Charles Manson dies at 83

Charles Manson, cult leader of the Manson Family, died of natural causes at age 83 on November 19, 2017.

“I was extremely relieved that he had left the earth for good,“ said Kaylie Demaree, 11. “Manson was insane and dangerous and only served to cause harm to himself and others. Even with him behind bars, many people still felt unsafe by his ability to convince people to do what he wanted them to do. With his death, I know that I and many others felt a sort of weight of nervousness and anxiety leaving our shoulders.”

Manson’s followers were called “The Family” and adopted the unorthodox lifestyle of hallucinogenic drug use. Some of Manson’s admirers were young girls, who came to believe that Manson was Jesus and his predictions of a race war.

Manson predicted a race war, calling it “Helter Skelter.” He believed that war against African Americans must be declared and the war would end so that white Americans would be victorious over all other races.

Manson never directly killed anyone. He ordered his Family to carry out the killings. Manson’s victims included Sharon Tate, Leno LaBianca, and other Hollywood residents.

One of his followers, Susan Atkins claimed that the Manson Family wanted to surprise the world by killing the “beautiful people” of Hollywood.

Manson and the Family went on trial after detectives figured out that they were the ones behind the Tate/LaBianca murders. On trial, the murderers did not display any guilt for the killings they committed.

Manson was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death. However, California’s Supreme Court banned death sentences from before 1972, so Manson’s sentence was then commuted to life in prison.