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