Charles
Manson
by
TempleofMysteries.com
Copyright 2012
TempleofMysteries.com
Smashwords Edition
The
Year of Fear - 1969
Arrests
Beyond
the Man in the Mirror
Manson
and his Music
Possible
Influences
Dance
of the Vampires
A
Farcical Trial
Aftermath
Facts
of the Matter
Legacy
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Introduction
'If Charles Manson is ever let out into society, hide your children! I think we may have another Hitler on our hands' - so ran a message posted on an internet notice board in 2002 as Manson again came up for a parole hearing – it wasn't granted. 33 years after the crimes he was sentenced for Manson is still so feared - and misconceptions so ingrained - that he can still provoke this kind of almost irrational reaction. When in 1987 one of his followers escaped from prison for 2 days - panic swept the entire nation. What sort of man can provoke such fear and why? On any list of serial killers Manson's name is up there near or even at the very top - odd for someone who has never actually been shown to have killed anyone.
Manson was convicted along with others in 1971 for the murder of Sharon Tate an aspiring Hollywood actress and six other people. Year of fear looks at the events surrounding the murders in the year which ended 'the swinging sixties'.
Arrests details the circumstances surrounding the arrests of Manson and members of his so-called 'Family'.
Beyond the man in the mirror examines the background of a man often referred to as a messiah.
Manson and his music looks at his musical associations and delves into some of the often extraordinary myths that have sprung up surrounding this aspect of his story.
Possible influences traces a possible precursor who may have influenced him.
Dance of the Vampires lists the various theories and motives for the killings that have been proposed over the years.
A farcical trial: Manson's trial must rank as one of the most bizarre of modern times. Were the authorities wanting to see justice done or was there a hidden agenda?
Aftermath follows up events subsequent to the guilty verdict.
Facts of the matter takes a cold hard look at the actual details of the Tate murders.
Legacy looks at the wider political and social context at the time of the murders and of events since, what Manson stands for and whether these have relevance today. It shows how unclosed files which have lain dormant for years on politically inspired crimes from the early 70s appear recently to have been dusted off - why?
On the night of August 8-9, 1969 car thieves arrived at a house in Los Angeles and killed a man in his car outside the residence who'd arrived to sell a clock radio. They then systematically murdered a school teacher, her boy friend, a hairdresser and the woman who rented the house. The following night they murdered a seamstress and her husband who was a gambler. The victims were Steven Parent, who'd arrived to sell the clock-radio, teacher Abigail Folger and her boyfriend Wojtek Frykowski, hair-stylist Jay Sebring and Sharon Tate, an aspiring actress who'd had minor parts in a couple of recent films. The seamstress was Rosemary LaBianca and her husband Leno a grocer and gambler. Most of the murders were committed with a small caliber .22 pistol fired by Charlie Watson. Technically they should be known as the Charlie Watson murders, however they are not, and today the world still knows them as the Manson murders!
The killings were particularly gruesome, the victim's bodies being stabbed and bludgeoned after being shot. It was a terrible act indeed as were all the other murders that year. However what really set these murders apart was the fact that Abigail Folger was not just any school teacher, she was also an heiress who'd inherited the Folger's coffee house fortune, her boyfriend Frykowski was a 'playboy', Jay Sebring was hair-stylist to the stars and Sharon Tate was married to one of the most famous film directors of the time, Roman Polanski. Rosemary LaBianca was also very wealthy, wealthier in fact than Folger, although the press tended to concentrate on her husband when reporting their demise, though these killings always took a back seat to the 'main event' of the previous night.
The bodies at the Polanski residence were discovered on the morning of the 9th by housekeeper, Winifred Chapman. The police were called and a suspect 19-year-old William Garretson was taken into custody at the scene. Garretson lived in the small guesthouse next door whilst the main house was being rented out to the Polanskis. He had been there all night and curiously had heard nothing suspicious. Indeed it was him that Stephen Parent had arrived to see - to sell him the clock-radio. Police were highly dubious, after all there had been several shots fired (Parent had been shot not far from the front of the guest house), Frykowski had apparently put up quite a struggle on the lawn as he'd fought for his life and there must have been screaming from the victims. He should also have been expecting Parent. However he was quickly released after passing a polygraph lie-detector test. On August 10 the crimes were reported under headlines such as: 'Hollywood Actress Among 'Ritualistic' Killing Victims'. Following the LaBianca killings which occurred at 3301 Waverly in the Los Feliz district of the city in the early hours that morning the papers again reported 'ritual' slayings on the 11th: '2 Ritual Slayings Follow Killing of 5'. The press had already decided that the murders had been some sort of ritual killing. When asked whether the same person(s) had committed both sets of murders the police thought not - the modus operandi employed by the killer(s) was so different in each case.
On the 12th the newspapers were reporting the police as looking for a suspected 'copycat' killer in the case of the LaBianca murders who had been inspired by those of the previous night - the differences however between the two sets of murders precluded the possibility they had actually been perpetrated by the same person or persons.
The Los Feliz victims had been stabbed to death, there was no shooting involved and slogans possibly of a political nature had been daubed at the scene. The murders were being investigated by the Los Angeles Sheriffs Office in the case of the LaBianca killings and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the case of those at the Tate residence. The word 'PIG' was painted on the door at the Tate residence, and those investigating the murders, the LAPD, had been informed early on by the Sheriffs Office that the slogan 'Death to Pigs' had been found written in the victim's own blood at the LaBianca scene. However LAPD inspector K.J McCauley informed reporters: “I don't see any connection between this murder and the others. They're too widely removed. I just don't see any connection.” This has often been cited as police incompetence, however is it? To many the usage of the word 'pigs' appeared conclusive, but the LAPD at the time must have encountered the term on a much more regular basis so as not to attach too much weight to it, although such an 'alternative' vocabulary was still unknown to much of middle America.
Media murders
The murder and subsequent trial were a media event like no other. In fact the crime has been dubbed the 'murder of the century'. The case was a demonstration of the power and importance of the media in reporting crime and the differing values it attaches to death, especially murder depending on the status of the victim. Furthermore the newspapers made much of the revelation that Tate had been pregnant at the time of her killing a fact of which they had already been aware but it simply had not been particularly newsworthy. Before her murder she had been portrayed as a sex starlet following her death she became a pure mother to be. As Judge Learned Hand said in a memorial address in December 21, 1942 “The hand that rules the press, the radio, the screen and the far-spread magazine, rules the country.”
The police investigation made several mistakes which in theory could have jeopardized the possibility of obtaining a successful conviction (and they did - a star witness was required to effect a successful prosecution). Various suggestions have been put forward to explain these irregularities: 'the officers became less strict on their adherence to procedure and more intent on finding the killer or killers' [Deborah Fillmer, Forensic Science and the Charles Manson Murders] an explanation which seems astonishing given that the one is dependent on the other. For example according to Prosecutor Bugliosi's own book Helter Skelter, officer DeRosa, charged with securing the crime scene obliterated a bloody finger-mark (from which a print might have been obtained) on the button which opened the electric gate to the house grounds as he escorted suspect William Garretson from the scene - it appears the killers had pressed the button to close the gate after they had left. Nevertheless forensic staff were able to obtain two finger prints from the Tate scene, one from the front door and another from the door frame of Sharon Tate's bedroom which were later matched to two of the eventual suspects.