A Glympse Into the World of a Mad Man
On the first page of his book about the Manson Family murders Vincent Bugliosi
warns, "the story in which you are about to read will scare the Hell out of you" (Bugliosi
1). This statement could not be more true. There have been many mass murders and
serial killers throughout history, none however, have been as sick and twisted as Charles
Manson. From 1969 until 1971 his was the story that captivated the nation. Manson and
his followers committed a spree of murders which shocked the world and left everyone
Charles Manson was born November 12, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Manson
never knew his father and never had a real father figure; he was the illegitimate child of a
promiscuous sixteen year-old, Kathleen Maddox. Maddox would leave for days and
weeks at a time, leaving young Charlie with his grandparents and aunt. Once she even
sold him for a pitcher of beer. Charlie and his mother were eating at a cafe one afternoon
when their waitress jokingly offered to buy Charlie. His mother replied, "a pitcher of
beer and he's yours." The waitress brought the beer and Manson was left behind in the
cafe. Charlie's uncle found him several days later and brought him home (Bardsley).
After growing up in an environment like this, it is not hard to see why Manson
may have turned out the way he did. At age nine, Charlie was caught stealing and sent to
reform school. From then until present Manson has spent the vast majority of his
sixty-seven years on Earth in some sort of reformatory, for crimes ranging from stealing
and robbing to pimping and killing (Bardsley).
For the next several years Charlie was in and out of prison, mostly for petty
crimes. When he was released from prison in 1967 he went to San Francisco and fell in
with the hippie scene. There, Manson began to attract an almost cult following. He used
LSD and marijuana to brainwash these fol...