Charles Manson, the hippie cult leader who became the face of America for evil crimes as he orchestrated seven murders during the summer of 1969, died on Sunday after spending nearly 50 years in prison. Manson died of natural causes at Kern County hospital.
The followers of Manson committed a series of nine murders at four locations in July and August 1969.
In 1971, Manson was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the deaths of seven people including the actress Sharon Tate. All the murders were committed by his followers at his instructions.
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Manson’s crimes horrified the entire world. The world was exposed to a dangerous, drugged-out underside of the counterculture movement. That violence was indicative of death of an era of peace and love.
During the trial of murders, despite ample amount of evidence against him, Manson maintained that he was innocent and blamed the society for the violence.
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Manson was initially sentenced to death but the sentence was changed to life imprisonment when California invalidated the state's death penalty statute in 1972.
Manson became an emblem of insanity and violence. He also took inspiration from "Helter Skelter" which is a term from Beatles song. He created his own version of the lyrics and believed Helter Skelter to be an impending apocalyptic race war.
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Manson insanely believed that the murders would help in creating that race war. Manson was also a singer, songwriter, and drummer. Once he was convicted, recordings of songs written and performed by him were released commercially. Many musicians had covered his songs.
Manson was born to unmarried 16-year-old Kathleen Maddox in Cincinnati, Ohio. Manson grew to become a criminal to whom the world was horrified. His first offenses include burglarizing a liquor store and car robbery. Manson was illiterate despite having four years of schooling.
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In 1951, he was imprisoned for the first time. Afterwards, he has spent most part of his life in prisons. He hit the epitome of popularity when he and his family slaughtered five of its victims on August 9, 1969. They murdered actress Sharon Tate who was 8 months pregnant, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring, Polish movie director Voityck Frykowski and Steven Parent, a friend of the estate’s caretaker.
In the American Annals of crime, Manson became a symbol of evil. Author Joan Didion wrote in her 1979 book The White Album, "Many people I know in Los Angeles believe that the Sixties ended abruptly on August 9, 1969.”
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