Neither do I, but I am MORE concerned about locking up the manipulators. Just because a second person could also manipulate people to kill does not mean they will.
If Charlie was out of the picture, Tex and the girls may have simply joined another hippie commune lacking such a manipulator and peacefully smoked pot into their old age freaking out about how weird the Beatles album was. Look at how many hippie communes DIDN’T commit mass murder!
Just because he was able to manipulate people, doesn’t mean they didn’t have free will, or that they weren’t capable of refusing him. Linda Kasabian admitted that she was obsessed with Manson, but when he ordered her to kill someone, she refused.
Sharon Tate begged for the life of her unborn child while Atkins and Tex were stabbing her. (There’s some confusion over who held her down and who actually stabbed her).
I wouldn’t call the Manson Family a “hippie commune”. Try “cult”.
Please understand that I am not saying the Manson Family members had no culpability. Linda Kardashian also had culpability–she was an acoomplice and co-conspirator in a number of ways. Remember, she obtained immunity for her testimony.
I just think Charlie had the greatest culpability of them all; and I also believe that absent Charlie a number of the people involved wouldn’t have done anything like this.
I agree that the Manson Family has a lot of aspects that make it very cult-like. I hate to elevate their ideas to a religion, though.
As well, other hippie communes have cult-like aspects too.
I was desperately trying to remember how the Kardashians fit into this story until I realized they don’t. It was Linda Kasabian.
Yeah I had a brainfart. Sorry for violating your neural pathways,
If you were right, there would be some kind of dynastic sequel story to Bugliosi’s book featuring OJ and the legal Dream Team.
That’s a story I would have read.