There is perhaps no American criminal more recognizable than Charles Manson. The diminutive cult leader and madman who led his followers on a streak of bloody homicides during the late 1960s - including that of Sharon Tate - intended for the murders to give birth to a race war he called "Helter Skelter." His personal ties to celebrities and the fierce loyalty he inspired from his followers has given Manson an aura of intrigue that - when coupled with the brutality of his crimes - turned him into a household name.
The man who has been credited with effectively ending the "Peace and Love" attitude of the 1960s, Charles Manson, now over 80 years old, is still a figure of public interest. With a swastika tattooed on his forehead just above his trademark fervid stare, it seems like little time passes before another one of his interviews pops up, documenting his ever-impassioned, incoherent ramblings.
Manson is a quintessential oddball. The man is undoubtedly a psychopath and criminal mastermind, but he's also just a strange guy who has lived an eventful, if bizarre, life. Let's take a look at some of the weird facts that you may not have known about the man known to many as simply "Charlie."
Terrifying Facts About Infamous Cult Leader And Suspected Killer Charles Manson,
Alvin Karpis
The brilliantly named Alvin "Creepy" Karpis was a prominent gangster during the Great Depression - at one point even earning the FBI's illustrious distinction of "Public Enemy No. 1." A member of the famous Ma Barker Gang, Karpis killed at least 10 people and kidnapped about a half-dozen others before being sentenced to life in prison in 1936.
During his stay in a Washington state prison, Karpis met a young Charles Manson and taught him how to play the guitar. It's not often that one famous criminal can be credited with launching the career of another, but Manson's dreams of being a musician led him to develop an obsession with the Beatles, thus sparking his whole "Helter Skelter" fantasy. Well done, Karpis.
He's A Delusional, Virulent Racist
Charles Manson is driven by deeply-rooted, virulent racism. The genesis for the gruesome murders in 1969 came from his belief that an apocalyptic race war was imminent - an event he called "Helter Skelter" after the Beatles's song of the same name. The murders, which he hoped to frame as having been committed by black people, were meant to be a catalyst to outrage white America and usher in a great racial divide.
Though he cut his teeth in California, so to speak, he was a product of Appalachia, and some have speculated that racist family members may have indoctrinated him with pro-confederate beliefs from a young age. Manson also carved a swastika into his forehead while in prison in 1971, which he gave a pretty long, rambling explanation for, and that ultimately made no sense.
He Never Actually Killed Anyone Himself
As horrifying as his treatment of others was (including that of his own followers), it's worth noting that Manson himself never actually killed anyone. (At least, it's never been proven that he did.) It's a pretty interesting distinction to make for a man who has been convicted of first-degree murder, but Manson's crimes actually served as a landmark case for what's known as "murder by proxy," an act wherein a third party carries out an individual's premeditated homicide (think: hiring a hit man).
While Charlie was nowhere near the scenes of the famous Tate and LaBianca murders, he did mastermind both operations down to their finest details. The very fact that he was able to charm others into committing such gruesome acts puts Manson into a different echelon of psychopaths.
His Followers Tried To Kill A Key Witness With A Poisoned Hamburger
Barbara Hoyt was a one-time member of the Manson Family who was set to become a key witness in the Tate-LaBianca murder trial. In an effort to prevent her from testifying, other members of the "family" lured her to Honolulu, HI, in December of 1970. While out for hamburgers to discuss their beloved leader's looming case, someone mentioned to Hoyt, who had just taken a bite of her food, "Just imagine if there were 10 tabs of acid in that."
A stranger came to Hoyt's aid just before she lost consciousness and called for help. She was placed in a Honolulu psych ward and treated for an overdose of LSD, but she made a full recovery. Hoyt's damning testimony would later prove instrumental to Manson's conviction.
His Mother Called Him "No Name" And Sold Him For Beer
Charles Manson, criminal monster that he would become, wasn't exactly born with a good example of how to operate on the straight and narrow. Charles was born to a 16-year-old girl named Kathleen Maddox who thought so little of him that she didn't bother to give him a name. When the time came for something to be put on his birth documents, Maddox simply opted for the words "No Name," and to this day his birth certificate reads "No Name Maddox."
Quickly tiring of the demands of parenting, Kathleen Maddox offered a bar room waitress one hell of a bargain. After being told how cute her baby was, Maddox suggested to her server, "A pitcher of beer and he's yours." Assuming it to be a joke, the waitress brought the beer out as a good humored gesture. She was taken aback, however, when Maddox left the establishment and little Charles was still at the table. A concerned uncle eventually tracked down the waitress and returned baby Charles to his less than thrilled mother.
He Banned His Followers From Wearing Glasses
While Manson certainly clouded the vision of his followers in a figurative sense, he also did so quite literally. When his small commune took up residence at Spahn Ranch, Manson prohibited watches, calendars, clocks, and yes, even eyeglasses. The banning of these items served to disorient his followers and put them into a more malleable state, but Manson also insisted that the removal of their glasses would allow them to see the world in a more "natural" way. This organic approach to vision correction led some of his followers to develop permanent squints.
He Still Has Followers Today, And He Gets A Ton Of Mail
Though well into his 80s, Charles Manson still maintains an influence from his jail cell in California's Corcoran State Prison. The now elderly criminal mastermind boasts an impassioned collection of fans, some of whom have even moved from across the country just to be closer to him. He draws in curious new followers with everything from his ostensibly progressive environmental concerns to his, let's say, eclectic charisma.
Manson receives a staggering 60,000 letters per year, more than any other inmate in the California prison system.
He Kept A Celebrity Hit List
After the brutal murder of actress Sharon Tate in August of 1969, the authorities started closing in on the Manson Family. Less than two months later, police arrested 24 members of the burgeoning cult, including Manson himself. While in a Los Angeles County jail cell, Mansonite Susan Atkins bragged to another inmate about the Tate murder as well as claimed that the group kept a celebrity "hit list" of who they'd kill next. That list included names like Steve McQueen, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Richard Burton, and Tom Jones.
His Followers May Have Killed As Many As 35 People
While Charles Manson was never confirmed to have killed anyone himself, his devoted followers were more than capable of carrying out his murderous bidding. The Tate-LaBianca slayings, in which seven people were killed, are perhaps the most well-known crimes perpetrated by the Manson Family, but they also killed a man named Gary Hinman, putting their official body count at eight.
Experts have long suspected that the cult was responsible for additional murders, but with most of the suspects now behind bars they have only been lightly pursued. Manson, for what it's worth, once bragged to a fellow inmate that his "family" killed 35 people.
He Got Engaged (Briefly) At 79 Years Old
In November 2013, some bizarre, shocking news started making the rounds: Charles Manson had gotten engaged. The then 79-year-old convict, who continues to serve a life sentence in California's Corcoran State Prison, had become betrothed to 27-year-old Afton Elaine Burton, a woman 53 years his junior.
The engagement, however, was short lived. In a twist crazy enough to befit Manson, it eventually came to light that Burton only wished to marry him so that she could have first dibs on his body after he died, planning to turn a profit by putting him on display. Manson ultimately called off the wedding, though for a reason you may not expect: he believes, sincerely, that will never die.