Sharon Tate/Manson murders.

Not to mention, it’s Susan Atkins – she was a downright psycho.

Years ago (but years after Manson went to prison) I remember reading that there was still a “family” of Manson followers on the outside. Does anyone know anything about that? Are there still “Manson-ists” running around loose?

A few, but they weren’t many. Squeaky Fromme is probably to most notable as she tried to shoot President Ford. IIRC she’s unrepentant to this day.

The others mostly got over it over time or didn’t do anything as dramatic as Fromme. They are doubtless very old now and not much concern.

Of course, any celebrity murderer gets more fans on the outside, but none did anything of note I am aware of.

I don’t know about a whole family, but Sandra Good reportedly still swears fealty to Manson, though I don’t know how this loyalty manifests since Manson’s death. She missed the killing nights, though not out of moral objections (in jail for credit card fraud), and later served 10 of 15 years for mailing death threats. I saw an interview shortly after she got out where she was asked if she felt sorry, at least, for Tate’s unborn baby. She said no as she was sure the baby would have grown up to be another hamburger eater.

My impression is, the murders were revenge and since racial tensions were front and center, Manson used race war as an excuse. And political aspirations were the reasons for the book, Helter Skelter.

In *The Killer Across the Table *, John E Douglas says of interviewing Manson:

The friendship between the Manson Family and Dennis Wilson (Beach Boys) is considered a big factor in the Tate killing.

Manson met record producer Terry Melcher through Dennis Wilson. Melcher had rented the house on 10050 Cielo Drive.

Wilson is lucky the Manson family didn’t target him. I think Charlie realized his connection to Wilson was too well known. They would have been prime suspects.