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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
New Charles Manson docuseries reveals the murderous cult leader
admitted to more killings in jail
By Amanda Musa, CNN
Updated:
2:47 PM EST, Sat November 16, 2024
Source: CNN
Charles Manson suggested he was a killer long before he became the
infamous cult leader who instructed his followers to commit a series of
heinous murders, known as the , that terrorized 1960s Los Angeles and
shocked the nation.
“See, there’s a whole part of my life that nobody knows about,”
Manson said in a recorded conversation featured in a premiering on
Peacock on November 19 that delves into the convicted murderer’s
childhood, criminal youth and time in prison.
Twenty years’ worth of jailhouse recordings are highlighted in the
three-part series “Making Manson,” directed by Billie Mintz. In a
for the series, Manson admits to involvement in a “couple” of
killings while living in Mexico.
“I went to Acapulco, stole some cars. I just got involved in stuff
over my head, man. Got involved in a couple of killings. I left my .357
Magnum in Mexico City, and I left some dead people on the beach,”
Manson said.
“I’d murder everybody I could,” Manson said during a
never-before-heard recording. “I’d kill you all if I had the
chance.”
The wild-eyed and charismatic Manson orchestrated a wave of violence in
August 1969 that took the lives of seven people, including actress
Sharon Tate, spawned headlines worldwide and landed him and his
“Manson Family” of followers in prison for most of the remainder of
their lives.
Although Manson ordered the killings, he didn’t participate.
“I never said I was innocent,” Manson said in a recording featured
in the docuseries. “I said I didn’t break the law.”
Former “family” member Dianne Lake speaks in the series of
Manson’s life of crime prior to the murders saying, “I knew that he
had been in prison for taking a girl over the state line. Seemed
minimal at the time.”
Manson died in prison of natural causes in 2017 at the age of 83 while
serving nine life terms. He was denied parole 12 times. His notoriety,
boosted by popular books and films, made him a cult figure to those
fascinated by his dark apocalyptic visions.
The brutal killings began on August 9, 1969, at the home of actress
Sharon Tate and her husband, famed movie director Roman Polanski, who
was out of the country at the time. The first set of victims were Tate,
who was eight months’ pregnant; a celebrity hairstylist named Jay
Sebring; coffee fortune heiress Abigail Folger; writer Wojciech
Frykowski; and Steven Parent, a friend of the family’s caretaker.
The next evening, another set of murders took place. Supermarket
executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, were killed at their
home.
Over the course of two nights, the killers inflicted 169 stab wounds
and seven .22-caliber gunshot wounds. Both crime scenes revealed
horrifying images. And a few details linked the two.
The word “pig” was written in victims’ blood on the walls of one
home and the front door of another. There was also another phrase
apparently scrawled in blood: Helter Skelter (it was misspelled
Healter). The reason for the disturbing writings, a prosecutor argued,
was because Manson wanted to start a race war and had hoped the Black
Panthers would be blamed for the killings.
Manson was born Charles Maddox in Cincinnati to an unmarried
16-year-old mother in 1934. He would later take the last name of his
then-stepfather William Manson.
At age 12, Charles Manson was sent to Gibault School for Boys in Terre
Haute, Indiana, for stealing. Over the next 20 years, he was in and out
of reform schools and prison for various crimes.
In a 1987 prison interview with CNN, he said, “I spent the best part
of my life in boys’ schools, prisons and reform school because I had
nobody.”
After marrying twice and spending half his life in prison, 32-year-old
Manson made his way to Berkeley, California, by way of San Francisco in
1967. He established himself as a guru in the summer of love, and soon
shared a home with 18 women.
By 1968, race riots, the Black Panther movement, and anti-world
violence convinced Manson Armageddon was coming. He called it Helter
Skelter after the famous Beatles song.
While in prison as a young man, Manson would listen to the radio.
Inspired by the Beatles, he started writing songs and performing in
prison shows.
Manson believed the Beatles were speaking to him through the lyrics of
their White Album, which was released in late 1968. The apocalyptic
message, as Manson interpreted it: Blacks would “rise up” and
overthrow the white establishment in a race war. Manson and his Family
would be spared by hiding out in a “bottomless pit” near Death
Valley until he could emerge to assume leadership of the
postrevolutionary order.
After moving to California, Manson met Gary Hinman, a music teacher who
introduced him to Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys.
Wilson took one of Manson’s songs, “Cease to Exist,” and turned
it into the Beach Boys’ “Never Learn Not to Love.” Manson was
furious when he didn’t get a songwriting credit.
Wilson had introduced Manson to record producer Terry Melcher, the son
of actress Doris Day. After initially showing interest in Manson’s
music, Melcher declined to work with him further.
Melcher later moved out of his house, which was then leased to Polanski
and Tate.
CNN’s Steve Almasy and Brandon Griggs contributed to this report.
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