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Manson Family murders

Also known as: Tate-LaBianca murders

Active
1969–1969
Region
Los Angeles County, California, USA
State
CA
Kind
Spree
Status
Convicted
Victims
9

In the summer of 1969, members of a commune led by Charles Manson and based at Spahn Ranch outside Los Angeles killed nine people: musician Gary Hinman in July; actress Sharon Tate and four others at her Benedict Canyon home on August 9; grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary at their Los Feliz home the next night; and ranch hand Donald "Shorty" Shea in late August. Manson was arrested at Barker Ranch in Death Valley that October. At a 1970-71 trial in Los Angeles, Manson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten were convicted and sentenced to death, as was Charles "Tex" Watson in a separate trial; the sentences became life terms after California's death penalty was struck down in 1972. Manson died in custody in 2017.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

Timeline of locations

  1. 1968
    Spahn Ranch, Santa Susana Pass (Killer's residence, approximate area)

    The Family lived at this old movie ranch. On August 16, 1969, sheriff's deputies raided it and arrested Manson and about 25 others over a car-theft ring; they were released days later. About ten days after the raid, ranch hand Donald Shea was killed; his remains were found on a nearby hillside in 1977. The site is now part of Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park.

  2. July 27, 1969
    Hinman home, Topanga Canyon (Crime scene, approximate area)

    Gary Hinman was held in his Topanga home for days and killed in late July 1969. Bobby Beausoleil was arrested on August 6 driving Hinman's car.

  3. August 9, 1969
    Tate-Polanski home, Benedict Canyon (Crime scene, approximate area)

    Late on August 8, 1969, Watson, Atkins and Krenwinkel, with Kasabian as lookout, drove from Spahn Ranch to the rented home Sharon Tate shared with Roman Polanski and killed the five people there. The house was later torn down.

  4. August 10, 1969
    LaBianca home, Los Feliz (Crime scene, approximate area)

    The next night Manson led a group to the Los Feliz home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Watson, Krenwinkel and Van Houten killed the couple.

  5. October 12, 1969
    Barker Ranch, Death Valley (Arrest)

    In raids on October 10 and 12, 1969, the Inyo County Sheriff, the Highway Patrol and National Park Service rangers arrested Family members at this remote ranch, at first over auto theft and arson; Manson was found hiding in a cabinet under the bathroom sink. The ruins are now in Death Valley National Park.

  6. June 15, 1970
    Hall of Justice, Los Angeles (Court / trial)

    Manson was arraigned here in December 1969. The trial of Manson, Atkins, Krenwinkel and Van Houten began on June 15, 1970; all four were found guilty on January 25, 1971, and sentenced to death on April 19, 1971. The sentences became life terms in 1972.

  7. March 1989
    California State Prison, Corcoran (Prison)

    Manson was moved here from San Quentin in 1989. He died on November 19, 2017, aged 83, at a Bakersfield hospital after being taken there from Corcoran.

Watch, listen, read

Listen

  • You Must Remember This: Charles Manson's Hollywood (2015, Karina Longworth)

Read

  • Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders (1974, Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry)
  • Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties (2019, Tom O'Neill with Dan Piepenbring)

Sources

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.