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CJUS 230 One Page Assignment 3
Criminal Justice Research and Writing (Liberty
University)
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REFLECTION ON CHARLES MANSON 1
A Reflection on Charles Manson’s Murders and Cult
Zachary Cushman
Liberty University
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REFLECTION ON CHARLES MANSON 2
Abstract
A frequently asked question in modern society is “Who was Charles Manson?” This article aims
to answer that seemingly simple question that many upcoming adults do not know the answer to.
With the power of drugs and charm, Manson recruited roughly 100 members into his cult, The
Family, at its peak. Their most famous victim was actress Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski’s wife,
who was eight and a half months pregnant when she was murdered. Manson had his cult
members tie up Tate and four others before stabbing them 102 times, which later became known
as the Tate/LaBianca killings. Manson claimed he did this because he believed in a coming
American race war. In 1971, Manson and four of his followers were sentenced to the death
penalty. However, the sentence was later changed to life in prison. Late in his life, Charles
Manson became a husk that seemed incomparable to such notoriety. A mug shot was released
from one of his latest parole hearings, showing his once-sharp features snowed in by white
whiskers. In his early life, Manson might have seized the moment in front of social media,
however, his life had become more like one of an institutionalized senior citizen, but with more
mail. He had never shown remorse for his crimes.
Keywords: Charles Manson, cult, crimes
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REFLECTION ON CHARLES MANSON 3
A Reflection on Charles Manson’s Murders and Cult
A frequently asked question in modern society is “Who was Charles Manson?” This
article aims to answer that seemingly simple question that many upcoming adults do not know
the answer to. With the power of drugs and charm, Manson recruited roughly 100 members into
his cult, The Family, at its peak. Their most famous victim was actress Sharon Tate, Roman
Polanski’s wife, who was eight and a half months pregnant when she was murdered. “Cult
members tied up Tate, 26, and four others at Polanski’s Los Angeles home before stabbing them
to death. The victims were reportedly stabbed 102 times in total” (Tambini, 2017, para. 9),
which later became known as the Tate/LaBianca killings. Manson claimed he did this because he
believed in a coming American race war. In 1971, Manson and four of his followers were
sentenced to the death penalty. However, the sentence was later changed to life in prison. Late in
his life, Charles Manson became a husk that seemed incomparable to such notoriety (Gillis,
2012). A mug shot was released from one of his latest parole hearings, showing his once-sharp
features snowed in by white whiskers. In his early life, Manson might have seized the moment in
front of social media, however, his life had become more like one of an institutionalized senior
citizen, but with more mail. He had never shown remorse for his crimes. However, according to
Gillis (2012), “...parole officials released statements indicating Manson is resigned to living out
his life in prison.” with Manson stating “‘I'm not like the average inmate,’ he reportedly told
psychologists. ‘I have spent my life in prison. I have put five people in the grave. I am a very
dangerous man.’” (para. 3). On November 19, 2017, Manson died of natural causes in a
California hospital (Tambini, 2017).
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REFLECTION ON CHARLES MANSON 4
References
Tambini, J. (2017). Charles Manson dead: Who was Charles Manson and what did he do?
Express. http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com
%2Fnewspapers%2Fcharles-manson-dead-who-was-what-did-he-do%2Fdocview
%2F1966281215%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D12085
Gillis, C. (2012). The devil inside: the surprising life behind bars of Charles Manson, the world's
most notorious cult murderer. Maclean’s, 125(16), 30+.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A288428311/BIC?
u=vic_liberty&sid=summon&xid=ef41b95a
