Charles Manson Biography

These are some of the most infamous names in the history of murder, but they hid in plain sight, and Manson did not even commit murder. He was so manipulative he could convince others to do his bidding for him. How is that even possible? Surely one would be able to recognize someone who is such a dangerous threat or would they? One of the reasons these killers can be so successful is their ability to blend into their surroundings and at times even be considered a stand up member of the communities they live in, but what is going on inside their brains?

As I’ve said previously, the life of Charles Manson revolved around interpersonal violence. From an early age Manson was the victim of child neglect – his mother (Kathleen Maddox) would leave him with neighbors, “for an hour, then disappear for days or weeks,”

When people hear the name Charles Manson, people automatically think of the string of horrible murders this man was involved in during the summer of 1969. Charles Manson is infamous for creating “the Manson Family” and sought to create a war between races with his followers. The book Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi, the main prosecutor in the Manson trial, chronicled the murders carried out by Manson and his followers, the trial following the murders, as well as the psychological diseases that may affect Manson as a person. Manson is responsible for several murders, including that of the pregnant Sharon Tate and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. While Manson never took part in the physical murders, he was

Manson started his cult not only on his religious beliefs, but on his belief that society had given him a rough past and Manson wanted payback for the resentment he had gotten in his childhood. Therefore, he created a cult to kill.

For example, Steven Tuomi, who was killed in November of 1978, Dahmer smashed in his chest and then tried to rip out his heart. Ernest Miller's skin was bleached and then kept in Dahmer's closet and his bicep was kept frozen to eat later. Jeffrey Dahmer also experimented with his unfortunate victims. The first was a 14 year old named Konerak Sinthasomphone. Dahmer drilled holes in the back of his head and then injected hydrochloric acid into his brain while he was still alive in an attempt to create a zombie. Dahmer also tried this with 23 year old Jeremiah Weinberger, who was killed in July 1991. After he killed his victims he would keep some of their body parts as “trophies”. To dispose of the remains with some he would smash the bones with a sledgehammer and then scatter in his backyard and with others he would dissolve in

Charles Maddox was born November 12, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother was Kathleen Maddox, she was a prostitute and an alcoholic, and only 16 years old when she had him. She later married William Manson, who adopted Charles giving him the Manson last name. It was said that his mother once traded him for a pitcher of beer to a woman that couldn’t have children. His uncle had to go track down the women to get him back. Charles spent time in a boy’s school then on the streets doing petty crimes to survive. By 1952 Manson had spent more time in prison than he had out of prison. In Charles Manson probation reports it described him as, “suffering from a marked degree of rejection, instability, psychic trauma, and constantly striving for status and securing some kind of love. Other descriptions included dangerous, unpredictable, and safe only under supervision.”(Biography Channel 2013.) In August of 1969 Manson gathered his group of most loyal family members to do the massacres. The first murder took place August 9, 1969 on Ceilo Drive in Beverly Hills at the home of Roman Polanski’s, and his wife Sharon Tate. The victims of this crime were Sharon Tate, Wojciech Frykowshi his partner Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring. There was also an 18 year old boy a friend of the gardeners who was walking down the driveway when he saw the

In the 1960’s, Manson gathered hundreds of followers which he called “The Family.” They lived on a deserted ranch. Most of Manson’s followers were impressionable young females and he used LSD and amphetamines to help manipulate and convince them to act out his wishes. He slowly broke down his follower’s beliefs and made them believe that he was Jesus and that a race war was impending. Eventually Manson’s most loyal followers carried out his acts of violence and left seven people dead. In 1969, police raided the ranch on suspicions of vandalism, unaware of the murders committed until after the arrests. Charles Manson has been labeled “The Icon of Evil.” (Rosenberg, 2009)

Manson was happy with the death of those six people, but was upset with the sloppiness of that night’s murders (“Manson Family Murders”). “Last night was too messy, Manson told the group when they assembled back into their bunkhouse. This time I’m going to show you how to do it” (Bugliosi 355). After driving for hours Manson stopped at a house in the suburbs. He had his ‘Family’ drive around the block while he looked through the window. After a few minutes Manson returned to the car and told them that the house had pictures of children. He continued on to

At the age of twenty-six Charles Manson was sent to the US penitentiary. By 1959 Charles had been committed of rape, drug use, pimping, stealing, and fraud. Manson was emotionally insecure and was lacking attention.

In the late sixties and early seventies, California was haunted by dozens of unsolved murders. The offender remains unknown to this day. The murderer, who referred to himself as "the Zodiac," made contact with the police and area newspapers throughout his reign of terror through a series of menacing notes. Although the police were never able to apprehend Zodiac, they were able to gather information about him via the letters. Zodiac boasted of killing up to forty victims, however, police estimated he may have killed over 50.

What is a serial killer? Retired Special Agent Robert Ressler, a twenty-two year veteran of the FBI’s Behavioral Sciences Unit in Quantico, Virginia, is responsible for creating the term “serial killer.” He defines this person as “one who commits a series of murders, usually three or more, the victims most often being strangers, and usually with a cooling-off period in between each kill” (Kelleher & Kelleher, 1998; Pearson, 1998; Ressler and Shactman, 1997). This precise definition is necessary to distinguish this type of predator from the mass murderer (who kills many simultaneously), mercenaries, war criminals, or mafia hit men.

Each killer uses their own different killing methods. Charles Manson believed in an impending apocalyptic race war, which he called “Helter Skelter” after the song written by the Beatles. Manson had a group of 100 followers,

A serial killer is someone who has murdered at least three people on at least three different occasions with a break between the murders (Egger, 2002; Hickey, 2002). … It is likely that they kill during a time of stress and after it is done, they feel temporarily

Marilyn Manson’s persona is an oxymoron of two pop icons from the 1960’s: Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson. “I thought those two – positive/negative, male/female, good/evil, beauty/ugliness – created the perfect dichotomy of everything I wanted to represent.” (Baddeley, 2008) Born Brian Hugh Warner, January 5th, 1969 in small town Canton, Ohio. He was an only child; whose parents were extremely close with him. His mother was so close to him, it often seemed off to him. He thought she was always close to him because he was always in the hospital sick. Later, it was discovered that his mother suffered from the mental illness Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. Brian’s father was not around much growing up and his mother expected him to take his place, often times even calling Brian by his father’s name. Manson stated he just wanted a way to escape.

The Manson family was a cult in 1960 that where mostly not violent. But in 1969 was when eh Manson family started their killing spree. Manson thought that the apocalypse was going to happen in the form of a race war. (Webb, S. (2017, June 23). Who is Charles Manson? American mass murderer and cult leader - here's what we know. Retrieved July 23, 2017, from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2532498/charles-manson-murders-cult-leader-patricia-krenwinkel/). This cult was responsible for 7 murders and they were all arrested in October 1969. Steven parent was the first victim of the Manson family shot while driving to a friend’s driving away from the Tate house where most of the murders took place. “Eight-months-pregnant Sharon Tate, who, despite pleading for the life of her unborn child, was mercilessly stabbed in the stomach” ( Charles Manson. (2017, July 19). Retrieved July 23, 2017, from https://www.biography.com/people/charles-manson-9397912). All of the manson family is in prison except for Linda Kasabian who was Granted immunity in exchange for testimony. (News, M. (2017, February 02). The Charles Manson family: Where are they now? Retrieved July 23, 2017, from