Today, August 9th 2019 marks 50 years since the shocking Manson Family cult murders that took place over two nights in 1969 Los Angeles in crimes that shocked the world and "killed the Sixties".
Within 48 hours, seven people (including almost-9 month pregnant rising actress Sharon Tate) were massacred in the most brutal ways, shot, stabbed and mutilated repeatedly in two properties across the city by young "Hippy" followers of Charles Manson. Why? The hopes that it would fuel the already building racial tensions within America at the time and start a global race war called "Helter Skelter" that Manson had supposedly foreshadowed to them that he had got wind of from listening to The Beatles "White Album", a war that would pit black people vs. white people, ending with black people "winning the war" and taking over the world.
While all of this was happening, Manson and "his Family" would be hiding out in an underground city in the desert where they would not age (seriously) and when the dust had settled, would rise up back to Earth and take control over the black people because, in his words, black people are naturally submissive to whites, and thus Manson would be king of the world...
Many, however, believe that the reason Manson told his followers to commit the first set of murders (at Tate and husband Roman Polanski's home on Cielo Drive, was because the home was owned by music producer and son of Doris Day, Terry Melcher, who had declined to give Manson, who was an aspiring musician, a recording contract. The house symbolised everything that Manson was told he could not have, and was owned by the man who told him he couldn't have it.
A further two people, musician Gary Hinman and "Shorty" Shea, would later be revealed as victims of the Family also. With many others, even including a lawyer from Manson's trial who died in very mysterious circumstances, being suspected as more victims. It's unknown just how many people died at the hands of this cult.
Concise yet detailed coverage of Manson's life and how he got to become the maniacal cult leader we all know:
A really great article covering the whole thing:
https://www.vox.com/2019/8/7/2069528...lter-explained
It's important to be reminded of these I feel, as sadly Manson has become some kind of weird icon of the 60's when in fact he's a total evil monster who orchestrated all of these killings through heavy drug use and manipulation of young, naive, runaway teenagers.
It's a crazy story involving the whole counterculture of the 1960's, sex, drugs, Hollywood's elite, the Hollywood class system and, strangely, The Beach Boys.
Is anyone here old enough to remember these happening?