Charles Manson is one of the most notorious American criminals of all time. After his release from prison in 1967, the failed musician made his way to San Francisco, per Biography, where he became the leader of a loosely organized cult later known as the Manson Family. The group left San Francisco for a deserted ranch in the San Fernando Valley where they dropped a lot of acid and listened to Manson’s claims that he was Jesus and that an impending race war, which he called Helter Skelter after the Beatles’ song, was imminent. In 1969, Manson ordered his followers to carry out a series of violent murders that resulted in the August 9 deaths of actress Sharon Tate (eight months pregnant at the time), writer Wojciech Frykowski, heiress Abigail Folger, and celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring. Supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary LaBianca were killed the next day. 

Manson and his followers were arrested under suspicion of vandalizing a section of Death Valley National Park. It was only the confession of Family member Susan Atkins, who was being held in detention on suspicion of murdering musician Gary Hinman in the days before the Tate-La Bianca murders, that led to the eventual convictions of Atkins, Manson, Leslie Van Houton, Patricia Krenwinkle, and Charles “Tex” Watson. Despite not physically taking part in the murders, on January 21, 1971, Manson was convicted of first-degree murder for directing the killings and was sentenced to death.

'In the '70s, it was quite normal for someone convicted of murder to get out after 10, 15 years'

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