Happy True Crime Thursday True Crimers!
Today I decided to go with a case that was one of the first to peek my interest into the world of Criminal Psychology.
We're talking about Charles Manson!
This one will have a part 2 due to all the craziness involved.
Let's begin with a little background as to how Charles came into the world and his younger years. He was born on November 12, 1934 to Kathleen Maddox in Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother Kathleen was only 16 years old when she gave birth and at this time she was an alcoholic and a prostitute. Kathleen married a man by the name of William Manson right before giving birth (he was not the father), Charles took his last name and kept it despite the marriage not lasting for very long. Kathleen had very little interest in being a mother. She would drink heavily and spent periods of time in jail. According to Charles, Kathleen once said to a waitress in a cafe that the waitress could have him for a pitcher of beer after the waitress jokingly said she would buy him from her. The waitress gave her a pitcher of beer, Kathleen drank it and left without Charles. Several days went by before his uncle who had been searching the town for him found the waitress and took Charles home.
Since his mother obviously couldn't care for him he spent his youth with a number of different relatives. His grandma was a religious fanatic, one of his uncles constantly ridiculed Charles for being feminine and another uncle committed suicide after he learned his land was being seized by authorities, while Charles was in his care. He tried to go back to his mom, but she rejected him. He was then sent to Gibault School for Boys in Terre Haute, Indiana. Which wouldn't be his one and only experience when it came to reform schools. Charles turned to a life of petty crimes and living on the streets. Before to long petty crimes turned into burglary and auto theft. He would escape from a reform school, steal, get caught, and be sent back to reform school. Wash, rinse, repeat. At one school; the Indiana Boys School, he claimed later that other students raped him with the encouragement of a staff member. He decided to develop a technique to make people think he was insane because he was unable to defend himself. He called this technique the "insane game," he would screech, grimace and wave his arms around.
At the age of 17 he was driving a stolen vehicle across state lines when he got caught. This earned him his first federal offense. He was sent to the National Training School for Boys in Washington, D.C. When he arrived he was given aptitude tests that showed he had an IQ of 109, but was illiterate. He was also deemed aggressively antisocial, so per the psychiatrists recommendation Charles was transferred to Natural Bridge Honor Camp, a minimum security institute. Charles was caught raping a boy at knife point while there, and at that point they sent him to the Federal Reformatory in Petersburg, Virginia. There he kept the violence going, he committed 8 seriously disciplinary offenses. He was then moved AGAIN to a maximum security prison in Chillicothe, Ohio where he was supposed to remain until his 21st birthday, but was released early due to good behavior and went to live with his aunt and uncle in 1954.
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| Rosalie and Charles |
Later that year he married Rosalie Willis who was 17 at the time. The 2 of them decided to head to California, in (not shockingly) a stolen car. Rosalie became pregnant soon after. In March of 1956 she gave birth to Charles Manson Jr., this would be one month before his father would be sent to prison again. This time it was for 3 years at the Terminal Island Prison in San Pedro, CA. One year into Charles' sentence Rosalie found someone new, left town and divorced him.
In 1958, Charles was released from prison. He began pimping in Hollywood, his first was a 16 year old runaway girl. He was also receiving money from a girl who had wealthy parents. By September of 1959 he was pleading guilty to the charge of attempting to cash a forged check that he claimed to have stolen from a mailbox, this charge was later dropped and he received a 10 year suspended sentence and probation. This was all thanks to his loving girlfriend Leona "Candy" Stevens (Musser) she made a tearful plea before the judge that her and Charles were madly in love and were wanting to get married and start a family.
He married Leona that same year. She gave birth to their son Charles Luther Manson soon after. By June 1960, Charles was arrested again and charged with crossing state lines with the intent of prostitution of his wife and another woman. His parole was revoked and he received a 10 year sentence to be served at McNeil Island Penitentiary in Pudget Sound, off the Washington state coast not for the original charge, but for the charge of cashing checks that he stole from a mailbox. Leona divorced him in 1963.
During this term Charles began to take an interest in Scientology and music. His interest soon turned into an obsession. He was practicing music all the time, playing the guitar, writing dozens of his own songs and started singing. He was under the impression that when he got out he was going to become a famous musician.
In June of 1966, Charles was sent to Terminal Island for the 2nd time in his lifetime in preparation for early release. He was released on March 21, 1967. At this point he was 32 and had spent more than half of his life in prison. He decided to move to San Francisco, California.
He quickly found a home among the hippie filled Haight-Asbury district of the city, where the "Summer of Love" was underway.
Here he met Mary Brunner who was a college educated library worker, she let Charles stay at her apartment. After staying there for a few weeks the two of them became lovers. She was into his alternative lifestyle, Charles represented giving her a life of freedom and opportunity. She quit her job and the two of them drifted around California in a van. She was his biggest advocate and soon he struck up a following, mainly of vulnerable young women who were looking for a sense of belonging and he provided that.
Enter in Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, while driving home one day he picked up 2 hitchhikers, these hitchhikers were from Mason's group.They talked with him about a man, a man who was a musical and mysterious guru, named Charlie that they lived with. Dennis brought the girls to his house, left for a bit and when he got back he was met by Charles Manson, the Charlie the girls had mentioned. It took just a short period of time for Dennis to fall under Charles' spell and he was convinced that he was the real deal.
For the months following the initial meeting Charlie and his ladies lived in Dennis' home. Manson made his music and began preaching his gospel. They were doing drugs (mainly acid) on a regular basis and the ladies were like servants to the men. Whatever Charlie asked they did.
Through his connection with Dennis he was able to meet producer Terry Melcher who was renting a now infamous home that we will talk about a little later on. Dennis tried to incorporate Charles' music into his band, but Charles was uncooperative. Even going to the extent of pulling a knife on another producer. Dennis told him he'd had enough of his erratic behavior and told him and his girls to leave. During their stay they racked up about $100,000 worth of food, property damage and medical bills due to spreading the love of gonorrhea to each other.
It was then that the "family" moved to Spahn Ranch, a former movie set that milk entrepreneur George Spahn owned. In exchange for manual labor and sexual gratification from the Manson girls the 80 year old allowed them to stay on the ranch. The ranch became a commune.
So lets discuss how this "family" turned into a cult. His followers described Charles as being on the same spectrum as Jesus Christ. He seemed to have all the answers to everything and put their minds at peace. Well Charles also believed he was a Christ like figure, and would say his full name slowly. Charles Willis Manson, "Charles's Will Is Man's Son." Even at one point reenacting Christ's crucifixion as though he was Christ himself. His eccentric views captured the minds of the family, although the majority of the time everyone including Manson was taking Hallucinogenic drugs. Mason took these young vulnerable women, manipulated them and gave them drugs to brainwash them. Making it so they lost the ability to recognize the significance and consequences of their actions.
Charles would often give sermons to his group about an impending race war between white and blacks. He told them that there would be definite bloodshed between the races and that as a family they needed to hide underground until it was all over. That they would emerge and become saviors to the black race that would win the war. Charles named this so called prophecy after the Beatles song....Helter Skelter.
Stay tuned for part 2 of Charles' story, where we go from crazy talk to crazy actions, including murder.
Resources:
https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/charles-mansonHe quickly found a home among the hippie filled Haight-Asbury district of the city, where the "Summer of Love" was underway.
 |
| Mary Brunner |
Here he met Mary Brunner who was a college educated library worker, she let Charles stay at her apartment. After staying there for a few weeks the two of them became lovers. She was into his alternative lifestyle, Charles represented giving her a life of freedom and opportunity. She quit her job and the two of them drifted around California in a van. She was his biggest advocate and soon he struck up a following, mainly of vulnerable young women who were looking for a sense of belonging and he provided that.
 |
| Dennis Wilson |
For the months following the initial meeting Charlie and his ladies lived in Dennis' home. Manson made his music and began preaching his gospel. They were doing drugs (mainly acid) on a regular basis and the ladies were like servants to the men. Whatever Charlie asked they did.
Through his connection with Dennis he was able to meet producer Terry Melcher who was renting a now infamous home that we will talk about a little later on. Dennis tried to incorporate Charles' music into his band, but Charles was uncooperative. Even going to the extent of pulling a knife on another producer. Dennis told him he'd had enough of his erratic behavior and told him and his girls to leave. During their stay they racked up about $100,000 worth of food, property damage and medical bills due to spreading the love of gonorrhea to each other.
 |
| Spahn Ranch |
So lets discuss how this "family" turned into a cult. His followers described Charles as being on the same spectrum as Jesus Christ. He seemed to have all the answers to everything and put their minds at peace. Well Charles also believed he was a Christ like figure, and would say his full name slowly. Charles Willis Manson, "Charles's Will Is Man's Son." Even at one point reenacting Christ's crucifixion as though he was Christ himself. His eccentric views captured the minds of the family, although the majority of the time everyone including Manson was taking Hallucinogenic drugs. Mason took these young vulnerable women, manipulated them and gave them drugs to brainwash them. Making it so they lost the ability to recognize the significance and consequences of their actions.
Charles would often give sermons to his group about an impending race war between white and blacks. He told them that there would be definite bloodshed between the races and that as a family they needed to hide underground until it was all over. That they would emerge and become saviors to the black race that would win the war. Charles named this so called prophecy after the Beatles song....Helter Skelter.
Stay tuned for part 2 of Charles' story, where we go from crazy talk to crazy actions, including murder.
Resources:
https://www.thoughtco.com/charles-manson-cult-leader-serial-killer-1779365
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Manson#First_imprisonment
https://allthatsinteresting.com/charles-manson-wife-rosalie-jean-willis
https://allthatsinteresting.com/manson-family
https://allthatsinteresting.com/charles-manson-facts
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