Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. Photos: Manson Family murders. It has been more than five decades since the murder of Sharon Tate and four others at the Los Angeles home of Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski. The murders led to the arrest and trial of Charles Manson along with his followers who physically committed the crimes. Hide Caption. Polanski and Tate at their wedding in January Tate was eight months pregnant at the time of her death. Writer Wojciech Frykowski, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring and Steven Parent, a friend of the family's gardener, were also killed.

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Manson Mythology and Pop Culture
What is it about him that made him so famous that his name is still a buzzword now? People still remember him, and there are Charles Manson T-shirts, and there are bands that are dedicated to him. His legend and reputation and really the mythology that has risen around him will outlive him, I think, and the less people now about him, the more happy they will be to deify him. By Margalit Fox.
Burglary, Robbery, Rape
Their crimes inspired the best-selling book Helter Skelter Manson was born to a year-old girl and a man he would never know. After his mother was imprisoned for armed robbery , he lived with an aunt and uncle in West Virginia. Beginning at age nine, he spent much of his life in juvenile reformatories or in prison for crimes that included petty larceny, armed robbery , burglary, and auto theft. He preached the coming of an apocalyptic race war that would devastate the United States and leave the Family in a position of dominant power. The most famous victim was actress Sharon Tate , wife of motion-picture director Roman Polanski , who was killed in her Los Angeles home along with three guests. The ensuing trial of Manson and his followers in attracted national attention. In Manson was sentenced to death, but, following the abolition of capital punishment in California in , his sentence was commuted to life in prison. He became eligible for parole in but was denied then as well as in numerous subsequent hearings. Charles Manson.
In mid, he formed what became known as the " Manson Family ", a quasi-commune based in California. His followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations in July and August Although the motive for the murders was disputed by Manson, the Los Angeles County district attorney believed that Manson intended to start a race war. The prosecution conceded that Manson never literally ordered the murders, but they contended that his ideology constituted an overt act of conspiracy. Before the murders, Manson had spent more than half of his life in correctional institutions. When he began gathering his cult following, he was a singer-songwriter on the fringe of the Los Angeles music industry, chiefly through a chance association with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys , who introduced Manson to record producer Terry Melcher. Wilson and Melcher severed ties with Manson around early The Los Angeles district attorney said that Manson was obsessed with the Beatles , particularly their self-titled album. Manson had claimed to be guided by his interpretation of the Beatles' lyrics and adopted the term " Helter Skelter " to describe an impending apocalyptic race war. At trial, the prosecution submitted that Manson and his followers believed that the murders would help precipitate that war.