Charles Manson Research Paper

Charles Manson had a way of picking up on people’s weaknesses and fears, and used it against them. He preyed on vulnerability and, as Linda James said, he offered them wealth and perfect relationships (Fennel, 1993). And, although his claims were extraordinary, he was able to attract a good amount of followers.

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.

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

Charles Manson became known worldwide after helping commit numerous gruesome murders near Hollywood, California. Although, Manson’s legal troubles did not start from that point, he had been in and out of institutions and prisons since the age of twelve, for many different reasons. “For, let out of prison in 1967, the year of ‘the summer of love,’ he became the most hated and vilified figure in America, a symbol of everything that had gone wrong in the ‘60s” (Smith). Even though his release from prison was short lived, he managed to do a lot of damage during his time of freedom. Manson received a life sentence in May of 1970 for the nine murders he helped execute (Baughman). Charles Manson is a well recognized name across the United States.

Charles Manson is one of the sickest cult murderer in the United States. He was often known to rebel since he was younger, as said by Paul Watkins. By the age of thirty-two he had been in and out of reformatories and jails plenty of times. It started off as burglaries for him to pay for a place to stay, then it started advancing according to Susan Atkins. When he went to the juvenile detention center he escaped after just one day.

Many years ago, Charles Manson’s brutal murders left behind a legacy of fascination and terror. The case of the Manson murder received endless amounts of publicity and is still spoken of to this day. The Manson murders shocked the nation, and brought the darkness of mid 60s californian life to light. It ended the innocent indulgent peace of Southern California and highlighted political and social unrest. On August 9, 1969, Charles Manson and his clan kill five people (not including the unborn child of Sharon Tate) residing in the home of movie director, Roman Polanski.

He was born on November 12, 1934 and he built, what was in his eyes, the “perfect” family. Manson’s “perfect” family cult was made up of a hundred followers and they all were addicted to hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD and magic mushrooms. Later, the Manson Family began murdering people in the San Francisco area and they were suspected of carrying out over 35 murders total. One member of the Manson Family Cult, Susan Atkins, went to Sharon Tate’s home, who was eight months pregnant, and killed her. Atkins talked about how Tate begged for her life and the life of her unborn child. During the trials Atkins was asked to comment on the murder of Sharon Tate when she responded with, “We did it. It felt so good the first time I stabbed her. When she screamed at me, it did something to me, sent a rush through me, and I stabbed her again. I just kept stabbing her until she stopped screaming. It was like a sexual release, especially when you see the blood. It’s better than a climax,”( Blundell, p. 291-292). Later Atkins was charged and sentenced with helping Manson carry out and plan these violent acts. After the Manson trials, Charles was found guilty of multiple murder charges. He later wanted to Charles Manson spoke out and said, “I am not a bad person, I am a good person”

He took out this rage on all of the people he thought deserved to die. Manson had always been a troubled child growing up in and off the streets by the time he was 13 he was sent to an all boys school in Indiana for burglary, where he experienced traumatic experiences such as rape and being brutalized (Aradillas 2017). Being sent to all the boys did not stop him from committing crimes, by 1951 he was sent to prison for a more serious burglary charge and later on had been sent to prison for auto theft and was sent out on parole in 1967. The beginning of Charlie's killings began on August 9, 1969 when he had four of his cult members slaughter Sharon Tate and her unborn child.

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,”

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.

Charles manson is a terrible, deeply troubled man. In 1971 he was convicted of first degree murder. He was found guilty of directing members of the Manson “family” to kill the Tate/Labianca family. Because of these heinous crimes Mason was sentenced to death but it was later reduced to life in prison.

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)

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,

Charles Manson was the leader and founder of the cult the Manson Family or The Family, a group of people well known for being serial killers in the late 1960’s. It was believed that they were associated with cult-quasi-religious groups, that came about in the 1960’s and they are still here today. They believe they know what the future of the planet is, when it will end, and how. In a biography of Charles Manson and the Manson Family it said this, “In August 1969 a series of Hollywood murders were to shock the world and tarnish the 60’s free love and peace legacy.”(Biography Channel 2013.) Charles Manson himself never committed any murders with his own hands, but the murders were committed under his order by several of his most obedient

Charles Manson is notoriously connected to the brutal border of Sharon Tate and other Hollywood residents. Born Charles Milles Maddox to sixteen year old Kathleen Maddox, Charles was born into mayhem. Kathleen was an alcoholic and a prostitute; she was not very accepting of her son and showed him no love. Kathleen married William Mason and quickly that marriage dissolved. Fighting for his mother’s attention Charles left his home and lived on the streets. Manson began to do petty crime to get by. Charles Manson spent about half of his life in prison; he was noted for being a model prisoner. In 1955 Charles got married to a seventeen year old and moved to California. She became pregnant and soon after Manson began his life of crime,