1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,880 I'll be coming up to your children and I'll do whatever it takes to preserve my life 2 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:17,039 on the planet Earth because I am a selfish, bitter, no-account, vicious snake. 3 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:49,000 Welcome to Very Scary People. I'm Donnie Wahlberg. Charles Manson, a twisted cult... 4 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:55,320 violence, has led his followers in a series of vicious murders. His goal? To start a r... 5 00:00:55,320 --> 00:01:01,600 between blacks and whites, a conflict he calls Helter Skelter. His murder weapons a... 6 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:06,480 of his commune. Impressionable young people, many from good families, who he manipulates 7 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:12,480 with mind control techniques, turning his group of peaceful hippies into a devoted... 8 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:17,480 Police have yet to make the connection between the carnage at two of Manson's blo... 9 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:23,200 scenes and Charlie's way ahead of them. He wants more death than he wants at the very... 10 00:01:24,079 --> 00:01:29,960 How will investigators ultimately piece it all together? Here's part two of The Devil... 11 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:42,640 I spent the best part of my life in boys schools, prisons, and reform schools. 12 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:49,040 You can't understand Charlie Manson without understanding his criminal past and his time 13 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:56,640 in jail. In order for him to survive, he developed skills to manipulate people. Pri... 14 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:03,040 perfected the art of the con. He's inspired by a very unlikely source. His personal gu... 15 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:09,520 other than Dale Carnegie. How to win friends and influence people. And then he used tho... 16 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:17,719 that ability to manipulate and eventually get people to kill for him. When he got out of... 17 00:02:18,359 --> 00:02:27,560 Charlie reinvents himself as a guru. He used the hippie ideals as recruitment tools, bu... 18 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:37,879 always at the core Manson's attitudes, which were darker and more violent and more angr... 19 00:02:39,719 --> 00:02:47,159 Charlie believes he is destined to be a rock star, and it's just going to come down to, 20 00:02:47,159 --> 00:02:54,439 can he get one break, one introduction? And he does. Manson strikes up a friendship with 21 00:02:54,439 --> 00:03:02,439 Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. Manson at Dennis Wilson's house met Terry Melcher. H... 22 00:03:02,439 --> 00:03:10,680 record producer at the time. He was living with his girlfriend, Candice Bergen, at... 23 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:16,200 Terry Melcher came to the ranch and we did like a little recording session, 24 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:21,800 but it's met with a flat rejection. Charlie was really upset about that. 25 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:28,840 Terry Melcher had dashed his hope for a music contract. In my opinion, that rejection is... 26 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:37,560 led to his desire to kill. He started holding training classes for how to commit murder. 27 00:03:41,319 --> 00:03:46,439 Then on Friday, August the 8th, he said, now is the time for Helder's Skeleton. 28 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:54,360 Roman Polanski was a very famous director at that time. Sharon Tate, an up-and-coming... 29 00:03:54,360 --> 00:04:03,080 The newlyweds had moved into 10,050 C.L.O. Drive. Manson sends out three women with T... 30 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:16,120 to the Tate residence. Manson instructs Tex that he's to go in there and kill everyone... 31 00:04:17,879 --> 00:04:24,040 Watson's moved. The women proceeded to the house. Tex Watson said, we're going to kil... 32 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:31,720 I remember that I had gone so far and there was no turning back. Even if I had wanted ... 33 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:37,080 even if I wanted to leave, I couldn't. It was like I was caught in something that I had ... 34 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:45,880 Sharon Tate and three houseguests, J.C. Bring, Abigail Folger and Roy Tex Rykowski... 35 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:52,520 idea what's coming up the driveway. The people in that house were terrorized,... 36 00:04:52,599 --> 00:04:54,519 The 37 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:03,319 Charles Manson may not have been there, but he had given them very specific instructions. 38 00:05:03,319 --> 00:05:10,120 Before you leave, leave a sign. Susan Atkins picks up a towel and dips it in the blood ... 39 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:16,599 and on the front door of the house writes the word, pig. In a scene described by one 40 00:05:16,599 --> 00:05:22,039 investigator as reminiscent of a weird religious rite, five persons, including... 41 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:29,400 were found dead. Incredibly, 19-year-old William Gerritsen, the still in caretaker, 42 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:37,000 had been just 25 yards away in the guest house when these five people were murdered... 43 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:42,520 The police take William Gerritsen into custody and he becomes suspect number one. 44 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:54,919 As LA homicide detectives are looking, one of the strangest things was a statement writt... 45 00:05:55,799 --> 00:05:57,879 On the front door they saw the word pig. 46 00:06:00,199 --> 00:06:03,719 But why is it written here on Sharon Tate's front door? 47 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:14,120 The police at the Sharon Tate murder get a call from police that were investigating t... 48 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:20,120 Hinman. Hinman was a musician who was murdered in his own home a little over a w... 49 00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:27,960 And they said, look, we have the murder of Gary Hinman and there's writing in blood o... 50 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:37,479 Political piggy and you have the Tate murders with pig written in Sharon Tate's blood on... 51 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:48,120 These murders may well be connected because it's so unusual to have writing and blood.... 52 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:58,600 I'm not interested in the LAPD. The LAPD should have made that connection. The 53 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:04,759 thing would have been solved in a matter of days. But despite the brutal murders, Mans... 54 00:07:04,759 --> 00:07:10,280 not satisfied. I am very mad and I don't know whether I can control myself. 55 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:28,040 Charlie had been talking about the race war, referring to it as Helter Skelter. Manson... 56 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:35,959 because of the Tate murders, Helter Skelter would begin. But that bizarre race war Man... 57 00:07:35,959 --> 00:07:44,280 still wasn't happening. So on August 10th, after everyone else had gone to bed, Manso... 58 00:07:44,279 --> 00:07:49,959 gathers a select group with his followers together. A team of his death squad, his... 59 00:07:49,959 --> 00:07:59,000 followers to commit yet another murder. There was Tex and Manson and Linda Kasabian, Sus... 60 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:03,799 Manson said he was going to go out with them that night and show them how to do it right. 61 00:08:05,399 --> 00:08:12,039 We got in the car. In your driveway. We drove all over L.A. Charles Manson is actually i... 62 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,200 with Tex and the girls looking for what the target will be. 63 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:27,320 And they went looking for their victims completely at random. And Manson was very... 64 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:36,920 and Kasabian was very nervous and upset and he was yelling at her a lot. Eventually... 65 00:08:36,919 --> 00:08:42,360 Kasabian pull over at a house in the L.A. neighborhood of Los Feliz. The La Bianca. 66 00:08:44,519 --> 00:08:51,479 A nice middle upper class couple. Lino ran a family business, a chain of small markets. 67 00:08:51,479 --> 00:08:57,719 He had met Rosemary when she was a waitress at a local restaurant. They were good fami... 68 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:03,959 Manson knew that neighborhood. That's why he brought his killers there. 69 00:09:06,919 --> 00:09:21,719 Charles Manson goes up, looks into the window of the La Bianca home, sees Lino in the home. 70 00:09:25,399 --> 00:09:28,120 Manson and Watson enter through the back door. 71 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:33,000 The La Bianca's are tied up and pillowcases put over their heads. 72 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:38,519 And Manson then left the house returning to the car. 73 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:46,600 Manson came back and he pointed at Pat and I and told us to get out and go do what Tex... 74 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:53,159 And then do whatever Tex said. Yeah. He said to Tex to make sure that everybody did... 75 00:09:54,600 --> 00:10:01,480 Charlie left before the actual murder. He was not going to be there while murder was... 76 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:07,399 You came in the house with Tex and decided to leave and go elsewhere. 77 00:10:07,399 --> 00:10:15,960 I walked with Tex. What Tex did was Tex's business. What you do is yours. I don't te... 78 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:25,720 Manson and other people, he could weaponize to do whatever it was that he wanted done 79 00:10:26,279 --> 00:10:31,080 rather than to take on the responsibility himself. Pat and I went in the kitchen. 80 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:37,720 I think Tex said to get knives. And Pat and I took Mrs. La Bianca into the bedroom. 81 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:45,960 And um. Was she screaming? Not at that point. Mostly what's going on? What are you going... 82 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:51,960 Within seconds, Tex Watson begins to stab Lino La Bianca. 83 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:57,960 Rosemary La Bianca can hear what's going on in the living room and she can hear her... 84 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:04,680 being killed. And she screams out, what are you doing to my husband? She then begins t... 85 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:11,960 with Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten. I tried to hold Mrs. La Bianca dow... 86 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:17,960 went to stab her and the knife bent and she was yelling out for her husband. Tex hears... 87 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:24,759 going on and takes control and he begins to stab Rosemary. And then Tex turned me arou... 88 00:11:24,759 --> 00:11:29,879 handed me a knife and he said do something. And Mrs. La Bianca was laying on the floor 89 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:35,639 and I stabbed her. Where? In the lower back around 16 times. 90 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:45,879 Patricia Krenwinkel had a long carving fork, a two-pronged fork that she stabbed into... 91 00:11:45,879 --> 00:11:55,639 stomach. Then the word war was carved into Lino's stomach. Patricia Krenwinkel then... 92 00:11:56,279 --> 00:12:04,360 in blood on the walls the words rise, death to pigs, and then the most famous 93 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,840 helter-skelter misspelled on the refrigerator door. 94 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:13,720 And he went out to the car and drove away. Was there a rush? 95 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:18,840 There was. We didn't do that. What'd you do? We went and sat in some bushes and 96 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:25,480 I believe it was Tex took milk and cheese from the house. He was sat in the bushes a... 97 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,280 and cheese. And where was Manson? He was gone. 98 00:12:28,279 --> 00:12:44,839 How can relatively normal looking young people come up with these awful ideas 99 00:12:44,839 --> 00:12:52,360 and commit these terrible crimes? Manson fulfilled a core need in his followers lives. 100 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:59,399 They felt unloved and they got what they needed from Manson. He told them that he... 101 00:12:59,399 --> 00:13:06,440 family they never had and the key was they had to be completely loyal and give their... 102 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:13,879 to him if they wanted to be in his family. They became little Charlie Mansons. They w... 103 00:13:14,519 --> 00:13:15,879 and happy to kill. 104 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:33,159 Fear permeated the city. No matter where you lived you were not safe. Gun sales went of... 105 00:13:33,159 --> 00:13:41,960 in LA. Guard dogs that were selling for $200 the days before the murder were now sellin... 106 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:47,960 and you had to get on a waiting list for them. And LA actors and actresses were hav... 107 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:54,600 because you know Sharon Tate was an actress married to a famous director. It sent... 108 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,320 through everyone in Hollywood. And there was a great deal of fear, 109 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,440 very tangible fear that rippled through the Hollywood hills. 110 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:17,640 LAPD had a group of detectives working the murders of the Tate residents and another... 111 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:23,800 working the LaBiaca murders. And these two groups weren't really talking to each other. 112 00:14:24,199 --> 00:14:29,079 You've got pig on the front door of Sharon Tate's house, 113 00:14:29,799 --> 00:14:37,879 death to pigs on the living room and the LaBiaca house. The minute that the homicid... 114 00:14:39,079 --> 00:14:46,599 saw the writing of blood in the LaBiaca double homicide they should have brought... 115 00:14:46,599 --> 00:14:52,359 investigations together. The homicides are not connected I think the public and a lot... 116 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:56,519 picked out the fact that they were similar in nature possibly because of the the blood 117 00:14:56,519 --> 00:15:03,000 and the inscriptions. It should have been one investigation looking for one individual o... 118 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:13,720 of individuals that had committed both of these heinous crimes. The same day the... 119 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:19,879 found murdered the prime suspect in the Tate case 19 year old William Gerritsen is... 120 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:25,960 ruled out of the suspect and released. Late this afternoon police released the only... 121 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:32,039 had 19 year old William Gerritsen caretaker at the Polanski home. They give him a... 122 00:15:32,039 --> 00:15:40,120 he passes the polygraph in flying colors. Meanwhile the LAPD has a new theory why Ta... 123 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:46,279 other people killed with her at her home were targeted in the first place. It had been 124 00:15:46,279 --> 00:15:51,480 determined that the Tate murders were drug related and had nothing to do with anyone... 125 00:15:52,759 --> 00:15:59,399 The autopsy report showed some drugs in two of the bodies 126 00:16:02,679 --> 00:16:05,879 and there was marijuana in JC Brings car. 127 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:16,039 Roman Polanski and his friends are quite frustrated with the LAPD because the LAPD ... 128 00:16:16,039 --> 00:16:24,039 clear that somehow the celebrity lifestyle led to this horrible scene of murder and... 129 00:16:24,039 --> 00:16:31,159 and his celebrity friends are saying no that's not it. Not only are the Tate... 130 00:16:31,159 --> 00:16:39,719 wild goose chase but so are the LaBianca detectives. They're looking into Lino and ... 131 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:46,200 gambling and they find that he may have some gambling that has gone bad. The idea that the 132 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:52,360 police have is some kind of mafia connection again they're looking in the wrong track. 133 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:02,759 A week after the Tate murders Charles Manson and his followers 134 00:17:02,759 --> 00:17:09,799 wake to the sound of unwanted visitors. The sheriff's department had a big raid on on... 135 00:17:09,799 --> 00:17:23,480 Ranch. They arrested Manson. They arrested other members of the family for stealing c... 136 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:27,879 police couldn't understand when Charlie asked what the charges were and they said car theft 137 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:34,840 that Manson started laughing but he had a reason to laugh. He was relieved 138 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:41,000 and no one had any idea that they had anything to do with Tate and LaBianca. 139 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:49,400 And they've got the wrong date on the search warrant so all of them are now released. 140 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:55,560 What some of his followers don't realize is that Charlie had groomed a violent hit squ... 141 00:17:55,560 --> 00:18:04,920 the family. Leslie and Susan and Patty were telling me how they participated. Leslie said 142 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:11,880 she stabbed somebody over and over again even though they were already dead. When I foun... 143 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:16,360 that Tex had murdered it was like the rug had been pulled out from under me. 144 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:21,160 I had no idea that I was sitting amongst the murderers. Charlie was getting threatening... 145 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:29,000 he was quite he was mean he was beating on some of the girls especially Diane Lake an... 146 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:35,400 chair and then beat me with the chair leg. 147 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:39,160 I was afraid that that I would be killed. 148 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:48,040 Manson now realizes that the heat is on with the police that they're going to be caught... 149 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:56,280 they relocate so he gathers the Manson family and moves deep into death valley. 250 mile... 150 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:03,160 Manson and his followers move to an area where they are being held hostage. The pol... 151 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:08,920 Manson and his followers move to an extremely remote place in the desert called Barker... 152 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:18,040 In Death Valley all of a sudden a huge piece of road equipment goes up in flames. 153 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:25,560 I think it was Charlie and Tex and Bruce that had started this fire because the road was... 154 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:31,080 with this road grader and they were mad and so they decided to burn it. The Inyo Count... 155 00:19:31,079 --> 00:19:40,919 Department starts to investigate and they raid Barker Ranch and find dune buggies an... 156 00:19:40,919 --> 00:19:48,599 and cars that are stolen. Members of the family had stolen these cars and dune bugg... 157 00:19:48,599 --> 00:19:55,639 using them for parts. Manson and the people who were with him at the time were arreste... 158 00:19:55,640 --> 00:20:02,680 they're still at that point arresting him for low level auto theft. Yet the important th... 159 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:10,680 they've got him. They have the murderers and they don't know it. If it hadn't been for ... 160 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:15,480 in Death Valley arresting Charles Manson and his followers he might still be out there. 161 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:31,080 Charles Manson and his followers are under arrest after a police raid but not for... 162 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:36,520 They're in custody for auto theft. Detectives still have no clue that they're holding th... 163 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:41,640 responsible for multiple murders. But they're about to get an unexpected break in the case 164 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:46,280 and the world is about to witness one of the most bizarre murder trials in U.S. history. 165 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:51,000 A courtroom spectacle that gives new meaning to the term devil's work. 166 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:03,000 The October 1969 arrests of Charles Manson and many of his followers for car theft 167 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:10,759 has put most of the family members behind bars including Susan Atkins. Susan Atkins 168 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:16,120 at the time she was in prison was surely one of Charlie's most devout followers. 169 00:21:16,679 --> 00:21:27,719 She is taken to what is now Civil Brand the LA Police Holding Center and she's taken... 170 00:21:30,519 --> 00:21:35,079 I was at Civil Brand because I had written a check and I couldn't cover it. 171 00:21:36,679 --> 00:21:43,479 There was a young pretty little girl that was always singing and dancing and running up and 172 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:52,680 down the aisle and so she started talking with me. She's a barber. She had a reputat... 173 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:59,079 family of not being able to keep a secret. And she begins to talk about what happened... 174 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:00,200 presidents. 175 00:22:03,319 --> 00:22:08,839 Issues where you know and those murders up then at a canyon then it dawned on me 176 00:22:08,839 --> 00:22:22,599 that it was a Tate murders. She says you know who did it don't you? And I looked at her ... 177 00:22:24,599 --> 00:22:27,720 I just thought that this was something she dreamed up. 178 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:39,240 But by an odd twist of fate Virginia says she'd actually been to 10,050 C.A. Low Dri... 179 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:46,039 She said they had gotten Jay and Sharon into the living room and they had been ceilings. 180 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,839 And that's how I knew that that she had been in the house. 181 00:22:50,839 --> 00:23:04,519 She took responsibility for murdering Sharon. She told me that Sharon Tate was crying an... 182 00:23:04,519 --> 00:23:16,759 And with this she said bitch I don't care if you're going to have a baby or not you're... 183 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:21,640 I killed her. And that was her exact words. I killed her. 184 00:23:23,319 --> 00:23:32,920 Virginia and another inmate who also heard this story from Susan Atkins both decided ... 185 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:41,640 They came forward at about the same time calling independently of each other callin... 186 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:47,720 Virginia says that one thing in particular Susan told her compelled her to talk to... 187 00:23:47,720 --> 00:24:01,720 Susan had told Virginia Graham that the plan of the family was to seek out celebrities ... 188 00:24:02,039 --> 00:24:09,559 They were going to skin him alive and make purses out of it and sell it to a Hollywoo... 189 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:14,920 And Elizabeth Taylor they were going to remove her eyes. 190 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:22,920 This hit list of stars Susan Atkins tells Virginia about also includes singer Tom Jo... 191 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:33,000 Supposing she had gotten out and then did the terrible things that she was saying I just... 192 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,960 Well that broke the case. 193 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:51,080 Information from the two separate investigations of the Tate and LaBianca ca... 194 00:24:51,480 --> 00:25:07,240 Susan Atkins is now hauled before a grand jury but when she took the stand she actua... 195 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:10,199 Nobody really knows which version is true. 196 00:25:10,919 --> 00:25:17,480 Saying that I had killed Sharon Tate I tried to take some of the blame and put it on... 197 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:29,000 Atkins also names fellow Manson family members Patricia Krenwickle, Linda Kasabia... 198 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,880 All under Manson's direction. 199 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:39,640 What Susan Atkins said was so important that the prosecution at the time made a deal wi... 200 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:48,200 The leader of the hippie clan Charles Manson is being returned to Los Angeles today fro... 201 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:54,520 When the trial begins the state will attempt to prove that he gave the orders to his... 202 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,120 That sent a tremor through this country at the time. 203 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,280 My god how is this possible? 204 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:06,520 Has the hippie movement gotten that awry that's starting to murder people? 205 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:16,040 The Los Angeles district attorney appoints Vincent Bouliosi lead prosecutor on the ca... 206 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:22,360 The prosecutor considers these murders to be perhaps the most heinous in modern history. 207 00:26:22,360 --> 00:26:25,880 The savagery of them, the mind control. 208 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:37,480 Charles Manson and some of his closest followers face seven counts of murder and ... 209 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:42,680 We now look back at and think it was a foregone conclusion that they were going t... 210 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:48,039 They're guilty as hell and yet it never was that certain. 211 00:26:49,720 --> 00:27:00,120 You're trying a man for multiple counts of murder and he wasn't there and he didn't e... 212 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:10,919 Vincent Bouliosi he could always be certain that he would eventually convict Tex Watso... 213 00:27:10,919 --> 00:27:15,079 There was evidence linking them to the crimes that any jury would see. 214 00:27:15,079 --> 00:27:17,479 But Charles Manson that was the hard one. 215 00:27:17,479 --> 00:27:22,679 His defense was I had nothing to do with it. They were doing what they wanted to. How c... 216 00:27:30,759 --> 00:27:32,599 Susan what are you planning to do today? 217 00:27:32,599 --> 00:27:34,679 Whatever is asked of me I would imagine. 218 00:27:35,399 --> 00:27:37,799 Manson works hard to dominate his followers. 219 00:27:38,439 --> 00:27:45,159 He actually convinces Susan Atkins who already received immunity for her testimon... 220 00:27:45,159 --> 00:27:47,399 He's going to deny all the statements made at the grand jury. 221 00:27:49,479 --> 00:27:53,799 Dennis Wilson absolutely refused to go into court and testify against him. 222 00:27:54,599 --> 00:27:56,199 He feared Charlie Manson. 223 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:03,480 Dennis denied any contact with him whatsoever and Terry Melcher wasn't really cooperating. 224 00:28:04,039 --> 00:28:08,360 Melcher went underground for a year living in fear. 225 00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:13,000 So you haven't got witnesses who can really build up a case against Manson and the... 226 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,279 So how to prove in court that Manson was responsible for the murders? 227 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:25,240 The prosecution went after Linda Kasabian to testify him which made much more sense... 228 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:29,559 Linda didn't physically participate in any of the actual murders. 229 00:28:29,559 --> 00:28:35,480 Linda Kasabian was chosen by Charles Manson to go along on the first night of the Tate... 230 00:28:36,279 --> 00:28:40,920 because she was the only member of the immediate family that had a valid driver's... 231 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:45,559 and she later became the chief witness against Manson and the others. 232 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:51,640 I'd like to see them fall underneath and beg for forgiveness. 233 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:53,480 They don't want to realize what they've done. 234 00:28:55,480 --> 00:29:00,359 All the elements are present for one of the most sensational murder trials in American... 235 00:29:00,359 --> 00:29:04,120 Seven people brutally murdered in the glare of Hollywood publicity. 236 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:09,720 In July of 1970 the joint murder trial of Charles Manson and his followers Susan... 237 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:15,799 Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwiggle begins in Los Angeles for the Tate and... 238 00:29:15,799 --> 00:29:20,120 Young girls supposedly under the spell of a bearded Sven Gully who allegedly masterminded 239 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:24,039 the seven murders. One of the girls was only 16 years old. 240 00:29:24,039 --> 00:29:27,879 The question is to whether the followers of Manson were victims or villains. 241 00:29:27,879 --> 00:29:31,079 The dynamic is that they are both. Their victimization 242 00:29:32,119 --> 00:29:37,079 at the hands of Charles Manson and the brainwashing turned them into villains. 243 00:29:37,079 --> 00:29:43,159 Manson was the only one that had a motive for these murders and that motive was Helter... 244 00:29:44,599 --> 00:29:50,359 Helter Skelter was his philosophy and when those two words were found printed in bloo... 245 00:29:50,359 --> 00:29:56,039 murder scene that's tantamount to Manson's fingerprints being found at the murder scene. 246 00:29:56,039 --> 00:30:04,279 And the theory that Bulyosi brilliantly used was that Manson so totally controlled his... 247 00:30:05,159 --> 00:30:12,279 that they were little more than his weapon of choice and that he would kill people using... 248 00:30:12,279 --> 00:30:19,959 as the device of destruction. We had to show that he had control over the killers so th... 249 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:27,480 gave them the order to kill that they would do that and it was just clear to everyone in 250 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:33,000 the courtroom that Manson still controlled all the the female defendants. 251 00:30:35,319 --> 00:30:40,759 The Manson's family was camped out on the sidewalk. They lived outside the courthouse. 252 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:50,680 It almost became like a circus. It was it was just show time. Manson he has some of his... 253 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:56,039 in the hallways passing out leaflets about how that these people have no right to try... 254 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:04,279 The girls would come into the courtroom smiling and singing a song that Charlie... 255 00:31:04,279 --> 00:31:08,279 Oh 256 00:31:08,279 --> 00:31:15,960 Manson came in one day with an X on his forehead. He is cut in X between his eyes... 257 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:23,000 has X'd us out. We don't count. The next day the women came in with X's on their forehead. 258 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:30,119 And the followers outside carved X's in their foreheads as well. Nobody had ever seen... 259 00:31:30,119 --> 00:31:38,119 like it. Boy did they play right into our hands. Manson gave Bugliosi everything he... 260 00:31:38,119 --> 00:31:44,679 Living daily proof that they were following what he told them to do regardless of the... 261 00:31:44,679 --> 00:31:50,759 In the courtroom itself the girls essentially had been told by Charlie to make a scene. 262 00:31:51,799 --> 00:31:56,919 Manson would say something in the courtroom and then the three women in unison would g... 263 00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:02,920 they would repeat what Manson said. What transpired today was this the three girls ... 264 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:08,440 up and turned their back to the court. There's a constant theme of disorder in th... 265 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:13,720 of all of the antics and the judge is always having to order Manson removed from the... 266 00:32:14,519 --> 00:32:21,400 I'll do whatever it takes to preserve my life on the planet earth because I am a selfish 267 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:28,680 bitter no account vicious snake. He knows what he's doing and at one point he offers... 268 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:33,800 bailiffs a hundred thousand dollars if he can figure out a way for him to escape or set ... 269 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:39,320 It was really just yet another courtroom tactic where he was trying to show I have ... 270 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:47,720 What he used to do he had this Hitlerian stare that was a stare on the cover of Lif... 271 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:52,279 He'd turn around and he'd stare at spectators you know and they'd get up and they'd leave. 272 00:32:53,720 --> 00:33:00,920 When the witness for the prosecution Linda Kasabian is entering the courtroom the... 273 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:07,000 by Charles Manson was unmistakable. He lifted his finger and made a slicing motion acros... 274 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:12,519 throat to send a very clear message to Linda you're going to die for what you're about ... 275 00:33:17,799 --> 00:33:21,720 The press gets a hold of the fact that President Nixon has actually made a statement 276 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:29,319 Charles Manson is guilty. Manson gets the paper stands up in front of the jury.... 277 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:37,240 Manson guilty Nixon declares. Through the trial to a tizzy August there's a motion f... 278 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:47,079 Former family member Barbara Hoyt is torn about whether she should testify against... 279 00:33:47,079 --> 00:33:52,759 if followers try to keep her from talking. They threatened my family what had happened 280 00:33:52,759 --> 00:33:58,679 at Sharon Tate's house would happen at mine. She was overdosed with LSD by another Manson 281 00:33:58,679 --> 00:34:07,000 follower who was trying to keep her from testifying. I gave her a bad trip but didn... 282 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:14,679 what to do then. She testified and was a great witness. During the presentation of... 283 00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:21,960 October 5th 1970 the prosecution is presenting testimony of a detective and... 284 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:26,279 takes it upon himself to stand up and demand of the judge that he wants to cross examin... 285 00:34:26,279 --> 00:34:31,719 witness. And before you knew it bingoed he was leaping toward the judge. The bailiff... 286 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:38,279 him in midair he had a pencil in his hand like a knife. And he yells at the judge in... 287 00:34:38,279 --> 00:34:44,519 Christian justice someone should chop off your head. Charles Manson is crazy like a ... 288 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:52,039 to mess with people's minds. Now the judge started carrying a 38 caliber revolver und... 289 00:34:52,039 --> 00:35:03,719 court. The jury hearing the charges against Charles Manson and three girl members of his 290 00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:10,679 so-called family brought in its verdict this afternoon. They found him guilty of all th... 291 00:35:11,639 --> 00:35:15,960 all the conspiracy counts all the murder counts. They were all sentenced to death 292 00:35:17,079 --> 00:35:26,839 and then Watson and his trial was sentenced to death. Aren't we all born to die? 293 00:35:29,399 --> 00:35:36,919 Charlie Manson shaved his head and the followers shaved their heads in solidarity. 294 00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:42,360 This city is going to be burning very soon the city's coming down the city is falling 295 00:35:43,159 --> 00:35:50,840 Babylon is going to fall. Manson and the others are placed on death row but the ver... 296 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:56,119 the California Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court set aside the death penalty. 297 00:35:57,559 --> 00:36:02,039 I mean if this was not a proper case for the death penalty what would be I mean how many 298 00:36:02,119 --> 00:36:07,559 people do you have to kill to get the death penalty? Everybody on death row at that time 299 00:36:07,559 --> 00:36:16,199 including Manson and the three girls and Watson became eligible for parole after se... 300 00:36:16,199 --> 00:36:21,400 At a minimum if justice means anything in America they should spend the rest of thei... 301 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:29,639 bars. It was a shock and I'm sure it's a shock to all the victims families because ... 302 00:36:30,279 --> 00:36:33,639 that they had been put in prison and that's where they would stay. 303 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:42,279 Shelley Ross produced a Charles Manson prison interview with NBC's Tom Snyder. If you got 304 00:36:42,279 --> 00:36:48,839 out of here there are a lot of people who think you go start killing people again.... 305 00:36:49,559 --> 00:36:55,239 reaches over to me and he said are you going to ask me questions like and he put his ha... 306 00:36:55,239 --> 00:37:03,479 my neck is this where the I hold the knife to women's throats it was really creepy. 307 00:37:07,399 --> 00:37:11,399 These murders would never have taken place if it had not been for Charles Manson 308 00:37:12,039 --> 00:37:15,879 but I also think you have to realize that these murders would probably have not taken 309 00:37:15,879 --> 00:37:20,839 place if the actual killers did not want to kill and he was like the catalyst that 310 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:28,519 brought that hostility to the surface. Susan Atkins died of brain cancer in prison in 2009 311 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:34,200 but five of his former followers are still behind bars in California. 312 00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:40,920 Charles Tex Watson, Leslie Van Houten, Patty Krenwinkel, Bruce Davis and Bobby Bocelais. 313 00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:48,600 They weren't struggling to get out to be on parole and that's the sad part of it. We'r... 314 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:54,920 all this time later and we're now having to fight to keep them in prison. If they got 315 00:37:54,920 --> 00:38:00,839 paroled they'd be somebody's next door neighbor and I never believed that they we... 316 00:38:00,839 --> 00:38:04,839 enough so that they wouldn't be a danger even today. 317 00:38:10,199 --> 00:38:16,279 Every life that Charles Manson touched was hurt in some way. 318 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:23,000 To have a family member murdered is shocking and it will never go away. 319 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:31,000 Jaren Tate had made it. She was a star and this incredible tragedy at being cut down ... 320 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:37,000 And her unborn son never got the chance to experience life at all. 321 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:42,040 The very thought of young women dressed in black armed with sharp knives entering the... 322 00:38:42,519 --> 00:38:46,199 complete strangers in the middle of the night and mercilessly stabbing them to death 323 00:38:47,159 --> 00:38:51,880 is really so horrendous a thought that it's difficult to contemplate a thought like th... 324 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:59,079 more than a couple moments. Rosemary LaBianca's 15 year old son Frank Struthers... 325 00:38:59,079 --> 00:39:07,719 on him that for many years he lived as a hermit in Colorado in the mountains and he... 326 00:39:07,719 --> 00:39:11,000 come down like months every three months for provisions. 327 00:39:11,719 --> 00:39:18,039 Every time that word Manson comes up it brings back these terrible memories. 328 00:39:20,359 --> 00:39:26,839 The infamous criminal cult leader Charles Manson has died Manson dead at the age of ... 329 00:39:27,399 --> 00:39:31,079 California prison officials say that he died of natural causes on Sunday. 330 00:39:31,159 --> 00:39:35,719 Manson was serving nine life sentences for murders carried out by his followers. 331 00:39:38,039 --> 00:39:44,119 Charles Manson was born evil. He spent his life doing horrible things. 332 00:39:44,679 --> 00:39:51,079 There is no excuse for what he became. Charles Manson is literally one of the 333 00:39:51,079 --> 00:39:53,480 worst human beings that ever walked this planet. 334 00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:57,480 Maybe I should have killed four or five hundred people then I would have felt better. 335 00:39:58,199 --> 00:40:01,000 Then when I felt like I really offered society something. 336 00:40:04,519 --> 00:40:09,079 Not many people know that Charles Manson was a father who had at least three sons with... 337 00:40:09,079 --> 00:40:15,159 different women. His first son committed suicide in 1993 reportedly because he... 338 00:40:15,159 --> 00:40:20,280 who his father was. Charlie's second son has done everything he could to protect his son. 339 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:26,519 Charlie's second son has done everything possible to disassociate himself from his... 340 00:40:26,519 --> 00:40:32,519 And Manson's youngest purported son Michael Bruner is the baby the killer reportedly h... 341 00:40:32,519 --> 00:40:37,640 family follower Mary Bruner. Michael was born with Charlie and the Manson girls there to... 342 00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:44,200 the delivery. Some say Charlie used his teeth to cut through the umbilical cord. Michael... 343 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:48,760 went to court seeking control of his father's estate after the killer's death in 2017. 344 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:53,720 Charlie died in prison without ever admitting his guilt in the Manson family murders. 345 00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:59,000 In one expert's opinion his failure to take responsibility for the deaths 346 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:02,760 is glaring proof that Charlie Manson was evil till his last breath. 347 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:10,600 Thanks for watching. I'm Lonnie Waldrick.