Charles Manson is dead
Charles Manson, notorious leader of a murderous cult in the 1960s, is dead at 83. He had been imprisoned since 1971 and died of natural causes at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
His violent life had several ties to music and pop culture. It has been said that his murders were meant to incite an apocalyptic race war that Manson called “Helter Skelter,” named after the Beatles song. Marilyn Manson took part of his name from the murderer, and has recorded music that Charles Manson wrote. His music has also been covered or reinterpreted by Guns N’ Roses, GG Allin, Rob Zombie, Redd Kross, The Lemonheads, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Devendra Banhart and The Beach Boys (whose Dennis Wilson briefly housed the Manson Family and eventually escaped them by moving out of his own home).
Neil Young had met Manson and was a fan of his music before the murders took place, and referenced him in the song “Revolution Blues.” Sonic Youth wrote “Death Valley ’69” about the Manson Family, and Alkaline Trio referenced Manson cult members in “Sadie.”
Trent Reznor was the final resident of actress Sharon Tate’s former home, 10050 Cielo Drive, where the Manson family committed the Tate Murders. He recorded much of The Downward Spiral there and shot the video for “Gave Up” there.
Dwid of Integrity’s label Holy Terror has released music by Manson, and Ancient VVisdom (featuring former members of Integrity) have released a split with Manson.
New York Times has more:
He came to irrevocable attention in the late 1960s as the wild-eyed leader of the Manson family, a murderous band of young drifters in California. Convicted of nine murders in all, Mr. Manson was known in particular for the seven brutal killings collectively called the Tate-LaBianca murders, committed by his followers on two consecutive August nights in 1969.
The most famous of the victims was Sharon Tate, an actress who was married to the film director Roman Polanski. Eight and a half months pregnant, she was killed with four other people at her Benedict Canyon home.
The Tate-LaBianca killings and the seven-month trial that followed were the subjects of fevered news coverage. To a frightened, mesmerized public, the murders, with their undercurrents of sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll and Satanism, seemed the depraved logical extension of the anti-establishment, do-your-own-thing ethos that helped define the ’60s.
To further quote The Times regarding Manson’s trial and imprisonment:
On Jan. 25, 1971, after nine days’ deliberation, the jury found Mr. Manson, Ms. Atkins and Ms. Krenwinkel guilty of seven counts of murder each. Ms. Van Houten, who had been present only at the LaBianca murders, was found guilty of two counts. All four were also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.
On March 29, the jury voted to give all four defendants the death penalty. In 1972, after capital punishment was temporarily outlawed in California, their sentences were reduced to life in prison.
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