Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
A Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode titled “The Summer of Manson” will be aired on Oxygen on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET and will explore the details of the crimes of Charles Manson and the Manson Family.
Charles Manson and three other members of the Manson Family, a California cult, were convicted of the murders of seven people, including the eighth-month pregnant Sharon Tate, on January 26, 1971. Manson was also separately convicted of two more killings—Gary Hinman’s murder in July 1969 and Donald Shea’s murder in August 1969. He was convicted of first-degree murder for instigating violence and was initially sentenced to death before all the cult members were spared from execution and given life sentences. This was because the California Supreme Court struck down the death penalty in 1972.
The Manson Family and Charles Manson became widely notorious after the murder of Sharon Tate and her three friends at the residence Tate shared with her then-husband Roman Polanski on August 9, 1969. The victims included coffee company heiress Abigail Folger, Hollywood hairdresser Jay Sebring, and Wojciech Frykowski, a Polish film director. Steven Parent, the estate caretaker’s friend, was also killed during the home invasion and murder, according to the Independent.
The night after the Tate murders, the Manson Family killed Rosemary and Leno LaBianca, a wealthy grocer, in their home. “Pigs” and “Helter Skelter” were among the remarks written on the walls at the crime scenes. The words were painted on the walls with blood. As per Independent, following the disclosure of the Tate-LaBianca murders by a Manson follower to an inmate, Manson was arrested.
How did Charles Manson die?
Charles Manson died on November 19, 2017, in a hospital in Kern County, California. He was serving time at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He was 83 years old at the time and reportedly died of natural causes after he was admitted for intestinal bleeding in January 2017 but was considered too frail to undergo surgery, the New York Times reported.
Manson spent nearly 50 years in prison until he died. During his time in prison, Charles Manson spent his time playing a guitar and doing menial chores. He also reportedly made scorpions and spiders out of the thread from his socks. In 1984, he was reportedly treated for second and third-degree burns. This was after a fellow inmate doused him with paint thinner and set it ablaze. He was turned down for parole several times before his death in 2017.
CNN reported that Charles Manson’s body was given to Jason Freeman, who claimed to be Manson’s grandson. This was four months after Manson’s death because Michael Brunner, who also claimed to be Manson’s son and Michael Channels, a friend of the cult leader actively competed to get his remains. The court found that Brunner was adopted by his maternal grandparents. He was then not considered Manson’s son.
The episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered that follows the crimes of Charles Manson and the Manson Family will be aired on Oxygen on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET.
