Charles Manson

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"I'm nobody. I'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo. I'm a boxcar and a jug of wine, and a straight razor if you get too close to me."
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Essentially the world’s most complicated man, Manson speaks in riddles and misdirections, all designed to wrong-foot and throw you off...Maybe he’s so genuinely unhinged that there is no real person anymore; just a madman-slash-showman spewing patter like a broken radio.
Stuart Millard

Charles Manson (1934–2017) was a delusional cult leader and neo-Nazi occultist, infamous for his family gang that operated during the 1960s with strong messianic tendencies, often responsible for kidnappings, assaults, and brutal murders. He was a diehard white supremacist and neo-Nazi, seeking to start a race war in the United States.

Crimes[edit]

As a result of this insanity, he led his cult, known as the "Family", on a murder spree which would take the lives of 9 people. The cult's best-known victim was the wife of movie director Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, who at the time of the murders was 8 1/2 months pregnant. Other victims included Family associate and music teacher Gary Hinman, hairstylist Jay Sebring, Polanski's friend and associate Wojciech Frykowski, coffee heiress Abigail Folger (who was also Frykowski's girlfriend), student Steven Parent, Family member Donald Shea, and grocery company executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary. His initial death sentence was commuted to life in prison when California briefly outlawed capital punishment. He remained in prison for these crimes until his death in 2017, periodically coming up before a parole board that quite sensibly left him where he was. Another of his Family members, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, is known for her failed attempt to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford.[1]

Musical work[edit]

Prior to his founding the "Family", Manson was an aspiring musician and composer. A number of his musical recordings are circulating across the internet and among collectors of music and "Mansonia". Early work consists of demos he made before the Tate-LaBianca murders, others were recorded in prison on cassette tapes smuggled in and out of his cell. While he did have some talent for bottleneck blues guitar, his composed lyrics were often incoherent.[2][3]

Despite his minute musical talent, Manson became insane and began claiming to hear secret messages in music that did not exist, such as his belief that the song "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles, along with some of their other songs on the White Album, were secret commands to start a racial uprising in the United States.[4] Helter Skelter is also the title of prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's book chronicling his pursuit of the monstrous crimes committed by Manson and his Family.[5]

Nazi following[edit]

In a bizarre example of crank magnetism, Manson also has a small cult following among some U.S. neo-Nazis, particularly those of the third positionist ilk, that celebrate his goal of starting a race war that he theorized would end with white people ruling over black people.[6] Iron March was a major hub for such types, as were the militant neo-Nazi groups that emerged from there. They often fail to think about how he would have likely been euthanized by the Nazis for being "mentally defective".[7]

Stopped Clock[edit]

Despite being batshit insane, ol' Charlie did have a standard on one thing: he allegedly said that the Church of Scientology was too crazy for him. Imagine that.[8]

Legacy[edit]

After Manson’s death in 2017, his grandson Jason Freeman has been attempting to atone for his family’s legacy. Unlike his grandfather, Jason seems to be a kind and polite individual, stating his purpose is to use his family connection to Manson's legacy for good, emphasizing themes of forgiveness and mercy while working to provide aid to the homeless and those in need.[9]

Famous and beloved American actor Danny Trejo would later recount his experiences with Manson when Trejo served time in prison. Surprisingly, Manson was a short and unassuming man, but many of the inmates knew better than to mess with a psychopathic mass murdering neo-nazi. Unfortunately, a depressingly large number of people believe Manson was a hero or at least innocent and was not responsible for any of the horrors he perpetrated.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

References[edit]